My guest today is a senior executive at Workhuman®, a company that helps forward-thinking organizations energize their cultures, unlock their employees’ passion and potential, and unite around a shared purpose. I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Workhuman® team for over 5 years now, both attending and speaking at their amazing and unique Workhuman Live annual Conference.

Each year, the conference is kicked off by the colorfully and impeccably dressed Derek Irvine, who is Workhuman’s Senior Vice President of Client Strategy and Consulting. Derek is one of the world’s foremost experts on social recognition, continuous performance management, engagement, and the future of work, and he’s passionate about helping business leaders to elevate their vision and ambitions for their company culture.

Derek is also a renowned speaker and co-author of three books, including “Winning with a Culture of Recognition”, “The Power of Thanks”, and the latest – Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World, which he co-authored along with the CEO of Workhuman, Eric Mosley. Their book is full of practical strategies based upon wide-ranging research, extensive data and analysis, and real-world case studies, and also covers how weaving the three pillars of THANK, TALK, and CELEBRATE into the daily lives of employees can reinforce an organization’s purpose, improve productivity, and even magnify the social impact of the business.

Derek always shares a ton of great wisdom and advice in his keynotes and books, and I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation. You’ll also come away with some practical action steps that you can take to create a more human-centered workplace for the people that you lead and serve.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:​​

• What the research shows, and the argument for why human connection makes a tremendous difference for businesses.
• Is it possible for high-achieving and results focused cultures to achieve results while focusing on human connection?
• What the Workhuman Charter of Workplace Rights is, and how it can help organizations to progress faster.
• Three powerful words that bring humanity forward in the workplace – Thank, Talk, and Celebrate.
• How technology can help organizations to create more human centered workplaces.
• The difference between meaning and purpose at work.
• The role that gratitude plays in motivating employees to do their best work.
• Why expressing gratitude is more effective than saying “thank you”.
• Three actions that leaders can take to create a more human-centered workplace.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 52

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Key Quotes From This Episode:

“When you achieve human connection in the workplace, it’s everything. In fact, it’s the number one thing that humans who come to work are looking for. A connection to not only the other people that they work with, but also a connection to the purpose for the company. Because when you get a connection to the purpose of the company, it builds your personal meaning for what you’re doing. And that unleashes this virtuous circle that’s good for everybody involved.” ~ Derek Irvine

“True human-centric cultures embrace our differences, allow more variety of thought and behavior, and that in itself is what creates the virtuous circle of feeling like you work in a more human workplace, where people can really bring their whole selves to the workplace.” ~ Derek Irvine

“Purpose is something that is shared across the wider organization, whereas meaning is what it comes down to for me personally.” ~ Derek Irvine

People & Resources Mentioned In This episode:

Workhuman

Workhuman Live Conference

Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World by Eric Mosley and Derek Irvine

Brené Brown

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