Episode 134

full
Published on:

30th Jul 2024

How to Improve Productivity and Creativity in Your Workplace with Jeff Harry

This episode of the HR L&D Podcast is sponsored by Deel, the all-in-one Global People Platform that simplifies how you manage the entire global team lifecycle. Hire and onboard talent in over 150 countries in minutes. Run payroll in over 100 countries with one click. Offer competitive benefits, equipment, and equity from a single dashboard. From contractors, direct employees, EOR, and more, you can manage them all in one place with Deel.

Book a demo now: https://www.deel.com/inbound-general?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=nickday&utm_campaign=ww_aware_branding_nickday_podcast_hrld-nickday-mar24_all_all&utm_content=aware_all_podcast_hrld-nickday-audio_en


Welcome to "The HR L&D Podcast," where we dive deep into transformative ideas in the human resources and learning & development space. I'm your host, Nick Day, and today we're exploring a fascinating and often overlooked aspect of workplace culture – the concept of play. 


In a new study by Brigham Young University, teams that played a collaborative (video) game together for just 45 minutes were able to increase their productivity on a task by 20%.


Increase productivity 20%—who doesn’t want that?


Well to help us understand how we can achieve these gains today is Jeff Harry who has a rich background in L&D and he also combines insights from psychology with practical strategies to help companies cultivate more engaging and creative workplaces.


Jeff was selected by BambooHR & Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers and has been featured in the NY Times, Mashable, Upworthy, Huffpost, Shondaland, Wired, NPR, & Forbes.  


Jeff has also worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day. 


In the episode we cover:

  • The Role of Play in the Workplace: How play enhances innovation, resilience, and happiness.
  • Creating Psychological Safety: Ensuring employees feel seen, heard, and valued.
  • Practical Integration of Play: Incorporating play into HR and L&D strategies.
  • Cultural Shift Towards Play: Developing a workplace culture that fosters creativity.
  • Steps for HR Leaders: Practical actions to encourage a playful and innovative environment.
  • Addressing Toxicity: Identifying and resolving toxic leadership issues.
  • Adaptability and Future Trends: Embracing change and experimenting with new ideas.
  • Advice for Leaders and New Professionals: Encouraging self-discovery and adaptability.



Find your ideal candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea


Connect with Jeff:

Website - https://www.rediscoveryourplay.com/consulting

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffharryplays


Sign up to the HR L&D Newsletter - https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7


Connect with Nick Day:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/



Of course, if you are an HR or L&D professional listening to this podcast and you have an HR, HRIS or L&D related vacancy that you would love some specialist HR recruitment support with – please also get in touch with me! I would love to help show you what a great HR recruitment experience feels like! You can reach out to me directly at nick@jgarecruitment.com or give me a call – 01727800377.


Thanks for listening folks – I look forward to bringing you the next episode of the HR L&D Podcast real soon!



(00:00) Preview and Introduction 

(02:00) Human Resources and the Power of Play

(04:21) Defining Play in the Workplace

(05:50) Balancing Play and Perfection

(07:19) Psychological Safety and Trust

(09:30) Incorporating Play in Learning and Development

(10:35) Google's 20% Time and Zone of Genius

(14:06) Jeff Harry's Background and Journey

(18:17) Importance of Addressing Workplace Issues

(20:01) Universality of Play Across Organizations

(26:03) Importance of Values and Good Leadership

(29:51) The Importance of Psychological Safety in HR Strategy

(32:47) Consequences of Not Integrating Play

(34:24) Hard Questions for HR to Ask

(37:36) Play and Fun vs. Professionalism

(41:00) The Role of Comedy and Fun in the Workplace

(45:22) Exploring the Four-Day Workweek

(51:14) Common Traits of Effective Leaders

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for The HR L&D Podcast

About the Podcast

The HR L&D Podcast
Leadership, recruitment, culture. Conversations with HR's best
HR gets handed the problems nobody else wants to own. The restructure, the grievance, the engagement survey that came back badly. And then gets asked why people are leaving.

I'm Nick Day. I run an HR recruitment agency, which means I spend most of my week on the phone to HR directors, HR leaders and people leaders talking about what the job is actually like rather than what's written on the job spec. This HR Podcast came out of those calls. I kept hearing things worth repeating, and nobody was repeating them.

Every week I sit down with HR leaders, chief people officers, L&D specialists and the occasional academic who has changed how I think about work and people engagement. We get into leadership, and what happens when someone brilliant at the technical side gets promoted into managing humans.

Employee engagement past the survey score. Diversity, equity and inclusion in a climate where saying those words out loud has become a decision in itself. Pay transparency, talent management, reducing bias in hiring, HR digital transformation and the HCM systems everyone is being sold. And of course we cannot forget HR AI tools and platforms that are flooding the landscape as AI in HR becomes a hot topic every people leader is keen to understand and leverage.

Wellbeing comes up constantly, and it usually turns into the same question. Who looks after the HR team.

I'm not an HR practitioner and I don't pretend to be. I'm the person who hires them, which puts me in a useful position. I get to ask the obvious question that everyone in the room already knows the answer to and nobody says.

No script and no polite version. Mostly it's the conversation you'd have with someone doing your job at a different company, if you ever got the chance to sit down with them.

If you work in HR, people management or L&D, or you're building a career in it, start by subscribing to The HR L&D Podcast. We have had guests including Stephen Covey, Alan Stein Jnr, Andrea Wareham and Dr. Thom Mayer among other HR Leaders who are shaping the future of work and leadership.

Need HR staff? I run JGA Recruitment, an HR and payroll recruitment agency. www.jgarecruitment.com or info@jgarecruitment.com

Want to be on the show? Nick@jgadigital.com

If payroll is closer to your world, I also host The Payroll Podcast, the most listened to payroll show in the world.

Topics include HR leadership, workplace culture, retention, people management, employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI strategy, AI for HR, AI recruitment tools, talent management, HR digital transformation, HCM, staff wellbeing, pay transparency, reducing bias, L&D and HR recruitment.

About your host

Profile picture for Nick Day

Nick Day