EP462: Dr. Angela Jackson - Why Employee Well-Being Drives Productivity & Profitability

Michael Palmer: When we think about the traditional top-down decision-making, it doesn't really acknowledge that the workplace has evolved drastically. Again, I hearken back to the pandemic because what we saw in that moment are the norms that we thought were work, that, you know, you had to be in a place at a set time. You do your work, you clock in and out like that was flipped on its head. You're listening to The Successful Bookkeeper with your host, Michael Palmer. Listen each week as inspiring guests share their secrets of success to help you increase your confidence, work smarter, and build a business you love. This episode of The Successful Bookkeeper is brought to you by purebookkeeping.com, the proven system to grow your bookkeeping business. Welcome back. Welcome back to the Successful Bookkeeper Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Palmer, and today's show is going to be a great one. Our guest is the founder of Future Forward Strategies, a firm specializing in labor market intelligence and strategy. Dr. Angela Jackson, welcome to the show. Hey, thank you so much, and thank you for having me. It's great to have you. I mean, labor is such an important piece of business, and can be really challenging at the very simplest business. And so having someone who, who spent a large part of their career analyzing it, gathering intelligence, is going to be very interesting to our listener. Before we get into all of that, I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about you, your journey, and what— how did you end up doing what you're doing today?

Dr. Angela Jackson (March 4, 2025): Yeah, thank you. Thank you for asking. I get asked that question a lot, and it's a two-part answer. The first answer is that, you know, So I grew up and was raised by my grandparents. My grandfather worked at a Chrysler factory. I mean, this is back in the days where it was booming. And I remember when he came home one day and said that Lee Iacocca was going to be leading the Chrysler factory and he was so excited. And it stayed with me because it showed me like what work can mean in one's life and how it gives people purpose. And for me, I started researching and thinking about work at my earliest days, but then, then began studying it more more formally later. Um, so my career was a little bit windy, but I started in the private sector, um, working for Nokia and also Viacom, building new businesses domestically and internationally before transitioning to more impact-driven work at