Jennifer McClure`

Equipping people leaders to navigate change — and design the future — with boldness and purpose.

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How to Make Work Suck Less By Making It Fun with Jeff Harry

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 067

These days, every workplace expert and futurist worth their salt is talking about The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, burnout, and dwindling employee engagement levels.

Some are even offering solutions to these problems, including showing more empathy, focusing on improving access to mental health benefits, offering more workplace flexibility, and suggesting increased communication from leadership.

But I’ve not heard anyone suggesting that we can address these issues through introducing more play and fun in the workplace – until I met today’s guest, Jeff Harry of Rediscover Your Play.

Jeff is passionate about making work suck less, and he does this by assisting leaders in building a workplace where individuals learn how to tap into their true selves, to feel their happiest and most fulfilled–all through play!

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • The two questions to ask your leaders to understand your company culture.
  • The difference between forced fun, and introducing play in the workplace.
  • Why allowing yourself to get bored is the key to unlocking creativity and innovation.
  • How to address quiet quitting through play.
  • Why psychological safety is required before introducing fun or play into the workplace.
  • The reason why meetings suck, and what you can do to fix it.
  • How what drove you back when you were a kid can really answer  questions like “How do you  want to show up in the world?”
  • How can you cultivate the next great idea?
  • How to add more play to your grown-up life.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 67

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“What is the worst behavior you are currently tolerating [in your workplace]? Because that sets the tone, that sets the culture.” ~ @Jeff Harry

“Allow yourself to get bored the way you got bored as a kid. And then, when you get bored and…you’re not being inundated by information or not looking at information, then just see what ideas start to come up.” ~ @Jeff Harry

“Challenge the status quo because clearly it’s not working for a majority of people if we have such high disengagement, such high absenteeism and, such a movement around like anti-work or Quiet Quitting.” ~ @Jeff Harry

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Rediscover Your Play 

Jeff Harry LinkedIn 

Play-Well TEKnologies – Teaching Engineering to Kids

Gary Ware – Breakthrough Play

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 67: Building a Culture of Mindfulness and Supporting Employee Mental Health with Headspace CPO Désirée Pascual

Braver Angels

harkness.ai

Lauren Yee – Cultivator of Curiosity

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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My Best Career Advice to Position Yourself for the Job You Want

How do you position yourself for the job that you want?

A career change is not easy, whether you feel stuck in you current job or just want to do something different that you enjoy.

As an employee, you’ve got to figure out how to get noticed to move your career ahead.

However, leaders also need to figure out how to provide a safe space and environment for their people to connect, even remotely.

I recently connected with Chris Villanueva, CEO & Co-Founder of Let’s Eat, Grandma, an online resume service that helps professionals rebrand themselves to land interviews for their dream jobs.

He invited me to be a guest on the Career Warrior Podcast, which he hosts, and we had a great chat about networking, relationship building, and how the changing world of work impacts both job seekers, and people leaders.

Chris and his team have graciously allowed me to share it so, sit back, and get ready for the best advice I’ve got for you to position yourself for the job you want – at least in 2022!

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • My thoughts on the future of work, and what both job seekers and HR leaders should be paying attention to.
  • The skills that will be most in-demand in the workplace of the future.
  • How to properly build relationships and network when many people are working remotely and networking less.
  • How to position yourself for new opportunities when you’re interested in making a career change.
  • The worst things job seekers do with their resumes that annoy HR and hiring managers.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 66

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“It’s really hard to establish connections when we are online behind a screen and connecting with people.” ~ @Chris Villanueva

“Just because it isn’t paid experience doesn’t mean it’s not valid experience that can end up pushing you to get more interviews.” ~ @Chris Villanueva

“You can always do something different.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Meta from Workplace

Let’s Eat Grandma Career Warrior Podcast

Career Warrior Podcast #274 – The Future of Work for Job Seekers with Jennifer McClure

Let’s Eat Grandma | Best Resume Writing Service

Chris Villanueva LinkedIn

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

Julie Turney / HR@Heart Consulting Inc.

Personal Brand Workbook

Steve Browne

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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Building a Culture of Mindfulness and Supporting Employee Mental Health with Headspace CPO Désirée Pascual

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 066

Whether the topic is the increased demand for flexible work, the Great Resignation, or something called Quiet Quitting, the common theme in all of these areas impacting the workplace today is a need to increase our focus on supporting employee well-being and mental health.

The question is “how”?

In this episode, I’m joined by Désirée Pascual, the Chief People Officer at Headspace Health, a digital mental health company. As a trained psychologist, she specializes in organizational and group dynamics focusing on communication and conflict resolution.

Informed by human-centered design principles and data-driven inquiry, Désirée is committed to curating joyful and resilient workplace cultures where employees are empowered to do their best work.

