Punk Rock HR is underwritten by Headspace for Work.
My guest today is Derek Irvine. Derek has been in the human resources business for a long time, helping companies just be more human and more civil to one another. Today, he holds the position of Senior Vice President for the company Workhuman.
Derek is also the author of the new book, Making Work Human. Derek and his co-author believe that by building a sense of belonging, purpose, meaning, happiness, and energy for every employee, you’ll create a profound connection between your organization and its goals. They wrote Making Work Human to provide you with everything you need to get there.
I’ve known Derek for a long time. He was talking about making work human far before it was trendy. So if you’re interested in hearing from the pioneer of the work human movement, tune into my conversation with Derek.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- All about Making Work Human and why Derek wrote it.
- Why we should always be thanking and celebrating essential workers.
- The role of technology in making work human.
- Why storytelling is so important, especially right now.
- What writing a book does for your business.
- What human resources leaders will learn from his book.
- What he learned about himself as he wrote this book and throughout COVID-19.
- How the stress of this season is impacting his own organization.
- All about resilience and how it appears in his book.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
WHAT IS MAKING WORK HUMAN ABOUT AND WHY DID DEREK WRITE IT?
Making Work Human is really a story about Derek’s clients. It lays out everything that the world’s most admired companies that he has worked with have been successfully doing to bring more humanity into the workplace. The book contains multiple case studies about how those companies have been on a journey with Derek and his company. A big theme of the book is the top three words Derek emphasizes with the companies he works with. Those three words are authentically, frequently, and celebrating together. They have found that if you focus on those three words, you’ll successfully bring more humanity into your workplace.
WHAT ROLE DOES TECHNOLOGY PLAY IN MAKING WORK HUMAN?
There is so much technology out there to help with HR. However, if you focus on which of those technologies help bring humanity into the workplace, the list is pretty short. Workhuman’s technology, however, scales what many people want but quickly forget about. We all have a wish-list of the things we did more, such as appreciating and thanking others. However, as the day goes on, we forget to do these things. The technology at Workhuman helps by reminding you to do those things that you want to do. It also provides an opportunity for amplification with a social feed where you can actually do those things. Finally, this technology is so powerful because it allows companies to look at the data afterward. They can examine the networks, the connections, and the soft skills that are being exhibited as people are engaging in thinking, talking, and celebrating.
WHAT DOES RESILIENCE MEAN, ESPECIALLY IN THIS CURRENT SEASON IN AMERICA?
Resilience means exercising the muscle of whatever it is you want to develop in your life. For example, if you want to start thanking, talking, and celebrating in your organization, you have to exercise the muscle of connection-building in the workplace. This takes resilience, but it is what keeps relationships strong.
Resources from this episode:
Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World
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