Gut + Science

Truth You Can Act On: 360 Feedback. This is a process that helps us understand how others see or experience us. Get an audience of 20 people or more for a larger sample size, and make it an annual habit. Focus on the difficult relationships around you. Most of us do the opposite, but with the process we learned in this episode, it can be simple (maybe not easy, but that will make us grow). Powerfu...

Truth You Can Act On: Our 5-9 affects our 9-5. This mindset reminds us, as leaders, to take the whole person approach to the way we see our employees. Health: It's 80% food and 20% movement. When we look at our meal, it should be 75% vegetables and 25% protein and fat. When we think about movement, working out is good, but it is only one of the six ways we need to move. Energy equals money. Let th...

Truth You Can Act On: Ask for feedback. You need to know what's going on in your company. As a leader, it's your responsibility to make sure your employees feel safe enough to provide feedback. Diversity and inclusion should be tied to business outcomes. If we can tie inclusion into overall business strategy and important KPIs, there will be more buy-in from everyone. Tie it to the bigger picture....

Truth You Can Act On: We need commitment. Before building and executing a process, it's imperative to have everyone on the leadership team on board. We need processes. Processes help us hold each other accountable. What processes do you have in place when it comes to developing your employees? How could they improve? Learn how to have tough conversations. Dane tells us the most important thing abo...

Truth You Can Act On: Master your communication process. How are you conducting your communication when it comes to both the masses and employee one-on-ones? Build relationships with your people. It's important to truly get to know your people. Understand your employees and what they want by building a human-to-human relationship. Conduct alignment interviews. These interviews are an opportunity t...

Truth You Can Act On: Employee engagement and customer loyalty are connected. A customer's experience is almost always tied back to how your employees are engaging with them. So, think about it - if someone wakes up on Monday and they don't feel connected to the purpose of their company or their boss, they probably won't be super pleasant to customers. Seen. Heard. Valued. Everyone wants to feel t...

Truth You Can Act On: Educate Your People on All the Options. Bring in live and virtual educational sessions to help your employees make the best decisions on alleviating their financial load. Check Out Refinancing Options. Talk with trusted experts to give you options to share with your employees. Commit to Contributions. Think about the contributions you can make as an employer. Send your employ...

Truth You Can Act On: Set expectations with employees. When setting expectations, there's a big difference between being "kind of clear" and being "very clear". Employees want to know what's expected of them. They want to know what it means to be successful, and they want to know when they're falling short. Don't let them down. Be crystal clear with your expectations—showing them exactly where the...

With years of stereotypes blocking change, what can an HR professional say to get a seat at the table and help inform the CEO on making the right people, culture, and engagement decisions? To complete our first #Insights series, Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) dives into how companies are more than just vehicles for creating revenue - they should be a place for transformational growth where p...

How can we help our employees find purpose and meaning in their work, and engage them as people? This week on #Insights, Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) walks us through how you can define meaning - driven from the top-down - at your organization. The reality is, people find meaning in different ways. For some, it's working together as a team, for others it could be solving problems or delive...

This week on #Insights, we're diving into employee engagement - how it's evolved [especially in the past couple of years] and how this evolution has impacted the relationship between human resources leaders and the C-Suite. Listen in as Emplify CEO and Co-founder Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) takes us on a journey into the past - because before we can talk about where things are today, we n...

In this first episode of Insights, we're exploring some of the biggest issues we face in today's workplace with Emplify CEO and Co-founder Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ).    First, how do you understand what your people actually need? And second, why should the CEO care? It all begins with the employee experience and understanding where that story starts. In this episode, you'll hear from Ro...

Introducing #Insights, an original series from Emplify ,  that explores extraordinary advances in people performance and business outcomes through workplace science and...well, insights. You'll learn from Emplify CEO and Co-founder Santiago Jaramillo ( @santiagojara ) as he discusses culture and engagement - and takes a deep dive into the specific questions that are top of mind for people-first le...

Truth You Can Act On: What is your higher purpose as an organization? A conscious business is one that exists for a higher purpose beyond creating profits and shareholder value. It exists to make the world a better place. Do you have complete stakeholder integration? By stakeholders, we're not just talking about employees, customers, and shareholders. We also need to remember our suppliers, the co...

  Truth You Can Act On: Narrow down your values. Can you list all your core values from memory? If not, you have too many. How can you expect to build a culture around these supposed "core" values if you as a leader can't even remember them all? Cut them down to the few that describe the uniqueness of your organization the best. Reinforce your culture. It's one thing to create effective core value...

  Truth You Can Act On: Take a 360 degree approach. Cross departmental integration and collaboration from every angle of employee and customer experience. Take time to think about this. How are you doing? Are you marketing to employees (and prospective employees) with the same creativity you use to gain customers? If not, reflect on ways to improve. Ask for feedback. Employee feedback is crucial....

Truth You Can Act On: Turnover is OK. Are you scared of turnover? It's become a big evil word in today's workplace. But in reality, it's ok. In fact, it can be good for your organization. If someone's not feeling their job anymore—if it has become a "necessary evil" and no longer aligns with their goals and dreams—it's better (for both the employee and your organization) to encourage that person t...

Truth You Can Act On: Understand what makes a good mentor.   Think back to a mentor who has truly impacted your career and life journey. All of us probably have a certain name, or multiple names, in mind. It's easy to go into full-on coaching mode, but listening is huge when it comes to mentoring. Connecting with people and being available to your mentees is also important - it won't cut it to mee...

Truth You Can Act On: Redefine HR leaders. Your HR leaders must be strategic thinkers. Not only that, but they also need to be involved and aligned with C-Suite decision-making processes. Gone are the days of HR working quietly on administrative tasks in the background. If you want to recruit top talent, HR leaders cannot continue as mere service providers. They must become functional experts. Dev...

Truth You Can Act On: Know people's motivation: We can't treat all of our people the same. Everyone's motivated in different ways and we have to know what's there why. We have to spend time listening and understanding how your employees are motivated. Employees first: Customer service should be a top priority but it can't take precedence over your employees. When you help your employees win they'l...

Truth You Can Act On: Know people's motivation: We can't treat all of our people the same. Everyone's motivated in different ways and we have to know what's there why. We have to spend time listening and understanding how your employees are motivated. Employees first: Customer service should be a top priority but it can't take precedence over your employees. When you help your employees win they'l...

Truth You Can Act On: Feel your culture. How? Clarity and consistency in messaging, a clear construct for leaders of all levels to make good decisions, and storytelling. Tell stories that reinforce the culture you're trying to build. Build a healthy workplace. How? No matter the size of the organization, the steps are the same: Identify your goals, clearly communicate those goals, and empower and...

Truth You Can Act On: Hire for attitude and beliefs. Don't hire based on competency. Skills can be trained. Beliefs—not so much. What attitude are you looking for and what kind of mindset do you need in your people? Are you clear on that? Make sure you and your team know this before your next hire. Unlock discretionary energy. There are satisfied employees, engaged employees, and then there are em...

Truth You Can Act On: Put it on the calendar. Having regular, uninterrupted one-on-one meetings is a free and effective way to build relationships with your team members. For best results, schedule your meetings on a recurring basis. This could be weekly or bi-monthly; the key is consistency on the calendar. Have an agenda. Make sure your one-to-one meetings always have a structure. A good one to...

Truth You Can Act On: Have a culture class. Teach all employees about the culture and the vision of your organization. Clarify what the company is looking for in its employees, how they should behave, and how to work and operate as a collective whole towards the culture you're striving for. Create a culture of excellence. This can be achieved through internal training and development of your peopl...