Work For Humans

What comes to mind when you hear the word power? Whether or not you’re ambivalent about the idea of power, there’s no denying its role in the workplace. From bureaucracy and hierarchy to performance reviews and incentive plans, power dynamics are on full display in the workplace. So how can we show up powerfully at work and wield influence within our organizations?   Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer is a profe...

Inspiring individual or organizational change is one of the hardest things for any leader or manager to accomplish. According to Shalini Verma, a high-energy leader at Google who practices trauma-informed management, it's not about the process or the tools. That’s the easy stuff. In her opinion, the ability to drive individual and organizational change starts with a single thread: self-awaren...

When people don’t feel like they belong at work, their performance and well-being suffer. But, when individuals can be their authentic selves, the benefits for both the employee and the workplace are substantial. So what can organizations do to help promote belonging and inclusion in the workplace? Dr. Susie Wise studies, writes, and teaches how levers of design like roles, events, and spaces can...

In order to survive and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace, businesses must be proactive in designing experiences that customers love. Alder Yarrow has spent 25 years creating customer experiences for some of the world’s top brands including Twitter, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Tesla Motors, and more. In this episode, Dart and Alder discuss experience design and experience modeling. They discuss...

For decades workers have been incentivized to work for a paycheck, but how does the pay-for-performance model impact motivation, productivity, innovation, and work satisfaction? Professor Barry Schwartz studies how work operates in our culture and argues that monetary incentives are weak drivers of employee productivity. Barry explores the traits that can make work feel meaningful, and studies how...

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped society as we know it. In this post-pandemic world, the balance of power has shifted from employer to employee. Workers are demanding respect and expecting a greater quality of life, in many cases refusing a return to the traditional office. So what happens when companies can no longer rely on culture and on-premise experience to attract and retain employees? And how...

Bureaucracy used to make sense. A lot of sense. Information was recorded on paper, it was difficult and expensive to move, and the best way for an organization to make decisions was for managers to consolidate information and send it up a chain of command. Times have changed, but for the most part, organizations haven’t. The average Fortune 500 company still has eight layers of management passing...

Too often business leaders are forced to choose between the needs of their company and the needs of their employees. It’s a lose/lose scenario leaving managers burned out and workers seeking other opportunities. But it doesn’t have to be this way... At Work for Humans, we believe work can be designed differently. When you design work like products people love, your company wins. Working conditions...