Resilient Faith at Work

Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard discuss the latest research on the top dilemmas people are facing at work. The conversation is based on the research VOCA conducts each year, in which we ask, “What are your greatest challenges and dilemmas in your work life?” In this episode, the VOCA team processes Dilemma #6: “Not enjoying or feeling motivated in the work I do.” Schedule a Consult Blo...

Dr. Chip Roper, Ken Kinard, and Sarah Evers discuss how rage seems to be all the rage. “Rage quitting ” has now been replaced by “rage applying” where employees fed up with a current employer leave in a huff and apply to a bunch of random jobs using a scatter-shot approach. With rage quitting, you’ve left without a plan. With rage applying, you’re attempting to leave with a haphazardly found oppor...

Every year, VOCA embarks on two studies to listen to the people we serve. In the Fall, we ask a general audience, “What are your greatest challenges and dilemmas in your work life?” Why? Our reasoning is captured by the following proverb: If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame . (Proverbs 18:13) We have embedded systemic listening into our annual rhythm to serve thousand...

2022 was the year when inflation spiked, a ground war in Europe began, capital markets tightened, and the wealth of the wealthy declined. At the same time, it was a great year for job seekers, with unprecedented job openings, pay increases, and incentives to look elsewhere. Every year starts with some uncertainty. This year the intensity is amplified. So how does one navigate a work and financial...

Probability models indicate a 98% chance of a global economic downturn. How do you prepare for what seems like an inevitable recession? How can you take sensible precautions without caving into worry, fear, or obsession? In this webinar, VOCA's team (Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard) cut through the noise to help you understand how you can proactively build up personal, vocational,...

At a time when women are increasingly reentering the workforce following the pandemic, it's more important than ever to understand their unique lived experiences at work. What obstacles do women report facing in the workplace today, and what are they asking for? In this webinar, the VOCA team will unpack the results of our most recent research study on women in the workplace ( Women and the Po...

When you come back from vacation and it's time to get back to work, how do you feel? The answer often reveals a lot about our jobs — what’s working and what isn’t.  Dr. Chip Roper, Ken Kinard, and Sarah Evers discuss the question, "What does my vacation say about my work?" If you have the post-vacation work blues, how can you identify the causes of your discontent, and what are your op...

Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard discuss the fifth dilemma in VOCA's Work Dilemmas series: Should I work from home or return to the office? Over the last 18 months, it has been assumed that employees have the upper hand in negotiating their working arrangements with their employers. Stanford reports that 50% are refusing to return to the office and managers don’t know what to do abo...

Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard discuss the fourth dilemma in VOCA's Work Dilemmas series. What you do as a Christ-following employee when you don’t align with the leadership of your company? You may feel your company is too progressive. You may feel your company is too conservative. Perhaps you feel shut out of conversations about organizational policies and initiatives. Maybe it&...

How’s the Great Resignation going? Well a recent study revealed that 1 in 5 employees who quit their job during the pandemic now regret their decision. So that raises an important question: should you quit your job, or should you stay put? This is the fourth episode in our series on the Dilemmas Project, an in-depth study of the biggest challenges people are facing at work right now. Dr. Chip Rope...

This is the third episode in our series on the Dilemmas Project, an in-depth study of the biggest challenges people are facing at work right now. In this episode, we tackle that killer thief of joy at work, burnout. Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard discuss the definition of burnout, its causes, and even some strategies to battle burnout so it doesn’t defeat you. To follow along with the...

Greg Brenneman, Executive Chairman of CCMP Capital and Lead Director of the Board at Home Depot, joined VOCA Center to share key insights on economic changes and what they could mean for your leadership. Dr. Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard discussed the road ahead for work, what questions leaders should be considering, and where opportunities to deploy resilient faith at work may lie in th...

Now two years into the pandemic, we’ve been keeping an eye on changes in the workplace. Remote work has become more normal, and some companies are designing around a permanently remote workforce. At VOCA Center we wondered, how does this affect the relationships between employers and employees, and what are the implications of this for productivity, innovation, and company culture? To dive into th...

