Belonging in the Future of Work:

Creating Human Connection and Community in the Era of Hybrid, AI, and Overwhelm

In a lonely, nonstop, overwhelmed workplace; as time spent face-to-face has been replaced with wall-to-wall Zoom meetings, 24/7 Teams messages, and the rapid rise of AI and ChatGPT; workplace connection has withered. 40% employees don’t feel a sense of connection to their coworkers, 40% don’t trust their coworkers, and 20% don’t even have one friend at work. 70% of employees are disengaged from their jobs—with disengagement at a record high. Lonely employees are less productive and cost U.S. employers $4000 per employee and $150 billion a year. Meanwhile, high levels of belonging can save a company $52 million a year and provide employees with greater resilience, well-being, personal and professional growth.

As the war for skilled talent grows more competitive and employees spend less time face-to-face than ever before, workplace belonging expert Smiley Poswolsky makes the case that the future of work is human connection. In this timely, inspiring, data-driven, and highly actionable presentation, Smiley will share how we can attract and retain top talent across generations, reignite human connection, and increase team engagement, by creating a culture of belonging for ourselves, our employees, and our clients. Smiley will share actionable tools for fostering employee engagement, building psychological safety, and supporting our teams with the challenges of the new world of work including generational differences, a hybrid workforce, burnout, and the impact of AI and automation. At the end of this presentation, your team will have an easy-to-use toolkit to reimagine a collaborative, engaged, people-first culture, and become an industry leader in the future of work.

KEY AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:

  • Learn 5 ways to increase workplace belonging and workplace connection.

  • Understand the definition of psychological safety and how to foster higher levels of psychological safety on your team, including a simple exercise to try at your next team meeting.

  • Discover the key to becoming a future-ready organization and making the workplace work for all teams; whether in-person, hybrid, or remote.

  • Actionable (and no-cost!) team habits and rituals to best support your teams with the challenges of burnout, disconnection, low morale, and overwhelm.

  • A practical toolkit every leader, manager, and individual employee can use to drive culture transformation and build a more connected, collaborative, and engaged culture of belonging at work.