What comes first: the customer or the employee? In this episode, Kevin sits down with Stephan Meier to explore why putting workers first isn't just good ethics—it's good business. Stephan highlights how engaged, motivated employees directly impact company success. Drawing from his background in behavioral economics, he breaks down four key motivators for workers: purpose (shoot for the moon), autonomy (matter of trust), competence (just right tasks), and relatedness (working together works). Kevin and Stephan also discuss the future of work, both the challenges and opportunities. He offers practical examples of how AI-powered tools can align employee strengths with organizational needs.

Listen For

00:00 Introduction 02:00 Meet Stephan Meier 07:00 The Employee-First Approach 11:00 The Business Case for Prioritizing Employees 19:00 The Four Pillars of Employee Engagement 25:00 The Role of Technology in the Future of Work 31:00 Leadership Mindset Shift 36:00 Fun Facts About Stephan 38:00 Book Recommendations

Meet Stephan

Stephan's Story: Stephan Meier is the author of the forthcoming book The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive. He is the James P. Gorman Professor of Business Strategy at Columbia Business School and the chair of the Management Division. He is an award-winning teacher of classes in the MBA/EMBA program and executive education on strategy, Future of Work and Behavioral Economics. Previously he was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. His work has been published in the leading academic journals including the American Economic Review, Management Science, Psychological Science or Science Magazine, and has been profiled by the press such as The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich.

http://www.stephanmeier.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephan-meier-cbs

https://www.stephanmeier.com/newsletter

https://www.stephanmeier.com/lego-brick-by-brick-videos

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Book Recommendations

The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Business Thrive by Stephan Meier
Power and Progress by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson

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