Want To Work There

Group think, introversion, and a lack of psychological safety all impede our ability to hear the real thoughts and options of team members during a brainstorm, feedback, or focus group session. While the severity of these issues always vary by group, they inevitably impact great data from surfacing in nearly every discussion.

In an effort to ensure all voices were being equally represented, I got creative when building out an internal focus group process a few years back - and the results blew me away.

Ever since, I’ve used that same method for all of my client engagements and it’s never let me down. In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing everything you need to know to build the method into your own internal processes, so you can experience similar results.

You’ll learn:

• The simple hack I always use when leading brainstorming, feedback, or focus group sessions that allows me to capture insights from ALL team members.
• Why this method is PERFECT for remote or hybrid teams, but can also be utilized during in-person group conversations.
• How to avoid the mistakes I made the first time around when using this method. 

LET’S CONNECT

Check out the website: wanttoworkthere.com

More Resources: wanttoworkthere.com/resources

Follow us on Instagram: @wanttoworkthere 

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with 3 friends or colleagues who are also passionate about building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

This week, we’re tackling a less glamorous, but incredibly important topic - burnout. I’ve experienced extreme burnout twice in my career. A few weeks back, I realized that I was heading in that direction again. I’m grateful for not only noticing, but acting on, the red flags way sooner than I have in the past. Still, it’s never easy! Today, I’m sharing four ways I’m tackling my burnout head-on. 

Spoiler Alert: One of the ways I’m preventing further burnout is making the choice to step away from the podcast for a few months. It was an incredibly hard decision, but one I knew I had to make. I look forward to publishing new episodes again in October, but in the meantime, you can keep up with me via the newsletter. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The burnout symptoms I’ve been experiencing that caused me to pause and assess. 
• How I’m learning to say no - or not right now. 
• The reflection question that helped me make hard choices.

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• The burnout issue of my newsletter.
• Erin Rocchio - Burnout Resources
• Lois Weinblatt on the Daily Definition of Success

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Signup For the Bi-Weekly Newsletter
• Training for the Modern Manager
• Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

Have you ever wondered what role you play in supporting someone’s mental health in the workplace? I know I have. What’s crossing a line? What if I’m not doing enough? Is it even my place to breach this subject with one of my direct reports?

Mental health conversations are already tricky for many and only become more sensitive in a work environment. That said, we can’t afford to ignore them.

This is why I knew I had to talk to today’s guest, Jamy Conrad (Head of People Ops at TrustRadius), about her experience completing the Mental Health First Aid Certification program. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What a Mental Health First Aid Certification is and how it can support you at work. 
• Who should prioritize getting certified within your organization first.
• About the ALGEE framework and how it can help you assess for risk of suicide or harm.
• How to locate free MHFA certification opportunities near you. 
• The free resource you can create quickly and easily that will provide your managers with immediate support, even before being certified.
• Ways to take the fear and stigma out of discussing mental health at work. 

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Learn more about Mental Health First Aid Certification and the ALGEE framework.
• Find and register for a course. Tip: Once you put in your location information, look for the "Funding Source" column on the results page.  This helps you to find courses that may be available at $0.
• International MHFA resources.
• Additional Mental Health Resources to utilize.
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255)

CONNECT WITH JAMY CONRAD

• Connect with Jamy on LinkedIn. 
• Visit Jamy’s website.

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Signup For the Weekly Newsletter
• Training for the Modern Manager
• Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts.

Did you know that 75% of the overall workforce is a caregiver of some kind? I sure didn’t! It’s one of the many eye-opening moments I had during my conversation with SuperKin CEO Tara Elwell-Henning.

If you have a team, it’s likely there is at least one - but likely many - that are caregiving in some way outside of their job. In today’s episode, Tara shares three practices that modern workplaces are adopting to ensure employees feel seen and supported. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The all-to-common experience Tara had that sparked her passion for caregiver support.
• How society has shifted when it comes to caregiving needs and expectations.
• Three specific, tangible things companies can do to better support caregivers.
• The cultural belief Tara wishes more CEOs and leaders would adopt. 

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Download the Making the Case for Caregiver Support resource.
• Buy the Parental Leave Toolkit for Small Businesses.

CONNECT WITH TARA

• Visit the Superkin website.
• Connect with Tara on LinkedIn.
• Follow Superkin on Instagram.

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Subscribe to the Newsletter
• Training for the Modern Manager
• Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share how to support caregivers at work with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

If you had told me 10 years ago that strong documentation was one of the most important aspects of building great company culture, I would have thought you were nuts. But here we are. And that’s exactly what I believe.

Luckily, so does today’s guest, Podge Thomas, who shared so much goodness about the importance of documentation and how to incorporate it into your work practices. If you’re worried this will be a boring topic, think again. I got goosebumps, not once, not twice, but THREE different times during our conversation. It’s a good one. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Podge approaches all her work through a lens of liberation and justice.
• What is documentation and how does it impact both employee experience and equity?
• The trouble with using Google Drive for documentation.
• Why we both love Notion so, so much.
• The thing most people get wrong when it comes to documentation.
• Tips for making the documentation process easier, including where to start.

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Sign up for Notion. Tip: Startups get up to 6-months free.
• Notion 101 Mastery Course (affiliate link)

CONNECT WITH PODGE THOMAS

• Visit her website.
• Sign up for her weekly newsletter.
• Connect on LinkedIn.

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Signup for our Weekly Newsletter
• Learn more about Training for the Modern Manager
• Explore Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

Words cannot describe how excited I was to talk with today’s guests. Less than 20 minutes after finding and starting their book on Audible, I knew I needed to track them down and see if they’d come on the show. Luckily, they agreed and we recently sat down to discuss what really makes a remote culture work!

Ali Greene and Tam Sanderson are long time remote work veterans who literally wrote the book on building sustainable, engaging remote-first organizations. Their book – Remote Works: Managing for Freedom, Flexibility, and Focus –  is packed with practical, actionable steps for designing a remote environment that enables trust, autonomy, and accountability.

Together, we dove into a variety of incredible topics, including:

• The difference between remote work culture and what many people experienced while working remotely during the pandemic. 
• The three mindset shifts you MUST make in order for remote work to be a sustainable practice within your organization. 
• What Standard Operating Behaviors are and why Ali shares them in response to anyone who says “You can’t build culture remotely - it just doesn’t work!”
• What rituals and artifacts are and how you can identify and design them intentionally for remote work environments. 
• How to remotely recreate the “magic” that occurs when a team is physically together for a brainstorm.
• What GenZ doesn’t realize about remote work and how they can find great mentorship and community when working remotely. 
• The remote best practices that hybrid organizations need to adopt in order to achieve true inclusivity. 
• Both Tam and Ali’s favorite resources from the book. I’m personally a BIG fan of both!

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Remote Works by Ali Greene and Tam Sanderson (Bookstore | Amazon)
• Bowling Alone by Robert Putnum (Bookstore | Amazon)
• Mural
• Figma

CONNECT WITH ALI GREENE AND TAM SANDERSON

• Buy the book! (Bookstore | Amazon)
• Visit the Remote Works Website
• Ali’s LinkedIn
• Tam’s LinkedIn

MORE FROM WANT TO WORK THERE

• Training for the Modern Manager
• Free Tools and Templates
• Connect on LinkedIn or Instagram

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

We’re baaaaaack! And I’m so excited to be sharing this fantastic conversation with Melanie Wertzberger, the founder and CEO of Shaka, a Techstars-backed startup that helps great companies improve retention through scalable culture programs.

In today’s episode, Melanie and I deep dive into the 1,000+ person research study she conducted around what Gen Z both wants and expects when it comes to work. While some of what she learned made complete sense given what I already know, there were no fewer than three findings that completely surprised me - and likely will surprise you too!

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What values you can expect Gen Z employees to champion in the workplace.
• How Gen Z feels about working from home vs in the office - and it might surprise you. I know it surprised me!
• How side-hustles factor into Gen Z’s view of work and the mindshift change Melanie recommends adopting asap!
• Practical tips for managing Gen Z employees.
• Why Gen Zers expect to make six figures (yes, six!) right out of college and what this means for your recruiting process. 

