Agenda

Calling all Program Administrators! Dig into the Platform’s tools with Workhuman SMEs in this hands-on learning experience. We’ll guide you through the “how” and, more importantly, the “so-what?”—leveraging data to deliver impactful insights for that mic drop moment. Bring your laptops for this working session.

This session is reserved for our Workhuman customers, providing advanced strategies and solutions designed specifically for them.

Get ready to “talk shop” with your HR peers! This interactive session, co-led by fellow HR practitioners, will show you how to maximize recognition to drive your strategic priorities. Whether you’re in C&B, Talent, Comms, PM, L&D, Employee Engagement, OD, OSH, or an HRBP, you’ll gain practical tips, ideas, and strategies, and make a few new HR friends along the way.

This session is reserved for our Workhuman customers, providing advanced strategies and solutions designed specifically for them.

This is the place where the event comes to life. It’s where the human experience is elevated and you are immersed in activities that build community, facilitate recognition, and offer insight into workplace possibilities. Channel your energy and excitement between sessions into our interactive stations throughout Workhuman Central.

New to Workhuman Central? Join us in the theater for a guided tour of this dynamic space—explore its evolution, key activations, and connect with fellow attendees.

Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot when registration for this session.

In this session, join Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work^TM, as he unpacks the latest workforce data to reveal how the Best Workplaces consistently outperform their peers in stock market returns and revenue growth while fostering cultures of recognition and inclusivity. Discover how prioritizing equity in the workplace drives measurable success and leave equipped with the transformative “For All” Leadership Model; a framework that will elevate your organization’s performance at every-level.

As today’s business world becomes ever-more global and virtual, executives and managers are expected to work harmoniously together with counterparts from a broad array of cultures and backgrounds, often without leaving their desks. But when you throw people together who come from starkly different backgrounds and cultures, the result can be interesting, even sometimes funny, but can also lead to misunderstanding and confusion.

In this talk, Erin Meyer offers a highly practical and timely perspective on one of today’s most pressing business issues: how do different cultures influence the way to do business when working globally? Even those who are culturally informed, travel extensively, and have lived abroad often have few strategies for dealing with the cross-cultural complexity that affects their team’s day-to-day effectiveness.

Meyer provides a new way forward with vital insights for working effectively and sensitively with one’s counterparts in the new global marketplace. This talk will help you build a more cohesive and successful team: one that will work together to bridge gaps, transform differences into assets, and ultimately grow your business.

Mindful Relaxation: Finding Stillness in the Present Moment

In a world full of distractions, mindfulness is the key to clarity, focus, and inner calm. This beginner-friendly relaxation session guides you through gentle movement and a grounding mindfulness practice designed to quiet the mental noise and bring you fully into the present moment. By learning to observe without attachment, you’ll cultivate a sense of ease and awareness that extends beyond this session, helping you show up with greater intention and presence in both work and life.

Builds: Focus, awareness, inner calm, reduced stress, improved clarity, and a deepened sense of presence.

Rolling solo to Workhuman Live? You’re not alone. Connect with other like-minded humans and leave with a phone full of new contacts.

Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot when registration for this session.

For our Workhuman platform customers, prepare for liftoff! Our Customer Celebration is landing at the stunning Mountain View Pavilion for an evening of sky-high views and first-class fun. From photo ops to signature cocktails, special gifts, and well-deserved honors, it’s our way of thanking you for going above and beyond – and creating a night designed to leave you feeling on top of the world.

Yoga, at its core, is a practice of balance—not just in the body, but in life. This all-level, beginner-friendly class invites you to explore personal harmony through mindful movement, breath, and relaxation. In a world where demands pull us in every direction, this session offers a space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and enjoy moving your body. Expect gentle yet energizing sequences that awaken the body and ease the mind, leaving you refreshed and recharged for the day ahead. No prior experience is necessary, just a willingness to move, breathe, and find your own rhythm.

This is the place where the event comes to life. It’s where the human experience is elevated and you are immersed in activities that build community, facilitate recognition, and offer insight into workplace possibilities. Channel your energy and excitement between sessions into our interactive stations throughout Workhuman Central.

Workhuman CEO Eric Mosley unveils a radical shift in how organizations can harness the hidden power of recognition data to make smarter, more human workforce decisions – showing how the same recognition programs that elevate our lives and work are also a gold mine of rich, authentic people data.

Through live analysis and real-world examples, Eric will demonstrate how combining people data with AI gives organizations an unprecedented advantage: a real-time map of talent, leadership, and impact that surfaces hidden stars, predicts retention risks, and fuels more strategic workforce decisions.

AI alone won’t solve your biggest business challenges. But AI fueled by Human IntelligenceTM will. Join this session to see how your organization can leverage recognition as its most valuable data asset – and redefine the future of work.

We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent and intelligence. But the true measure of potential isn’t where you start – it’s how far you can travel. Building on his #1 New York Times bestseller, Hidden Potential, Adam Grant examines how to build the character skills, structures, and systems that accelerate learning and elevate excellence. WE all have hidden potential, and this talk highlights how we can unleash it – in ourselves, in our teams, and in our organizations.

Too many companies are seeing GenAI as a technical transformation which is leading to continuous failure around adoption. Successful AI transformations require continuous feedback from the business that includes engagement with risk and legal as well as user/employee input. HR is the only business function that has all the necessary connections to effectively facilitate the GenAI transformation.

AI success hinges more on people than technology. While AI offers powerful capabilities, true adoption depends on understanding human behavior and business needs. This new era of technology will require a continuous innovation mindset and a more agile culture. Again, these types of initiatives are better led by HR.

Join Innovative Thought’s President, Peter Steinberg and Strategic Advisor, Adam Russell, as they explore HR’s unique position in driving GenAI adoption. They’ll reveal how HR can evolve to become a leader in the GenAI transformation, “Hack the Change Curve” and fuel real innovation by leveraging its human-centric strengths.

This session is sponsored by Innovative Thought.

