I welcome your questions! Here are a few from SG via LinkedIn.
Reader Question: Regarding the example you provided in the book – of New Employee Experience – how did you collect and use the stories from senior employees? Were they searchable? Who did the work?
Answer: I collected them based on individual interviews and then those were shared at the New Employee Experience. We did not make them searchable or accessible – although I’m sure the process could have been improved by doing so. The stories were used purely in the session. The project was handled by me and other team members internally.
Reader Question: When presenting work-life solutions to a company, how do you discuss ROI?
Answer: Essentially, I would use the business case approach presented in chapter 16. I would also use the data shared in chapter 2 in order to create a burning platform. I would make specific suggestions of changes recommended based on some of the ideas in chapter 4 and throughout the book.
Reader Question: How do you handle a situation in which the company CEO supports work-life solutions, but younger workers and managers are driven more by production and sales metrics than in respecting the company’s acquired wisdom and brand legacy. In this environment, how do you convince the younger workers of the value of preserving organizational memory?
Answer: This is always a balance – that between new ideas and established wisdom – and probably is less about workers’ ages, and more about their mindset (and possibly their tenure with the company). It will be important to share stories in order to capture emotional engagement and investment with what has worked well. Ultimately, it will be less about telling than about showing the power of the culture and effective approaches that are already in place.
Reader Question: What is the success of reverse mentoring in your experience? I have a suspicion that both millennials and boomers might resist, as it seems to contradict the traditional flow of knowledge exchange. Beyond what you discussed in the book, how would you suggest overcoming such resistance?
Answer: I’ve seen this be very successful and actually embraced by all generations. Everyone wants to be valued for what they bring to a company and a relationship and reverse mentoring does this. If there is resistance, starting small and piloting with a group or even a few individuals can work well. Learn from their experience, ensure success, and then have them help advocate for the solution and bring others in, using the power of their first-hand experience to convince others.
Reader Question: When you talk about recording the mentoring process between multi-generational workers, did you capture that on video or stage it for the camera after the fact?
Answer: It was more about capturing it in minds and memories and on ‘paper’ in story form, not in video since that could have created resistance to open sharing and conversational intimacy.
Reader Question: Since the book’s publication, have you gained any other insights on the process?
Answer: Oh definitely! I’m learning every day, and there’s another book in the making. I’m particularly enthusiastic right now about brain science and new knowledge on neuroscience in terms of the extent to which we are social beings and the ways that work is a social outlet. There will be tons to harness in this arena and this will be the crux of engagement. When people feel good about their work (positive neurotransmitter involvement), they will want to do more of it, setting up a reinforcing loop of positive experience and engagement.
Do you have a question about work-life and/or about Bringing Work to Life? If so, let me know by emailing me at tbrower108@gmail.com. Why? One of the foundations of Bringing Work to Life is abundance: the idea that it is possible to find fulfillment, have it all, and avoid the trade-offs between work and life. After all, work and life aren’t separate things to be placed in containers, but part of an integrated whole of a satisfying life. Another foundation of Bringing Work to Life is the idea of multiple right answers. As we’re all seeking ways to bring work to life – and bring life to work – we can learn from each other’s questions, perspectives, input, and answers!
Tracy Brower is the author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations.