WorkMatters

In this episode, Thomas welcomes Ralf Specht, the author of 'Building Corporate Soul' and 'Beyond the Start-up'. After a long career in advertising, where he co-founded and led Spark44 after senior roles with Momentum Worldwide and McCann Erickson, Ralf is on a mission to "make soulless companies a thing of the past". He shares his framework for align on purpose, behavior, and understanding to ensure words match actions. Ralf outlines the questions leaders should ask and highlights examples from LinkedIn, Hilton, and Lego to demonstrate how shared purpose, understanding, and behaviors can improve belonging, employee engagement, and propel organizations to grow three times faster than their competitors.

In this episode of Work Matters Thomas welcomes Oliver (Ozzie) Crocco. Ozzie is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Human Resource Development at Louisiana State University (LSU) and his research is focused on leadership development in the global context.

In this enlightening conversation, he contrasts the leadership styles in the individualistic U.S. versus that of the more collectivist culture of S.E. Asia. From there, Ozzie unpacks the common attributes needed for successful global leadership in organizations and offers advice for those seeking to expand their capabilities. He concludes with advice for U.S. companies to combat the Great Resignation and increase employee well-being and loyalty.

In this episode, Thomas talks with Rachele Focardi, founder of XYZ@Work and author of “Reframing Generational Stereotypes". Rachele, the leading expert on multi-generational workplace dynamics, shares how organizations can bridge generational divides and harness the strengths of intergenerational collaboration. By aligning on purpose, flexibility, diversity, shared vision, and acknowledgment, today's multigenerational workforce can lead a cultural workplace revolution.

In our conversation with Sergio Caredda, an innovative HR professional who focuses on improving the way organizations achieve results through their people, we explore his framework of the 'international organization': an organization that where leaders through intentional actions create alignment towards a shared purpose and consistency in how the organization operates. We discuss the importance of intentional job design, the need to think about organization design as continuous improvement, the inherent dangers of adopting external 'best practices', the roles of leaders at all levels to shape work and how HR can enable them. To learn more about Sergio's work, we suggest you check out his website and subscribe to his excellent newsletter "The Intentional Organization".

In this episode, Thomas Bertels talks with Kevin Wheeler, the founder and chairman of the Future of Talent Institute, about what the future looks like for the Human Resources function. Kevin is a globally known futurist, speaker, author, and consultant on the future of work, helping firms create leading edge talent acquisition, employee development, and HR management strategies.

In this conversation, Kevin unpacks what's driving the turnover many companies are experiencing and proposes alternative strategies for improving employee engagement. With automation is changing the future of work, Kevin recommends HR evolve accordingly by looking outside the box at other structures and models. And lastly, Kevin concludes that HR needs to be creative and innovative to meet the changing needs of today's workforce.

In today’s episode of Work Matters, Thomas Bertels welcomes Jeff Matlow. A serial entrepreneur, Jeff writes a weekly blog, bytitleonly.com, on leadership and business transformation. Jeff shares his views on the traits of effective leaders, stressing the importance of creating and maintaining culture especially in this era of remote work. Jeff highlights what qualities successful leaders share – accountability, productivity, and agility – and unpacks what’s needed at different stages of business growth. And finally, Jeff shares how scalability and distributed decision-making can impact the success of a business.

In this episode, Thomas Bertels welcomes Bob Lewis. Bob consults on IT organizational effectiveness and integration, and his long-running column "Keep the Joint Running", countless articles, and twelve books have made him one of the most trusted voices in the field. In this conversation, Bob shares his views on digital transformation and what it means for the IT function. He unpacks two of the biggest misconceptions in IT: internal customers and IT projects, and shares his views on what effective leaders do to build organizations that get things done.

In this episode, Thomas Bertels welcomes Eric Reisenwitz. Eric is a senior insurance executive with 40 years of experience in the group benefits space. In his roles at Lincoln Financial Group, CIGNA, Aetna, and MetLife, Eric developed a passion for working for organizations dedicated to “being there when bad things happen to good people". The conversation explores the changing nature of work and the implications for leaders. With the war for talent heating up, the onus is on companies to design meaningful work in order to attract and retain talent.

In this episode of the Work Matters podcast, host Thomas Bertels welcomes Jeanne Thoma. Jeanne has 30 years of experience in senior leadership roles with BASF, Lonza, and SPI Pharma. In this conversation, she shares her insights on successful transitioning into a new leadership role - and the pitfalls to avoid. We explore the importance of listening, building trust, and challenging assumptions, making decisions and signaling risk appetite.

In this episode of Work Matters we talk with Mark Lightowler, the founder and CEO of Phorix, about loneliness at work. Mark explains how loneliness impacts both individuals and organizations and provides practical advice for leaders and teams to increase inclusion and design a culture of psychological safety.