EXPERT EXCHANGE: Stop Grinding. Start Building Workplace Joy

Summary

Podcast Summary: From the Ground Up Episode: EXPERT EXCHANGE: Stop Grinding. Start Building Workplace Joy
Release Date: August 6, 2025
Host: Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Inc. Executive Editor and Editor-at-Large respectively.

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Introduction

In the August 6, 2025 episode of From the Ground Up, hosted by Inc. Magazine's Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, the focus is on transforming workplace dynamics to foster joy and engagement. The episode, titled "EXPERT EXCHANGE: Stop Grinding. Start Building Workplace Joy," features a conversation between Lauren Ashgari, founder and president of Alderson Loop, and Jose Herrera, CEO and co-founder of Horatio. Together, they delve into strategies for creating a more enjoyable and engaging work environment, moving away from the traditional grind-centered approach.

Building Trust in the Workplace

Lauren Ashgari opens the discussion with a powerful statement on trust, emphasizing its fragility and importance in maintaining strong relationships within a company:

"Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets."
– Lauren Ashgari [00:30]

She highlights the necessity of providing exceptional customer experiences and stellar service to retain both customers and employees. Trust serves as the foundation upon which workplace joy is built, ensuring that employees feel valued and respected.

Employee Feedback and Community Building

The conversation shifts to the significance of soliciting and acting upon employee feedback. Lauren commends Jose for incorporating employee input early in the company's development, particularly in designing the workplace environment:

"Asking employees for feedback and input is super valuable."
– Lauren Ashgari [00:30]

Jose Herrera elaborates on Horatio's approach to employee feedback. They conduct quarterly Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS) surveys to assess the satisfaction with various benefits and adjust accordingly. With a workforce exceeding 1,500 employees, primarily Gen Z, Horatio emphasizes the creation of internal communities based on shared interests. Examples include a music club and other interest-based groups, fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie among employees.

"We wanted to build a community and we wanted to build communities within the company. So if you're passionate about music, then we decided to create a music club."
– Jose Herrera [01:03]

This strategy not only addresses the diverse interests of their workforce but also acknowledges the vocal nature of Gen Z employees, ensuring their needs and preferences are met to maintain high levels of engagement and satisfaction.

Aligning Employee Interests with Client Brands

Lauren stresses the importance of making work enjoyable, especially in client-facing roles, to prevent the perception of work as merely a grind:

"Let's make it as fun as we can, like in the office and for the people so that they can enjoy the work that they do."
– Lauren Ashgari [01:57]

Jose shares Horatio's innovative approach to recruitment, which involves aligning employees' passions with the brands they serve. By pairing agents with companies whose products or values resonate with their personal interests—such as dog lovers working with a dog food subscription service or individuals with a finance background supporting fintech companies—Horatio ensures that employees are genuinely engaged and motivated in their roles.

"If you're passionate about the brand that you're servicing, what obviously you're going to do a good job and you want to build a career there."
– Jose Herrera [02:10]

This alignment not only enhances job performance but also contributes to career growth, as employees feel a deeper connection and commitment to the brands they represent.

Fostering Workplace Joy and Engagement

The overarching theme of the episode centers on shifting the workplace culture from one of relentless grinding to one that prioritizes joy and engagement. By fostering trust, actively seeking and implementing employee feedback, building communities, and aligning employees' passions with their work, companies can create a more fulfilling and productive work environment.

Conclusion

The episode "Stop Grinding. Start Building Workplace Joy" offers valuable insights into creating an engaging workplace. Lauren Ashgari and Jose Herrera provide actionable strategies for building trust, leveraging employee feedback, fostering internal communities, and aligning employee interests with client brands. Their discussion underscores the importance of prioritizing workplace joy as a key driver of employee satisfaction and business success.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets."
  – Lauren Ashgari [00:30]

• "Asking employees for feedback and input is super valuable."
  – Lauren Ashgari [00:30]

• "We wanted to build a community and we wanted to build communities within the company."
  – Jose Herrera [01:03]

• "Let's make it as fun as we can, like in the office and for the people so that they can enjoy the work that they do."
  – Lauren Ashgari [01:57]

• "If you're passionate about the brand that you're servicing, what obviously you're going to do a good job and you want to build a career there."
  – Jose Herrera [02:10]

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This episode serves as a compelling guide for entrepreneurs and business leaders aiming to cultivate a workplace that not only drives success but also ensures the well-being and happiness of their teams.

Transcript

[Lauren Ashgari]

Josh.

[Josh Christensen]

Hi, listeners. I'm Josh Christensen, executive producer of Inc Podcasts. Today we have another edition of Expert Exchange presented by principal. In this conversation, you're going to hear Lauren Ashgari, founder and president of Alderson Loop, talking to Jose Herrera, CEO and co founder of Horatio. They talk about how to start building workplace joy and how to make work more engaging. All right, enjoy this. Expert Exchange.

[Lauren Ashgari]

Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. I heard that, and it really just resonated with me in terms of providing great experience and customer service to people to keep them coming back for more. In my experience, asking employees for feedback and input is super valuable. It sounds like you did that early on, even when talking about designing your environment.

[Jose Herrera]

Yep.

[Lauren Ashgari]

How do you think about that? Just getting feedback from employees on not just the environment, but any. Any number of things.

[Jose Herrera]

Yeah. So we do quarterly ENPS surveys where we ask them questions about particular benefits that they're enjoying or not enjoying. And based on that, we adjust. Obviously, one of the things that we wanted to do, given the fact that we are over 1500 employees and the majority of them come to the office, we wanted to build a community and we wanted to build communities within the company. So if you're passionate about music, then we decided to create a music club. I would say that we have multiple communities, and that also adds a lot of value. And obviously we help foster those. So those are some of the things that we've done in terms of tweaks, is making sure that we are addressing the different interests that we have, especially given the fact that the majority of our employees are gen zers and it's a very vocal generation. And so we want to make sure that we take care of their needs. But understanding that all of these people's needs are very different, I always look.

[Lauren Ashgari]

At it like, with all that, with all the things that come with client services or services in general, let's make it as fun as we can, like in the office and for the people so that they can enjoy the work that they do.

[Jose Herrera]

Right.

[Lauren Ashgari]

It doesn't have to be this, like, grind of work.

[Jose Herrera]

Exactly. And something that we do at Horatio as part of our recruiting process is that we pair the agents to the company of their choice. So if they're passionate about dogs. Right. Like we have a dog food subscription company, and so we, for that particular client, we only hire people that are passionate about that particular brand or product. If it's a beauty brand, we have to find people that can align with the values of that company. Right. If it's a fintech company, we typically look for people that have a finance background or a banking background before. And so we typically like to align the interests of the companies to the interests of our employees, because that goes a long way in and of itself. Right. If you're passionate about the brand that you're servicing, what obviously you're going to do a good job and you want to build a career there. Panoply.