Catalyst Center for Work Innovation: Research Deep Dive
by WRKdefined Podcast Network · 168 episodes
BusinessManagementEducation
Join us for in-depth conversations about the future of work. Our hosts explore cutting-edge research on organizational innovation, leadership transformation, and the evolving workplace. From hybrid work strategies and employee experience to change management and organizational culture, each episode unpacks complex topics through thoughtful dialogue with the experts driving workplace innovation. Whether you're a business leader, HR professional, researcher, or simply curious about building thriving organizations in a rapidly changing world, these deep dives offer valuable insights grounded in rigorous research and real-world experience—transforming academic knowledge into actionable strategies you can implement today.
Latest episodes
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51 min
Managing Remote Work Location Compliance and Flexibility
A significant location compliance gap exists in modern workplaces, as numerous remote employees secretly work from foreign countries or other states without notifying human resourc…
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56 min
The Second Paycheck: Governance of Multiple Jobholding
Multiple jobholding has increasingly transitioned from a quiet necessity into a mainstream reality driven by financial pressures and the flexibility of remote work. Although tradit…
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49 min
Navigating Pay Differentiation and Pay Transparency Strategies
Organizations are shifting away from uniform salary increases toward targeted compensation strategies because U.S. salary budgets remain flat at approximately 3.5%. This transition…
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1 h 08
Work Design and AI Enterprise Value
Despite heavy financial investments in artificial intelligence, most organizations struggle to realize meaningful enterprise-level returns from their technology initiatives. This d…
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1 h 03
Restoring Leadership Capacity: Overcoming Depletion in Organizations
Recent research reveals that leader depletion has become a critical, yet hidden, performance risk as executives and managers struggle to maintain their energy amid continuous organ…
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1 h 04
Mind the Say-Do Gap
This research explores the "say-do gap" and "HR whitewashing," which occur when corporate promises regarding wellness, diversity, and values fail to match the reality of everyday w…
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56 min
Restoring Honesty to Hiring
Ghost job postings, which are advertisements for positions that employers do not genuinely intend to fill, have evolved from a minor candidate frustration into a widespread reputat…
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55 min
Leading Workforces Through Rising Temperatures
Rising global temperatures present a critical challenge for occupational health and leadership, driving up injury rates, reducing productivity, and threatening vulnerable workers a…
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1 h 04
When Politics Comes to Work
Political polarization heavily impacts modern American workplaces, particularly around election seasons, triggering widespread stress, incivility, and drops in employee engagement.…
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58 min
The Two-Job Job
Modern corporate trends like organizational flattening and generative AI integration have inadvertently created a widespread phenomenon known as the "two-job job," where employees…
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1 h 02
Trust in Freefall: Rebuilding Leadership Confidence in Transformations
Recent data reveals that employee trust in leadership has dropped to historic lows as continuous organizational changes, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence and…
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49 min
Designed for Every Mind: Neuroinclusion and Universal Design at Work
Modern workplaces frequently fail to adequately support neurodivergent employees because they rely on slow, inequitable, and burdensome diagnosis-based accommodation processes. To…
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52 min
The Care Squeeze: Supporting Working Caregivers
Unpaid family caregiving has become a widespread structural reality within the modern workforce, yet organizational leaders frequently fail to recognize the true extent of these re…
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54 min
Navigating the Glass Cliff in Corporate Leadership
This research examines the glass cliff phenomenon, which describes how women and racial or ethnic minorities are disproportionately appointed to precarious leadership roles during…
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55 min
The Financial Insecurity Tax
Employee financial instability has become a critical organizational hazard, directly undermining staff productivity, attendance, and retention while consuming valuable cognitive fo…
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1 h 00
Surviving Perpetual Organizational Restructuring
Organizations are currently experiencing an unprecedented wave of continuous restructuring driven by financial pressures, strategic shifts, and the integration of artificial intell…
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48 min
Retaining Talent Through Investment
Stay-or-pay contracts, which require employees to repay training costs or bonuses if they leave their jobs prematurely, have become heavily contested tools for worker retention acr…
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1 h 09
Navigating Workplace Union Access and Employee Voice Dynamics
This research examines the strategic implications of Great Britain's Employment Rights Act 2025, which grants trade unions statutory physical and digital workplace access starting…
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1 h 00
Toxic at the Top
Recent studies highlight a growing empathy deficit within corporate leadership, where executives increasingly acknowledge workplace toxicity despite their self-perceptions of empat…
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58 min
All Reasonable Steps to Prevent Workplace Harassment
Workplace legal standards are shifting internationally from reactive disciplinary measures to proactive preventive duties. Legislation such as the UK Employment Rights Act 2025 req…