Désirée shares great insights and practical action steps we can take as leaders to support our own mental health, and that of our employees.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • The importance of creating psychological safety in the workplace to allow people to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work.
  • How leaders can address and prevent burnout – for themselves, and also for their team members.
  • Steps we can all take to create a more mindful culture in our companies.
  • How diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts link to mental health in the workplace.
  • What leaders can do to destigmatize use of mental health benefits.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 65

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“One of the things that we really have to focus on as leaders and as organizations is to create the psychological safety for people to bring as much of who they really are into the workplace.” ~ @Désirée Pascual

“When we accomplish moving closer to that goal post of people feeling safe bringing their whole selves to work, the result will be deeper conversations, stronger relationships–not just among coworkers, but also as it relates how you serve your members or your clients as an organization.” ~ @Désirée Pascual

“As leaders we are really called to model what healthy looks like, what safe looks like, and that includes being open about needing mental health support or mental health days off.” ~ @Désirée Pascual

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Meta from Workplace

Désirée Pascual on LinkedIn

Headspace Health

Headspace for Work

Leadership Workshop Series from Headspace Health

Workforce Attitudes Toward Mental Health Annual Report from Headspace Health

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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Creating Career Pathways to Unlock Opportunity for the Workforce of the Future with Matthew Daniel

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 064

Are you retaining talent by developing and moving them into other opportunities that benefit both their career and the organization?

Data shows that the more we invest in developing and seeing those opportunities for other people to move around the organization, the greater the loyalty to the company, and the greater the retention.

In this episode, Matthew Daniel shares great insights into how leaders can create career pathways to unlock opportunities for their workforce. Matthew is the Principal Consultant of Talent Strategy and Mobility at Guild Education, a company that partners with forward-thinking organizations to transform education into strategic talent advantage, especially for their frontline.

The entirety of Matthew’s career has been about investing in others, seeing them grow, and trying to match them up with opportunities so they can go big, and do bigger and better things.

Listen to our lively discussion and learn why investing in your workforce also makes good business sense.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:​​

  • Guild Education’s new model for creating a win-win situation for both employers and employees when it comes to career growth.
  • How Walmart’s Live Better U has contributed to an 87% increase in promotions for Black employees, and 71% increase in promotions for Hispanic employees versus those not enrolled in the program.
  • What leaders should be doing today to develop the talent that they’ll need in the future.
  • Three things that employees truly want from their work and workplace.
  • How effective internal talent mobility programs and processes can positively impact loyalty, retention and financial metrics of a company.
  • Why not building a talent base in your organization that reflects the consumer population is a recipe for disaster.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 64

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“Leaders make the decisions to invest in their own staff, to build the skills that they need, rather than just expecting to somehow go out on the market and buy those skills through recruiting.”~ @Matthew Daniel

“It can be a win for the employees where they’re developing economic mobility, new skills, getting themselves ready for the future and the employers benefit from their own internal talent pipeline.” ~ @Matthew Daniel

“Among US workers who left a job in 2021, 63% say they left because there were no opportunities for advancement.” ~ @Matthew Daniel

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Meta from Workplace

Matthew Daniel on LinkedIn

Matthew Daniel’s website

Guild Education

How Rocket Central transformed an unused tuition benefit into a world-class career growth program

Walmart To Pay 100% of College Tuition and Books for Associates

Josh Bersin

Building from the Bottom Up – Harvard Business School

Matthew Daniel’s Chief Learning Officer articles

Matthew Daniel’s Talent Management articles

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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Defining Return on Workforce Investment in the Future of Work with Dr. Alexander Alonso

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 063

Did you know that leaders are much more likely to engage in quiet quitting than their actual workers?

They are showing signs of fatigue without any kind of recognition or remuneration for what they’ve done to lead others.

How does this impact the future of work? And what can the leaders of leaders do to help mitigate quiet quitting?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Alexander Alonso, the Chief Knowledge Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), who shares some valuable insights into reinventing the future of work.

The good news? You don’t have to be an HR leader to get something out of our discussion.

We talked about what research shows has changed over the last couple of years in regards to how employees view the workplace, and what they’re looking for employers to provide them that differs from the past.

I also learned several new things in our discussion, including what it means to “Get Netflixed”, what the acronym GESHWI means – and how we’ll all be using it – and the price that some people are willing to pay for being petty at work, as well as the benefits of learning how to discuss taboo subjects in the workplace.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:​​

  • The effects of focusing proactively on mental wellness in the workplace.
  • Why leaders are more likely to engage in “quiet quitting” than those who work for them.
  • What employees are looking to employers to provide them today, that differs from the past.
  • What GESHWI means, and how it correlates to EBITDA.
  • What it means to “Get Netflixed”, and why you don’t want that for your company.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 63

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“We’re empowering employers to bring mental health forward as a priority for their workers.”~ @Dr. Alexander Alonso

“Leaders are much more likely to engage in quiet quitting than their actual workers. And the reason for that is they’re showing signs of fatigue without any kind of recognition or remuneration for what they’ve done to lead others.” ~ @Dr. Alexander Alonso

“Don’t have the kind of conversations and the culture where…eventually your company is going to appear on Netflix in some documentary series where they’re talking about how horrible you were.” ~ @Dr. Alexander Alonso

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Meta from Workplace

Alexander Alonso, PhD SHRM-SCP

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.

SHRM Foundation

SHRM Labs

SHRM Research Institute

The Price of Pettiness: Bad Behavior in the Workplace and How to Stomp It Out by Alex Alonso

Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Discussions at Work by Alexander Alonso

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

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