Bring Work to Life: The Leadership Imperative
Research demonstrates that we achieve positive business outcomes by creating fulfillment and Bringing Work to Life for employees. Join Dr. Tracy Brower, author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations and learn about the connections between work-life supports and organizational results. This interactive session will focus on how leaders can create a culture of abundance that is good for people and for companies. Join us for insightful research, new perspectives, pragmatic recommendations, and lively dialogue.
Tracy Brower, PhD, MM, MCR
Dr. Brower is a work environment sociologist and Global VP of Workplace Vitality for Mars Drinks. She is the author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations (September 2014) which provides new perspectives on work-life integration and abundance.
Tracy focuses on the sociology of work – how work affects us and how we affect our work. Over her career, Tracy has had the opportunity to engage with a wide range of organizations including many of the Fortune 500. Tracy holds a PhD in the sociology of work as well as a Masters of Management in organizational effectiveness and a Masters of Corporate Real Estate. Tracy has been interviewed for StoryCorps, Financial Spectrum, WGVU, the Center for Creative Leadership, Globe and Mail, among others. Her work has been referenced in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune.com, Forbes.com, and more. She has also published her work in venues such as the Drucker Institute and The Leader Magazine. You can learn more and see Tracy’s TED talk at www.tracybrower.com. Follow Tracy @TracyBrower108.
The way an organization operates can influence whether employees feel motivated, supported, and able to do meaningful work without sacrificing their well-being. Workplace culture is shaped not only by leadership decisions but also by everyday interactions, opportunities for growth, and the degree to which employees feel their contributions matter.
Understanding these experiences requires organizations to look beyond job titles and performance reviews and pay attention to what employees actually encounter throughout their working lives. This also means recognizing that people within the same organization may have very different expectations, challenges, and reasons for feeling satisfied or dissatisfied with their roles.
Getting a clearer picture of these differences can help leaders make more informed decisions about the working environment they create. Employee experiences, engagement levels, retention patterns, and feedback can reveal issues that might otherwise go unnoticed in routine management. Workhuman’s guide to people analytics tools touches on how organizations can examine workforce data to better understand these patterns and identify areas that need attention.
However, numbers alone rarely explain the full story behind an employee’s experience. They need to be considered alongside honest conversations and the individual circumstances that shape people’s working lives. When leaders combine these perspectives, they have a better chance of building an environment where employees feel heard, their needs are taken seriously, and organizational goals do not come at the expense of human well-being.
Sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor and Zingerman’s Roadhouse