Successful employee recognition and total rewards programs address and support employees as whole individuals and acknowledge the impact that financial stress may have on their professional lives. With 78% of financially stressed employees reporting negative effects on job performance – resulting in increased absenteeism, turnover, and reduced productivity – businesses face up to $183 billion in annual costs. The solution? Understanding that financial health is an integral part of employee well-being and implementing workplace solutions that create pathways to financial stability for all.

In this session, Timothy Flacke, Co-Founder and CEO of Commonwealth, and Jennie Sparandara, Managing Director and Head of Programs for Corporate Responsibility at JPMorgan Chase, will highlight the critical role workplace benefits play in fostering financial resilience. They will present compelling research demonstrating how these benefits are especially impactful for low-to-moderate-income populations and the holistic efforts JP Morgan Chase is taking to improve these outcomes – both within the firm and with employers across the country – such as leveraging its own business practices, insights, and philanthropic capital to address wealth gaps and enhance employee financial wellbeing.

Key takeaways include:

• How debt reduction, workplace savings and other wealth-building solutions can be implemented to support employee recognition and financial well-being 
• How leveraging workplace financial health provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act can support workforce productivity and retention 
• What action steps are available to address employees’ financial needs

In an increasingly machine-augmented world, learning, unlearning and relearning will be pivotal to the future of organizations and talent. The right question isn’t which jobs are going to be replaced, but rather, what work will be redefined, and how. The future of work requires an ability to ensure that the organization, its work and its workforce are perpetually being reinvented to ensure their sustained relevance even as they are continually being rendered obsolete.

Leveraging insights from his most recent bestseller, The Skills Powered Organization: The Journey to the Next Generation Enterprise, futurist and Senior Partner and Global Leader for Transformation Services at Mercer, Ravin Jesuthasan, will share insights into the context for why skills are increasingly the currency for work, frameworks for shaping the journey to becoming a skills-powered organization and case studies that demonstrate the exponential gains in agility, productivity and profitability that are possible.

The future of work is being shaped by AI, but its full potential can only be realized through collaboration, ethical innovation, and human-centered practices. In this session, Aptitude Research’s Head of Strategy & Principal Analyst, Kyle Lagunas, and featured guests will explore AI’s critical role in HR. They will breakdown the challenges organizations face when adopting these technologies and share how Aptitude’s newly established cross-industry coalition of HR leaders is driving responsible, impactful solutions. Discover how human-centered AI can enhance employee experience, foster equity and deliver measurable business results and leave feeling empowered to embrace the future of AI in HR with confidence and clarity.

Key Takeaways include:

• Closing the AI Knowledge Gap: Understand the barriers to AI adoption in HR, including workforce readiness, ethical concerns, and the need for clear guidance, learning how to overcome them to unlock AI’s potential  
• Collaborative Innovation: Explore how Aptitude’s recently formed AI coalition is bringing together HR leaders and industry analysts to co-design solutions that address the most pressing challenges in the talent management – and how you can to  
• Driving Ethical AI Practices: Gain insights into developing standards and frameworks for safe, responsible, and human-centered AI applications that prioritize both productivity and well-being 

Team culture is essential to success. In this program, which is based on 20 years of research and experience, Mike Robbins has done with high-performing teams, the four pillars of his book, We’re All in This Together, as well as his background as a college and professional baseball player, he teaches people, leaders, and teams how to come together, overcome adversity, and perform at their best – especially in challenging times.

Key takeaways include:

• How to enhance authenticity and psychological safety
• Specific ways to increase inclusion & belonging
• How appreciation positively impacts both morale and productivity
• How to address conflict and embrace feedback in an empowering way
• How to care about and push each other in productive ways that bring out everyone’s best

Recognition isn’t just about appreciation – it’s a strategic tool for shaping company culture. At Manulife, their Podium program does more than celebrate achievements; it reinforces values, engages employes, and strengthens brand pride. From integrating recognition into their Stars of Excellence program to showcasing recognition on social media, they’ve made recognition a company-wide movement.

Now celebrating five years of Podium, Manulife is taking recognition to the next level through employee-driven insights, a structured recognition calendar, and data-backed improvements. Learn how they’ve built a sustainable, high impact recognition culture – and how you can do the same.

This session is for HR and business leaders who want to move beyond basic recognition and create a program that drives engagement, retention, and business success. You’ll leave with proven, actionable strategies to elevate recognition into a culture-building powerhouse.

What would it take for you to be your best—and for work to truly support that version of you? Traditional HR practices were never built to help people thrive as whole, self-actualized humans.

In this session, John Nelsen, Director of People & Culture Services at Adams County, Colorado, Government will unpack how HR’s historical focus on process and compliance has failed to keep pace with the needs of today’s workforce. Blending insights from history, engagement data, and lived experiences, he’ll explore what it means to lead with humanity—and how you can spark meaningful, people-centered change in your organization.

From elder fraud to digital identity theft, scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated – and personal. In this session, Allstate Identity Protection’s Danielle Engelking, VP of EPS Partnership, and Cameron Moore, National Sales Director, West, will share the lessons they’ve learned building identity theft solutions and actionable strategies HR leaders can use to help protect their people. Learn how to better support vulnerable populations like older employees and family caregivers, embed scam awareness into your well-being strategy, and navigate the changing landscape for digital safety in today’s workplace.

What do today’s CEOs truly need from their HR leaders? In this actionable session, learn the four high-impact skills that can elevate your influence, align HR strategy with business goals, and position you as a trusted advisor in the C-Suite. Backed by real-world insights and executive perspective, you will walk away better equipped to lead with confidence, clarity, and impact.

The Power of Your Breath

Your breath is one of the most powerful tools you have for reducing stress and restoring balance. This session introduces simple, effective breathing techniques to calm the nervous system, boost energy, and enhance mental clarity. With each breath, you’ll release tension and create space for a more focused, centered state, leaving you refreshed and ready to take on the day.

Builds: Nervous system regulation, stress relief, improved focus, and increased vitality.

