Be Verdant Podcast

Rob Lawless joins me for the first in a series we are doing on HR Wellbeing in partnership with SHRM. As a speaker at the SHRM22 Annual Conference, Rob will be bringing his perspective to the stage, which you can get a sense of from our discussion. In 2015, Rob set out to meet 10,000 people, and our episode catches him halfway through this journey. Rob shares tips on how and why people should make connections with others, and we discuss this within the context of the wellbeing of HR professionals. Given that human connection is part of self-compassion and how HR teams can help bolster their wellbeing, the topic was pretty timely.

Stay tuned for additional episodes from other SHRM22 speakers! 

To learn more about offerings to help your HR team thrive and flourish, visit our website or reach out to us!

Lindsay Recknell and I participate in the "podcast exchange program and mutual admiration society" by appearing as guests on each other's shows. :-)

As President and CEO of Mental Health in Minutes, Lindsay brings a wealth of expertise to our show, sharing her insights into the innerworkings of employees and leaders in the workplace. Our focus is on departments often perceived to lack emotional needs, specifically exploring the IT departments. 

We kick off our discussion with a few of the learnings from a 2022 study that demonstrated the power of minor changes from leaders on the overall wellbeing of their teams. It turns out, when managers do something as simple as allowing employees more control over their work schedules decreased overall negativity on the team. Go figure!

Author, entrepreneur, and host of Mass Business Podcast, Matt Ward, joins me to discuss that ever-illusive concept of joy. We begin our discussion with a study of joy, flow and meaning in the workplace. Matt then shares his mission of helping business leaders and fellow entrepreneurs find joy in the work they do. 

Ben Eden, HR coach, CEO of Reach Your Ultimate Potential, and co-founder of the HR Wellbeing community, joins me to discuss how leaders can undermine their own resiliency and accelerate burnout for their teams and themselves. We start with the article, "Your Boss is the Problem and the Solution," which explores "hinderance stressors," which are ways in which certain behaviors or thoughts can prevent people from performing at their best. It turns out that creating red tape, role ambiguity, role conflict, and engaging in office politics increases employee's job neglect by over 1/3rd, which increases even more the higher the stress on the job.

We then explore all the ways in which we have seen leaders get in their own way, and what we recommend they do to change.

Parenting expert and Co-founder of Well & Ready, Sarah Porter-Braun joins me to discuss how parenting impacts leadership skills and behaviors at work. We start with a review of a study that looks at how positive family events the night before can increase consideration and leadership behaviors by 17 percent. Sara shares how companies can encourage better parenting experiences by providing parental coaching and services. She also shares some amazing tips for us working parents, which should not be missed!

The always thoughtful, kind, and giving Sal Vergara joins me for this week's episode to discuss the impact of gender identity on emotional wellbeing, particularly masculinity. We start with a 2019 study of help seeking and masculine stereotypes, which shows that these biases hinder healing and positive coping behaviors. Sal shares how an organization he volunteers for, Merging Vets and Players, helps overcome these stigmas.

You can learn more about how your company can break down these barriers by reach out to us at [email protected]

Jon Hyman, Esq joins me for a unique episode. Rather than focusing on a study, we take a tour of Jon's social media feeds to review what's hot in the world of work. As an employment lawyer, Jon is very knowledgeable about the emotional impacts of work on employees, and he shares his awards for Worst Employer of the Year awards.

You can learn more about the work Jon does on his blog (ohioemployerlawblog.com), his website (OhioBeerLawyers.com), and his own podcast, The Norah and Dad Show.

You can also learn more about building resiliency and emotional agility in your leadership (and hopefully avoiding joining Jon's list) by visiting our website.

Sille Østergaard, CEO & Founder of From Balance and former HR Business Partner and head of talent, joins me to discuss belonging and it's impact on safety, both physical and psychological. We discuss a 2020 study that shows a positive impact on safety compliance when employees (in this case, pilots and manufacturing technicians) felt they belonged. 

Having moved around a lot herself, helped others with belonging through coaching, and even written about it, Sille brings a lot of expertise to the discussion.

Leadership coach, former reliability engineer, and host of the Leadership Launchpad Project podcast, Rob Kalwarowsky, joins me this week to discuss physical safety in mining and construction. One quote I read during the show was this:

"Male-dominated industries tend to have more suicides. The macho, tough guy, and stoic nature of construction workers can even discourage those who are most at risk for suicide from seeking help. Men, especially white men in their early 20s through their 50s, account for the bulk of suicides."

You can learn more about this work on the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention website.

At the top of the show, I share a 2020 study on mining safety, which shows that supervisor commitment to safety resulted in higher self-efficacy, optimism, hope, resilience, safety compliance, & safety participation.

Rob mentions The Thin Book of Trust and the 4 tenets of trust: sincerity, reliability, competence, and care. In addition, Rob shares the following, which I love:

"As you grow as a person, your values will change. Don't judge yourself for that. That's part of the process." 

Chief Talent Officer of Rubicon, Adrienne Kimball, joins me this week to discuss strategic HR and creating fit in non-profits (although we also touch on wellbeing topics like how traditional performance review models re-traumatize our employees and supervisors). We walk through a 2021 article that looks at the impact of strategic HR on fit within non-profits. Adrienne shares her point of view on the "nature vs nurture" question of hiring for fit vs values, and much more!