Before becoming the CEO of Diaago, a distributor of labware for life science, Jackson Hyde spent some time managing a staffing agency, placing day labor with companies filling short-term needs. That gave him an appreciation of flexibility and an understanding of the diverse needs of employers but also employees.
As the founder of Diaago, Jackson’s management approach emphasizes the importance of understanding the whole person and their individual requirements in the workplace.
I think that the first thing we have to look at is how, how diverse any workplace is, especially when you're dealing with a manufacturing type of facility. You know, you have people that make the product. You have people that design the product. You have people that sell the product or market it in whatever way.
So there's a lot of different processes happening and it's different people and different backgrounds that are gonna fulfill all of that. So at the end of the day, to be successful, you need to get the most out of people. And I think one of the ways that is underutilized, is taking a look at the whole person in that process. And seeing not only how they all fit together, of course, that's a whole other conversation. But looking at what each person needs to get out of their work.
He challenges the concept of work-life balance, suggesting that work is an integral part of our lives and should be meaningful and fulfilling.
It might be interesting to talk about the idea of a work-life balance for a second. It is an idea that could use some reflection. Right now, we're in an interesting place, kind of post-pandemic.
You know, people have gotten used to one way of working. We're pushing people back towards another way, depending on your take on it, but I think what’s outdated about that concept is that it never really existed to begin with. It's almost, counterintuitive to think about it because there are very few jobs or careers where you can come in in the morning and leave in the evening and never think about your work.
We're all gonna think about it no matter what we do. It is a part of our life. So the idea of the work-life balance that has been thrown out to us is, okay, you need to separate work and life. And, it's two separate things. But it's really not, it's a part of what defines us. It's part of what completes our human experience.
It's finding worthwhile and, and meaningful work.
On the other side of that, he recognizes the privilege associated with following one's passion. Not everyone has that opportunity. It’s the responsibility of leaders to bring passion and purpose to employees' work.
We can bring some passion to their work. We can bring in the outside influences to show them what makes their work important.
For example, on the manufacturing side, being able to tell people, “When the products leave our warehouse, they're going to a facility that's researching cancer and you're a part of that.”
Schedule a 15-minute chat with Chris about turning conversations into content for your life science company.
Intro Music stefsax / CC BY 2.5
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