Understand the strategies Hyland used to address budget concerns and implement a successful recognition program. This session will cover the importance of transparent communication, flexibility in program design, and the value of expert recommendations in achieving program goals.

Key Takeaways include:

• Transparent Communication: Open discussions about budget constraints are essential for aligning expectations and finding workable solutions.
• Flexibility in Program Structure: Adapting program structures to fit budget limitations can help maintain quality and effectiveness without overspending.
• SMART Implementation Vision and Strategy: Setting a clear, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound strategy ensures the program is both goal-oriented and adaptable, even within budget constraints.

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

As a result of the sudden and drastic changes over the past few years, organizations experienced plummeting morale, engagement, productivity, and retention. Now emerging from chaos, they face yet another challenge – navigating a fast-approaching future of work, an always-on “new abnormal” characterized by hybrid work styles, labor shortages, persistent disruption, and shifting employee behaviors and expectations.

To meet this series of challenges, future-friendly organizations require a renewed leadership ethos and a significant leap beyond the old management paradigms. Enter “modern leadership,” a system of action that is profoundly human-centric, change-friendly, self-disrupting, and value-driven.

Drawing on recent examples of successful modern leaders, Leadership Expert, Author and CEO of SkillsCamp, Hamza Khan, will show leaders at every level how to operationalize and maximize intertwined people-first values such as servitude, innovation, diversity, and empathy. In doing this, leaders can guarantee that the rate of change inside their organization will far exceed the rate of change outside.

Key takeaways include:

• Explore the definitive reasons why organizations fail to navigate difficult change
• Learn how to operationalize and maximize modern leadership values to future-proof their leadership style and organization
• Discover how to adopt a more human-centric and contemporary approach to leading through change

In today’s dynamic business landscape, the importance of championing your purpose and aligning it with leadership strategies cannot be overstated. This session will delve into the critical elements of establishing a purpose-driven leadership culture that nurtures organizational growth and employee fulfillment. By pinpointing and authentically sharing your organization’s purpose, you will attract and retain the best talent and foster an intrinsic and impactful work environment. Join Chief Culture Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory and Culture of Good, George Rogers, as he explores the transformative power of purpose-driven leadership and learn how it can elevate your organization to new heights of success and fulfillment.

Key takeaways include:

• Establishing a leadership culture that supports your people and culture strategies
• Pinpointing your organization’s purpose to promote a more fulfilling work environment
• Authentically sharing the good you do to attract and retain the best employees and customers

Work is a relationship. For employees to fully engage and bring their best, that relationship must be strong, connected, and built on trust. But as workplaces become more distributed, fostering meaningful connections is both more challenging—and more critical—than ever.

The key? Intentional, impactful conversations.

In this dynamic session, you’ll discover how to transform the simple check-in into a powerful tool for engagement and performance. This isn’t just another casual “How are you?”—it’s a strategic, structured approach to unlocking the conversations that matter most. You’ll walk away with a four-step framework for conducting effective check-ins, plus the mindset and skills to make every interaction count.

Key takeaways include:

• Why the check-in conversation is a leader’s most powerful tool 
• A simple, four-step process for high-impact check-ins 
• How to cultivate the right mindset for meaningful conversations 
• Active listening techniques to deepen trust and drive results

Join this session to master the art of check-ins—and unlock the full potential of your team.

As workplaces evolve, HR must harness the power of AI and Human Intelligence to unlock team potential. This session explores how AI enhances workforce insights, driving collaboration, engagement, and talent strategies in hybrid and global environments.

Hear from expert panelists on how organizations can align technology with humanity to shape the future of work, using human data-driven insights to foster recognition, adaptability, and inclusion.

Key takeaways include:

• Proactive decision-making with AI – how workforce data helps HR anticipate challenges and identify top talent 
• How to unlock insights from recognition data – using patterns in recognition reveal leadership potential and strengthen teamwork 
• How to balance AI with human expertise – ethically integrating AI to build trust and enhance workplace culture  

What if we could build positive, thriving workplace environments – even when times are tough?

Join Julie Develin, Senior Partner, Human Insights at UKG, for an energetic and thought-provoking session that will explore fresh, creative opportunities to cultivate, improve, and sustain positive workplace experiences that promote both employee and HR motivations. This discussion will equip you with the insights needed to shape a clear, empowered vision for what’s possible – within your organization and yourself.

Walk away with a renewed outlook on the future of work and deeper understanding of how forward-thinking HR practices can fuel optimism, spur progress and create great workplaces for all. Because perspective is everything – and it starts with owning yours!

In this session, you will:

• Learn practical strategies to cultivate and sustain positive workplace experiences – even in challenge times – to boost employee engagement and motivation
• Explore creative HR approaches that inspire optimize and drive progress, equipping you to implement forward-thinking practices that align with your organization’s goals
• Gain understanding of psychological contracts and their role in shaping resilient culture rooted in trust, optimism and continuous improvement – key drives of long-term employee satisfaction and business success.

This session is sponsored by UKG.

Inclusion and belonging are critical to the experience and retention of staff. Yet, many organizations can’t find a means of measuring this. One area is developing your skills and the skills of your organization to share differences in opinion, needs for culture change, and observations in a tangible way that leads organizational growth, connection across difference, and above all, shared humanity in the workplace. Author, culture catalyst, and Senior Director of Foundation Culture at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Peter Danzig will share experiences from CHOP’s extensive culture and DEI journey as well as their own lived experiences in helping you find your voice and empower your staff to boldly find their own.

Key takeaways include:

• Understand the meaning of diplomatic disruption: the practice in which observations of bias and un-inclusive practices are observed and openly discussed or challenged with curiosity and shared accountability
• Build a foundational imperative: an “enabling” objective which will help you advance your strategic imperatives
• Create cultural strategic imperatives

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

To build Employee Resource Groups strategies that drive lasting impact and meaningful change, it starts with the right playbook. ERGs are essential for creating belonging and engagement, but they also come with challenges like burnout and uneven organizational support. In this session, we’ll dive into a data-backed, actionable framework to ensure your ERGs not only thrive but drive real cultural and business change. You’ll learn how to use recognition to amplify ERG contributions, and reduce stress for participants. By making recognition a central piece of an ERG strategy, you’ll foster sustainable programs that don’t just exist—they make a measurable difference.

