Dieter Valdsman is a Cape Town, South Africa based business executive with extensive organizational design, change and transformation experience. Today he spends most of his time as the Group Human Capital Executive for the 6000-employee Momentum Metropolitan Group, a South African-based financial services conglomerate. He’s also a senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg, lending his talents to improving our understanding of how organizations operate most effectively.  Together we discussed the future of organizational design; our need to redefine what work looks like; transitioning from the traditional inside-out approach to how organizations were structured; to an outside-in model that factors in the chaos happening all around us. We discuss the critical importance of psychology safety in the workplace - particularly for organizations undergoing digital transformations. If your employees dont trust you, digital transformation feels a lot like workforce reduction through automation. It instead can feel empowering, enabling; more inclusive. We had a great discussion and I hope you enjoy it. Dieter VeldsmanDr Dieter Veldsman is a seasoned executive with extensive organisational design, development and business transformation experience. He has been involved in various industries in different roles across Asia, UK, Europe and Africa.  He is currently the Group Executive Human Capital at Momentum Metropolitan, a multi-national financial services provider with a footprint in Africa, the United Kingdom and India.  He holds a Doctorate in Organisational Psychology from the University of South Africa whilst also completing certificates at Harvard and INSEAD on business strategy. He is a regular speaker at international conferences on the topics of people effectiveness, employee engagement, workplace trends and organisational development and has authored/co-authored a number of book chapters and peer-reviewed academic articles.  He is involved in academia as a senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg  and lectures part-time at various institutions on the topics of employee engagement, human capital and organisational behaviour. LinkedInThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Thinking Inside the Box

Dieter Veldsman: Organizational Redesign

Kirsten Anderson is the Vancouver, Canada-based Founder of Integrate Play, a boutique training corporation that creates bespoke events and learning experiences to drive innovation, team-building and alignment. Items that couldn’t be more important today as organization reimagine their workplaces. I’ve known Kirsten for a few years now. We’ve bumped into each other at local Vancouver events, And so it was easy to pick up our ongoing chat about discuss how best to humanize today’s hybrid workplaces. Kirsten shares some of her past experiences; insights on what is working. As I’m want to do, I poked at the financial business case for play - spoiler alert - its strong. And together we unearthed some tangible tips any leader can deploy today. It’s one topic of many that we dig into over our nearly hour-long chat. And I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Kirsten AndersonAfter 25 years as an entrepreneur in the toy industry, and over a decade as the play expert on Global TV, Kirsten sold the award winning “Best Toy Store in Canada” to bridge her expertise in business leadership and the bottom-line benefits of play for ALL ages, especially in the workplace. Though some call her a Playologist, she’s actually an International keynote speaker on the power of playfulness to improve innovation, wellness, culture, and team dynamics.Kirsten is the founder of Integrate Play Solutions; a boutique training corporation working with organizational teams in diverse industries, remotely and in-person, to help solve their messiest challenges using playful methods - the favourite being LEGO® Serious Play®. Integrate Play Solutions collaborates with playful partners and clients globally to create better places to work while increasing creativity and resilience - brick by brick.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Kirsten Anderson: A More Playful Workplace

Lee Miller is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, at Seton Hall University School of Management, and at USC. He’s a speaker, executive/ career coach, and consultant specializing in the areas of influencing, leadership, innovation, negotiation skills. He’s a graduate of Harvard Law School and is a 5 time recipient of the Seton Hall Business School’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He’s also the author of UP: Influence, Power and the You Perspective, and in a cool twist, co-authored, with his daughter, A Woman’s Guide To Successful Negotiating - a title selected by the Huffington Post as one of the "16 books Aspiring Women Leaders Need to Read."Previously, Lee was the Chief Human Resources Officer at TV Guide, USA Networks and Barneys NY. He’s a frequent speaker who has appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, Today New York, Fox and Friends, Economy Watch and Morning Edition.Together we covered a range of topics particularly relevant today. We talked about influencing in times of great innovation & its importance for leaders. We chatted virtual influence - and how we translate traditional thinking to reflect our zoom-centric world. And we discussed his books, the frameworks that underpin them & and how every person can use principles of negotiation to achieve more favourable outcomes - for everyone. We had a great discussion and I hope you enjoy it. Lee MillerLee is an executive coach and corporate   trainer   in   the field   of   leadership, strategic influencing, sales, negotiating and innovation. He also offers workshops on strategic influencing and negotiating for leaders, including workshops on influencing and negotiating designed specifically for women leaders. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University, University of Southern California and Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, where he teaches graduate level courses in managerial influencing and negotiating as well as in managerial decision-making and human resources management. LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Lee Miller: The Art of Getting What You Want

