Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization Show

The pandemic changed the way business is done forever. Once employees got a taste of working remotely and adjusted to a new lifestyle, there was little chance of getting workers back to the office on an everyday basis.  While more than 59% of workers are now more attracted to jobs that provide flexibility via remote work, nearly 6 out of 10 executives and business owners are pushing back and demanding workers return to the office. One common reason given by managers is that you can’t create a great culture with a remote workforce and workplace. Joining us for this episode are four of America’s top business coaches (Ira S Wolfe, Vanessa Hunter, Jennifer Marshall, and James Thorne) who will share tips on how to lead teams that thrive without being in person. 

HR doesn’t live in a vacuum. To help shape the future of work, it must connect the needs inside the business with the demands and consequences of an ever-changing environment. Continuous improvement is no longer enough. To respond to today’s Never Normal challenges, HR needs to not just improve but reinvent itself. Front and center are what distinguished authors and human capital strategists Solange Charas and Stela Lupushor call the four environmental D’s which will impact the four internal W’s (work, worker, workplace, worth). Much to the dismay of many leaders, success won’t happen if they focus just on workplace strategy. It’s about humanizing the approach to human capital. Join us for this provocative, disruptive, and robust conversation about how the valuation of human capital is quickly changing, outlined in their just released book: Humanizing Human Capital.

How effectively do your leaders and employees deal with a co-worker's grief, stress, and burnout? Do they respond as Fixit Frank, Silent Sam, Cheer-up Cheryl, or Buckup Bobby? With all the uncertainty, angst,  stress, and burnout permeating workplaces, maybe it’s time for an Empathy SWAT Team and an empathy toolkit too. Workplace Empathy Advocate Liesel Mertes and the founder of Handle with Care Consulting joins us with her team of empathy avatars to unlock the benefits of practicing empathy at work and how to get better at it. We are all first responders in our own way. Oftentimes, managers and co-workers are the first ones to see when something is wrong but aren’t the best equipped to deal with it. In a Never-Normal world with perpetual uncertainty, increasing angst, and an epidemic level of burnout, empathy matters. What needs to change? Who is responsible? Are some people just better suited to be empathic leaders? Can empathy be learned? What can leaders and HR do? What if all of us could be workplace first responders who have a basic toolkit that helps to stabilize and connect with people in a way that matters?

We live in a time where the call for environmental and social governance (ESG) grows louder every day. But is it B.S. or a good business strategy? Stakeholders, customers, and vendors all want businesses to operate in a more responsible way. It’s also coming from employees. What does this mean for business? And while it may seem like a daunting task, there are many small changes that can be made to start moving in the right direction. Dora Lutz, author of The Aspirational Business and the creator of the course Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs at Purdue University, reveals why ESG isn’t only the right thing to do but a good business strategy too. She will explain what ESG is, why it is becoming more important, and how ESG became a $27 trillion business, growing at 20% per year.

People are overwhelmed, burned out, and just exhausted- not just at work, but at home. You might think that’s old news and there’s nothing new to see here, which is exactly the reason you want to watch and listen to this episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. CEO and Head of Research Sarah White from the research and advisory firm aspect43 joined us to dig into the company’s just released new report, Insights at Work 2022. The results of how post-pandemic life is impacting work, how work is impacting life, and how tech is impacting both, are troubling! Many employees are responding with their feet or quiet quitting. So what are employers and HR tech firms doing to take care of their most important asset? How are they responding? What can you do better and differently to attract new talent and keep the talent you want? Hint: you don’t want to miss this episode.

Paul “Mac” McCarthy is on a mission to change the future of leadership. Why? Because he believes the current approach to leadership is filled with hypocrisy, uncaring, and ego-based leadership landmines. He’s experienced this first-hand after being fired from four executive roles over his 25-year career for doing what he was hired to do … and for calling out leaders about a broken leadership system. Paul doesn't say what he believes, he walks the talk and brings a fresh approach to the future of leadership. Paul just completed his book The F.I.R.E.D Leader; Reinventing the Future of Leadership (available 2023) and he shares the 5 F.I.R.E.D. leadership qualities during this episode. Are you ready to have an honest, candid, crucial conversation about the future of leadership? This is a conversation you can’t afford to miss.