Key takeaways include:

• Build ERGs with staying power using a recognition-first approach that integrates seamlessly with your organization’s culture.
• Amplify the visibility and impact of ERGs while strengthening their alignment with business goals.
• Address common challenges like burnout and uneven support with personalized recognition for leaders and participants

At Point32Health, building a “community of care” is more than a guiding principle—it’s a commitment to employees and the communities served. Peter Church, Chief People & Culture Officer, will share how embedding shared values: embracing learning, growing together, owning outcomes, and building community have transformed employee culture and strengthened well-being beyond the workplace. Drawing from lived experiences, this session explores the transformative impact of meaningful recognition, illustrating how intentional acts of care and connection strengthen the fabric of community within the organization—and reflects into the communities it serves. Through a blend of personal stories and actionable strategies, you’ll learn how fostering recognition and community can drive enduring and meaningful resilience and positive change.

Key Takeaways: 

• Learn how values drive meaningful connection and foster a culture of resilience. 
• Explore actionable strategies including recognition to strengthen employee belonging and well-being. 
• Gain inspiration from a CHRO’s personal and professional insights on culture, commitment, and resilience during change. 

Join us for an insightful session on HR’s pivotal role in driving organizational and culture transformation at Guardian. Learn about Guardian’s proactive approach to change, responding to shifting talent expectations, generational changes, and technological advancements. 

Key takeaways include:  

• Guardian’s purpose journey and cultural evolution, where the company redefined its purpose, values, and leadership behaviors, establishing a strong foundation for decision-making.  
• Understanding the significance of fostering a learning culture and the importance of gratitude.  
• Gain insights into Guardian’s ongoing transformation, including reinforcing a customer-first mindset, evolving the brand, and supporting consumer well-being through innovative products and services. 

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

Amidst “The Big Stay,” how do we keep employees motivated and engaged as tenure and time in role increase? Join Yelp’s Chief People Officer, Carmen Amara, and Sr. Director of People Business Operations, Brad Auernig, for an exploration on how Yelp’s employee listening strategy remains at the heart of driving employee engagement during dynamically changing times.

Discover how Yelp has harnessed employee feedback to shape its remote culture, enhance professional development programs and boost retention. Learn how the company gathers meaningful insights from its workforce and translates them into data-driven decisions that align employee well-being and business success. Walk away with actionable strategies to foster a people-first culture through empathy and intentional listening, ensuring your organization thrives even as workforce dynamics continue to evolve.

This session brings together industry leaders to explore how executives can embrace innovation, harness AI insights, and lead with values to drive transformative change in their organizations. Experts will discuss how leaders can adapt their practices to navigate complex change management, foster a culture of innovation, and ensure their teams are prepared to thrive in an increasingly digital and dynamic work environment. The conversation will also focus on the importance of shaping the next generation of leaders to be ready to meet the challenges of the future of work.

Key takeaways include:

• Learn how to integrate AI-driven insights into leadership decision-making to foster adaptability, resilience, and innovation.
• Discover how values-based leadership and change management practices can equip leaders to build future-ready organizations that inspire employee engagement and long-term growth.

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

The conversation around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) is exploding—but is the commitment to fair, inclusive workplaces keeping pace? As political landscapes shift and executive orders challenge corporate DEIB initiatives, business leaders are being forced to balance compliance, corporate responsibility, and personal values.

In this bold, unfiltered panel debate, top HR and business leaders will tackle the tough questions:

• How do companies stay true to inclusion and antidiscrimination while navigating new legal and political challenges?
• Is DEIB failing due to semantics, or is it being redefined by a new era of leadership?
• How can organizations ensure that inclusion and equity aren’t just aspirational but lived values in the workplace?
• What role do resilience, empathy, and vulnerability play in shaping the next generation of leaders?

Explore the keynote.

Yoga, at its core, is a practice of balance—not just in the body, but in life. This all-level, beginner-friendly class invites you to explore personal harmony through mindful movement, breath, and relaxation. In a world where demands pull us in every direction, this session offers a space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and enjoy moving your body. Expect gentle yet energizing sequences that awaken the body and ease the mind, leaving you refreshed and recharged for the day ahead. No prior experience is necessary, just a willingness to move, breathe, and find your own rhythm.

This is the place where the event comes to life. It’s where the human experience is elevated and you are immersed in activities that build community, facilitate recognition, and offer insight into workplace possibilities. Channel your energy and excitement between sessions into our interactive stations throughout Workhuman Central.

The global landscape of 2025 demands bold, decisive, and human-centered HR leadership. With disruptions continuing to reshape how we work and lead, HR executives face mounting pressure to create adaptive strategies that deliver measurable results. Join Kerry Dryburgh, EVP of People & Culture at bp and Kelly Jones, EVP and Chief People Officer at Cisco for a candid and critical conversation about what it takes to lead through uncertainty.

This session will go beyond theory, offering hard-won insights and actionable approaches directly from leaders shaping the future of work at the world’s most influential organizations. How do they drive results while keeping people at the center of their strategies? How do they assess what’s working, pivot when needed, and address emerging challenges with clarity? This is not just a discussion – it’s your opportunity to gain practical, field-tested leadership strategies to meet the moment. Walk away with ideas to implement now, no matter the scale of your organization or the challenges you face.

Key takeaways include:

• Learning how to lead with clarity in times of uncertainty 
• Hearing tested approaches for creating agile, people-first HR strategies 
• Gaining insights to help your organization overcome the most pressing challenges today   

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

In a world where diversity is celebrated but often misunderstood, fostering inclusivity from the start is crucial. Join Bridget McDermid, Neurodivergent Inclusivity Leader and Product Group Owner at TD, for an immersive workshop on how to embrace and create inclusive-first design principles within your workplace. Drawing from her lived experiences as an advocate, parent, and professional diagnosed with ADHD, autism, and auditory processing disorder, Bridget will offer a powerful perspective on redesigning workplaces and customer experiences that empower everyone.

