Ep 134: How a 200 Year Old Company Is Evolving Work

Today my guest is Archana Singh, the EVP and Chief Human Resource Officer at John Wiley and Sons Publishing. Join us as we talk about what transformations Wiley is going through, why these transformations are important, how to create a sense of purpose for your employees and much more.

Today’s guest is Archana Singh the EVP and Chief Human Resource Officer at John Wiley and Sons Publishing. John Wiley was founded in 1807, and amazingly over 200 years later they are still going strong. They currently focus on business books, research and journal publishing with sizeable work around digital assets and learning, assessments and educational technology services, as well.

Wiley is found in 60 locations across 40 different countries, employing 5000 people. There has been significant growth in the last 15 years with a blending of digital and traditional higher education publishing.

How has worked changed?

1. There is more ownership as an employee of what is worked upon. Therefore, as an organization, how do we harness that? There is an increase need for us to understand this.

2. Everyone is seeking flexibility. How do we get our organizations to move to a more outcome based, rather than time driven focus? How do we change our dialogs to provide this flexibility?

3. People’s minds are more fragmented – they have so many things to do and worry about. How do we – as organizations – get the productivity that is needed? How do we harness this to create advantage for our organization?

What is the role of an employee?

Three things:

1. Employees want employers to care and encourage connectedness

2. They also wonder how they can participate in shaping the organization. They want to make an impact.

3. They also question - am I employable and am I learning enough? They want to feel they are being relevant - both internally and externally

Singh gives advice to companies looking to reinvent themselves. She says, to begin visualize what your mission is and where you want to be. Where do you want to be at the end of one year? In 5 years? She also states it is important to engage people and to hear what they think. Encourage employee participation and use a joint approach to identify what matters.

What you will learn in this episode:

* Initiatives going on at Wiley to continue to transform a company over 200 years old.

* What organizations can consider to transform their physical space without a budget

* The role of the mission statement on company culture

* Ideas of how to create a sense of purpose among your employees.

* Singh’s advice to companies who are looking to reinvent themselves

* How work has evolved

Quotes:

* Our true north is life-long learners - whether it is a researcher or a student - and they guide us in what we do

* There is an increased need for us to understand how to tap into this freelance energy.

* Every small thing we do is more important than ‘big bang’ programs.