Middle Finger Situations

Join Courtney Harrison & Alicia Mandel for a glass of wine as they breakdown their learnings from the last episode with Ben Levenbaum, the CEO of Xceleration.  In this Happy Hour edition episode, they discuss each phase of the employee lifecycle and everything in between - strong company culture, trophy value, peer to peer recognition, the power of an employee alumni network, plus more!

In this world of having to be intentional and motivational when it comes to attracting and retaining your talent, we are sure many of you have pondered “Why hasn’t someone come up with creative ways to help us reward and recognize our people, year-round, with recognition that can be easily customized to the passions or interests of those we value?"

Thankfully your days of just purchasing ubiquitous, meaningless Amazon gift cards, or scrolling through catalogues just to find water bottles, and pullovers with your company logo (many times their 10th piece of company swag if they are a high performer!)  can quickly be over. And what if we could leave behind the notion that big ticket rewards required all of us spending lots of time together in a pool in Hawaii, watching the C-Suite and their spouses frolicking in their swimsuits (we’re talking to you Sales President’s Club winners…….)

Join us as Courtney and Alicia talk to Ben Levenbaum, the CEO of Xceleration, a leader in easy-to-use, recognition technology that helps companies drive business performance and strong cultures, for companies of all sizes with small or big budgets. We will enlighten you to the power of “trophy value” and customization when integrating continuous recognition into your everyday actions. 

Whether you want to offer up luxury travel or experiences with white glove concierge services to individuals their families or your teams, or impress applicants or alumni to come join you, this podcast will inspire you to take your recognition up a notch or two and make valuing applicants and employees a big competitive advantage.

Regardless of what you call it “The Great Resignation”, “The Great Reshuffle”, one thing is clear – for employers not paying attention – it’s not great. In this 2 part episode, Courtney and Alicia really dig into the challenge with not one, but four guests. Listen as they sit down with four high performers who had at least 5 choices of where they wanted to go next…find out what was important to them, how they made their decisions, and what were the things that made them say – absolutely not. Dominick Caponi, Sarah Cowell, Matt Barrio and Joy Obiri are interesting not only because they cut across gender, age, expertise and industry but also because they can help hiring leaders and organizations at large better understand what is really important in today’s aggressive talent-driven employment market.

Regardless of what you call it “The Great Resignation”, “The Great Reshuffle”, one thing is clear – for employers not paying attention – it’s not great. In this 2 part episode, Courtney and Alicia really dig into the challenge with not one, but four guests. Listen as they sit down with four high performers who had at least 5 choices of where they wanted to go next…find out what was important to them, how they made their decisions, and what were the things that made them say – absolutely not. Dominick Caponi, Sarah Cowell, Matt Barrio and Joy Obiri are interesting not only because they cut across gender, age, expertise and industry but also because they can help hiring leaders and organizations at large better understand what is really important in today’s aggressive talent-driven employment market.

After a six month hiatus, Courtney and Alicia get together over a glass of wine to discuss some of the highlights from Season 2. They will look at the predictions they made with their guests, what other themes have emerged and how relevant those topics still are.

In addition to discussing the themes and challenges from Pandemic year 2, they will also touch on why year 3 looks so much different and the importance of leading with this in mind. Looking at the impact of The Great Resignation they will give a preview into the upcoming Season 3, which they have aptly titled: No Silver Bullets.

In today's Happy Hour edition, we discuss our last episode with Chris Motley, and break down the real life application of Mentor Spaces.  We discuss the importance of mentorship overall – but especially now – as we are all navigating through the Great Resignation. 

What role does mentorship play, how formal does it have to be, how does it help with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? But most importantly, how can organizations drive true, authentic mentorship without making it a transactional exercise? 

As Chris Motley, the Founder and CEO of Mentor Spaces says, you can’t solve a problem unless you first understand the problem. The “problem” of underrepresented people in Corporate America has been around for a long time – and even the smartest brains haven’t been able to crack the code. Can it be that we’re just not focused on the core problem/solving for the root of the issue? Join Alicia and Courtney as they sit down with Chris and uncover his passion and drive for understanding that people cannot be what they cannot see.

While most companies, leaders and employees are embracing workforce and workplace flexibility more than ever before, it is time to double down on the importance of creating relationships, connectivity and belonging. Those are the glue that will enable dispersed workforces to thrive. On this Happy Hour Edition we will talk about cool, creative tools and programs leaders and employees can pilot, and we will help to reassure you that what might feel like a risky out-of-the-box way to try to connect people, is not only not risky but desperately wanted by others. So grab a cocktail while we pump you up to get out there and lead from the front!

In a world of colleagues being intentionally dispersed, many of us are challenged with how to most effectively connect people to help encourage collaboration, connection, innovation, and engagement. What if we told you that the best way to deepen and hasten a connection is through storytelling? You might say you knew that already – did you also know that you can use music (and several other media) to help you tell the story?

Join us as we talk to Brian Mohr, the founder of anthym to discuss a simple new tool (and tips!) that you can deploy tomorrow to start accelerating informal networks at work.

If there was ever a time to double down on nurturing your network – now is it!  Join Courtney and Alicia as they have a cocktail and discuss and apply what they learned from their friend and colleague Greg Pryor in their previous podcast -  It’s the Network, Stupid.