Using a blend of personal stories and actionable insights, this session will highlight how proactive equity – not retrofitted accommodations – can unlock the potential of neurodivergent individuals and foster cultures of belonging. From virtual meetings to in-personal collaboration, learn to identify hidden barriers and rethink policies and environments with compassion and curiosity. Walk away inspired and equipped to create spaces where everyone can thrive and contribute their best.

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

How do you persevere through rejection and fear to achieve your biggest goals? How can you accelerate growth when faced with obstacles in today’s fast-evolving workplace? In this engaging and interactive workshop, bestselling author and exponential growth and success expert, Alex Banayan combines captivating storytelling with practical, actionable tools to help you break through the personal and professional barriers holding you back.

Drawing on twelve years of research on high performance and success, including interviews with icons like Bill Gates, Tony Hsieh, and Lady Gaga, Banayan introduces his Third Door framework – a powerful strategy for overcoming rejection, building persistence, and unlocking exponential growth. This session will present interactive exercises engineered to deliver immediate results, as well as take-home strategies to foster sustained growth

Packed with professional development resources and career-boosting tactics, you’ll leave equipped to unlock our own and your team’s potential, enabled to achieve your most ambitious work goals.

Key Takeaways include:

• The Rejection Inspection Tool: A three-step process to reframe rejection and bounce back quickly
• How to Cultivate Bold Thinking: strategies to foster a culture of persistence and risk-taking
• Sustainable Growth tools: exercises to ensure long-term personal and professional success

How do you lead in a rapidly changing world where it’s clear that what worked in the past won’t work in the present or the future?

Leadership is changing right before our eyes and the pandemic has only accelerated the transformation. It’s never been harder to be a leader but the impact that leaders have has also never been greater. How should current prospective leaders think and what do they need to know how to do? In this ground-breaking workshop, bestselling author and futurist, Jacob Morgan, shares insights from the exclusive research he conducted by interviewing over 140 of the world’s top CEOs and surveying nearly 14,000 employees. Jacob identified as specific set of four mindsets and five skills that all leaders must practice if they wish to guide themselves, their teams, and their organizations to success in the future of work. In this session, explore why and how leadership is changing, what all of the mindsets and skills are, and actionable steps that you can take to practice then.

Key takeaways include:

• Why and how leadership is changing 
• What it means to be a leader and the impact that leaders have 
• The four mindsets and vie skills leaders must practice  
• Why many leaders struggle with change 
• How to become a future-ready leader 

AI innovator Noelle Russell has dedicated her career to helping organizations understand AI’s capabilities, as well as how it can be implemented to create revenue-generating opportunities while maintaining the human element within their teams. In this talk, Russell discusses the real, tangible ways artificial intelligence can be utilized every day to improve businesses and the world. In a keynote that blends knowledge, inspiration, and practicality, she walks audiences through what it takes to build solutions that spark growth within organizations and serve more people by creating inclusive teams that are empathetic, courageous, and leverage varying perspectives as the foundation of innovation. She also addresses the implications of building AI solutions that augment human ingenuity in business — thus improving the employee and customer experience.

Key takeaways include:

• Learn how AI is powering HR
• Best practices for responsible AI application at scale
• Receive a checklist for choosing your first or next AI project
• Cheat sheet for engaging the best AI talent
• Importance of ethical and responsible AI
• Discover how AI for accessibility is changing the world

Why does work feel harder than ever? With 85% of employees disengaged, 81% job-hunting, 72% feeling underpaid, and nearly 80% struggling with work-life balance, these are more than just numbers. They’re a sign of workforce barely hanging on. The cost to businesses? $500 billion annually due to absenteeism, turnover and accidents.

Despite the explosion of leadership books and workplace experts, we’re still spinning our wheels, prioritizing productivity over well-being. But the reality is today’s systems reward often reward mediocrity and stifle playful innovation.

In this workshop, global play expert and HR influencer, Jeff Harry will challenge you to create work cultures that instead celebrate risk, failure, and joy. By dismantling outdated norms and fostering empathy, compassion and shared humanity, he will show you how to make work a place where people truly want to be -and where they can do their best, most vibrant work.

Key takeaways include:

• How to challenge outdated workplace norms that prioritize productivity over well-being, engagement and innovation
• Transformative, play-oriented approaches to foster psychological safety, risk-taking and genuine connection in the workplace
• How to equip leaders with the tools to replace rigid hierarchies with empathetic, human-centered practices that inspire collective growth and creativity

What if the key to unlocking better leadership, better communication and better relationships was understanding the inherent human need for significance? In this session bestselling author and President of Bailey Strategic Innovation Group, Eric M. Bailey, introduces a way to see the world through the lens of understanding empathy. Learn how to recognize the indications that someone is “fighting for significance” and how to shift your perspective to build an environment of productive mutual respect and understanding. Walk away with practical skills to transform conflict into collaboration, creating deeper connections, and more meaningful relationships.

Key takeaways include:

• A profound new understanding of frustration and how to experience less frustration at work and at home 
• The ability to recognize the key drivers of irrational behavior 
• The tools to improve collaboration and productivity 

While burnout is common for a myriad of professions, HR professionals experience burnout at an alarming rate. Tasked to manage the day-to-day, leader development, recruiting, onboarding, and all personnel issues, HR’s work is heavy.

In this session, join Kelsey Tarp, Director of HR Business Partners at BambooHR, to get practical tips and advice on how to reduce burnout for you and your HR team.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to recognize and address the signs of burnout 
• Ideas for improving workplace culture and building resilience 
• Time-saving tips to streamline your work and increase HR efficiency  

This session is sponsored by BambooHR.

Body Awareness Relaxation: Bridging the Mind-Body Connection

We often think of the mind and body as separate, yet they are constantly shaping each other. Stressful thoughts can create physical tension, just as physical discomfort can influence our mood and focus. This session invites you to explore the deep interconnection between the two, using gentle movement and guided awareness to bring harmony back into both body and mind. By tuning in, you’ll cultivate a greater sense of ease, presence, and alignment—leaving you feeling balanced, refreshed, and fully connected to yourself.

Builds: Mind-body awareness (interoception), stress relief, reduced physical tension, enhanced

This panel will explore the critical intersection of DEIB and psychological safety, offering HR leaders actionable insights to build cultures of belonging and trust within their organizations. Experts will discuss how recognition, inclusive practices, and leadership strategies can empower diverse talent to not only feel valued but also thrive, collaborate, and innovate. By focusing on psychological safety, HR leaders can create an environment where all employees can contribute authentically and drive long-term organizational success.

Key takeaways include:

• Learn how to implement inclusive recognition strategies that foster a culture of trust, engagement, and belonging across diverse teams.
• Understand how creating psychologically safe environments leads to improved employee performance, retention, and innovation within DEI initiatives.

Burnout isn’t just a trendy topic – it’s a genuine crisis plaguing our workplaces. Despite well-intentioned efforts, many organizations are failing to make real progress in improving employee wellbeing. Why? Become most initiatives barely scratch the surface of the problem. In this session, we’ll challenge conventional wisdom about workplace wellbeing, explore why so many current efforts fall short, and discuss ways to move beyond the “self-care” narrative to address the real sources of burnout.

In this session you’ll learn how to:

• Identify the systemic causes of burnout, including organizational, cultural, and operational factors
• Develop and implement innovative work design strategies that prioritize employee wellbeing and organizational effectiveness
• Cultivate leadership skills that sustain and enhance a culture of wellbeing in the workplace

In this session, discover how MetLife transformed a 1,000-person service organization by embracing-human centered culture. Metlife’s Director of Learning & Talent Solutions, Megan Borchers, and Service-Learning and Business Solutions Manager, Jennifer Fiedler, joined by Barry Kirk, Partner at Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, will share how MetLife shifted beyond traditional performance metrics and empowered its customer service teams, driving double-digit improvements in retention and significantly boosting customer satisfaction.

Through this compelling case study, you’ll learn how prioritizing Truly Human Service – both internally and externally – fostered a lasting cultural shift that elevated both employee engagement and customer experience. Walk away with practical insights on how to scale cultural change while navigating the complexities of a large, established organization.

This session is sponsored by MetLife & Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute.

Eaton is approaching culture as a continuous journey – strategic, intentional, and built for long-term impact. A key element of that effort is recognition: a powerful lever to connect teams, reinforce leadership behaviors, and drive progress across the company.

With strong executive engagement and data-backed insights, Eaton is aligning recognition with business outcomes to shape cultural in real time. This session will unpack their evolving strategy, share lessons from the field, and explore how recognition can be delivered in various ways to support business evolution and growth.

Key takeaways include:

• Leveraging recognition to amplify and advance your key initiatives 
• Driving employee engagement and retention through recognition 
• Discovering insights in your data that may inform your business strategy 
• Tailoring your approach to recognition to strengthen culture and agility  

In this session, join Dr. Kalifa Oliver – People Analytics Expert, Global Executive Advisor, and Author – to uncover the powerful link between people data and a people-first approach to work. Discover actionable strategies for ethically leveraging data while prioritizing employee well-being and individuality. Through compelling real-world examples, Kalifa will reveal how human-centered practices fuel engagement, retention and productivity and address key ethical considerations, emphasizing the importance of transparency and consent. Leave equipped to create a thriving workplace by seamlessly integrating data-driven insights with a focus on the human experience.

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

Traditional skill appraisal methods – self-reported assessments and manager evaluations – are often incomplete and unreliable, limiting organizations’ ability to leverage the benefits of their talent investments. This session, based on Mercer’s latest research, explores how recognition data becomes an invaluable source of data to identify and confirm skills – providing a real-time, validated view of how skills are currently used within an organization, and mitigating bias that can emerge through other means of skills identification. Learn how effective recognition can uncover hidden talent, reduce bias in hiring and promotions, and align workforce development and business goals.

In this session you will learn:

• Why skills-powered organizations outperform their peers and how to align recognition with talent development strategies 
• How to leverage recognition data to organically uncover and confirm employee skills accurately, in real time 
• How to design meaningful recognition programs that deliver skills-rich data, the key to uncovering hidden potential and supporting business growth  

As societal pushback and political resistance to DEI grows, organizations are simultaneously facing cultural fractures, disengaged workforces and accelerating technological disruption. Ironically, at a time when connection, trust and human-centered leadership are most needed, the work of DEI Teams is being misunderstood, deprioritized and dismantled.

In this timely and thought-provoking session, Talent Executive and Organizational Development & DEI Leader, Fadjanie Cadet, will explore how DEI leaders can reposition their teams’ capabilities as business-critical – not just values-driven. She’ll demonstrate how DEI-aligned skills, strategies, and structures are essential for driving innovation, retaining talent, and building resilient, future-ready cultures. You will leave with actionable insights to reframe DEI work as a core lever of organizational effectiveness and long-term transformation.

Key takeaways include:

• Reframe DEI expertise: Understand how practitioners can rebrand “DEI” skills like change management, cultural intelligence, and inclusive leadership are essential for broader business strategy 
• Strategically leverage inclusion: Offer tangible insights for organizations seeking to leverage DEI professionals as key players in driving sustainable organizational change amidst disruption 
• Champion human-centered leadership: Reframe leadership practices to prioritize empathy, inclusion, and resilience  
Change Management & Future of Work | Leadership & Talent Management | Professional Development & Skilling/Reskilling | Psychological Safety | Workplace Culture & Innovation

Amid the rise of quiet quitting, the shift to hybrid work, and growing concerns around AI, today’s workplace is more complex – and more turbulent – than ever. Many employees are feeling undervalued, leading to widespread disengagement and a growing disconnect from their organizations. This phenomenon has been aptly dubbed “The Great Detachment.”