What's next for jobs and the economy heading into 2023? Will we enter a recession? How long will it last? Will we see more layoffs and a reversal of remote work?  Will labor shortages ease? These are just a few of the top-of-mind business trending topics discussed on this special episode of Geeks Geezers and Googlization. Guests included Wall Street veterans, Odeon Capital Group’s Richard Bove and Mat Van Alstyne, along with Odeon Capital Conversations host and moderator John Aidan Byrne. You are not going to want to miss this very special episode, recorded live on September 7, 2022.  You’ll hear about what’s going on at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan when it comes to remote work and technology, how employment is shifting, why the birth-death ratio isn’t what you think it is,  how employers will need to fill open jobs, the future of college systems, the gig economy, how the future of fossil fuels will impact economic and jobs growth, the rising cost of Social Security and other programs, and most importantly: why these Wall Street veterans see the United States as a bed of opportunity and growth. Richard Bove is Odeon Capital’s Financial Strategist. Mr. Bove has been an analyst, research director, financial strategist, and, for brief periods a portfolio manager, in the past 52 years in which he has been in the business. His advice has been sought by investors, government officials, the media, and on two occasions the White House. He has appeared on television over 1,500 times and interviews related to his comments have appeared in the print media over 10,000 times. Mathew Van Alstyne, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, heads the Research department and manages the operations of Odeon. John Aidan Byrne is an award-winning journalist and host of the popular podcasts Dig Life Deep and Odeon Capital Conversations.

Recruiting and hiring top talent is top of mind these days, from C-Suite executives to Main Street business owners. But getting top results for many companies is elusive. To help our listeners solve the hiring puzzle, we reached out to the “Sherlock Holmes of recruitment” and father of “Performance-Based Hiring,” Lou Adler, founder of The Adler Group, is one of the top bloggers on LinkedIn’s Influencer program, with over 1.3 Million followers. His company’s new mobile-ready learning platform – Win-Win Hiring Learning Systems – provides instant access to all the tools needed to find and hire outstanding talent. Lou Adler is the CEO and founder of Performance-based Hiring Learning Systems – a consulting and training firm helping recruiters and hiring managers around the world source, interview, and hire the strongest and most diverse talent. Lou is the author of the Amazon top-10 best-seller, Hire With Your Head (John Wiley & Sons, 3rd Edition, 2007), The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench Media, 2013) and the Lynda.com Performance-based Hiring video training program.

The HR Indiana Conference is one of the largest regional human resources conferences in the United States. For the 1st time in 3 years, everything will be in-person and under one roof! There are over 50 speakers scheduled, including keynotes from Marc Effron, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Val Grubb, plus 50 concurrent sessions. No matter if you are just starting out as an HR Generalist, or you are a Senior VP of HR, HR Indiana has just the right education for you.   Joining Geeks Geezers and Googlization co-hosts Ira S Wolfe and Jason Cochran for this special live stream episode will be the 2022 Conference Chair, JoDee Curtis. Ira and Jason will also be speaking at the event.  Ira: Monday, August 29, No App to Adapt Jason: Monday August 29, Creating Ideal Employee Experiences - 4 Principles Connection You can learn more about Indiana SHRM’s HR Conference at https://hrindianashrm.org/conference. Past Geeks Geezers and Googlization guests who will also be speaking include Marc Effron, Kevin Grossman, Vivian Blade, and Jodi Brandstetter.  

What we don't know about burnout ... but should! Feeling the effects of burnout?  You’re not alone. The statistics are sobering. The impact is tragic. A McKinsey survey recently revealed that 3 out of 10 workers are experiencing burnout. Gallup’s State of the Workplace found that 19% of employees are miserable. The WHO recognizes burnout as a worldwide crisis. While employers often associate burnout with lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover, the ultimate cost is much worse. Are employers doing enough? What can they do better to help extinguish burnout? This week’s guests Terri and Rob Bogue, authors of Extinguish Burnout, share why stress is like a payday loan, why depression is a close cousin of burnout, and tips to grow personal agency that deters feeling burned out.