Jason Lauritsen is a former corporate Human Resources executive dedicated to helping leaders build organizations that are good for both people and profits. He’s a keynote speaker, employee engagement and workplace culture expert who will challenge you to think differently.
Jason led the research team for Quantum Workplace’s Best Places to Work program where he has studied the employee experience at thousands of companies to understand what the best workplaces in the world do differently than the rest.
His new book, Unlocking High Performance, is now available for pre-order.
Today, Jason starts off telling us how he got so fascinated with employee engagement, we discuss why both of us want to make work better for employees even though we work for ourselves, why relationships are so important and specifically how managers can better engage their employees.
Jason gives an excellent list of 5 questions managers can use in 1:1’s with their employees to foster a healthy relationship. Finally, he leaves us what we can do to foster more positive relationships with employees.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Putting on a conference is no easy task, much less a conference that challenges us to bring humanity back to the workplace. That’s exactly what today’s guests, Rosie Ward and Scott Life, talk about today.
Salveo Partners, along with a dedicated planning committee, will have their inaugural Fusion 2.0 conference this November. In this interview, Rosie and Scott tell us how the idea was sparked, who’s helping plan it, how it’s different from other conferences and the speaker line up. Don’t miss it at the end when Rosie offers listeners $200 off conference registration.
I hope to see you at the Fusion 2.0 conference this November!
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Many of us strive to make positive change in the workplace but simply don’t have the authority to do so. Today’s guest, Chris White, gives some fantastic tips on how to get our ideas adopted.
Chris White leads the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan. The Center helps leaders build high-performing organizations that bring out the best in people through ground-breaking research, educational programs, and organizational partnerships.
At the Ross School of Business, White co-developed and teaches the MBA class on Social Intrapreneurship: creating positive change without authority. White is co-author of a book on the topic through Harvard Business Review Press, entitled Changing Your Company From the Inside Out.
In this interview, we discuss two main topics – how to lead positive change without authority and the energy we bring to work. Chris shares his framework on successful change and of course, tangible tips.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Mettie Spiess is an international mental health speaker, nationally certified corporate health coach, and the founder of A World Without Suicide. She is known as a “tiny but mighty” and a “stigma-crusher” by clients nation-wide.
Mettie shares her practical (Voice. Value. Vigilance.) leadership process with companies to effectively support employee mental health and increase the effectiveness of their wellness programs.
We start off the interview with Mettie telling her personal story, the fears and stigma around mental health at the workplace what signs do you look for and what if there are no signs? She shares her framework of Voice. Value. Vigilance. which is extremely tangible.
Let’s talk about mental health. People are struggling and at the very least, we’re in the position to highlight mental health resources available to our population.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Joe Nadglowski is President & CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC). The OAC is a non-profit organization formed in 2005 dedicated to elevating and empowering those affected by obesity through education, advocacy and support.
A frequent speaker and author on the importance of obesity awareness, Joe has more than 25 years of experience working in patient advocacy, public policy and education. He has been a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House to discuss childhood obesity and has testified before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the importance of increasing treatment options for individuals affected by obesity.
In today’s interview Joe tells his personal story about his weight, some general misconceptions about obesity and weight stigma in the workplace. We talk about the role of the wellness professional and employer when it comes to obesity. Finally, Joe leaves us with one tangible tip for creating a stigma free workplace.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
It seems that no matter who I talk to, the topic of millennials comes up, typically when it comes to people talking about how they are driving the needs of wellness offerings, or how they want flexibility or how they are entitled. One thing I think millennials will demand is a different leadership than what today’s guest calls a “command and control” approach.
Today’s guest is Lee Caraher, CEO of Double Forte PR & Digital Marketing. Her company works with some of the top consumer and technology brands in the country. Lee’s an acclaimed communication strategist, known for her practical solutions to big problems.
Lee is the author of Millennials & Management based on her experience with failing and then succeeding at retaining Millennials. She has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who have fun together at the same time.
In today’s interview, we discuss how creating a happy and low drama team is an art form, she’s honest about her management missteps and she tells a great story about when she got 360 feedback that made her realize she had some leadership gaps and what she did to change it.
Lee has a very contrary view to turnover which I loved. She leaves us with a tangible tip to building a high performance culture.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
This episode is all about our upcoming training in February to help wellness and HR professionals take small steps into the next generation of wellness. With the wellness industry evolving, Rebecca and I want to provide a safe and supportive environment where we provide actionable and applicable advice on how to have more impact in your role.
Listen in to hear Rebecca and I chat about how and why we came up with the idea for the training, why we are the right people to teach it and a bit more about the content and who’s a good fit.
Also, don’t miss out on an opportunity to participate in a small group training starting in October. Here's a bit more about it:
For those that sign up for my February training (more weeks and more formalized), this small group training is free. If you just want to do the standalone, then it's $350. Just use this contact form if you only want the small group training.