To retain talent in this climate, leaders must evolve to meet the shifting expectations of their workforce. That’s no small feat. With five generations now coexisting in the workplace – each with distinct values around finances, lifestyle, and retirement – one-size-fits all approaches no longer apply.
Understanding and addressing the diverse needs of these unique employee segments is key to boosting both recruitment and retention.

In this session, Rodney Bolden, Executive Director, Head of Industry Engagement and Learning at Morgan Stanley at Work, and Tammy Colvocoresses, Director and Senior Stock Plan Administrator at Prologis, Inc., will explore the latest employee experience trends, how workplace benefits can drive motivation and what it takes to meaningfully connect with a multigenerational workforce.

This session is sponsored by Morgan Stanley.

Are you working nonstop but feeling like it’s never quite enough? Have you perfected the art of saying “I’m fine” when really, you’re close to burnout? In HR, we’re not only managing our own stress but also supporting employees through their challenges – often with the traditional tools feeling less effective than ever. We’ve long been taught that resilience is the key to navigating adversity but according to NYT bestselling author and organizational psychologist there’s just one problem with this assumption: scientifically, resilience is a finite resource, especially under today’s relentless pressures.

In this session, Dr. Eurich offers a science-backed alternative to the standard “bounce-back” approach. Drawing from decades of research, compelling insights and her own personal experience with a life-defining health crisis, she reveals how we can harness stress for growth and help ourselves and employees do the same. You will be guided to identify your unique triggers, uncover unmet needs driving burnout and transform stress into strength, setting the course to becoming shatterproof at an individual and organizational level.

Key takeaways include:

• Recognizing the specific stressors that uniquely trigger us
• Identify the unmet needs that keep us stuck in self-limiting patterns
• Replacing self-limiting patterns with those that fulfill our deepest human desires
• Turning stress into strength, exhaustion into energy, and confusion into confidence

In today’s dynamic business environment, improving your “organizational health” (culture) is more than a competitive advantage – it’s now critical for leaders who want to build a resilient, thriving workforce that attracts and retains top performers. Join McKinsey & Company Partner Drew Goldstein and Associate Partner Holly Price as they share groundbreaking research and real-world examples to help you walk away with specific ideas that all leaders can put into practice for their employees.

Key takeaways include:

• Organizational Health as a Performance Driver: Learn why companies with strong organizational health deliver up to three times the total shareholder returns compared to their competitors – and what this means for your business
• Adaptation in a Changing Landscape: Explore how evolving workplace dynamics, technological advancements, and employee expectations are reshaping the way organizations need to operate to stay ahead
• Practical Strategies for Sustainable Success: Gain tools and frameworks to assess and enhance your organization’s health, aligning leadership, culture, and employee engagement to drive measurable results

This panel will provide insights on how HR leaders have strategically integrated well-being into their teams’ daily routines, focusing on techniques to build resilience, cognitive agility and enhance productivity. Experts will explore how recognition and strategic well-being practices can reduce burnout, improve communication, and increase workplace adaptability, empowering organizations to thrive in an evolving landscape.

Key takeaways include:

• Learn how to implement practical resilience techniques that foster employee engagement and performance.
• Understand how investing in well-being directly enhances organizational productivity and long-term growth.

Recognition doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. Zimmer Biomet’s journey to a global recognition program demonstrates how simplicity, scalability and sustainability can transform workplace culture. Starting with insights from a 2020 engagement survey, Zimmer Biomet identified a need for consistent recognition across teams, countries, and sites. Partnering with Workhuman, they launched IGNITE, a recognition program designed to keep things simple while achieving strategic goals. In this session, join Andrea LaBarbera, VP, Global Talent & Engagement and Sarah Paulson, Employee Engagement & Experience Manager at Zimmer Biomet to learn how the company’s intentional design and commitment to embedding recognition in their culture have driven measurable results and fostered a sense of gratitude organization wide.

Key takeaways include:

• The Power of Simplicity: Discover how designing a standardized and efficient program enabled Zimmer Biomet to implement their global recognition strategy
• Embedding Gratitude into the Organization: Learn how Zimmer Biomet tied recognition directly to their mission, culture promises, and engagement strategy, creating a sustainable culture of gratitude

Join this session to discover how Workhuman customers are mastering recognition and driving meaningful impact.

Trevor Noah has long helped people make sense of the world’s most complex issues—with humor, insight, and an unshakable sense of curiosity. In this mainstage conversation, he reflects on what it means to be a trusted voice in uncertain times, and how asking better questions—rather than rushing to answers—can help us lead with more clarity, connection, and care. From global stages to grassroots communities, Trevor shares what he’s learned about influence, inclusion, and the future of leadership. Moderated by Workhuman’s Chief Human Experience Officer, KeyAnna Schmiedl, this session will inspire HR leaders to step confidently into their power their role not just as decision-makers, but as question-askers, bridge-builders, and storytellers in a changing world.

Yoga, at its core, is a practice of balance—not just in the body, but in life. This all-level, beginner-friendly class invites you to explore personal harmony through mindful movement, breath, and relaxation. In a world where demands pull us in every direction, this session offers a space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and enjoy moving your body. Expect gentle yet energizing sequences that awaken the body and ease the mind, leaving you refreshed and recharged for the day ahead. No prior experience is necessary, just a willingness to move, breathe, and find your own rhythm.

Perspective Shift: Rewiring Negative Thinking

The way we see the world shapes how we experience it. This session invites you to step back and examine the mental habits that keep you stuck—whether it’s stress, self-doubt, or negativity. Through gentle movement and guided reflection, you’ll explore simple practices to shift perspective, reframe challenges, and create new, more supportive thought patterns. Walk away feeling lighter, clearer, and more empowered to navigate work and life with a refreshed mindset.

Builds: Mental resilience, emotional balance, stress relief, and a more positive, adaptable outlook.

Join one of four Action Planning sessions happening at this time to close out your Workhuman Live experience and turn the week’s groundbreaking ideas into tangible, actionable strategies you can implement in your organization.

This session will focus on your own growth and change. We’ll help you prioritize your takeaways and create a plan to elevate your personal and professional development.

These highly interactive sessions are designed to allow you the time and space to reflect on your conference learnings and get feedback and guidance on your implementation plan.

What to Expect:

• Hands-On Collaboration: Engage in activities designed to allow you to collaborate with your peers to create action plans with built in accountability.
• Actionable Tools and Resources: Use carefully designed frameworks to map out your implementation plan.
• Insights from the Week: These sessions integrate the week’s keynotes, workshops, and attendee feedback.

Key takeaways include:

1. An action plan to apply insights directly to your specific challenges and goals.
2. Tools and resources to build sustainable solutions.
3. Peer-to-peer collaboration with HR professionals facing similar obstacles.
4. Inspiration and clarity to elevate your leadership and create transformation.

Join one of four Action Planning sessions happening at this time to close out your Workhuman Live experience and turn the week’s groundbreaking ideas into tangible, actionable strategies you can implement in your organization.

This session will focus on the conference takeaways that will enable you to create an action plan to drive a high-performing organization.

These highly interactive sessions are designed to allow you the time and space to reflect on your conference learnings and get feedback and guidance on your implementation plan.

What to Expect:

• Hands-On Collaboration: Engage in activities designed to allow you to collaborate with your peers to create action plans with built in accountability.
• Actionable Tools and Resources: Use carefully designed frameworks to map out your implementation plan.
• Insights from the Week: These sessions integrate the week’s keynotes, workshops, and attendee feedback.

Key takeaways include:

1. An action plan to apply insights directly to your specific challenges and goals.
2. Tools and resources to build sustainable solutions.
3. Peer-to-peer collaboration with HR professionals facing similar obstacles.
4. Inspiration and clarity to elevate your leadership and create transformation.

Join one of four Action Planning sessions happening at this time to close out your Workhuman Live experience and turn the week’s groundbreaking ideas into tangible, actionable strategies you can implement in your organization.

This session will emphasize creating a culture of belonging and empathy, sharing actionable practices to make work more human.

These highly interactive sessions are designed to allow you the time and space to reflect on your conference learnings and get feedback and guidance on your implementation plan.

What to Expect:

• Hands-On Collaboration: Engage in activities designed to allow you to collaborate with your peers to create action plans with built in accountability.
• Actionable Tools and Resources: Use carefully designed frameworks to map out your implementation plan.
• Insights from the Week: These sessions integrate the week’s keynotes, workshops, and attendee feedback.

Key takeaways include:

1. An action plan to apply insights directly to your specific challenges and goals.
2. Tools and resources to build sustainable solutions.
3. Peer-to-peer collaboration with HR professionals facing similar obstacles.
4. Inspiration and clarity to elevate your leadership and create transformation.

Join one of four Action Planning sessions happening at this time to close out your Workhuman Live experience and turn the week’s groundbreaking ideas into tangible, actionable strategies you can implement in your organization.

The action plans in this session will focus on creating an inspiring vision for transformation and outlining a strategy for successful implementation.

These highly interactive sessions are designed to allow you the time and space to reflect on your conference learnings and get feedback and guidance on your implementation plan.

What to Expect:

• Hands-On Collaboration: Engage in activities designed to allow you to collaborate with your peers to create action plans with built in accountability.
• Actionable Tools and Resources: Use carefully designed frameworks to map out your implementation plan.
• Insights from the Week: These sessions integrate the week’s keynotes, workshops, and attendee feedback.

Key takeaways include:

1. An action plan to apply insights directly to your specific challenges and goals.
2. Tools and resources to build sustainable solutions.
3. Peer-to-peer collaboration with HR professionals facing similar obstacles.
4. Inspiration and clarity to elevate your leadership and create transformation.

Studies have proven that leaders who intentionally build inclusivity and psychological safety at every organizational level achieve better results and have more productive teams. Through demonstrations, interactive sessions and a refreshing honesty about her life, bestselling author and NYU Professor Dolly Chugh welcomes leaders to explore psychological concepts that often escape standard leadership presentations.

Drawing on concepts taught in her top-rated management and leadership classes, her bestselling book The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias and her latest book A More Just Future: Psychological Tools for Reckoning with Our Past and Driving Social Change, Chugh invites leaders to physically feel the differences between growth and fixed mindsets, wrestle with paradox, dive into simulations of power structures, and more. Anyone seeking the knowledge and skills necessary to incorporate advanced leadership techniques in their organizations and themselves – including facilitating more inclusive meetings, listening and coaching more effectively, and leveraging stress, among other tools, will find this session and Chugh’s leadership toolkit indispensable.

Still involved in exhausting conversations about how to attract, engage and retain top talent in a constantly changing environment? Riding the rollercoaster of trying to engage talent without breeding entitlement? Struggling with fostering an environment of accountability that can drive top results in spite of challenging circumstances? Finding yourself caught in the middle of polarized situations where team members are demanding, and leaders are seemingly under-delivering? Are you experience the weaponization of key requirements in your workforce like resiliency, accountability, or psychological safety? Finding the array of HR current programs and initiatives overwhelming and less effective than hoped for?

You are not alone. And Cy Wakeman can help you sort through the confusion.

Here is a revolutionary invitation:

If you are involved in an exhausting conversation. STOP. Just end the conversation AND begin a new one.

Our new role in HR is to actively evolve the humans in our midst so that they can move through their new realities skillfully and healthily.

Join Cy Wakeman as she initiates a whole new conversation for your organization. Cy will totally interrupt your thinking, reveal some new truths for HR, and show you the path to move away from all that is not working because it is based upon conventional and traditional thinking and instead adopt a modern philosophy based on evolution and integration. Cy will present a new model of co-creation in the workplace based upon shared accountability for all team members, influencers and leaders who must gain fluence in modern workplace competencies. You will learn to evolve your HR and talent philosophies to transcend all that is polarizing and no longer working and be invited to a whole new conversation about what is possible in the new world of work and life.