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Josh  Drean

Josh Drean

Co-Founder & Director of Employee Experience at The Work3 Institute

Josh Drean

Co-Founder & Director of Employee Experience at The Work3 Institute

Biography

Josh’s work has been instrumental in helping organizations develop long-term strategies for building their reputation and space in the metaverse. He has hosted 150+ webinars in both the HR tech and web3 industries and has been a guest on several podcasts.

Josh Drean is an HR Transformation and metaverse expert that marries web3 technologies with workplace strategies. He earned a bachelor’s in I/O psychology from BYU and a Masters in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University, where he joined the staff of the Harvard Innovation Labs as a web3 advisor to young startups looking to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Josh now speaks internationally to bring new market insights on the growth of the metaverse and new opportunities for entry.

Josh Drean has been involved in marketing strategy for over a decade, first as a youth speaker, where he grew his career to $2.5M in revenue by providing assemblies in high schools across the country. He also built and sold a startup out of the Harvard Innovation Labs, and currently runs DreanMedia, a creative and consulting agency designing Web3 media assets within the metaverse. He has grown his YouTube following to 76k subscribers and has over 8 million views and counting.

Josh has several years of speaking experience, addressing some of the most skeptical audiences and winning them over with his engaging and personal presentations. He has been interviewed for multiple news programs and networks across the US as well as on international networks, and recently appeared on Chosun TV. He has made several appearances on NBC, Fox Business, Forbes, Bostinno, The Today Show and HBR.

Speaker Videos

Metacon 2023

HBR Webinar - The Case for Investing in Virtual Spaces - Josh Drean & Deborah Perry Piscione

MIT EXD and the Metaverse

Josh Drean Keynote Speaker Reel | Employee Experience + Future of Work 2024

Immerse Global Summit Metaverse

Employee Experience Future of Work

AWE clip 1

AWE clip 2

Workforce Experience

The Future of the Workplace

Maintain Engagement with Your Employees

Speech Topics

Workforce Experience Design in the Era of Employee Power

Employees are unhappy at work, and companies are still trying to force them into the corporate structures that no longer serve them. And while they put up with it for now, employees still have the power to disengage if they find it necessary for their mental health.

Employers, then, must design meaningful experiences that are attractive to an emboldened workforce by embracing continuous feedback loops, implementing human tech, and bringing new meaning to their employee experience initiatives.

In this keynote Josh addresses the shifting power dynamics of employee experience and offers an upgraded approach for creating active channels for authentic and transparent human connection.

Employee experience design (EXD) is a critical element in shaping an organization’s success. The way employees feel about their work, their colleagues, and their workplace can significantly impact productivity, retention, and overall organizational performance. This presentation will explore the importance of EXD and provide insights into how to design a positive employee experience.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Understanding the concept of employee experience design and its importance in creating a positive work environment.
  2. Identifying key factors that influence employee experience, including workplace culture, communication, and work-life balance.
  3. Exploring best practices for designing a positive employee experience, such as effective onboarding, clear job descriptions, and ongoing training and development.
  4. Learning how to measure and evaluate employee experience to continuously improve workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
  5. Developing an action plan for implementing employee experience design strategies in your organization.

Josh makes the argument that employee experience design is essential for creating a positive workplace culture that supports employee engagement, productivity, and retention. By understanding the key factors that influence employee experience and implementing best practices for designing a positive experience, organizations can foster a culture of high-performance and achieve their business objectives. Investing in employee experience design is not only the right thing to do, but it is also critical for long-term success.

THE ERA OF HUMAN+: Leveraging AI to Augment Human Potential at Work

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Generative AI has the ability to create and accelerate data driven decision-making. This shift brings new opportunities and challenges, but embracing change will help to drive better creativity, strategic thinking, and efficiency.

AI has the power to relieve us from tasks that are mundane and repetitive, but to replace humans with automation is a fundamentally flawed approach for many companies who focus solely on the bottom-line rather than the potential for top-line growth.

In this keynote, Josh reveals that by focusing on systems that amplify, rather than replace human capabilities, we can bridge the gap between the speed of technology and the pace of human adaptability. AI isn't here to render us redundant; rather, it supercharges our capacity to do work that requires the human touch.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Provide real-life case studies to illustrate the power of AI for business.
2. Demonstrate how AI tools assist in making better data-driven decisions.
3. Illustrate a framework for how AI immediately and tangibly improves employee experience.
4. Deliver actionable next steps to show how AI helps leaders focus on elements that require a human touch, such as fostering organizational culture.

EMPLOYMENT IS DEAD: How The Metaverse Will Radically Change the Way We Work

The metaverse and web3 technologies are rapidly changing the way we interact with the digital world, creating new opportunities and challenges for the future of work. This presentation will explore the potential impact of these technologies on our relationship with work and provide insights into how to prepare for this new reality.

To understand the impact of the Metaverse on the future of work, look no further than the current pains of the distributed workforce and observe the solutions a virtual world of work will provide. Realizing these possibilities will require an entirely new mentality.

It’s not about the antiquated concepts of employee engagement or even designing a better employee experience, that’s like adding Ford Mustang car parts around a Model T chassis. The fundamental structure of work is outdated. We are clogging Industrial Age systems with Information Age speeds.

The Metaverse and web3 technologies have the power to drive work forward new levels of productivity and growth by offering individual contributors greater ownership, flexibility, and agency over their work.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Understanding the concept of the metaverse and web3 technologies and their potential impact on the future of work.
  2. Identifying the potential benefits and challenges of working in the metaverse, such as increased collaboration, new business models, and potential privacy concerns.
  3. Exploring the role of blockchain technology in enabling decentralized work and its potential impact on the future of work.
  4. Learning about the skills and competencies that will be in high demand in the metaverse and web3 era, such as digital literacy, adaptability, and creativity.
  5. Developing an action plan for preparing for the future of work in the metaverse and web3 era.