CONNECT WITH MELANIE

• Explore Shaka: joinshaka.com
• Melanie’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melanie-wertzberger

CONNECT WITH US

• Check out the website: wanttoworkthere.com
• More Resources: wanttoworkthere.com/resources
• Follow us on Instagram: @wanttoworkthere 

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

Hello friends! Welcome back to our ‘From the Vault’ series! While we record some new content, we’re revisiting some of our favorite past episodes.

Whether you missed it the first time around or (like me) need to hear something a couple times for it to really sink in, we hope you enjoy this “from the vault” episode!

I seriously cannot stop talking about the power of internal podcasting for organizations. And it’s for good reason! Consider this episode your crystal ball, because I’m going to share six reasons I am absolutely confident most companies will have podcasts in the five years. Think an internal podcast won’t work at your company? I’d challenge you to think again - and give the episode a listen before counting it out!

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The six reasons you should be starting an internal podcast today.
• Why having a podcast makes your communication more equitable.
• The oversized impact a podcast has at scaling companies, where time is often more valuable than money.
• How an internal podcast helps solve the relationship and connection issues many companies are facing as remote and hybrid teams. 

LET’S CONNECT

Check out the website: wanttoworkthere.com

More Resources: wanttoworkthere.com/resources

Follow us on Instagram: @wanttoworkthere 

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with at least one friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

People Ops leaders are burnt out. Many are looking for a way out, whether that is consulting, taking a “demotion” to join a larger team at a more established company, or just quitting without any idea what comes next. 

What would make these leaders feel supported? 

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself and dozens of other HR professionals over the last few weeks. Luckily, I have some answers. 

Six to be exact. Each as practical and actionable as they come.

In today’s episode, I’ll be walking you through each, so you can proactively work to retain your People Ops lead in the coming year.

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Why Are People-Ops Leaders Quitting In Droves? And What Can We Do About It?
• Use code WTWT10 for 10% off a Growth Starter Pack at Trusty Oak.

LET’S CONNECT

Check out the website: wanttoworkthere.com

More Resources: wanttoworkthere.com/resources

Follow us on Instagram: @wanttoworkthere 

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d love for you to share it with a friend or colleague who shares your passion for building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts. 

Hello friends! Welcome back to our ‘From the Vault’ series! While we record some new content, we’re revisiting some of our favorite past episodes.

Whether you missed it the first time around or (like me) need to hear something a couple times for it to really sink in, we hope you enjoy this “from the vault” episode!

Note: When this episode originally aired, Roe v Wade had just been overturned - something that is touched upon in the conversation.

It has been a tough change for many since the overturning of Roe V Wade. In times like these, empathy is more important than ever. But what role does empathy really have in workplace culture?

There is no one better to help answer this question than Nōn Wels, founder of the Feely Human Collective and host of the You, Me, Empathy podcast. Luckily, he was happy to sit down with me and explore this very question, along with many more. At one point, our conversation gave me literal full body goosebumps, so you know it’s going to be an incredible one!

In this episode we’ll explore:

• Nōn’s simple, but profound definition of empathy.
• What role empathy plays in the workplace.
• Whether or not empathy is something you can teach vs being an innate skill.
• How managers can signal to their teams that it’s safe to bring their whole self to work - regardless of an organization’s overall cultural norms.
• The power of emotional check-ins and how you can facilitate them within your organization.
• And the wisdom Nōn shared that gave me actual full body goosebumps. Trust me - it’s something we all need to hear.

MENTIONED RESOURCES/LINKS

• Professionalism Is a Racist Construct. Article by Monique Judge
• Slumberkins. Social emotional learning books for kids.

CONNECT WITH NŌN WELS

• Website: https://feelyhuman.co/
• Email: [email protected]
• Podcast: https://feelyhuman.co/you-me-empathy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youmeempathy/

CONNECT WITH US

• Check out the website: wanttoworkthere.com
• More Resources: wanttoworkthere.com/resources
• Follow us on Instagram: @wanttoworkthere 

DID YOU LOVE THE EPISODE?

If so, I’d LOVE for you to share it with 1-2  friends or colleagues who are also passionate about building a better world of work! They can find us at wanttoworkthere.com/podcast or by searching Want To Work There wherever they listen to podcasts.