This Working Life Lost hope at work? Here’s how to get it back.
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Jan 18, 2026 Jen Fisher, a workplace wellbeing expert and former Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte, shares her insights on cultivating hope in the workplace. She discusses how hopelessness can lead to burnout and disengagement, and emphasizes the importance of creating hopeful organizations for better performance. Jen introduces hope theory and suggests practical exercises like hope spotting and keeping a hope journal. Leaders are encouraged to become 'hope dealers,' fostering curiosity and agency in their teams to drive engagement and motivation.
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Hopelessness Drives Burnout And Disengagement
- Workplace hopelessness looks like believing tomorrow won’t be better and that your work doesn’t matter.
- Jen Fisher says this mindset drives disengagement, quiet quitting and burnout across organisations.
Hope Trumps Trust For Progress
- Gallup found hope outranks trust as what people want from leaders because trust only maintains the status quo.
- Fisher argues hope enables movement and progress whereas hopelessness keeps people stuck.
Hope As A Strategic Cognitive Process
- C.R. Snyder’s hope theory defines hope as a strategic, actionable process with three parts: goals, multiple pathways and agency.
- Fisher stresses hope is not wishful thinking but requires realistic goals and backup pathways.
