Eat Sleep Work Repeat - better workplace culture

The more you talk about culture, the less people believe you

Today's conversation is with Professor Benjamin Laker [https://www.benjaminlaker.co.uk/], someone I've long admired for his cutting edge work on the evolution of culture. His article on Meeting Free Days [https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-surprising-impact-of-meeting-free-days/] is probably the piece of research I've shared the most in the last 5 years. Laker is Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, which is part of the University of Reading. As well as writing multiple bestselling books on work like Too Proud to Lead and Job Crafting, he's also published dozens of articles in HBR and MIT Sloan Management Review. He's worked with government helping to develop policy on work and it's evolution. I could have chatted to Benjamin about dozens of things but I specifically wanted to dive into a sensational piece he wrote in Harvard Business Review at the end of last year about changing culture inside of organisations. [https://hbr.org/2025/08/to-change-company-culture-focus-on-systems-not-communication] Full transcript on the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4920&action=edit#:~:text=https%3A//eatsleepworkrepeat.com/the%2Dmore%2Dyou%2Dtalk%2Dabout%2Dculture%2Dthe%2Dless%2Dpeople%2Dbelieve%2Dyou/%E2%86%97] Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter [https://www.makeworkbetter.info/] or check out the best ever episodes at the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/best/]. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley [https://www.brucedaisley.com/]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Flourishing at Work

Daniel Coyle returns to reflect on what has changed since we last spoke. He's moved attention to an examination of what contributes to us getting a fulfilling experience from work - and life. We talk attention, community and the way that great teams demonstrate 'group flow'. We also delve into some research by Nick Epley that I've covered on the newsletter, that suggests we're terrible at predicting what will make us happy. If you like this check out the previous episodes with Daniel: Dan Coyle can fix your broken culture [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/dan-coyle-can-fix-your-broken-culture/] The Culture Code [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/the-culture-code-the-best-culture-book-of-2018/] Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter [https://www.makeworkbetter.info/] or check out the best ever episodes at the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/best/]. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley [https://www.brucedaisley.com/]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What makes for the Best Place to Work

I'm joined by Daniel Zhao, chief economist of Glassdoor, who talks me through their new rankings of the best places to work in 2026. It's an intriguing list, is a car wash really better than some of the most famous tech brands in the world? The ranking allows us to explore what we want in a job: culture, connection, progression and autonomy. Bad culture is 7 times more powerful driving quitting than salary: hear Charlie and Donald Sull talk about Glassdoor data [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/is-toxic-culture-driving-your-team-away/] Glassdoor: Top US places to work [https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm] Glassdoor: Top UK places to work [https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Award/Best-Places-to-Work-UK-LST_KQ0,22.htm] Full transcript on the website Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter [https://www.makeworkbetter.info/] or check out the best ever episodes at the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/best/]. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley [https://www.brucedaisley.com/]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Culture is built on 'moments of truth'

Kevin Green is the Chief People Officer for First Group. [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-green-221a7522/?originalSubdomain=uk] He's set about reinventing the culture of the organisation from the ground up. I heard Kevin speak at an event last year was completely bowled over by the way he talked about culture and the way he was trying to build it. I think you'll love this discussion. There's a full transcript on the website. Also mentioned: Waitrose culture episode with Lord Mark Price [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/workers-happy/] Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter [https://www.makeworkbetter.info/] or check out the best ever episodes at the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/best/]. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley [https://www.brucedaisley.com/]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

People-watching in the workplace

Dr Karen Bridbord [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drbridbord/] is the author of a new book, The Relationship-Driven Leader that invites us to bring a psychologist's lens to our job and the relationships with those around us. Her perspective is to use psychology to understand the person in front of you to interpret the world through their eyes. If you’ve got a controlling boss or someone who behaves in a way that impacts your life she helps you unpick what’s going in their head.  The Relationship-Driven Leader: Strengthening Connections to Enhance Productivity and Wellness at Work  [https://amzn.to/3M45KcR] Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter [https://www.makeworkbetter.info/] or check out the best ever episodes at the website [https://eatsleepworkrepeat.com/category/best/]. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley [https://www.brucedaisley.com/]. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.