Mario Nawfal is the Founder of the Athena Group of Companies, a business conglomerate that operates in more than 40 countries. He’s a unique individual; unlike anyone I’ve ever interviewed before on this podcast. And that appealed to me for several reasons. I’m often asked for best practices around networking - one is to set aside time to meet people who aren’t like you. The world is changing and a historical bias for deep technical expertise is being replaced with a preference for agility, adaptability & resilience. Engaging with people like Mario helps add context to a changing world. He has an incredible story. In 2012, with $300 in the bank, he was selling blenders door-to-door. By deploying unconventional marketing techniques, efficient logistical systems and a team of global contractors, he propelled Froothie to $1m in year one and over $10m in year 2 - all bootstrapped. In 2013 & 2014 he formed Optimum Appliances & launched brands such as HX, Vie, FX, Prestige Home Appliances to satisfy the demand for high-end kitchen appliances. Optimum went on to achieve global brand status. In 2016 he founded the business scaling incubator - GoGlobal. In 2017  - he established International Blockchain Consulting; quickly becoming an industry authority in the rapidly growing blockchain and Crypto space. In 2018 he established a VC Fund, Accounting & Law Firms. His latest venture, Zense, was launched in 2019, to provide entrepreneurs with the insight to launch successful businesses on a limited budget. He’s documenting that journey; adding storytelling to an already long list of accomplishments. And over the course of our nearly hour-long conversation, we chatted about his origin story. Mario gave some tremendous context on his journey, including a few lessons learned along the way, that you won’t want to miss. We pivoted to growth hacking; Mario shared some of his best practices for a space that increasingly is being defined by a lack of rules; a willingness to challenge the status quo. We talked Clubhouse, entrepreneurship, and impact investing. We had a great discussion and I hope you enjoy it. Mario NawfalMario Nawfal, the Founder of the Athena Group of Companies, a business conglomerate of 15+ companies that operates in more than 40 countries. Mario started his first business with $300 in the bank selling blenders door to door which led to Froothie Australia.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Mario Nawfal: The Ethics of Growth Hacking

Tim is passionate about the intersection of organizational culture and coaching. With experience in marketing, sales and HR at large organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Intel and Index Group, Tim has coached C-level leaders, and taught at Bogazici University Lifelong Learning Centre, Global Knowledge Canada, and Simon Fraser University. He holds five coaching certificates, is trained in multiple coaching styles and is a PhD candidate focusing on wise leadership. Timothy has four nationally published books in Turkish, including one on coaching, and he has worked with clients such as MEC, Telus, Aviso Wealth, and Doctors of BC.I’ve known Tim for a few years now. We’ve bumped into each other at industry events, and he was kind enough to invite me to a past Great Place to Work event in Toronto, where I heard  number of inspiring stories.I like Tim. And I wanted him to tell his story. Maslow’s storyAnd how Tim believes the now ubiquitous ‘hierarchy of needs’ research relates to organizational culture. We discuss the changing leadership paradigm in the 21st century, ask what business leaders struggle with most in this unprecedented era, and discuss how coaching can be part of that solution. It’s one topic of many that we dig into over our nearly hour-long chat. And I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Tim TiryakiTimothy is passionate about the intersection of organizational culture and coaching. With vast experience in marketing, sales and HR at large organizations such as Procter & Gamble, Intel and Index Group, he has coached C-level leaders and taught at Bogazici University Lifelong Learning Centre, Global Knowledge Canada, and Simon Fraser University. He holds five coaching certificates, is trained in multiple coaching styles and is a PhD candidate focusing on wise leadership. Timothy has four nationally published books in Turkish, including one on coaching, and he has worked with clients such as MEC, Telus, Aviso Wealth, and Doctors of BC.LinkedInYouTubeThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Tim Tiryaki: Redefining Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Romy is highly motivated to bring better performance and productivity to our companies and our country by making the workplace work better for women. As the Co-founder and President of Fairygodboss, Romy leads a business with the mission to improve the workplace for women everywhere. Before venturing into the crazy world of entrepreneurship, Romy ran digital advertising sales and operations at The Wall Street Journal, and also worked in marketing at Google and Estee Lauder. Romy studied American studies, literature and art at Yale and many more practical things at the Kellogg School of Management at North-western. Romy is a frequent speaker and contributor to Fortune, Huffington Post, and Inc. She is a proud mother of two, wife to a very supportive husband, devoted yogi and crossword puzzle lover. We had a wide-ranging discussion that included Fairygodboss’ origin story, and how the pandemic has affected gender equality; highlighting the mass exodus of women from the workforce. It was a really enjoyable, timely discussion and we hope you enjoy it. Romy NewmanRomy Newman is Co-founder and President of Fairygodboss, a business with the mission to improve the workplace for women everywhere. Before venturing into the crazy world of entrepreneurship, Romy ran digital advertising sales and operations at The Wall Street Journal, and also worked in marketing at Google and Estee Lauder. Romy studied American studies, literature and art at Yale and many more practical things at the Kellogg School of Management at North-western. Romy is a frequent speaker and contributor to Fortune, Huffington Post, and Inc. She is a proud mother of two, wife to a very supportive husband, devoted yogi and crossword puzzle lover. Romy is highly motivated to bring better performance and productivity to our companies and our country by making the workplace work better for women.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Romy Newman: How a Pandemic Affects Gender Equality

