Stop Stressing Me Out Victoria Smith

We've talked a couple of times now about the connection between purpose, volunteerism and wellbeing... but where is the evidence? I'm all for evidence-based decision-making, so today on the podcast we're joined by Ryan Adams, the head of Strategic Partnerships at Benevity.
Benevity is a corporate purpose software that provides charitable donation-management, volunteer-management and grant-management solutions for corporations. It also happens to be my former workplace, and one of my favourite parts of the job was the data that was produced from the 1000+ clients and millions of participants. In March 2024, Benevity produced its most recent State of Corporate Volunteering Report and the data is fascinating, and for me, I couldn't help but see the connections between corporate purpose programs and an employee's wellbeing.
Ryan has a deep background in all things social impact, which we discuss in the podcast, and we also talk about:
turning implicit understandings about volunteerism into explicit findings
the push-pull between high participation and the quality of volunteer activities
the fine line between being courageous and cautious in your social impact program
the individual search for purpose in the workplace and how it ties to stress
the connection (to be studied!) between psychological safety and acts of kindness in volunteer programs
why hard economic times are NOT the time to pull back on corporate purpose programs
and so much more!
Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn
Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn
The Book: Stress Less in 90 Days: Your Guide to Beat Burnout, Build Resilience and Actually Enjoy Your Daily Life
 
 

Multiple studies have shown that most workplace wellness features don't actually make a difference to employee wellbeing. But there is one that has been proven to work at retaining people, giving them a sense of purpose and improving their wellbeing - employee volunteerism.
Today I am joined by social impact leader, Jerome Tennille, to talk about why employee volunteer programs make such a difference to our wellbeing, how to thoughtfully develop your own program, how we can better measure impact and much more. 
 
Check out our Less Stressed Leaders Training 
Follow Jerome on LinkedIn 
 

This week on the podcast I'm very excited to bring Michelle Berg to the mic. Michelle is the Chief Visionary Officer of Elevated HR, a fractional HR services firm that believe fiercely that work shouldn't suck. 
To continue our conversation on workplace wellbeing and organizational stress, I wanted to have a frank conversation about what is the role HR can and/or should play in supporting organizations to reduce stress and burnout. In this conversation we talk about:
How the motto work shouldn't suck is their north star and what organizations should aim for
Whether or not engagement surveys should exist
Workplace trends regarding stress and burnout
Tips for transitioning employees back to the office after stress leave (and tips for leaders to see early warning signs in the first place)
Why HR may not be the team to teach leaders about psychological safety, and the role HR play vs department leads in building psychological safety
Why more part-time professional roles don't exist and how we can get to a more flexible workplace
And much more! 
To check out the Less Stressed Leaders training go to impactfulengagement.com/training
 
 

If you work for a corporation, your company website likely has some values listed on it. We believe in x, y and z. You might even have your performance assessed against it. And corporate values can't be bad, right? 
In this short episode I dive into where corporate values can go wrong, and what you as a leader need to do to make sure your team are on the same page.
Less Stressed Teams training launches April 17th https://www.impactfulengagement.com/training 
Hub Spot Culture Code https://www.hubspot.com/culture-code/the-hubspot-culture-code 

We're back for Part 2 with Jen Singhal. Last week we dove into what it takes to move a team from low engagement to a highly engaged and high performing team. We talked tangible practices to build team morale and in this episode we dive even deeper into the practices to develop psychologically safe teams. It's far more than a buzzword, and we can talk psychological safety in theory for ages, but Jen breaks down tangible tools to put it into action. 
 
Check out Less Stressed Leaders training at impactfulengagement.com/training 
Follow Jen on LinkedIn
 

There's a common misconception that certain industries or roles are simply high-stress and that's "the way it is and the way it's always been." I don't buy it.
Today we're joined by Jen Singhal, a leader who knows what it means to build a team's performance while sustaining (in fact measurably improving!) their wellbeing. She's proven both are possible, and in this episode she graciously breaks down what it took, the tools and practices, that got her team there. Her coaching leadership style is fascinating and you'll have so many takeaways that you can implement immediately. 
In part one of this episode we talk about:
What Jen’s leadership career trajectory has looked like (10:15)
How her background in sports impacts her leadership style  (15:43)
The unique features of leadership and goal setting  as a result of team sports (18:29)
How fun can and should be part of team dynamics (21:20)
Balancing your teams limits (self-imposed or otherwise)   (22:20)
The importance of safety given uncertain times (25:03)
Building high performance while sustaining wellbeing  (27:02)
Reducing barriers that were holding the team back  (30:04)
The practice that changed the game for her team (33:03) 
The rules of gratitude and celebration (36:30)
The lived experience of psychological safety (41:00)
Coaching through discomfort (45:30)
Purpose in the workplace (47:40)
If you’d like to connect with Jen to learn more, find her on LinkedIn
 
Don’t miss our Less Stressed Leaders program on our spring training calendar at impactfulengagement.com/training