Allessandria Polizzi
CEO, Verdant Consulting
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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Owner of a 2022 Workplace Wellness "Hot List" company, one of the top 10 Organizational Change Management Companies of 2022, named a top 100 HR Professional of 2020, and recently elected as the global psychological health and safety liaison for ISO, Dr. Allessandria Polizzi has 20 years of experience leading teams across multiple industries to unlock the potential in people and help organizations thrive. Following her own burnout in 2021, Dr. Al found the marketplace for practical solutions for leaders in crisis to be insufficient for her needs. She decided to reboot her consulting practice, Verdant Consulting, with a renewed focus on solving this issue in the hopes that future leaders would have better options. In addition, she has co-founded HR Wellbeing Week and Kite HR, which provide targeted programs that address the specific needs of HR teams. She also hosts the Be Verdant podcast, which shares the latest in resiliency and psychological safety from around the globe.
Awards
Area of Expertise
Topics
Hidden Hazards: Unique Burnout Risks in Tech
A 2022 study showed that two-thirds of IT workers feel physically and emotionally drained. And while we know that tech is largely an intellectual and knowledge-based effort, little has been done to address these issues beyond free snacks and foosball tables.
We can do better. In fact, there are global guidelines to help.
In the WHO's recent publication of Mental Health at Work guidelines, they highlight common hazards that can accelerate burnout. Called "psychosocial hazards," these threats to psychological health have been well documented in workplace stress literature for years. Within tech, researchers have recently shown that stress and mental fatigue are compounded by things like the importance of the task, the frequency of task interruptions, and the level of developer experience, to name a few.
In this session, we’ll review why burnout is such a concern for business performance, the specific hazards that may be hiding in your organization, and actions you can take today to mitigate these risks. Participants will learn the science behind burnout, how to identify potential hazards, and proven tactics to decrease risk.
Psychological Safety and Why it Matters for Thriving Workplaces
With the publication of the US Surgeon General’s framework and the WHO new guidelines for mental health at work, the definition of safety in the workplace has expanded. Occupation health and safety includes addressing the hazards to mental health, from how work is structured to how external factors impact our teams.
As a top provider in this area and the ISO global liaison for occupational health and safety, I will provide insight into why mental health matters at work, what action is already being taken globally and why, and where you can begin the process of creating a psychologically safe workplace by integrating these concepts into your agile processes.
S.E.E.ing What Your Project Needs: Creating a Psychological Health & Safety Plan for Your Projects
In 2015, Google and Re:Work produced results from their 2-year study of what makes teams successful. They identified Psychological Safety as the most critical differentiator in high performing teams. Beyond this research, many academic studies have shown a direct correlation between fostering psychological safety and innovation, worker commitment, and team effectiveness. In fact, psychological safety is so critical to future organizational success that the WHO and ISO have standards and guidelines for managing psychosocial risks in the workplace.
In this session, we will go through the 3 pillars of psychological health and safety you can apply to your project plans to support innovation, build resiliency, and overcome barriers. As a result, you will learn:
- the foundations of psychological safety
- project structures and processes that may hinder psychological safety
- actions you can take to address psychosocial hazards and risks
Overcoming Overwhelm: A 3-Step Model for Bouncing Back
With so much going on in our lives and in the world around us, it can be a challenge to know how to respond when everything seems too much. Decades of research on stress and resilience reveal simple approaches that have been repeatedly proven to improve coping, wellbeing and overall life satisfaction. These tactics can help us move from high emotion to thoughtful action more quickly.
In this session, we will provide a short primer on what happens when we feel overwhelmed and teach participants our 3-step resiliency model for bouncing back, including
· The science behind stress reactions
· Common causes of workplace overwhelm
· How to recognize when you are in overwhelm
· 3-steps to take that will help you move forward
As a result, you will have new tools you can turn to quickly no matter what challenges you face.
ASCENT 2023 Annual Education Conference Sessionize Event
A2LA Continual Improvement
ISO 45003: What it Means for the Future of Work
HRE Health and Benefits Leadership Conference
Caring for the Carers: Compassion Fatigue in HR
American Holistic Nurses Association
Overcoming Overwhelm: A 3-Step Model for Bouncing Back
American Society Safety Professionals ASSP
A Global Mindset: The Latest in Psychological Health & Safety from Around the World
Craft Brewers Convention
Are You Okay?: Navigating Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Mega-Threats as Agents of Culture Change
Get-CsLatam Conference 2023 Sessionize Event
Agile New England
S.E.E.ing What Your Project Needs: Creating a Psychological Health & Safety Plan for Your Projects
HashiTalks 2023 Sessionize Event
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