Rupert Brown is global business leader with a diverse background, including stints with enterprise giants Procter & Gamble and Maersk, and private equity backed businesses in the consumer goods and education sectors. Most recently Rupert was Chief People Officer at GEMS Education based in Dubai, the world&apos;s largest school operator, where he focussed on the talent, culture and processes required to grow into new markets. Rupert is passionate about the effects that globalization and digital transformation have on business, and in particular, how we will develop diverse leadership talent in the future of work. He’s spent the majority of his career living outside of his native UK, including assignments in Switzerland, Singapore (twice), Denmark, and the United Arab Emirates. We had a far-ranging discussion that included: the extent to which technology has really saved us during this pandemic, the seismic talent shift occurring as organizations see record levels of turnover, and us opining about redefining the corporate athlete for a post-pandemic world of work. It was a really enjoyable, timely discussion and we hope you enjoy it. Rupert BrownRupert Brown is a truly global HR Leader with a diverse industry background including blue chips like Procter & Gamble and Maersk as well as private equity backed businesses in the consumer goods and education sectors. Most recently Rupert was Chief People Officer at GEMS Education based in Dubai, the world&apos;s largest school operator, where he focussed on the talent, culture and processes required to grow into new markets. Rupert is passionate about the effects that digital and globalisation have on business and in particular how we will develop diverse leadership talent in the future of work. He has seen first hand how these factors impact in different parts of the world having spent the majority of his career living outside of his native UK, including assignments in Switzerland, Singapore (twice), Denmark, and the United Arab Emirates in addition to London which is where we caught up with him. Rupert holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Northumbria and a Master’s degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from the University of Manchester, UK. Rupert is an accredited executive coach, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, and is currently studying to become a certified company director. LinkedInThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Rupert Brown: Developing Global Leaders

Jay Polaki, is the Maryland-based founder of HR Geckos, an HR Technology & Management company. She’s spent the last two decades in leadership positions across industries, as a business partner, executive human resources consultant, and human resources director. At HR Geckos, Jay continues to create, fuel, and encourage next-gen ideas, practices, and tools on Human Resources Technology, Leadership Development, Talent, and Compensation Strategies. In 2016, Jay founded the Global Indian Professional Network (GIPN), a non-profit focused on the professional development for Indian-Origin professionals and the advancement of global Indians in business. Together we discuss the human side of the pandemic. It’s effect on organizations, their leaders and employees. And we dig into the HR Geckos platform; discussing the reasons for automating employee queries and service delivery. It speaks to a trend that blurs employee and customer experience. Marketing and Sales organizations for years have architected customer experiences to reduce friction, increase engagement, and ultimately provide the individual with the information / inspiration they need to take the next step. It’s only more recently that HR professionals have shone a similar light on the employee experience. From hiring, orientation and onboarding, to learning, succession and performance management, there are predictable, repeatable interaction points between employees and their organizations. It was a really enjoyable, timely discussion and we hope you enjoy it.Jay PolakiJay Polaki is the founder of HR Geckos (www.hrgeckos.com), an HR Technology & Management company. Having spent the last two decades in several leadership positions across industries Jay has impacted how some of the most important HR functions are defined and executed. While she handles clients internationally across all HR Geckos’ markets, Jay lives, writes, grows tomatoes, solves crosswords, and integrates work into life in the USA.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpolaki/Website: http://www.hrgeckos.com/Thinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thinkinsidethebox/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkinginsidetheboxpodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThinkingInside1Website: https://bentohr.com/Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-inside-the-box-podcast/id1488514763?uo=4Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS82OTA4MDcucnNzSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DiNOxHxIYKg89WEy0mnHdStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/thinking-inside-the-box-podcastPocket Cast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/690807/episodes/%20https://pca.st/bztpgypyMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-d-burns/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattBurnsHR

Jay Polaki: Consumer Grade Employee Experiences

Sandrine Bardot is a truly global compensation strategist. Her experiences at the world’s largest organizations, including Microsoft, Apple & Airbus, through Europe, the Middle East & Asia, grants her a unique perspective. And she’s shared her perspectives; writing nearly 300 blogs at compensationinsider.com - on everything from employee performance to complex total rewards strategies. It makes her the perfect person to discuss the future of organizational compensation.Many employees give little consideration to the broader view; focusing on their own salary, bonuses and benefits. Though in aggregate, they often represent an organization’s largest expense. Which makes its strategy and management crucial in an incredibly competitive global labour market. And how do things shift as work increasingly goes hybrid? Should organizations pay based on the cost of their local labour market? Or by the specific role, regardless of location? We discuss these and myriad other fascinating topics that you won’t want to miss. Sandrine BardotAn award-winning Compensation & Benefits expert, Sandrine Bardot boasts a 28-year career in the field of Total Rewards. She took on took on roles with increasing responsibilities in Compensation & Benefits in Microsoft, Airbus, Apple, Philips, Fiat and more, leading to positions of Global Head of Performance and Reward at Majid Al Futtaim in Dubai then Mubadala in Abu Dhabi.Established in 2013, her company The Bardot Group offers specialised C&B consulting, training and keynote speaking services, mostly throughout the GCC, Asia and Africa.She shares hands-on, pragmatic approaches with her clients, ensuring that the projects will have immediate impact and business value and don’t remain “an idea on the shelf”.As part of her outreach to educate the HR community, she authors a blog, Compensation Insider.com, with over 300 articles published to date inspiring HR leaders and practitioners on topics related to the Employee Value Proposition.She is also a regular speaker at HR conferences and in-house events.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Sandrine Bardot: Hybrid Employee Compensation

Tanvir Bhangoo sits at the intersection of Technology, People, and Execution; unpacking the world of digital transformations through the pillars of leadership and culture, enabling leaders and teams to boost organizational performance and tackle change.Formerly, the VP of Tech at Freshii and at Director at RBI (3G Capital – Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes) Tanvir has led end to end digital transformations, like me - and so I was eager to connect with another accomplished leader in this space. He’s also a former college football player and that certainly influences how he approaches transformation on many levels. A relentless focus on building team culture, the importance of training and leadership. This episode gave us a unique opportunity to discuss two topics that I’ve been fascinated in of-late. Drawing inspiration from business, I’ve spoken with many national and Olympic-level athletes to better understand what we can learn from their experiences and apply in the business world.We’re in the 4th industrial revolution - one highlighted by the exponential growth of knowledge workers. How to attract, develop, engage and retain key people is an industry in the billions. Largely because we’ve applied tired, legacy thinking to the problem.Take the concept of rest. Any accomplished athlete will tell you that rest is an essential part of their training regimen. That mastering intentional rest and recovery can be the difference between winning and losing. So what then of our glamourized hustle culture that encourages people to work harder, longer and faster. What of our perpetually connected world where digital fatigue is at record levels?It’s one topic of many that we dig into over our nearly hour-long chat. And i hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. So without future ado,,,Tanvir BhangooTanvir firmly believes that culture, leadership, and adaptability are the keys to thriving in a digital future where uncertainty, tech commoditization, and AI is on the rise. Resilient teams, able to reimagine business models and disrupt themselves.He has worked with top F500 firms and global brands, turbocharging their digital journeys in disruptive environments.He also produces his top rated weekly podcast, where he interviews F1000 executives and former athletes (NFL, MLB, Olympians, and others) turned executives on building strong cultures in uncertain, changing environments.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Tanvir Bhangoo: Connecting Sports to Business