The deadline to get in on the small group training is October 17th.
For full details on the 2019 training, visit https://redesigningwellness.com/impactandinfluence/
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Dr. Bryan Sexton has captured the wisdom of frontline caregivers through rigorous assessments of safety culture, teamwork, and workforce resilience. His research instruments have been used around the world in over 3000 hospitals, in 30 countries. His current R01 grant from NIH is a randomized clinical trial of resilience training.
With specializations in organizational assessment, teamwork, survey development, and quantitative methods, Bryan spends his time teaching, mentoring, conducting research, and finding practical ways of getting busy caregivers to do the right thing, by making it the easy thing to do.
Bryan has found that results across industries, work settings, shifts, professions, and countries highlight a great deal about reliability in high risk environments – specifically, “you are better off changing the situation, than trying to change human nature.”
He starts off by telling us how he got started studying burnout in healthcare workers, (BTW- he does an amazing southern accent), he defines the three types burnout and tools he uses to in his resilience research.
Bryan wants people to know that burnout is recoverable.
If you work in a healthcare setting or with healthcare workers, I highly recommend you ask your employees to enroll in Dr. Sexton’s WISER study. You can send your employees to bit.ly/3WISER to participate.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
For those of you working in or with larger organizations, this episode is for you. Today I talk to LuAnn Heinen, VP of Workforce Well-being, Productivity and Human Capital for the National Business Group on Health®.
The National Business Group on Health is the nation’s only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing large employers’ perspective on national health policy issues and helping companies optimize business performance through health improvement, innovation and health care management.
LuAnn leads the Business Group’s initiatives on employee, family and community well-being and workforce effectiveness. These include Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles® recognition program, Institute on Innovation in Workforce Well-being and the Institute on Health, Productivity and Human Capital.
In today’s interview, we discuss their model of the drivers of employee well-being, their 2018 trends to watch, what the well-being conversations looks like with their global employers, and future trends. LuAnn leaves us with one tangible tip for employers to consider when attempting to enhance employee well-being.
Also, click here to learn more about my upcoming training, Next Generation Wellness: From Theory to Practice.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Cali Williams Yost, CEO and Founder of Flex and Strategy Group, makes a bold statement….employers aren’t going to be able to attract workers under the age of 35 if they don’t incorporate flexible work.
Cali helps leaders of traditional businesses build high performance flexible work cultures that attract and retain talent, optimize resources, increase productivity and improve well-being.
For more than two decades, she has provided leaders and employees with the insights, skills and tools to confidently embrace flexibility in the way work is done.
Flexible work is Cali’s jam and she is such a dynamo. In this interview we talk about the benefits of a flexible work culture, how it impacts well-being, what employers forget when implementing a flexible work strategy and she ends with two tangible tips – one for you as an individual and one for your org.
Cali makes a great point about flexible work…it’s not just work from home. There are many ways to incorporate flexible work within organizations. Also, she does a great job answering a question I had about hospital systems and how flexible work applies to the healthcare industry.
Also, click here to learn more about my upcoming training, Next Generation Wellness: From Theory to Practice.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Welcome! Today’s interview is part of a series to help you grow personally and professionally. Today’s guest, Mitch Martens, is the Employee Wellness Administrator at Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles, California. He follows a simple philosophy that can be found in any of his programing…humans are motivated at the heart and when you risk going there, the possibilities are endless.
Today was a free flowing conversation and I had no questions prepared which is so unlike me. But I wanted this to be an authentic conversation and wanted to give Mitch the space to do his thing.
We talk about what Mitch calls a well giver, takes us through his career path, he’s a little vulnerable about where he still struggles with his new experiences and he asks me to think of a time when something happened that made an impact on me. I get a little vulnerable too, talking about my panic about the limited time I have left on this planet and some of my hopes and dreams.
If you’re up for a conversation between two wellness pros that gets into the personal side of wellness, then you’ll enjoy this.
Also, click here to learn more about my upcoming training, Next Generation Wellness: From Theory to Practice.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
One thing many of us struggle with is communication and how we persuade people to join our programs, convince leaders to give us resources, ask our boss for a raise….the list goes on and on for why we need to develop persuasive communications.
People have a gazillion things going on and you need to get them to WANT to get involved. This isn’t about trickery but rather people feeling called to action.
Today’s guest is Jeff Tippett, speaker, author, and entrepreneur. He considers himself a motivational teacher. That means he delivers actionable content with high energy and passion all while seeking out a heartfelt connection with his audience.
In 2014, Jeff founded Targeted Persuasion, an award-winning public affairs + communications firm, and has worked with renowned brands like Airbnb, The National Restaurant Association, The League of Women Voters, The League of Conservation Voters, plus others.
