2023 Top 10 Work Trend Champions
2023 Top 10 Work Trend Champions

Trend #1: Re-thinking the employee experience of remote workers
Lewis Garrad
Lewis is Partner and business leader for Mercer’s Singapore Career business. Voted a top 101 Global Future of Work Influencer, he is regular contributor to publications such as the Harvard Business Review and speaker in the areas of people science, HR data, employee engagement and leadership. In his commercial work, he leads a team of economist, social scientists, engineers and consultants to help clients and customers implement data-driven reward, talent, leadership and employee engagement programs to improve organizational performance. 

Trend #2: Best practices for managing a hybrid workforce
Lucia Nkem
Lucia Nkem is a Clinical Project Associate and a full-time Business Psychologist Ph.D.
Candidate. Her current research focuses on the impact of technological readiness and
remote work resources on employee performance within the hybrid work environment. As an OD Practitioner and future work enthusiast, I have experience in survey development, Psychometrics and engagement assessment design for better employee experience as the workforce transition into hybrid setting.  

Trend #3: Managing the transition into the post-pandemic world
William Luse 
Dr. William Luse is an Assistant Professor of Management and Leadership at the University of La Verne where he teaches Negotiation, Organizational Behavior, and Conflict Management courses. Dr. Luse’s research interests include individual differences, groups/teams, and organizational justice. His research is published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal, and Current Psychology.   

Trend #4: Ensuring inclusive environments and cultures
Ludmila Praslova   
Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP uses her extensive experience with global, cultural, demographic, and ability diversity to help create inclusive and equitable workplaces. She is a Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of Graduate Programs in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California. Prior to her academic career, she built inclusive cultures in global organizations. Her current consulting is focused on supporting organizations in creating systemic inclusion informed by an understanding of neurodiversity. She is the editor of the upcoming special issue of the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research on Disability inclusion in the workplace: From “accommodation” to inclusive organizational design.

Trend #5: Talent attraction and retention in a candidate-driven market
Li Lin   
Li Lin, Ph.D., is a people analytics manager at Amazon, where she focuses on psychological safety and leadership behaviors and supports day-to-day analytic operations of her team. Li was previously a people research scientist at Meta and talent management senior analyst at PepsiCo. In her work, she uses statistical models and survey methods to provide strategic insights and develop interventions. Some of her previous areas of work include employee pay equity, turnover risk prediction, employee engagement, manager equality, and leadership development.

Trend #6: Reshaping work to address employee’s mental health
Keaton Fletcher   
Keaton Fletcher is an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology. His research focuses on workplace leadership and wellbeing, answering questions like "How does becoming a leader impact your wellbeing?", "How does interacting with your leader affect your daily health behaviors?", "What physiological phenomena predict becoming a leader". He co-hosts the “Healthy Work” podcast (@healthyworkpod), which shares the science of making work a healthier experience for everyone. He is married to another I-O psychologist, and together they have two children.

Trend #7: Revisiting people strategies in times of economic uncertainty
David Le Mentec   
For over two decades, David Le Mentec (ex DDI, PDI, KF), has been helping Boards and the C-suite boost human performance by bringing as much rigor and vigor in their culture, talent, and leadership matters, as in their numbers. He offers a fresh perspective on the vectors and behaviors needed at organisational, team, and individual level for the distinct, yet not unique, moment we’re in.

Trend #8: Psychological safety in the workplace
Juliette Nelson
Dr. Juliette Nelson is an I-O Psychologist, Certified Diversity Executive (CDE®), published author, and entrepreneur with experience in program/project management, data collection/analytics, and implementing solutions to foster employee psychological safety, engagement, and performance. In her role as a Personnel Research Psychologist for the federal government, she is responsible for developing competency models and assessments to support employee learning and development. She also collaborates with cross-functional groups to leverage research and evidence-based and data-driven strategies to increase employee engagement, decrease turnover, and foster DEIA. As an entrepreneur, she produces services and products that encourage people to be purposeful in the different areas of their lives. Her life's work is all about ensuring that people have a safe space in which they can thrive and be their best authentic selves.

Trend #9: Leadership development and coaching
Karanveer Syal
Karanveer Syal is currently an Equity and Inclusion Coordinator at the largest Community Action Agency in the country. Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission fights to end poverty through its 36 program offerings. Karanveer is responsible for providing staff support for Womens Infants Children (WIC), Early Headstart, and Health Services. He is responsible for implementing strategies and initiatives that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion for the assigned programs. Scholar/practitioner-style program with a focus on management and organizational behavior, shared learning, dialogue, and experience with working professionals, from seminars with distinguished faculty, and from an emphasis on managerial skill development that focuses on the human side of business. Incorporates diverse, multicultural and international perspectives.

Trend #10: Integrating work, life, and family
Nicole Genest   
Nicole Genest, MA is the Vice President of Operations for a large provider network at a multi-hospital health system in Southeastern PA. As an executive leader, she is responsible for operational strategy, business development, and change management, as well as managing and advancing the performance of a hybrid team. She focuses on human-centric leadership through empowering others, work-life integration, psychologically safe work environments, and hybrid work processes with an emphasis on employee-driven motivation, learning, and creativity. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Northeastern University and a Master’s in Organizational Psychology from William James College. She is certified in the Fearless Organization Scan, based on Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety.