Thomas Bertels spent the last two decades as a Business Architect helping struggling businesses solve structural problems: employee disengagement, inefficient teams, and low productivity. Whether working with a small company or a big player like PepsiCo, Thomas realized these issues stemmed from the same source – poor work design.
This insight led Thomas to develop what he now calls motivational work design – a systems approach to designing work that is employee-centric, improves productivity, and improves customer experiences.
Thomas Bertels is the founder of the consulting firm Purpose Works. He has worked across industries from big pharma, insurance, and top Fortune 50 companies like Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo, and others.
In this episode, Dart and Thomas discuss:
- How work came to be so poorly designed
- How to design work that balances employee needs and company needs
- The role of HR in work design
- The role of Senior Executives in work design
- Tops-down versus Bottom-Up approaches to work design
- The role of managers in well-designed workplaces
- The balance between employee oversight and autonomy
- And other topics...
Thomas Bertels has been redesigning business strategies, processes, and operating models across industries for over 25 years. During his career, Thomas has revamped HR processes for a top ten pharma company, reduced operating costs by over $30 million for a leading insurance organization, and improved efficiency within big names like Johnson & Johnson, Mitsubishi Chemical, and PepsiCo.
Thomas began his consulting work in Germany, where he was a founding partner of OXYGY Consulting/Valeocon Management Consulting. He later led the firm’s work in the U.S., where he received his MBA from New York University. Thomas is the founder and current president of the Purpose Works consulting firm, where he continues to work on operating model transformation across all sectors.
Resources Mentioned:
Purpose Works Consulting: www.purpose.works
Job motivation diagnostic tool, Mojo Diagnostic: mymojo.works
Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.
