When Work Works

What if the secret to better team collaboration, stronger psychological safety, and faster decision-making was hiding inside an improv class?In this bonus episode, host Julie Develin sits down with Judi Holler, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and professional improviser, to explore how the "yes, and" mindset unlocks a culture of innovation and collaboration. Judi reveals how her background in improv taught her important tools for her professional life and why that experience helped her develop and introduce the "yes, and" mindset to corporate teams. She and Julie explore how this all connects to fear, which shows up at work disguised as perfectionism, procrastination, and micromanagement. Judi also introduces her Triple A framework for navigating disagreement without killing momentum, and explains why psychological safety is not a soft skill but a business strategy.Download Judi's Improv for Team Building Workbook here.

What if the most important employees in professional baseball never set foot on the field?In this special bonus episode, Julie Develin heads to Citizens Bank Park to sit down with Jon Madden, VP of HR for the Phillies, and Michael Cunningham, Senior Director of Enterprise Applications, to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to run a professional sports organization.Together, Jon, Michael, and Julie explore what managing a 162-game season teaches HR and operations leaders about workforce coordination, why a "culture of we, not me" is the foundation of every great technology decision, and how the employee experience at a major league ballpark directly shapes what fans feel when they walk through the gates. From frontline workforce management to AI-assisted HR strategy, this episode proves that the most transferable workforce lessons sometimes come from the most unexpected places.

The future of work is no more. Why? Well, because it's already here. In this season finale of When Work Works, host Julie Develin closes out the inaugural season with Taylor Stockton, Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor, for a conversation about what it means now that the future has officially become the presentFrom the state of AI at work to the hard-won lessons he's gathered watching adoption play out across industries, Taylor unpacks where teams get stuck when they encounter new technology and why so many early experiments fall flat. Landing on agility as the real antidote, he makes the case for why the most successful organizations are the ones ready to move quickly and integrate AI from every direction, not just the top down. Finally, Taylor looks into a crystal ball and shares why it's optimism that will be louder than fear.If you're reading this hit play, you're already one step closer to building a more connected, more human workplace.Resources:Your Frontline Workforce: How to Drive Productivity and ImpactPowering the Frontline Workforce: How Frontline-First Companies Thrive

When budgets are tight and hiring is hard, purpose might be the last thing on your list. But what if it should be the first?In this episode, host Julie Develin is joined by George Rogers, Chief Strategy Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory, author, keynote speaker, and podcast host, to make the case that purpose is not a feel-good idea; it's a powerful business tool. Together, they explore why purpose acts as a performance multiplier, a resilience buffer, and a retention driver, even in the most high-pressure environments. George shares his RSVP framework for quarterly check-ins, explains how to translate purpose into the language of the boardroom, and unpacks why organizational friction quietly drains productivity when purpose is absent.If you've ever struggled to connect culture to business outcomes, this episode gives you the language, the framework, and the case to make it real.

The legal landscape is shifting in every direction, and for compliance teams, that means keeping up with everything from new legislation to a growing patchwork of rules across states.In this episode of When Work Works, Julie Develin is joined by Chris Olmsted, employment law expert and managing shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, for a conversation about what employers need to be watching right now. Together, they unpack some of the fastest-moving areas in compliance, including pay transparency, wage and hour law, leave management, and, of course, AI. With the real challenge being not just the volume of change, but the speed of it, Chris shares his insights on what teams need to understand so they do not fall behind.So if you are looking for a gut check on whether your team is keeping up with today’s compliance demands, start with this episode.Disclaimer: This material presented by an external source includes general commentary for informational purposes only and is not legal or professional advice. There may be risks associated with relying or acting upon this information, and readers should seek qualified professional or legal counsel before doing so.

AI may be moving fast, but adoption is a very different story, especially on the frontline. So what happens when leaders are eager to invest, but employees are still unsure how AI will affect them?In this episode, host Julie Develin sits down with Karina Monesson and Marcus Erb of Great Place to Work to explore the real barriers slowing down AI adoption. Together, they discuss the disconnect between executive ambition and employee reality, why peer-to-peer learning and manager behavior matter so much, and what organizations need to do to make AI feel useful rather than threatening.From governance to psychological safety and frontline relevance, this conversation gets to the heart of what it takes to turn AI from a company initiative into something in the hands of employees. 

If frontline managers are responsible for some of the most important moments in the employee experience, and the consequences of poor management are significant, then the question is clear: What is your organization doing to develop managers right now?In this episode, host Julie Develin is joined by Sharlyn Lauby, writer, speaker, consultant, and creator of HR Bartender, for a conversation about what frontline managers really need to succeed. Together, they unpack why management and leadership are not the same thing, how communication shapes trust and performance, and why conflict management, problem solving, and change navigation are essential frontline skills. They also explore what organizations can do to better support manager development, from stronger onboarding to peer learning.So if you are ready to kick-start your manager development program, listen to this first. Read UKG’s newest white paper on training frontline managers HERE

How do you know when it’s the right time to invest in workplace technology? If you’ve been asking yourself that question, When Work Works has answers, plus a surprising tool that can help you build the case.In this episode, host Julie Develin is joined by Dr. Leslie Hardin, Chief Operating and Human Resources Officer at KC CARE Health Center, and Trevor White of Nucleus Research, an expert in measuring the ROI of workplace technology. Together, they break down the real impact of adopting workforce tech, how to get buy-in at all levels of the organization, and finally, the influential stories data can unlock. For both Trevor and Leslie, the heart of the story is managing change, discovering your team’s biggest time vampires, and then bringing in technology where it stands to make the biggest impact. And the return on investment? It just might make your finance team very happy. If you’re considering a workplace technology purchase, press play, because your roadmap starts here.Find UKG’s Value Estimator here.

Frontline teams can’t run efficiently on effort alone. So what happens when leaders do not have the visibility they need to make the right decisions at the right time?In this episode, host Julie Develin sits down with Jaronika Dancy, Manager of HRIS Operations at Amsted Industries, and Mike St. Clair, Chief Operating Officer of Wheel at Amsted Rail, to unpack the real reasons frontline efficiency breaks down and what it takes to build it back in a sustainable way.Together, they discuss why leadership and insight matter as much as output, how burnout, absenteeism, and skill gaps signal deeper operational challenges, and why HR and operations need to work in lockstep to solve them. They also explore the difference between having more data and having the right data, along with the role technology and AI can play in helping leaders act with greater clarity and confidence.

When you look at a balance sheet, company to company, can you guess the single largest common denominator when it comes to cost? Spoiler alert: it’s payroll. Which raises an important question — how can organizations get this critical part of their business right?In this episode, Julie is joined by Dimitris Papageorgiou, Partner and Global Payroll & Workforce Management Lead at KPMG, to explore why payroll is finally moving out of the back office and into the strategic spotlight. Drawing on insights from the KPMG–UKG Global Payroll Survey, Dimitris explains why payroll is no longer just a transactional function, but a critical source of trust, data, and insight across the enterprise. Together, they unpack why organizations continue to struggle with payroll execution despite having “strategies,” and how inefficiencies quietly drain labor spend.If you’re curious about the future of payroll, tune in as Dimitris offers his perspective on whether payroll truly belongs among the C-suite, and what it would take to get it there.Find the KPMG–UKG Global Payroll Survey HERE.