Jeff and I discuss how he defines persuasive communications, how using them has helped him personally and professionally, steps to building persuasive communications and his top tip for you to start being more persuasive. I love the honor of learning from someone outside of our field because we have to get out of our wellness silos to expand our knowledge base.
Not only has Jeff shared him wisdom on this episode but he’s teaching a masterclass for those that join my upcoming training, Next Generation Wellness: From Theory to Practice.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
This episode is part of a series of interviews I’m conducting to focus on career and self development for those who want to advance their influence and impact within their organization. I have to admit that I am a personal development junky because I believe we should be putting ourselves in the position to grow and get better. We can’t wait on our organizations to do it for us or wait to find the perfect mentor.
I hope you can use this podcast as a form of mentorship where I interview smart people like today’s guest, Dr. Marilyn Puder-York. Dr. Puder-York is an executive coach with a 30-year successful track record in helping talented executives and professionals achieve their optimal performance. A licensed psychologist, she is one of the first to apply cognitive/behavioral psychology to the enhancement of executive careers.
Marilyn starts off defining office politics and discusses some benefits and where we make mistakes. She breaks down the importance of promoting yourself without being aggressive about it.
Marilyn also explains the difference between a sponsor and a mentor. Finally, we wrap up with her advice on how to best navigate office politics. I wish I had someone like Marilyn to guide me through all of my fumbles in corporate America.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Although it may not mean much to you, it’s my 100th episode! Just for a stat, most podcasts don’t make it past 7 episodes. This is not to brag but rather celebrate an endeavor I took on not knowing how it would turn out. I’ve been honored to interview a series of fantastic experts, both inside the wellness industry and beyond.
I rarely do solo episodes but I wanted to share what I’ve learned over the past 2 years, a potential new direction for Redesigning Wellness and a training I’m launching for wellness professionals in September.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Today’s guest “can do yoga as good as a yogi, run as fast as a cheetah, and clean as good as a vacuum.”
All of this is according to her son at age 5!
Today’s guest is Debra Lafler. Her approach to wellbeing provides an integrated body-mind-spirit perspective. Debra is an employee wellness and employee assistance program manager for a large employer in Madison, WI; and also is a private coach, consultant and speaker for individuals, groups, or employers in the Madison, Wisconsin area.
Today we talk about the taboo subject of spirituality in the workplace. Debra starts off tell us about her winding road of exploration in the wellness profession and what got her curious about spirituality. She drops quite a bomb about something that happened to her about 12 years ago. I commend her for sharing something so personal. I’m not going to spoil it…you’ll have to listen.
Debra goes on to define spirituality, how it’s different than religion and ways to incorporate this concept into the workplace.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Dr. James Kelley is the host of the Executives After Hours podcast, where he states, “I care about who you are, not what you do. Because who you are defines what you do.” James’ new book, The Crucible’s Gift, introduces lessons from 140 diverse leaders who demonstrated the art of living more authentically.
Combining these rich, raw and insightful stories with his knowledge of business and psychology—as well as his candid accounts of what he has learned from his personal crucibles—Kelley shows how to transform what holds you back into traits that will propel you forward, encouraging you to step fully into your life.
One of the things I really like about James is that he’s transparent….he puts it all out there. He was extremely honest in this interview. In today’s episode we discuss his crucibles, including the one that made the biggest impact in his life, authentic leadership and some powerful stories from his book.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
One of the areas of employee health and wellbeing is our emotional health. Most people run into challenges or conflicts with co-workers that drains their energy and negatively impacts their wellbeing.
We don’t talk about conflict management as a part of our standard wellness program because it feels outside of our scope. I tell you what…it’s not! Giving employees the skills to deal with difficult conversations can absolutely enhance their wellbeing.
Today’s guest is Dave Gerber. Dave specializes in transforming workplace conflicts and calls himself the Conflict Healer. Dave is President and Founder of Synergy Development and Training, LLC who motivates people to become the best version of themselves. Dave is also an Executive and Leadership Coach, Learning Expert, Trainer and Author.
In today’s episode, we talk about how he got into conflict management as an area of specialty, how conflict helps with productivity, the costs of conflict within organizations and tips on how to handle conflict.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
In this episode, Marina Calabrese shares her insight in using innovative, effective communications strategies to ease the transitions of organizational change. She elaborates on why transparency with employees is vital and how it can lead to a more motivated and unified workforce.
Marina also shares how building trust through strong relationships opened the door for her to begin to implement change with leadership.
Marina also explains how her work with a younger staff led her to her passion in executive coaching. She then details for Jen her definition of the coaching approach and the benefits it has on empowering employees and making them more autonomous.