This is the second episode in our series on the Dilemmas Project, an in-depth study of the biggest challenges people are facing at work right now. In this episode, we tackle the dilemma that was rated number one on our survey: work-life balance. These days many of us can work from any place at any time, but how do you turn off the work channel and be fully present with the people you love? Dr. Chi...

Dilemmas are a part of life–monthly, weekly, sometimes daily. In the last quarter of 2021, we completed the Dilemmas Project, an in-depth study of the biggest challenges people are facing at work now. This study reveals the opportunities for God to be intimately involved in our work. So how do we faithfully approach these dilemmas? In this episode, we unpack the results of our survey and the top d...

Bob Doll, Chief Investment Officer at Crossmark Global Investments, joined Dr Chip Roper, Sarah Evers, and Ken Kinard for our year-end VOCA Reception. Bob shared his insights on the future of work on how we might deploy resilient leadership in 2022. Also, Chip Roper shared an update on VOCA and a preview of our plans for the coming year.

We are experiencing the largest vocational migration in recent history, but what does Scripture say? What biblical wisdom should we apply to our personal vocational discernment? Dr. Chip Roper will deliver a formal analysis of the Great Resignation and he will be joined by VOCA Center coaches, Sarah Evers and Ken Kinard, to talk through the ways the gospel says we can faithfully navigate our caree...

Work stress is not going away! The ambiguity of reopening, the background noise of office politics, post-COVID team dynamics—all of it feeds anxiety, and anxiety equals stress. Learn how to manage it with author, counselor and talk show host, Dr. Jada Jackson. She works with athletes in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. Jada gives us the secrets to managing stress for...

Facing a crisis is not just about weathering the storm. We must find our way forward after the shock. We'll learn how to do both as we welcome David Dill, CEO of Lifepoint Health, to the Resilient Faith at Work Podcast. Lifepoint boasts almost 90 hospitals in 30 different states. We look forward to hearing how wise leadership practice and faith carried David and his team through the greatest h...

Vaccine mandates are making work complicated for everyone. How should Christ-followers respond? The return to the office is bringing new tensions with it–between those vaccinated and those who aren’t. As workplaces are mandating vaccines to come back to work, those who aren’t vaccinated are left with the choice to either get vaccinated or lose their job. Those who are vaccinated are left to hold t...

Ken, Sarah, and Chip invite Catherine Flax to share her experience of leading while wearing many hats. Catherine is a Managing Director at CRA Incorporated. She has been named “Most Influential Woman in European Investment Banking and was named one of the “100 Most Influential Women in European Financial Markets.” Catherine has decades of expertise having been CEO of Pefin, Managing Director and H...

The VOCA team is pleased to welcome Mark Whitacre as he shares his compelling story. The movie The Informant! (featuring Matt Damon) was inspired by his life. As a young executive, Mark got caught up in a price-fixing scheme that changed his life forever. He became an FBI informant and the highest-level executive to ever turn whistleblower in FBI history. Listen to Mark’s story of how resilient fa...

The VOCA Center team welcomes Greg Brenneman, Executive Chairman of CCMP Capital. Greg is also Lead Director of The Home Depot, on the Board at Baylor College, and author of Right Away & All At Once: Five Steps to Transform Your Business and Enrich Your Life . From his position at the intersection of business and healthcare, Greg gives a unique perspective on the nation’s response to COVID, th...

Sarah, Ken, and Chip welcome Wanji Walcott, Executive VP, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Discover. Wanji has been named one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America in 2020. In this episode, Wanji outlines the difference between resilience as crisis recovery, and resilience as endurance. She also shares her story about how she helped Discover build an...

Welcome to the Resilient Faith at Work Podcast—insight and inspiration to thrive at work and in your Christian faith. One requirement for thriving is developing the capacity to handle adversity. In other words, you need to be resilient . Join Dr. Chip Roper, President of the VOCA Center, and co-hosts Sarah Evers and Ken Kinard, career coaches and leadership experts with the VOCA Center, as they sh...