The metaverse and web3 technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way we work and interact with the digital world. By understanding the potential impact of these technologies on our relationship with work and preparing for this new reality, we can take advantage of the opportunities and navigate the challenges that lie ahead. The future of work is rapidly evolving, and it is up to us to embrace this change and shape it to create a better world for ourselves and future generations.

Your Competitive Advantage: Making Work MORE HUMAN + MORE DIGITAL

Web3 and decentralized technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way we work and interact with our colleagues and organizations. By enabling greater transparency, accountability, and autonomy, these technologies can enhance employee satisfaction and workplace culture. This presentation will explore the potential benefits of web3 and decentralized technologies for employee satisfaction and workplace culture.

In this keynote, Josh makes the argument that these virtual technologies make us more human AND more digital, that we can connect in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Understanding the concepts of web3 and decentralized technologies and their potential impact on workplace culture and employee satisfaction.
  2. Identifying the potential benefits of these technologies for employee satisfaction, such as greater transparency, increased autonomy, and improved work-life balance.
  3. Exploring the potential impact of web3 and decentralized technologies on workplace culture, including increased collaboration, trust, and accountability.
  4. Learning about the challenges and potential risks of implementing these technologies in the workplace, such as security and privacy concerns.
  5. Developing an action plan for implementing web3 and decentralized technologies to improve employee satisfaction and workplace culture.

Conclusion:

It’s time to realize that Web3 and decentralized technologies have the potential to transform workplace culture and improve employee satisfaction by enabling greater transparency, accountability, and autonomy. By embracing these technologies and leveraging their benefits, organizations can create a more positive and productive work environment that fosters employee engagement and loyalty. However, it is essential to address the potential risks and challenges of implementing these technologies in the workplace to ensure their successful adoption. The future of work is evolving, and it is up to us to embrace these changes and leverage the power of web3 and decentralized technologies to create a better world for ourselves and future generations.

Decentralized Work: An Introduction to DAOs and Cryptonetworks

In this engaging keynote, Josh makes the argument that employees will choose the Metaverse, just as they are choosing distributed, remote opportunities. Companies can take action to prepare themselves for the inevitable transition to the digital workplace.

The metaverse and web3 technologies are rapidly emerging and have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with the digital world. This introductory presentation will provide an overview of the concepts of the metaverse and web3 technologies and their potential impact on work.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Understanding the concept of the metaverse and its potential applications in work environments.
  2. Exploring the basics of web3 technologies, including blockchain and cryptocurrency, and their potential impact on work.
  3. Understanding how the metaverse and web3 technologies can impact the way we work, such as enabling decentralized work and creating new business models.
  4. Identifying the potential challenges and risks associated with the adoption of these technologies in the workplace.
  5. Developing a basic understanding of the skills and competencies that will be in demand in the metaverse and web3 era.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the metaverse and web3 technologies represent an exciting new frontier that will have a significant impact on work. By understanding the concepts of the metaverse and web3 technologies and their potential impact on work, we can prepare for the future and take advantage of the opportunities that these technologies offer. As the world of work continues to evolve, it is crucial to stay up to date with emerging technologies and be adaptable to change to thrive in the new digital era.

Redefining the Employee-Employer Relationship Through Employee Experience Design

The EX revolution is happening now with the adoption of hybridization, decentralization and a growing gig economy. Employees have plenty of high paying options for work, they are fed up with being overworked, and they want their contributions to mean something. As a result, millions of employees are leaving their jobs for more fulfilling opportunities.

In this workshop Josh leads your organization on an exploration of the shifting dynamics of employee power and how workers are beginning to own their career development. Company leaders will gain a new perspective on how to put their people first by identifying solutions to make work more human. They will learn to identify the intricacies of daily employee life and understand their pain points and bottlenecks, and build strategies to individualize work schedules and customize each employee position and role.

Included is a 12-step process over 4-9 months sprints that:

  • Provides a framework redefining the employee-employer relationship
  • Captures employee feedback and implements culture initiatives
  • Develops employee experiences beyond their day-to-day job
  • Rewards employees for their contributions through incentive and recognition programs
  • Creates a high performance culture where teams can embrace what makes them unique
  • Generates skills and capabilities that were untapped previously to better serve the organization.

Josh will help identify patterns and eliminate workplace roadblocks that hinder the employee experience like noxious meetings or outdated technology. Leaders will be given techniques to sit in empathy with employees and hear and understand their holistic experience.

This workshop will empower people leaders to design experiences that not only engage, but thrill employees to do the best work of their lives.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand why and how workplace relationships are changing.
  2. Discover why employee experience is crucial to the success of organizations moving forward
  3. Realize the ROI of employee experience.
  4. Launch past why employee experience is not just an “HR thing.”
  5. Develop strategies on how to design and create the best employee experiences

Deliverables: On top of the pre-implementation materials, participants will gain the tools they need to:

  1. effectively run sentiment analysis campaigns to receive feedback from employees
  2. host 1:1s with employees using the proven Work3 method
  3. analyze insights and determine the most important elements to implement going forward
  4. implement actionable next steps and communicate the plan effectively to employees
  5. measure, test, and adjust the plan to match their findings

NOTE: this workshop package includes 3 months of follow up consultations to ensure optimal implementation.

Testimonials