Marina also leaves tangible tips to using the coaching approach and communications in an organization to bring about effective change.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Kelly Howard, Director of Whole Health Education for the Veterans Health Administration explains how the VA has piloted the Whole Health Model to transform the way healthcare is delivered.
She elaborates on the 3-pronged program that includes clinicians, wellness clinics, and peer-based programs. This model changes the focus from the disease-based ‘find it, fix it’ model to whole person health.
Kelly and Jen dive deeper into the model discussing the different integrated health modalities, challenges in implementation, and ways wellness professionals can use the same concepts to transform the way healthcare is delivered in their own organizations.
Kelly also shares more about her time at West Point, her thoughts as 9/11 unfolded, and her two deployments in Iraq. Don’t miss this episode and the transformative way the VA is working to change healthcare in the US.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Kristen Gallagher, founder and CEO of Edify, shares how to create a successful employee onboarding experience. Edify is a learning strategy consultancy that solves people operations problems for growing companies.
Kristen elaborates on steps to take to comfort new hires as they enter a new job, company, and environment. Kristen also gives examples to set up new employees for success, resulting in a better workforce, more satisfied employee and employer, and cost savings.
Kristen and Jen also share past failures and successes that prove the importance of a quality employee onboarding program. Kristen then gives recommendations to wellness professionals on how they can create a more positive culture for new hires, even if they can’t restructure the entire onboarding process.
Don’t miss the important and impactful ways that employee onboarding can improve your organization.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Deb Smolensky, CEO and Co-Founder of the Mindful City Project and Michelle Spehr, Co-Founder and (self-proclaimed) Chief Framework Officer (CFO) share the vision of their initiative and why they felt compelled to start it.
Mindful City Project is a grassroots community movement uniting individuals, businesses and community leaders under the common tenets of mindfulness, emotional intelligence, compassion and generosity through a transformative framework and groundbreaking designation process.
Michelle, Deb and Jen chat about the personal and professional impacts of mindfulness, how to become a member Mindful City Project, and why it would benefit your city or organization to join.
Listening to these three is like eavesdropping on a table of friends at dinner as they share book, Ted talk, and app recommendations. They also share some takeaways and advice for wellness professionals to lead their organizations forward.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Nancy Board, Co-Founder/COO of Global Women 4 Wellbeing paints a clear picture of a toxic workplace and the negative impacts it has on wellbeing. She also discusses the many feelings that a toxic culture can create in employees such as stress, sadness, and depression.
Nancy and Jen elaborate on the impact of the recent #MeToo movement and sexual harassment in the workplace. Nancy also gives sound advice on what to do if you or a co-worker are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.
Nancy and Jen discuss signs to look for when interviewing for a new job to gauge the company’s environment, coping strategies if you must stay in a job with a toxic culture, and tips to maintain and protect your mental health in toxic environments.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Dee Edington recently went on sabbatical to wrap his mind around all that’s going on in the wellness industry in hopes of creating some order from the chaos.
In this wide ranging discussion, we cover everything from incentives to how we leave the employee out of wellness. As usual, Dee has some zingers in here and calls out a few practices that are not helping us move the industry forward.
We start off by why he decided to take a sabbatical, how ROI is often misstated, the pervasive “program” problem, weight loss programs and why Dee thinks the answers are in the outliers. He uses a fantastic analogy where he compares wellness programming to breakfast cereal and I learn he tweets.
For show notes visit https://
Julia Lee, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, explains her research which seeks to help employees navigate modern workplace challenges. Lee’s work in Relational Self Affirmation and her Reflective Best Self exercise help participants learn about themselves when at their best.
Julia and Jen also discuss the impact of distress, both how it shows up at the workplace and how it is perceived by others. Julia also shares how reframing distress can lead to positive outcomes on competence, promotability, and ability to maintain self-control.
Finally the pair dive into the impact of commuting to and from work. Listen in to understand how Julia Lee’s research can have a positive impact on your organization.
For links mentioned in today's episode visit https://redesigningwellness.com/
Yale professor Amy Wrzesniewski’s research on job crafting and finding the meaning of work has been published in a wide range of top academic journals and highlighted in several popular press outlets, including Time, Harvard Business Review, U.S. News and World Report, The New York Times, and The Economist, as well as bestselling books such as Give and Take by Adam Grant, Drive by Daniel Pink, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman, and The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler.
In this episode, Amy joins Jen to elaborate on her research and how employees shape their tasks, interactions, and relationships with others in the workforce to change the meaning of their job. Amy defines job crafting and its three components; task, relational, and cognitive and sharing how job crafting is already being done, even if it’s forbidden.
Listen in as the pair discuss job crafting’s effects on performance, the limits to job crafting, and how wellness professionals can use this opportunity to redefine what wellness is or could be in their organization.