Working With Humans

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist, lead author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report. He’s interviewing the experts shaping the future of work.His guest is the brilliant Fiona McDonnell. Fiona is a global executive with a career spanning giants like Amazon and Booking.com. She’s a veteran at using data to grow both businesses and people. She also authored Two Mirrors and a Cheetah, a guide to succeeding by being your authentic self.We explore:

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist. He's the lead author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report. Stefan is interviewing the experts shaping the future of work.His guests today are the expert-friendly Verity Glasgow and Dr Shannon Hirst from the relationship charity OnePlus One. Verity is the CEO, and Shannon leads their research. They’ve spent years using evidence-based tools to help people build and maintain high-quality relationships. They're here to explain why relationships are the highest-scoring element of our latest research.We explore:

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist. He's the lead author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report. Stefan is interviewing the experts shaping the future of work.His guest today is the fascinating Dr Amanda Henwood. Amanda is a practising behavioural scientist at Influence at Work. She advises world-class organisations on how to change mindsets and resolve complex behavioural challenges. Amanda brings a wealth of expertise in how clarity impacts everything from individual anxiety to broader business performance.We explore:

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist- lead author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report. Stefan is interviewing the experts contributing to the report.His guest today is the fascinating David Van Adelsberg. David is the co-founder of Irrational Capital. He bridges the gap between technology, human capital, and finance. David has spent years quantifying the connection between how your people are treated and future equity value. He's a veteran of IBM and human capital consulting who pivoted to the financial world to prove that people are a company's most important asset.

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist. He's the lead author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report.Stefan is interviewing the experts shaping the future of work. His guest today is the expert-friendly Dr Carrie Goucher. Carrie has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and founded Fewer Faster Bolder. She's transformed the meeting culture at over 150 companies. Carrie spent nearly 20 years leading real change in organisations before her academic journey began.We explore:

This week, we’re handing the host chair to Stefan Tornquist, author of our Global Workplace Happiness Report, as he interviews the experts shaping the future of work.His guest today is the fascinating Dr James Hewitt. James is a human performance scientist who advises some of the world’s largest organisations on how to build thriving environments and is the author of Regenerative Performance. From his background as a racing cyclist to his current work with Formula One world champions, James has spent over 20 years studying how humans can transform extreme pressure into peak performance.We explore:The "Middle Gear" Trap: Why most knowledge workers are stuck in a "no-man's land" of overflowing inboxes and constant task-switching that kills productivity.Digital Debt: The staggering reality of losing four and a half working weeks a year to fragmented attention and notification overload.AI Risks: How AI could either be a catalyst for excellence or an "activity avalanche" that drow

Most leaders treat "wellbeing" as a surface-level perk. Mark Fabian treats it as a science.In our latest episode, our new (temporary) host Stefan Tornquist sits down with the University of Warwick policy expert and Cambridge researcher who literally wrote the history of wellbeing for our upcoming report.Mark moves past the clichés to explain the living debates and connections between philosophy, science and day to day wellbeing in the workplace and our lives.We dive into:* The "Big Three" psychological needs that drive performance.* The Misery of Bureaucracy: Why control is killing your culture.* Job Crafting: Why your best people need autonomy, not just a fancy title.* The Satisfaction Flatline: Where money stops working and "meaning" takes over.

Matt is handing over the microphone. In this emotional episode, he passes the hosting chair to Stefan Torvquist. Stefan is the lead researcher and editor behind the upcoming Global Workplace Happiness Report. He’s taking the baton to lead a special series of interviews with the academics and experts who’ve mapped the current state of world joy.This isn't just a change of voice. It's a deep dive into the data. Stefan shares how drumming helped him find balance and how that same resilience is vital for your people. They discuss the massive task of pulling together global insights to move beyond "nice-to-have" perks and into real business impact.Stefan is bridging the gap between high-level research and your daily operations. Here is what you’ll learn in the coming weeks.Expert-led insights. Interviews with the minds behind the report. They cover everything from AI’s impact to the history of wellbeing.Happiness as a strategy. Wellbeing isn't a "peacetime activity" for when busines

