144. David Henkin and Thomas Bertels – Fixing Work

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“When a firm gets large enough to start splitting into departments, moving parts of the work upstairs, downstairs, around the globe. We start replicating job descriptions, engagement drops, outcomes suffer. That’s where the fixing work dynamic we’re discussing really shows up.”

“The triple win is that you get a higher level of productivity, you get a higher level of employee engagement and you get a better customer experience.”

David Henkin is an accomplished executive and entrepreneur with a proven record of success in prominent global companies as well as start-ups. An expert in architecting and implementing innovative business strategies and solutions improving performance, profitable possibilities, and developing organizational capabilities through a collaborative-growth approach.

The author of several books, he has taught in a top-rated university business school program while also serving as an innovator, consultant, and coach for corporate and nonprofit leaders in the areas of innovation, work design, business and technology, teams, and leadership among others. His work experience includes Chief Innovation Officer at Vertex (VERX), where he also served as Executive Vice President. In addition, he launched and led as General Manager their public cloud business as well as their managed services and outsourcing practice.

David was a board member at Wheelhouse Analytics from startup through successful strategic acquisition. He served as Chief Operating Officer at Coates Analytics also from startup through successful strategic acquisition. Prior to that David was a Corporate Officer and Principal at Vanguard serving in their institutional and retail businesses, strategy, and technology. David moved to Vanguard from Accenture where he managed large, complex programs in their communications industry group.

Thomas Bertels, President and Founder, Purpose Works. Thomas has 25 years of global consulting experience, working across industries on projects ranging from strategy design to operating model transformation. He is a recognized thought leader on operational excellence and process redesign. Prior to founding Purpose Works, Thomas was a founding partner of OXYGY/Valeocon Consulting. He started his career with ABB and AON. Thomas is based in Northern New Jersey and enjoys reading and music.

R.O.G. Takeaway Tips:

Take inventory of the work being done. Pull the pieces apart.
Analyze what is still useful and ask is there a more innovative way that we could do this? Then, put them back together.
Consider how you gain feedback.
Mindset shift and beliefs or interpretations of the role of the employee.
How could we leverage that talent internally?
Is there an opportunity? For example, look at your metrics for employee turnover and engagement.
Seek a less transactional approach to work.
Take small steps.
Broaden accountability and make everybody part of the solution.
Look for the triple win: employees, customers, and the company itself.