Inevitable: The Future of Work

We found a "lost" IFOW treasure in this interview with Jim Colassano, SVP, Product Development and Strategy at The Clearing House...all about how to speed up your employees' access to the money they've earned. In a world where few of us have the financial readiness to handle an unplanned expense of $400, RTP and maybe even - should we dare say it...blockchain...are tools of the payment flexibility the our current and future team members value the most. Listen to learn what you should be asking your payroll provider about and for...before someone else lures your best people away with a different type of better pay. The Clearing House Jim Colassano

Jeff Lesher bids the IFOW Activators a fond farewell with some parting bits of wisdom he's picked up from others along the way. As producer of most of our 147 episodes and the host of more than 100, Jeff wants listeners to continue to delve into the treasure trove of knowledge shared by our many wonderful guests. Be well. Do even better. And multiply your impact by helping support others' success. WB Engineers+Consultants Jeff Lesher

Erin Lazarus, Director of Solution Architects at SHL, a talent spectrum solutions company, helps enlighten us on al things talent acquistion to talent management with a healthy dose of assessment and experience. It's a crash course in all the things we could know and understand better about our people if we'd only direct our time and resources more effectively. Learn how a few accessible adjustments can have a huge impact.

Jeanine Boyle, Chief People Officer of digital healthcare payments company, Zelis, is the veteran of many mergers and acquisitions. We tap into her deep reservior of knowledge to understand how to desugn and activate environments that embrace change, diversity, even the occasional failure and focus on learning and moving forward with the benefit of our experience. Zelis  Jeanine Boyle

Edward and Tricia co-founded and co-lead a company whose name tells you what they help you accomplish: autentic collaboration. The combination of painstaking attention to detail they used to reveal, define and help you apply the 5 behaviors of collaboration with the emphasis on experience reflecting their Disney heritage is informative, infectous, and empowering. Join us for an illuminating and not-so-wild ride to even better. Authentic Collaboration Tricia Cerrone Edward van Luinen

Andrew Filevv on Linkedin

Andy Berman co-founded Vowel as a way to give back some control to all of us who are being recorded...which, essentially, is all of us. Vowel - among other things - helps boost focus and productivity by creating an accurate record of our meetings, culling out summaries, and listing action items. After listening to our conversation, visit the Vowel website and use this code to check it out: Coupon Code = INEVITABLE Vowel Andy Berman on Linkedin

As the "World's Leading Mentor," best selling author and corproate counselor knows more than a thing or two about developing people. He founded Entelechy to study what the elements of success truly are and then provide people the opportunity to learn them. This conversation is a mini master class in how - metaphorically - you can navigate the journey for yourself and others of becoming a butterfly. Links: Entelechy Academy David C.M. Carterr on linkedin

Ah, "coaching"! It's so many things to so many people. Often misunderstood or misapplied, we loose the opportunity to grow and evolve in ways that support the growth and evolution of our organizations. What if you had some straightforward guideposts...and were accompanied by an equally straightforward guide, what could you accomplish? How much better would it feel. Enter Geoff Graber, Co-Founder of Evolution and Managing Partner of Evolutionary Venture. Geoff's skills as a coach and commitment as an investor combine to help leaders activate critically foundational concepts like "essential transparency." Join this conversation, pick something to go do, and bet even better - starting now. Evolution Geoff Graber on linkedin 

Ellen Kocher and Dominque Ben Dhaou are on a post-50 mission to create tremendous impact by helping the rest of us tapping into the enormous and enormously valued resource that are our work force members of a similar age. Most of us are living longer, better, and want to continue to contribute. Our approaches and systems aren't built for the 21st century (they are based on realities we faced 90 years ago ...), but they can be easily updated in ways that will pay you back over and over. Help your employees find their purpose - or else ...; Women in the Workplace; Workers (50+) Wanted!

Boston Consulting Group's Allison Bailey leads BCG's Global People & Organization practice. She oversees an ongoing research series called "Decoding Global Talent" and joins the IFOW to share insights and corresponding recommendations drawn from the most recent chapter in this effort: "What Job Seekers Wish Employers Knew." Allison walks us through everything from the "de-averaged" landscape of opportunities for job seekers to the startling fact that 83% of our people may be actively looking or very open to the offer of a new job. OUCH! Listen, learn, do!

