Bring Your Human to Work summary

When you’re a customer, interacting with technology can either be a gift or a curse. Consider the experience of going to the airport and checking in for a flight. If you’re a frequent flyer, then using your airline’s speedy self-service check-in machines might be a dream come true. But if you’re not used to flying, or aren’t accustomed to self-service machines, then you might find the same experience a nightmare. With no airline employees around to talk to, you might start wishing you’d stayed home. 

The key message here is: It’s important to maintain a human touch in the brave new world of technology. 

The biggest opportunity for human connection might be your team meeting. This meeting is one of the most frequent opportunities, too. After all, some 36 million meetings occur every day in the United States alone. But just how productive are these meetings? 

The short answer is: not very. It’s estimated that American businesses waste a grand total of $37 billion a year on useless meetings. So what’s going on? Well, the main issue is that our meetings usually lack purpose. 

In the year 1700, the world of work changed forever. It all started with an eye infection. When physician Bernadino Ramazzini met a cesspool operator who was suffering from an eye infection, he realized there is an important connection between our health and our work. This led Ramazzini to write a book called The Diseases of Tradesmen – and the field of occupational medicine was born. 

Ramazzini’s discovery of the work-health connection eventually led to the modern corporate wellness system. Today, around 70 percent of American employers offer their staff a wellness program. Good health, it turns out, again benefits both employees and employers.

Part of being human is making connections with your fellow human beings. A powerful way to achieve these connections is to give part of yourself to others – in other words, to give something back. 

The world’s most successful companies have long understood the power of giving back. In fact, over three quarters of the small companies listed by Inc. magazine as the best places to work give their staff time off to volunteer for charitable causes. Additionally, a 2015 study by consulting firm Bain & Company revealed that employees who feel inspired by volunteer projects are three times more productive than employees who don’t feel inspired. 

In today’s hectic world, it’s sometimes easy to forget that you’re a human being. Instead, you start feeling like a human doing. Because you’re constantly working, you’re never enjoying the pleasure of simply doing nothing. But not only is this workaholic attitude bad for your well-being, it could also be bad for your business. 

Research shows that we get our best and most innovative ideas when we step back from our everyday routine. The mother of innovation, it seems, is boredom. And pressing pause won’t just improve your creativity. It could give your career a boost, too. Studies have shown that employees who take vacations are 6 percent more likely to get a promotion than those who don’t.

When was the last time you felt truly appreciated by a company? 

The author and her young daughter used to stop by their local Starbucks each morning. The author’s daughter, who loved the pumpkin scones, was disappointed when the shop ran out one day. But as they left the Starbucks and started walking down the street, their barista, Ashley, ran after them.