April first joined the show six months ago for Episode 40: Empathy Meets Efficiency. A lot has happened since then. For example, April has been on the road sharing her expertise. April has presented at the ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference and the Virginia and DC SHRM Conference. Her message is the same everywhere she goes. The soft stuff can actually be the hardest stuff. And your organization’s success with the soft stuff shows up in your data whether you're paying attention or not.
As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt who began her career as a hospice social worker, April brings a unique perspective to leadership and continuous improvement. On this episode, she explains why psychological safety isn't just a feel-good concept. It's the condition that makes accurate data collection possible.
April also gets into what happens to a team after a layoff and how they are watching to see leadership’s response. April explains what leaders get wrong in those moments and what they should consider doing instead.
And if your organization has a retention problem, April has a message for you. Retention is not a strategy. It’s an outcome. The real question is, what kind of organization are you building? Ask yourself, would you want to work there?
This episode is for everybody. Even the data people. And maybe, especially the data people.
In this episode, you will hear about:
2:14 - What’s April been up to lately?
3:39 - April’s presentation at ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference
7:31 - How a lack of psychological safety affects data
9:47 - Discussing psychological safety with data-driven practitioners
12:09 - Recognizing a psychologically safe environment
16:20 - How practitioners in on-leadership roles can help build psychological safety
18:07 - How participants reacted during April’s session at ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference
22:43 - Organizational strategy and project prioritization
26:43 - One thing you can do this week to improve the culture of your organization
28:22 - Retention is an outcome, not a strategy
31:58 - The intersection of continuous improvement and Human Resources
34:39 - Layoffs and the ongoing work of continuous improvement
38:01 - The SCARF Model in the aftermath of layoffs
40:59 - Catching up with April since Episode 40
44:49 - The Kaytlyn Madison Thomas Memorial Foundation
49:06 - The soft skills can bring in the hard dollars
Additional Resources:
April Thomas on LinkedIn
April's PSA from MADD Mid-Atlantic
The Kaytlyn Madison Thomas Memorial Foundation
The first annual Kaytlyn Madison Thomas Memorial Walk
Episode 40: Empathy Meets Efficiency with April Thomas
MoreSteam's YouTube Channel
Quality Time With MoreSteam on Facebook
Quality Time With MoreSteam on Instagram
Quality Time With MoreSteam on LinkedIn
Subscribe to MoreSteam's Newsletter
MoreSteam on LinkedIn
Dan Swartwout on LinkedIn
ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference
Virginia and DC SHRM Conference
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