Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants with Jennifer Moss

 

Jennifer Moss episode: 

The music used in this episode was Senility by Jangwa from Free Music Archive (CC BY) 

 

Jennifer Moss specializes in future-focused leadership development, expertly balancing employee well-being with performance. As an award-winning writer and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, she specializes in transforming workplace culture using data-driven leadership strategies. Her book, The Burnout Epidemic tackled employee burnout and was among Thinkers50's "10 Best New Management Books for 2022."  

Book: WHY ARE WE HERE: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants by Jennifer Moss (Jan)

Website: https://www.jennifer-moss.com/why-are-we-here-book

Questions/topics for discussion:

1.     Your title asks a big, existential question - what is its significance and how does it relate to worker sentiment today?  

 

2.     Your previous books covered happiness at work and then the burnout epidemic at work. What is the thread that connects these three topics? They relate to health, happiness and high performance.  

 

3.     You write that work is “fundamentally broken.” How did we get here? 

 

4.     Your book comes out right around the five-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic but you barely mention it in the book - was this on purpose? Why?

5.     Your book covers a lot of ground, and you’ve broken it down into three parts. Can you briefly outline the key areas of work that leaders must approach differently? 

6.     Let’s dig into the first area: hope. You write that we’re experiencing a surge of hopelessness - particularly amongst Gen Zs - that is deeply affecting organizational future readiness. Please explain. 

 

7.     We can’t talk about the state of work today without talking about flexibility and return-to-office mandates (with Amazon being the elephant in the room). Why are we still having these battles, five years after the pandemic disrupted where people work? 

 

8.     If RTO mandates aren’t the way forward, what is? How can leaders give employees the freedom and flexibility they want while also meeting organizational goals? 

 

9.     You also dig into the topic of generational bias at work – not just “ageism,” but also bias aimed at younger generations. Why is there so much division between generations at work right now, and how is it affecting the workplace? 

 

10.  What’s the key to overcoming this generational bias? 

 

11.  We’re in the midst of a huge backlash against DEI programs, and you write in your book that DEI strategies aren’t working. What went wrong, and what’s the path forward? 

 

12.  In the section on DEI, you write that it needs to become more inclusive of people living with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent. What does this look like in action and are there companies doing it right? 

 

13.  Your book points to stark data showing that women are breaking up with work. What’s driving them away from the workforce? 

 

14.  And yet, we’ve been talking about helping women break the glass ceiling for decades. Why haven’t we made more progress toward gender parity at work? What needs to change? 

 

15.  AI is a huge priority for companies, and it’s also a source of anxiety for workers. What did you learn from your interviews and research about how AI is impacting workers? 

 

16.  How can leaders navigate this AI anxiety and FOBO (fear of becoming obsolete) that their workers are experiencing? And what will happen if leaders don’t proactively address it? 

 

17.  Let’s talk about the loneliness epidemic at work - how did it come to be, and how is it impacting both individual workers and organizations? 

 

18.  Community, as you write, is the antidote to workplace loneliness. How can leaders build community and foster workplace friendships?  

 

19.  You write that rediscovering happiness at work starts with purpose. How do you define purpose, and how can organizations operationalize it? 

 

20.  Is there a company that’s getting all (or most) of these things right?  

 

21.  What is your biggest hope for the future of work? 

 

All social media links:

• https://x.com/jennifermossinc
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenleighmoss/
• https://www.instagram.com/betterworkinstitute/