Coach Loya was coming back from an away game with his team when his plane encountered disturbing turbulence. This harrowing flight set off a chain of events that led Lance to move from the ranks of college coaching to infusing people and their organizations with mindset and capacity to allow all of us to contribute by being a better teammate. Learn about the “We Gear”… and be ready to put yourself into Drive as soon you're done listening.  

Dr. Murray Sabrin is many things, including being a university professor of finance, a student of and writer about economics, geography, and history, and a candidate for public office as well as a regular commentator on all manner of poliitcal and social issues. His appearance on the IFOW is focused mainly on his research on the options for employers to optimize the healthcare benefit for their people. We talk about his new book, "The Finance of Health Care: Wellness and Innovative Approaches to Employee Medical Insurance," delving into the strategies you can leverage to do better for your people and your business.

Thriving - not merely surviving - in a data world requires learning the foundational elements of data analytics instead of learning the next fancy tool. That's the conclusion of business intelligence and analytics leader, Sangeeta Krishnan, in her book, Thriving in a Data World: A Guide for Leaders and Managers. While there is a bit of "math on the test," you'll benefit from Sangeeta's straightforward, value-based counsel about topics ranging from big data versus small, the data function as a cost center or a positive ROI generator, and whether data resources are better centralized or embedded locally. That is, of course, if you're in the 100% of organizations seeking to become more data driven.

Digitalization of professional advice makes all the sense in the world to consultant-turned-technology platform entrepreneur, Stefan Debois, CEO and Co-founder  of Pointerpro. Stefan's experience and expertise haven't just led to the development of a tool through which to economize and accelerate the process of determining good client fit and the best ways to service their needs; the approach he recommends begins with and relies on fundamental knowledge capture and process mapping. Put the two together and you're on your way to tech-enabled consulting. Drop in for a quick boost to the efforts you are or should be making to streamline how you engage prospects and deliver value.

Shane Kovalsky is Co-founder of Mystery - a facilitator of incredible experiences for organizations investing in opportunities for their teams to forge and sustain the bonds that continue to be a key ingredient of high performance even - or perhaps especially - in the hybrid workplaces of today. The Zoom Happy Hour may still be on life support; but for those truly looking for an edge, this is a must listen conversation.

Bjorn Reynolds is known as Chief Guardian at Safeguard Global. Formally, he's the Founder and CEO. Regardless of title, his commitment is to help Safeguard's clients hire and manage the best, highly-skilled workers they can from around the globe without screwing it up. In fact, the phrase "don't try this at home" comes up in our conversation. More importantly, Bjorn helps debunk a lot of the conventional "wisdom" that continues to limit how people locate and position talent. In a moment of both low unemployment and looming recession, leaders may well find "permission" to finally make a Goldilocks commitment (of the "just right" variety) by hiring to and for their specific needs through expanding a flexible, just-in-time workforce segment. Check it out.

Bailey Showalter is the VP Product | Ecosystem Partnerships & Solutions for Pearson where she advocates for and advances efforts to reimagine opportunity in the workplace - especially for women. Critical elements of her approach include a shift from a mentor to a champion mindset to ensure getting woment into the spotlight. Recognizing potential not just history is key - building on transferable skills - is part of the key to unlocking an under-tapped talent pool. Our straightforward discussion of overcoming significant bias in the workplace is sure to inform and inspire adjustments to your approach that will make a positive difference.

Scott Wharton is VP & GM at Logitech - the digital tools and worker connection giant - with a focus on video collaboration. His insights about what people need to succeed in TODAY's work environment are more than just timely, they're critical. This a must-hear wake-up call for all the employer "grandpas" providing a laptop and not much else as we round the corner towards being 25% done with the 21st century!   https://www.logitech.com/content/dam/logitech/en/video-collaboration/pdf/study-equipping-your-employees-for-hybrid-work.pdf

Carol Schultz is an executive search expert who believes the industry is broken. Her company, Vertical Elevation, is dedicated to helping employers better understand their needs and their cultures to truly find the right people. Whether in her book, "Powered by People," her podcasts, or her no-nonsense discovery sessions with people who think they have a recruiting problem, Carol always brings her clear and actionable point of view. Listen and learn ;-)!

Who knew that the key to a great buainess meeting was mimicking Howard Stern? Answer: Sam Kolbert-Hyle, CEO of Brandlive, who - along with his trailblazing team - brings production constructs and techniques to best use the time available in modern, hybrid gatherings. Sam paints the picture of how to segment your agenda much like an episode of Ellen and lays out the case and approaches to creating pre-recorded content that ensures your effectiveness.

Dr. Jon Finn has spent years researching and developing clear processes for helping each of us improve and transform our lives...by shifting from the ever-vexing state of knowing what we want to do and helping us make sure we do it. Part of the secret - don't be put off by the things that don't go as well as we hoped. Adapting failure into success is a multi-step and ongoing process that Jon walks us through. His commitment to creating tougher minds is inspiring and imminently practical.

Meaghan Wiliams is Manager, Hybrid Enablement & Operations for HubSpot. In her role, she helps to facilitate a great culture for all 6,400+ empoyees around the globe by making sure they can connect when, how, and for what suits and serves them. Meaghan advises that culture should be decoupled from location, and takes the listener through a number of very accessible ways in which to successfully do that anywhere. And, she makes it sound so darned fun!

Who knew that people and bots could be teammates? Turns out, they can - and really good ones if used well. Bots can offload the scut work that slows down innovation and just good experiences. Even better, bots can own the repeatable drudergy that can suck the life out of workers longing to create more meaningful impact..and free folks up to do just that. All while saving money and time. Take a verbal stroll through the land of thoughtful automation with Co-founder and Chief Platform Officer of Thoughful, Dan Parsons. There are some great takeways that may lead you to call Dan for more information...and that will help you make your next tech buying decision differently - in a good way!

Holly Welch Stubbing leads E4E Relief, helping organizations manage their efforts to lend aid to employees and family members strick by natural diaster, military conflict, illness, and more. The art and science of distributing millions of dollars in assistance at a moment's notice anywhere in the world is, in a word: astounding. The fact that it's being done by a relatively small band of deeply committed agents of hope and care is as surprising as it is inspiring.

From his perch as Managing Director at Allegis Partners specializing in placing people leaders on boards and in C-Suites, John Anderson has seen a lot of growth in the representation of those who've devoted themselves to the human resource at the top of organizations. Still, 300% growth only amounts to about 8% of board membership. John gives us his view and insights from drawn from working with leaders at top organizations to build diverse, high performing leadership teams. You'll definitely take away an idea or two and some action items.

Alice Carleton went from highly regarded consultant to in-house role creator at Ceros: Head of People Potential. With a specific emphasis on emerging leaders, she is engineering acelerated trajectories to overcome the lack of time highly dynamic organizations suffer in scaling. Learn through her lessons some of what you can do to provide expedited development of skills and their application to balance a lack of first-hand experience that only comes with more "flight time."

Chris De Santis' lively book, Why I FInd You Irritating: Navigating Generational Friction at Work, is one of the most insightful, useful guides to understanding others in posotive, productive ways. We explore what differences do tend to exist, why, and how to harness them for everyone's benefit. Imagine a world in which we embrace difference as an asset! This conversation will propel you into that realm of possibility.

Talk about ripping the bandaid off, Gil Mayron, Founder and CEO of Cobot Nation - a leader in collaborative robotics - makes it clear that jobs built around routine, repetitive tasks are slated to be taken over by technology...soon! In one of the IFOW's starkest conversations, we learn about the momentum building towards and advancing capabilities of robotics as a labor shortage and optimization tool. No excuses, no mercy, no time. This is a call out to business owners to move quickly towards the opportunities of automation, and it's an air raid siren to alert slews of workers to RUN for their employment lives!

Rajiv Ayyanger, Co-founder and CEO of Tandem - a virtual office for remote and hybrid teams, loves to work together with his co-founders and team. But he understands that today's work space needs include places to gather physically and through technology, and a sense of place. By creating a variety of ways to connect and collaborate across these spaces, Rajiv is optimistic about the drive to what he calls "Remote Work 3.0" - essentially a hybrid, multiplayer environment in which people work together even better as technology fades into the background. One central piece of advice for designing the most productive and fulfilling work experience of today and tomorrow that he offers is to start thinking about the needs of the folks who aren't in a shared, physical space. Hmmm, sounds like empathy!