BLOGS & RESOURCES
Higher Purpose Podcast 93: Bringing HumansFirst Back to the Workplace with Mike Vacanti
How can you make a tangible HumansFirst impact on your business? Returning to the podcast is Mike Vacanti, founder of the HumansFirst Club. We first met Mike and the HumansFirst Club 16 episodes ago, and today we’re talking about what’s new with the HumansFirst Club, what’s next for them, and how to bring these insights and learnings back to your business where the rubber meets the road.
The HumansFirst Club
We’re at an inflection point in business. People aren’t being fulfilled, engagement is low, and mental and physical health ramifications are challenging people and businesses to find their growth rhythm. The old system doesn’t work.
HumansFirst is about actively bringing more humanity into the workplace to elevate people, help them mentally and physically heal, and then advance and evolve the workplace. And HumansFirst is not just about work — it spills into all areas of life, because we bring all areas of life into our work.
At HumansFirst Club Events
Each event is about the participants, so there is no “prepackaged roadshow” that the HumansFirst Club takes on tour. Volunteers come in to share and infuse ideas, topics, and ways forward, and that gets the juices flowing so people can participate. And it’s that participation from the people in the room that makes each event unique.
But though the events aren’t designed the same way every time, some common themes do emerge about what’s broken and what can be repaired, which tells us that experiences are very similar across the country.
On the horizon
The Playground is launching May 21, aligned with a live event taking place in Charlotte, to better serve an audience that is fast becoming global. It’s a virtual place with opportunities for people to come together and continue to experiment and meet other light-hearted people, and start to create what the future looks like.
As for the HumansFirst Club meetings, they will continue, but based on the feedback, people are looking to go deeper on the topics. Extended time will be important, as well as an opportunity to get a larger group of people together, so it may evolve into a one-day event with more time, scope, and scale. Less frequent events but bigger and more engaging.
Where the rubber meets the road
How can you bring the takeaways from the HumansFirst Club experience back to your organization and your daily work life? That’s where it feels like there is a barrier, or no entry point. That’s why Winning Conversations was designed.
This program focuses on open dialogue, very much like during the HumansFirst Club events, and teaches businesses how to have these structured conversations to unleash the brilliance that’s already in your organization. Because it’s interactive and engaging, it drives adoption, accelerates initiatives, and ties multiple initiatives across your company together.
Do we know what’s going on? Do we know what’s going to happen during the day? How do all the pieces fit together? Winning Conversations helps pull all of that into alignment, and builds this whole process into your organizational rhythms. It’s a very different approach to a highly believed and known problem.
When we get people together, stretch them out of their comfort zones, and align to the reality that’s going on, all of a sudden you’ll see the company values come through, the vision becomes clear, and the people attach themselves to it.
We love being busy, but now we can be purposeful. Given the opportunity, people will amaze you.
Resources for Mike Vacanti: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Website | HumansFirst Club
Other resources: X-Factor Consulting | Episode 77: Putting Humans First with Mike Vacanti
Higher Purpose Podcast Episode 77: Putting Humans First with Mike Vacanti
We’re at an inflection point and it’s time for a business culture shift. Today we have Mike Vacanti, the founder of the HumansFirst Club, here to share about the movement, the community, and what happens when you bring like-minded and like-hearted people together to put humans first. Listen to the full episode here:
What is the HumansFirst Club?
It’s a consortium of people interested in understanding and recognizing that we can create business environments where people can grow and thrive. Its simple mission is to ‘ignite and accelerate a shift in business culture that values humans first.’
Where did this idea come from?
When Mike first started his consulting work, he zeroed in on some key phrases: “people are your business,” “it’s much more than what we accomplish, it’s who we become along the journey,” and “the intent to lift others.”
He’s always had a human-centered approach to helping companies, and it was his idea to get a bunch of people in the room together and talk about being human. That was the first HumansFirst Club event.
How do you describe the HumansFirst Club?
It’s a movement. People are raising their hands from different cities and countries asking for this to take place there. It’s time we started the dialogue because we can do more collectively than any one of us could do alone. There’s a collection of talents coming together and combined, it’s a wonderful playground.
What does it mean to be human first?
It’s re-prioritization, not a replacement. We’ve created processes and systems, and at some point, the human element — the employee — has become just another part of that process.
We can’t squeeze any more capacity out of humans, so now it’s time to see how we can expandcapacity. Take an element from your systems and processes, then prioritize people over everything that goes on: does that change the process? Does it enhance it? Break it? Can we make it better?
What might people expect at a HumansFirst Club event? How is it different?
Where most events are “talk-to” events, a HumansFirst Club event is interactive. Participants are leaders who are volunteeringto hang out and have real conversations about their experiences in their daily work as leaders.
Participants get the chance to let their guards down, engage and connect, and belong. There’s so much value in the back-and-forth with everybody: it’s comfortable, it’s unique, and it’s needed.
What kind of feedback have you received from these initial meetings?
“Something so simple and obvious apparently wasn’t.” The statement is a testament to how powerful it can be to make “humans first” the focus and address just that. And everybody knows they stand a great chance of enjoying work the next day better than they did today.
If somebody wanted to host or organize a HumansFirst Club meeting in their community, could they do that?
The answer is always yes.
What’s your hope for the world if this movement takes off and flourishes?
Mike would love to see the overall concept continue to bloom and grow, but at the same time, bring the seeds from that and plant them into the hearts of new leaders, our corporations, and our communities. These are principles that need to be in place for businesses to be sustainable as we go through this era of rapid change.
Final thoughts
Set aside your expectations of what you’re going to experience. This really is a true heartfelt connection to other human beings with a desire to do better. You’re welcome. You belong. So take down your guard, come with curiosity, share your voice, and bring your ideas.
Resources:
HumansFirst Club Calendar of Events