Making Work Suck Less: Healing Workplaces Through Play

There is a growing animosity between employers and employees that we all have felt these past few years. It’s manifested in quiet quitting, quiet firing, strikes, and RIFs/Layoffs. This talk explores the bold steps we need to heal the divisions within workplaces using a play-oriented approach to work. The only way to find unique solutions to these significant issues that organizations have been too afraid to face is through a play mindset. We will identify immediately actionable strategies to mend the divide between C-Suite executives, managers, and staff. Together, we can choose what direction we want the future of work to go. The question we must answer is: What are we willing to do to create a work culture where not only the organization can thrive but where our people finally become the priority?

Learning Objectives

• Dive into the widening employer and employee disconnect and how to mend it.
• Identify the most critical issues organizations are avoiding and how to heal this workplace division.
• Determine actionable strategies that can be applied immediately in the workplace so managers and staff can find a way to help each other do their most vibrant work.

About the Speaker 

Jeff Harry combines positive psychology and play to heal workplaces, help teams build psychological safety and assist individuals in addressing their biggest challenges by embracing a play-oriented approach to work. Jeff was selected by BambooHR & Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers and has been featured in the NY Times, Mashable, Upworthy, Huffpost, Shondaland, Wired, NPR, & Forbes. Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day. Over the past 15 years of facilitation and speaking, Jeff’s main goal has been to help work suck less by assisting leaders in building a playground workplace atmosphere that motivates their staff to do their most vibrant work.