Ben Comstock believes that human connection is key to happiness. It inspired him to build a company dedicated to helping organizations foster community.As the Founder & CEO of OfficeAccord, Ben has built an online community platform to keep employees informed, engaged and connected. And his timing couldn’t be better. The world of work has materially shifted and hybrid work is here to stay. Organizations, seeking to bridge the gap between physical (on-site) and digital employee experiences are increasingly looking to technologies for the solution. Ben and I have been friends for a couple of years. We originally met in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I was speaking at a conference. And in amongst all the chaos, we found time to connect in a hotel lobby. He shared his personal story, the journey of OfficeAccord, and I was hooked. Beyond our mutual business interests, we have shared values. We talk about the necessary alignment of his business and life. We talk about purpose. And we look to the future. Ben is one of those people where you start talking and before long an hour passes by. This was one of those chats and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Ben ComstockBen Comstock is an entrepreneur with a passion for creating human connections.  Being adopted from India, raised in Iowa (USA) and having lived in Spain for 11-years has given him a unique perspective on interracial and intercultural relationships which helped him build his HR Tech company, OfficeAccord – a community experience platform.  LinkedIn Thinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Ben Comstock: Remote Culture

As the Founder and CEO of Voyager’s Table, Jade Leong is redefining what it means to feel truly connected in the midst of a global pandemic. Jade was born and raised in Australia, and has lived in Singapore, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Her adventures have taken her across the world - producing events on 5 continents, from intimate house parties to 100,000+ person festivals. Jade has reinvented a business largely predicated on creating memorable in-person experiences, to one solely-focused on digital interfaces. It’s a topic I’m particularly interested in as work shifts to a more hybrid setting. How do we create true connection in a dispersed setting? How can organizations and their leaders more closely engage their customers and employees when a screen is the interface? These are some of the topics we discuss over the course of our conversation. It was an awesome chat. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.Jade LeongJade Leong is the founder and CEO of Voyager’s Table, a company specializing in event production and project management. Jade was born and raised in Australia but has lived in Los Angeles, Seattle & Vancouver, and Singapore. Her adventures have taken her across the world- producing events on 5 continents, intimate house parties, and 100,000+ person festivals. Before turning her passions and 20 years of event experience into her full-time venture, she worked as a therapist and philanthropic consultant. When Jade isn’t hosting, curating, and producing events, she’s traveling, eating, drinking, and working towards her goal of becoming a volunteer adaptive snowboard instructor.  She’d love nothing more than to karaoke with you, as long as you’re okay with duetting Endless Love” by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey… and letting her sing Luther’s part.  LinkedInInstagramThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Jade Leong: The Social Element of Organizational Culture

Alex Murphy is an Entrepreneur, Investor, and Advisor to start-ups and other companies in the Talent Acquisition Technology (TAtech) industry. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of JobSync, creating a simple, seamless, and secure hiring experience for employers and candidates.Previously, Alex was a Senior Vice President at Beyond.com, Inc.EVP of eCommerce for The Healthy Back Store and Sit4Less.com and was a co-founder of Job.com.In this episode, we discuss the Job Sync origin story, the forces that led to its inception, and how its solving traditional frustrations in the job search process. Not long ago, technology was viewed as the solution; a democratizing force that assured applicants could digitally apply for roles regardless of location. Organizations saw it as an opportunity to streamline their internal processes, enhance record-keeping and automate many of the repetitive, mundane tasks that take so much time. Along the way we lost sight of this. It’s a common refrain that the hiring process is now ‘inhumane’. Candidates apply for roles with little hope of acknowledgement and organizations are enslaved to the administrivia necessary to keep systems running. Alex wanted to solve these problems; simultaneously enhance the candidate experience and free up time for organizations to connect with prospective employees. We chatted about this, though also a number of other relevant, and timely topics, including transparency in advertising. How predatory practices related to fraudulent job postings are a real threat to individual privacy.And the importance of intentionally embedding equity and inclusion in the hiring process to ensure fairness of opportunity and that ultimately, the best fit for any role is the one who’s selected. Alex MurphyAlex Murphy is an Entrepreneur, Investor, and Advisor to start-ups and other companies in the Talent Acquisition Technology (TAtech) industry. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of JobSync, creating a simple, seamless, and secure hiring experience for employers and candidates.Previously, Alex was a Senior Vice President at Beyond.com, Inc.EVP of eCommerce for The Healthy Back Store and Sit4Less.com and was a co-founder of Job.com.LinkedInWebsiteThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Alex Murphy: Hiring Ethics

