#100: Our Wishes For a Better World of Work
Holiday Wishes to Make The Workplace Better
Hello, and welcome to this week’s Edition of the Work in Progress Newsletter. If you’re new here, drop me a line and tell me who you are, what you do, and how work is going for you right now!
Here is what’s on tap for this week’s newsletter
Holiday Wishes From People Who Are Making The Workplace Better
What I’m Following
🎄 Holiday Wishes🎄
As we wrap up 2022, I wanted to do one wrap up post for the year that features some of the people out there who are writing and speaking about similar things about the workplace. Given that it’s the holiday season, I figured asking about holiday wishes could be a nice way to frame this.
I reached out to a handful of folks who I know who are doing their part to try to create a better workplace for people about what their holiday wish was this year. You can see their responses below.
As an aside, one of the cool things about the internet is that you can find your people a lot easier than ever before. I’ve gotten to know all of these individuals over the past few years mostly through being connected digitally and it very rewarding to see others who share similar ethos contribute and fulfill their mission in their own unique way.
Finally, almost everyone featured is also a creator of some kind, be it a podcast, newsletter, video series, or consistently sharing valuable content and contributions on Linkedin. If you see something of interest I really encourage you to check out their profile and check out their work!
Prompt: What is your holiday wish you'd give to leaders for improving the workplace in 2023?
Stephen Mostrom - Learning and Development, SV Bank
“My wish is for leaders to talk early and often about why a learning culture matters. And create a safe space for exploration. Share your personal learning journey, set up brainstorming sessions, and celebrate new ideas. Make growth and agility a daily team focus.”
Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn
Jennifer Fink, CEO, Fink Development
One that’s top of mind for me, as we head into 2023 planning, is that I would love for leaders to commit to providing their employees training and control on how to design their own schedule in ways that maximize energy, engagement, well-being, and productivity. It would not only significantly benefit employees, but the organization as a whole. I personally redesign my schedule every quarter, sometimes every month, to ensure I’m spending my time in the best ways possible and it’s a very powerful tool that every employee should know how to do.
Connect with Jenni on LinkedIn and Check out Her YouTube Video Series
Kathy Oneto, Principal & Chief Strategist, The Oneto Agency
My wish would be for leaders to make prioritization choices to focus their and their teams' workload to support more sustainability. I think just as much attention needs to be put against workload as well-being. Secondly, I'd have a wish for leaders to ask both themselves and their people what work structures they need to put in place to help make life and work integration more sustainable. Sustainability takes intention.
Connect with Kathy on LinkedIn, and check out her Sustainable Ambition Podcast
Larry McAlister, Author, and Founder, The Corporate Humanist Consultancy
"My holiday wish is for leaders to start the new year focusing on individual and team Mental Fitness. In this pandemic-affected workforce it is critical for leaders to integrate work with wellbeing. Enabling a Whole Person Approach will drive resilience, focus and overall success of the business."
Connect with Larry on LinkedIn, and Pre-Order his book, The Power to Transform
Angela Howard, CEO Angela Howard Consulting
“With the emergence of distributed working, leading virtually or in a hybrid work environment only elevates the need for leaders who can actively create a sense of belonging and build community. My wish is that leaders lean on actively building their relational muscle - empathy, clarity and the ability to build relationships. Also, realizing that "soft" skills are actually the hardest of all the skills. My wish is that we ditch "soft skills" and change them to "hard AF skills." LOL :)”
Connect with Angela on Linkedin, and check out her podcast, Social Responsibility at Work
Jessica Wan, CEO & Executive Coach
"The holiday wish I'd give to leaders is to start with themselves. Leadership shapes teams and organizations, and the norms waterfall down from the top. Improving the workplace for your employees means first being self-aware of your own tendencies, expectations, and opportunities for growth; critically assessing what needs to change; and then working to change it."
Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn, and check out her podcast, The Ampersand Manifesto
Megan Galloway, Head of Learning Experience, Campfire
“The best way we can improve the workplace is to start with ourselves. When leaders focus on their own development, their teams feel the difference. One question to ask each person on their team is: "If you could make one New Year's Resolution for 2023 for me as your manager, what would it be?"
Connect with Megan on LinkedIn
Alex Hilleary, Community at Chart Hop
“My holiday wish is that after nearly three years of fighting fires, People leaders finally get the space to take a step back, compile learnings, think long term, and build a more flexible, inclusive, and human future of work.”
Connect with Alex on Linkedin, and subscribe to his newsletter, The People Ops Weekly
Jennifer Dole, Director & Principal Analyst, 3Sixty Insights
My wish is for leaders in 2023 is to commit to equitable, long-term investment in workplace wellness initiatives. This should encompass both budget and buy-in from leaders across all levels of the organization, encouraging employees to adopt healthier habits that improve their physical and mental well-being. Leaders will prioritize finding creative ways to activate teams and individuals through these initiatives, providing meaningful support that increases engagement with the program and inspires positive behavior change.
Connect and Follow Jennifer on LinkedIn
👀What I’m Following👀
Podcast: Embracing a Portfolio Life - I found Christina Wallace’s work a few years ago when she wrote about some of the learnings from a failed startup. She recently was featured in an article about an upcoming book about what she is calling a “Portfolio Life” and after reading the article I realized I had to interview her. We had a great conversation, about expanding the narrative and language about careers, work, and the workplace.
Podcast: How Productivity Creates Purpose, and The 4-Day Work Week - Josh Bersin did a short podcast this week on the importance of defining purpose and productivity as well as l
Podcast: How Salesforce is Investing in Untapped Talent - During my time at Salesforce, I had the opportunity to volunteer and support the workforce development and Untapped talent team in a variety of ways. In my opinion, they are at the leading edge when it comes to re-thinking traditional ways of recruiting talent and actually creating onramps and pathways for much more diverse talent. Check out my interview with Jennifer Stredler, the VP of Workforce Development, to hear how she and her team are building diverse talent pipelines into Salesforce
Article: Is Mattering The Key to Well-Being at Work? - There’s a lot of talk about the importance of purpose and meaning at work, and while I think it’s important I think it’s much more simple than we’re making it out to be. At the end of the day, it’s less about the big grand vision (although important for some) and more about the little moments of knowing that what we do is important and is valued by others.
Finally, this will be the last edition of 2022 but I want to thank you all for following along and engaging on the journey. Over the holiday, I’ll be planning and tooling for next year, and while I have some changes in mind I am always open to feedback. Reply to this email or shoot me a note (alex.dea@gmail.com)
Have a great holiday!
Al