Thriving: A Gallup Podcast on the State of the Global Workplace

Europeans rank high globally on many key life measures, but they are the least engaged employees in the world. So, what's the problem? What are successful European organizations getting right? Pa Sinyan, Gallup’s Regional Managing Partner responsible for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, joins the podcast to discuss.

The "Great Global Work-From-Home Experiment" created by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we work and expect to work far into the future. The workplace isn’t going back to the way it was -- which means we need to rethink what’s best. Dr. Ben Wigert, Gallup’s Director of Research and Strategy for Workplace Management, joins the podcast to discuss what Gallup has learned about hybrid work from decades of research -- and what employers should consider when finding the right balance for them.

Few things are as important -- and sometimes as difficult to grasp -- as an organization's culture. Every workplace has a distinct culture, regardless of whether the company has spent time trying to intentionally craft it. What is organizational culture? Why does it matter? And what does it mean for a workplace to have a “toxic culture”? Ed O’Boyle, Global Practice Leader at Gallup, and Heather Barrett, Director at Gallup, join the podcast to discuss the key drivers of an organization’s culture, how leaders can leverage their culture for organizational success and more.

Why should employee wellbeing matter to employers? The impact of wellbeing extends far beyond how people feel -- it affects the number of sick days employees take and their job performance, odds of burnout and likelihood of leaving their organization. Leaders who wish to attract and retain star talent should prioritize wellbeing and take steps to create a thriving culture. Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, joins the podcast to talk about Gallup’s decades of research on wellbeing. Later, Alden Lai, assistant professor at the NYU School of Global Public Health and executive adviser to the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation, discusses what employers stand to gain when they make wellbeing a central priority.

About three in four employees in the U.S. experience workplace burnout at least sometimes -- and about one in four experience burnout either “very often” or “always.” What is burnout, and what does it mean for an employee experiencing it? What kind of impact does it have on an organization? Dr. Ben Wigert, Gallup’s Director of Research and Strategy for Workplace Management, joins the podcast to discuss Gallup’s findings on the root causes of burnout and how it can be cured.

Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report finds that six in 10 people are emotionally detached at work and 18% are miserable. But there is also a growing minority of workers who want purpose and meaning from their work and want to be known for what makes them unique. These employees are engaged, or thriving at work, and Gallup has been studying these workers for decades. What is employee engagement, and why have we measured it? And what can leaders do to take charge of engagement within their ranks? Join host Kristen Lipton as we explore Gallup’s decades of research on the world of work in the premiere episode of “Thriving: A Gallup Podcast on the State of the Global Workplace.” This week’s guest is Dr. Jim Harter, Gallup’s Chief Scientist for Workplace Management & Wellbeing.