Petra starts with a bold claim: Your brain isn't for thinking. It's busy keeping your heart beating and managing your body's energy budget. Thinking is just a side hustle.We explore body budget. It's the energy you have available to do things. Simple tasks cost wildly different amounts depending on your mental state. Leaders love providing training but if people are overworked, they can't use it. You're adding another item to an already maxed out budget.We tackle the cognitive offloading panic. Headlines screamed that AI would turn our brains to mush. But it was one preprint study in a very specific context. We love blaming technology for human faults. Were we all thinking perfectly critically before ChatGPT?Petra explains why you can't foster growth mindset without safety. We shouldn't glorify people who beat terrible systems. We should fix the systems. Early support and maternal warmth are huge predictors of resilience later.We discuss why neuroscience matters for business. Your people make or break your co

What if AI isn't the job-stealing villain we've been told to fear, but actually the key to unlocking workplace happiness?Join Matt Phelan, Co-CEO of The Happiness Index, and Suvodeep Das, VP of Global Marketing at Pluxee, for a conversation that flips the AI narrative on its head. Every business leader right now is being squeezed: their core business is under pressure, they're building for an uncertain future, and AI is disrupting everything faster than predicted. But what if we've been asking the wrong question?Part one explores the mind. Discover how AI acts as a co-pilot for your brain—offering clarity, amplifying purpose, personalising career development, and giving employees something precious back: time itself. The evidence is compelling.Part two explores the heart. Can technology help us build better relationships, create psychological safety, and enable the specific acknowledgement different brains need? Suvo shares a powerful reframe: "The CEOs who win won't see AI as a cost-

What if AI isn’t changing your culture... just turning up the volume?

What if the biggest challenge facing your business isn't competition, but accidental unfairness built into your systems?

Matt Phelan sits down with Madalena Carey, founder of Happiness Business School, to explore a serious question: Why are over 90% of her clients reporting anxiety and burnout linked directly to the labour they do?This isn’t a chat about faking a smile. Madalena explains the real science that drives the Happiness Business School philosophy. True positive psychology isn't about ignoring negative emotions. It’s about understanding them. We discuss how your brain is wired for risk and why you must remove the organisational roadblocks to truly "optimise" the lives of your people.It’s simple elegance: Happiness is a performance metric. Madalena shares data from major scientific studies that prove the link: when your people feel good, they are consistently more creative, energetic, and committed.Curious how one person’s journey inspired a movement to humanise the workplace through data?Listen in to learn how to change your perspective when you can’t change the toxic culture itself.

The unconventional power of digital detox In a world of constant notifications and "always on" culture, what if the most strategic thing you can do for your business is to turn everything off?

In a world full of unknowns, what if we could finally light up a map of global workplace happiness?

What if the secret to your organisation's success is hidden in a childhood dream?

In a world of 'hustle culture' and burnout, what if the secret to elite performance isn't grinding harder, but recovering smarter?

This week, we're joined by Mark Dean, a brilliant brain and mind scientist on a mission to end mental ill-health in the workplace. We dive into the fascinating science behind benevolence—not just as a moral virtue, but as a strategic business driver.Mark shares his powerful insights on how we can use our brains to achieve happiness, even when facing challenges. He introduces the "bus principle" and the power of pausing, teaching us how to watch our thoughts without being controlled by them. He also reveals a stark data point: while most people think sunshine makes us happier, office workers are often unhappier on sunny days, as they yearn to be outside.Crucially, Mark provides a look into the brain during acts of benevolence. He shares research showing that giving kindness increases our serotonin and dopamine levels, while lowering stress hormones. The latest World Happiness Report confirms this, showing that benevolent acts are 10% higher globally since the pandemic.Are you ready to understand

This week, we're with Andrew MacAskill, who's on a mission to end career-based misery. He reveals a stark truth: Europe has the lowest engagement scores globally, yet the fewest people looking for a new role. We discuss the cost of this "stuck" workforce—lost productivity and apathy. Andrew highlights the "Moral Factors" (meaning, impact, leadership, ethics, security) that drive people's career choices. We also explore the critical need for companies to "de-risk the move" for candidates, particularly at non-senior levels, to empower them to leave unhappy jobs. Ready to confront these brutal facts and unlock your team's true potential?

What if the biggest drain on your business isn't competition, but your calendar?