Punk Rock HR Episode 103:
I’d like you to meet Joey Price. Joey is the founder of Jumpstart: HR, LLC, and host of Business, Life, and Coffee, a weekly entrepreneur mentorship podcast. He focuses on creating effective HR systems for small businesses and startups across the country and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Forbes School of Business and Technology’s Human Resources Degree Program. Joey Price is a thought leader in the very best sense of the word.
We are all feeling a sense of anxiety in the face of the unknown. In today’s conversation, Joey joins me to offer his perspective on what it’s like to be a leader and to be human during this crazy time. We also discuss the effects on work, life, and business on the COVID-19 generation. As you listen, I hope this episode offers a healing conversation to you. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode of Punk Rock HR.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- Joey shares his thoughts on how people are reacting or coping with life and work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We have an open and honest conversation about how humaneness in our workforce and our leaders is going unrecognized.
- What Joey believes the future may hold for medium to small-sized businesses.
- Some thoughts about CEO’s who haven’t been walking their talk about the importance of the employee experience pre-pandemic and now not thinking about their employees during the pandemic – what gives?
- Digital transformation and working from home – are they right for business?
- The effects on work, life, and business on the COVID-19 generation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
WHAT IS SOME ADVICE FOR LEADERS OR EMPLOYEES OF THOSE WHO MUST WORK AT THIS TIME?
Joey believes from a leadership perspective; leaders still have a responsibility to make the workplace as enjoyable, as a value add or as meaningful as possible. It’s a business mandate, according to Joey. “There’s a saying that people vote with their feet. People may initially sign up to work with your business because they have to, but what happens when there’s another opportunity across the street, or offers better working conditions? What happens when there’s an opportunity that they can log into from across the country? There’s still going to be the war to keep your talent and you need to be aware of that. So, optimist or not, you can’t be a crappy employer.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE LONG-LASTING EFFECTS OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND WORKING WILL BE?
Here are some thoughts from Joey on this topic, “I believe that we’ve accelerated digital transformation in the past three weeks more than we have in the past ten years. From businesses, to churches to fitness instructors; a lot of people who would have never swore to take their operations mobile or digital. They’re now doing so, and it’s more out of survival. So I don’t know how much of this will last long term. However, I don’t think we’re going to be as gun shy to make digital transformations in our business that are long-lasting. Some of it is temporary. But I do love the innovation. I’ve seen two companies with remote happy hours. I think it’s attempting to make a human experience in the midst of this digital transformation. And that part is good. I think that people are grappling with how they can still connect with one another. The workforce will not look the way that it did before COVID-19.”
WHAT ARE SOME EFFECTS WE MIGHT SEE AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 GENERATION?
Here’s more from Joey, “We have the WWII generation, we have the Gulf War generation, we have the September 11th generation, and we now have the COVID-19 generation. People are going to remember the trauma that they experienced from this time. Why weren’t we more prepared for this? Why didn’t we take steps to make the workforce better beforehand? I don’t know if that’s more near term or longer-term, but we’re going to be seeing books written about the COVID-19 generation from people who either grew up in it or were frontline workers. We will also hear from those who became managers, and they said, ‘When I start my company or when I am in charge, we’re going to do things differently.’ I don’t quite have a finger on that yet, but COVID-19 has changed the people.”
Resources from this episode:
Jumpstart: HR
Small Business HR Courses (Coronavirus, CA Sexual Harassment, etc)
Business, Life, and Coffee Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Podbean | Spotify
Joey on Twitter
Joey on LinkedIn
Joey on Instagram
GenC, Seth Godin
Did Dolphins and Swans ‘Return’ to Italian Waterways Amid COVID-19 Lockdown?, Snopes
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