Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing

My guest for this episode is Victor Cho.   A passionate consumer advocate, Victor was most recently the CEO at Evite where he led the company successfully through COVID-19 and returned it to growth, financial health, and a successful corporate buy-out. He is also the creator of the 4 th Stakeholder Framework on improving stakeholder capitalism. Victor believes for society to thrive, we must shed w...

50 years of research has shown an individual's sense of purpose and understanding of how they matter to an organization predicts motivation, productivity and the performance of an individual and the overall business.    A lack of feeling relevant and connected to the purpose within a job or organization is one of the drivers of the Great Resignation, Quit Quitting or whatever term is being used to...

People are living longer and that can mean they are working longer. Where there was once a 1 st act – work and then a second act – retirement, there now may be a 3 rd or even 4 th act. T he effort to attract and engage great talent has pushed organizations to invest in the wellbeing and growth of all of their people – meeting them where they are at and offering them more of what they want – opport...

Historically, about 1 in 4 working adults in the United States met clinical criteria for having a behavioral health condition. The consequences of leaving anxiety, depression, alcohol, drugs, and other common behavioral disorders unidentified and untreated have negative impacts in several areas relevant to employers. These problems influence absenteeism, presenteeism, health care treatment costs,...

There are many reasons driving employee disengagement and departures these days. The latest episode aims to shed light on how to address one of the drivers – lack of connection. My guest, Art Markman and I explore the difference between family, neighbors and strangers – how you treat them and what you expect from them and what we can learn from these differences and apply in the workplace to incre...

Dr. Richard Safeer leads the employee health and well-being initiative, Healthy at Hopkins at Johns Hopkins Medicine.  He also advises the institution on matters related to health plan benefits, occupational health and the employee assistance program.  He has published many journal articles and regularly speaks on employee health and wellbeing, in particular on how to create healthy workplace cult...

It is possible to offer a highly engaging and rewarding work experience in a manufacturing environment and this episode provides insight into a few ways to accomplish this goal. This episode features truckbed cover and accessory manufacturer, Diamondback Covers CEO, Ben Eltz and Chief People Offer, Morgan Forney.   Listen in as Ben and Morgan share their perspective on creating a workplace employe...

In 2022 and the focus for employers has expanded well beyond physical wellbeing to include financial and mental wellbeing (in most companies) and social, community and professional wellbeing in organizations that have taken a more comprehensive approach.   The wisest employers recognize creating a culture of health requires an intentional, multi—level approach and meeting employees where they are...

There is a belief that we can all get what we want if we just pull up our bootstraps and go for it.  But what happens to those who simply don't have boots?  It's tough for someone to move forward if they don't have the basics.   This episode is about a business that looks at business differently…My guest for this episode is Tom Vozzo, CEO of Homeboy Industries. Tom left his career in corporate Ame...

Everyday across the globe, people bring their whole selves to work.  They bring every experience from the moment they are born to the moment before they walk in the door each day.  All of it. The good, the bad, the traumatic.   The stuff they bring can be called the Social Determinants of Health.  The determinants are big buckets of factors – environment, genetics, individual behaviors, social cir...

Summer Replay 2022: We're revisiting a few relevant & helpful episodes from the past until we return with a new episode in Late August 2022.  Earlier this year, MIT Sloan Management Review  published a survey that revealed that toxic culture is the leading predictor of employee departures.  My guest for this episode proves positive cultures have the opposite effect - they help to attract and retai...

Summer Replay 2022: We're revisiting a few relevant & helpful episodes from the past until we return with a new episode in Late August 2022.  The best companies relentlessly focus on their contribution to the world and the humans in it and trust the effects (profitability, growth, lower turnover, etc.) will follow.   Culture and how people feel when they work, directly affects their ability to flo...

Summer Replay 2022: We're revisiting a few relevant & helpful episodes from the past until we return with a new episode in Late August 2022.  Employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they believe they can thrive there. What factors influence thriving in an organization?  It is more than perks and benefits. It's the daily experience of working for the organization...it's how it fee...

It is possible to turn a culture around.  This episodes guest is proof positive.   From toxic to family.   It takes work  and commitment at all levels in the organization.  The payoff - a company with staying power, happy employees and long-term potential.  My guest for this episode is Corey Stowell, VP of Human Resources at Webasto Americas.  Corey's passion for people, wellbeing, mindful leaders...

Mental and behavioral health challenges affect 1 in 4 adults worldwide. Given that the majority of awake time is spent at work, the workplace is an ideal setting for promoting good mental health. For employers, supporting a healthy workforce, particularly one emotionally and cognitively healthy, can also drive productivity, improve attendance, produce long-term health care cost savings, and help a...

This podcast is focused on helping organizations create spaces where employees can thrive so the business can thrive too.  This episode's guest leads an organization that so seriously believes in the purpose of thriving it's woven into the customer and employee value propositions. Ki Hammer is president and CEO of Ghafari, a global engineering, architecture, process design, consulting and construc...

Recent data (from January 2020 – a little laggy due to the pandemic) showed there were 580,466 people experiencing homelessness in Amerca.  70% were individuals and the rest were people living in families with children.  They lived in every state and territory and reflect the diversity of the US.  Homelessness is a big topic that plays a role in individual and community wellbeing. In this episode...

Everyday organizations are working hard to attract and retain talent and in this tight labor market, they're employing a lot of tactics to draw people in from signing bonuses to expanded benefits.  Behavior science tells us, tactics like this only inspire short-term commitment.  In order to engage talent long-term...the culture must nurture employees and provide inspiration beyond a paycheck.  My...

From the beginning, Ted Castle's desire to own a company that develops its employees, has a positive impact on the community, and shares innovative workplace practices has set the course of their growth and their culture.  Over time this has evolved into purpose and principles that are not just words on a wall, they are the foundation of living the Rhino Foods culture. The "right thing to do" guid...

Long before the pandemic led to the great resignation organizations who understood the power of establishing meaningfulness in work had an easier time engaging and keeping top talent.   Not surprisingly, the organizations losing the most talent are those that haven't been intentional about this. My guest for the podcast understands the human element of the work world well.  Zach Mercurio is one of...

This episode is for those who want to keep going.   Who want to not just survive, you want to thrive.   As we head into the holiday season – which brings a whole new set of stressors – there are steps we can take to boost our resilience and maybe even come out of the holiday season (or any challenging time of life) stronger. My guest for this episode is Dr. Michelle Thompson, a Triple-board certif...

Approximately 40-60% of our current state of health is driven by non-clinical factors. How much money we have in the bank, the depth and breadth of our social support network and the stress of finding reliable childcare all have impact on our health and risk for disease.   Organizations looking to improve the health of their workforce would be wise to keep this in mind – understand and address bas...

Scribe Media believes company culture is the operating system for their organization.  They so strongly believe in the concept of intentional culture, they created an open-access, living document call the Scribe Culture Bible that lays out what they believe, why they believe it and how they live by it.  From there the values are baked into their DNA and everything they do.  My guest for this episo...

As more individuals seek work that has purpose and meaning, in combination with growing interest in working for organizations that are making a positive difference in the world, leaders are opening up to the idea that they can and should focus on the impact they have on all stakeholders. My guest for this episode is Alexander McCobin, the CEO of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. a US-based nonprofit whos...

Iceland recently made headlines following the world's largest trial of a shorter work week when it declared the trial a success when they results showed workers were happier, healthier and more productive. At a time when the theme of work is focused on avoiding burnout and mental health issues, feeling happier and healthier while working seems like a dream.   My guest for this episode, futurist an...