Cheryl Otto is the Founder & CEO of OOPS – Ounce of Prevention Solutions and WIN - the Workplace Investigator Network. She is a happily retired lawyer and an industry expert in Canada in the art of workplace investigations. Over her 25-year career, she’s conducted 100’s of workplace investigations, consulted on numerous high-profile cases, and has trained over 1000 investigators. And she&apos;s a leading expert on the topic of creating respectful workplaces.Together, we tackled a challenging topic - workplace investigations. Challenging because the topic can be quite controversial. The truth is the majority of people involved in investigations don&apos;t have a great experience. They’re not particularly pleasant. And whether you’re a complainant, witness or respondent - investigations can strain relationships. All the more reason to ensure they’re conducted fairly and with respect. And so in our time together, Cheryl and I tackle a number of subjects: how you address complaints regarding high-performing or senior employees; how to identify and overcome bias. And the importance of ensuring humanity in the investigative process. Whether we like it, or not, investigations occur in every organization. While most of us come to work with the best of intentions, things don&apos;t always go as planned. So we need to create a safe space for people to bring forward their concerns to realize inclusive, respectful, diverse workplaces, where everyone can feel welcome, supported and ultimately safe.Cheryl OttoCheryl is the Founder & CEO of OOPS – Ounce of Prevention Solutions and WIN - the Workplace Investigator Network. She is a happily retired lawyer and an industry expert in Canada in the art of workplace investigations. She has conducted 100’s of investigations, consulted on numerous high-profile cases, and has trained over 1000 investigators in her 25-year career. Cheryl has served as a subject matter expert to media outlets, the legal profession, industry conferences, and has refined the workplace investigation process over decades.WebsiteLinkedInThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Cheryl Otto: Overcoming Bias in Workplace Investigations

Ryan Frederick is a Columbus Ohio-based serial entrepreneur, author of two books: The Founder’s Manual & Sell Naked, and a product person at heart. He’s been part of starting and growing several software and service companies. He’s an angel investor; mentors and advises entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as corporate innovation leaders. And he helps companies build great software products and solve data challenges for competitive advantage as a Principal at AWH, a product and data consulting firm. One of the reasons I launched this podcast was to talk to interesting people like Ryan.An individual who I wouldn’t come across as I focus on enterprise strategy, digital transformation, and immersive tech.Which is the exact reason I loved this discussion so much. I learned a lot in my 40 + minutes chatting with Ryan. We discussed the human elements of building products. The concept of friction, and more specifically, that the best products have the least amount of friction for their end user.We talked about customer validation, its critical importance for any product owner, and the necessity to approach it ‘in the negative’. People will answer the questions you ask, according to Ryan. So if you ask people what they like about a product, they’ll answer you. What any product owner really wants to know is what their end users don’t like. That’s the catalyst for continuous improvement. It’s a topic that has application in so many parts of our lives, and I’m grateful to Ryan for joining us to illuminate some of the darker corners.Ryan FrederickRyan Frederick has had the privilege of being part of starting and growing several software and service companies. He has helped companies grow from inception to viability, through to sustainability. During the evolution of these companies, Ryan has served on company boards and been instrumental in capitalization activities. Ryan combines a unique blend of business acumen and technical knowledge having originally been a developer who migrated to the business side. He now helps companies build great software products and solve data challenges for competitive advantage as a Principal at the product and data consulting firm, AWH.LinkedInTwitterThinking Inside the BoxConstraints drive innovation. Each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.LinkedInInstagramTwitterWebsiteApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyStitcherPocket CastMatt BurnsMatt Burns is an award-winning executive, social entrepreneur and speaker. He believes in the power of community, simplicity & technology.LinkedInTwitter

Ryan Frederick: Humanizing Products

Thinking Inside the Box, the show where each week we’ll tackle the most complex issues related to work & culture.

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Thinking Inside the Box

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