Employee engagement is crucial for the success of any organization, and it is closely linked to trust and psychological safety in the workplace. Trust between employees and management fosters a positive work environment where employees feel valued and supported, leading to increased job satisfaction and productivity. Similarly, psychological safety encourages employees to speak up, take risks, and contribute their ideas without fear of negative consequences.
The panel discussion will bring together experts from various fields to share their insights and experiences on the importance of trust and psychological safety in promoting employee engagement. The panelists will discuss strategies for building and maintaining trust between employees and management, as well as creating a culture of psychological safety in the workplace.
“Employee Engagement: Understanding Trust and Psychological Safety in Organizations” will explore the critical role of trust and psychological safety in promoting employee engagement and organizational success. The event will provide a platform for experts and attendees to share insights and best practices, leading to actionable steps for creating a more supportive and engaging workplace culture.
Speaker Bios:
Pete Schramm, Founder, and CEO (BS, MS – Mechanical Engineering, Catholic University, PMP, RMP, ScrumMaster, AgileHR, and Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt certifications) 9+ years of experience leading high-functioning teams to solve complex problems as a defense contractor (Lockheed Martin and QinetiQ). Held roles as an engineer, analyst, and program manager. He supported $6B+ proposals and led teams of 100+ engineers and scientists to build robots for the Army and grew his portfolio from <$500k to $30M+ https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-schramm-pmp Pete grew up on a farm near Pittsburgh, PA, connecting people and leading teams since he learned how to drive a tractor. He studied mechanical engineering (BS and MS) in Washington, DC, at The Catholic University of America and went on to work at Lockheed Martin. Pete was a member of the Operations Leadership Development Program (OLDP) and held roles as a proposal analyst, environmental sustainability engineer, supervisor, manufacturing engineer, quality engineer, project manager, and lean six sigma black belt. Pete then worked at MTEQ (now QinetiQ) as a program manager, where he led a team of 100+ engineers and scientists to build robots that keep our soldiers safe from far away. He is now a full-time entrepreneur and made the mentoring platform Lattus with a proven team. The Lattus team understands how to mentor effectively for each situation (what you need when you need it) and has built the platform based on user feedback and academic research. Pete has facilitated more than 1,000 conversations around mentoring since 2016 and has studied 500+ articles/papers/books to build Lattus for the world. After a discussion with Pete, you will want to be a part of anything he is working on—he exudes energy and inspires people in every conversation. Pete was Lattus before the tool existed.
Matt Diabes, Guest Lecturer, Curriculum/Content Development, Behavioral Scientist Dr. Diabes has been researching and teaching in the areas of collaboration, teamwork, intra-team trust, and communications, well-being and positive interpersonal relationships, diversity, equity, and inclusion for over 10 years. He is a published researcher and has presented at dozens of conferences and earned his MS from Carnegie Mellon University and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Theory (graduation May 2023). Dr. Diabes has served as the project lead, facilitator, lecturer, and curriculum developer on several successfully completed projects related to the science of successful teams and teamwork, Connection and professional driven analytics; Data Science; Data Engineering; Business Intelligence; Strategic Process Re-Engineering; Higher Education Data Management Re-Engineering.
Sae-Seul Park is a PhD Candidate at Carnegie Mellon University (graduation: May 2023) and an incoming tenure-track Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management (starting July 2023.) Her research interests lie primarily in strategic human capital, knowledge management, and digital information systems, with an emphasis on understanding how the interplay of pecuniary and social incentives shapes firm processes that underlie performance outcomes. Her work has been published in top academic journals and recognized with awards by scholarly societies.
Alessandro Iorio is a an assistant professor in the Department of Management and Technology at Bocconi University. He earned my Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was awarded the Herbert A. Simon Doctoral Dissertation Award in Behavioral Research in the Administrative Sciences. His research uses a multimethod approach to understand how social networks create competitive advantage for individuals and organizations. He is also interested in investigating the origins and evolution of social network structures, with special emphasis on the link between formal organizational arrangements and informal social relationships. His research has been published in such outlets as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
Dr. Kori Krueger is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Organizational Behavior and Theory at Carnegie Mellon University at the Tepper School of Business. She received her PhD in Social Psychology. In her research, she strives to understand how people manage difficult conversations and how the ways in which they navigate these conversations affect their goal achievement, decision-making, and relational outcomes. Specifically, she examines situations in which people deliver and receive negative feedback in the workplace, experience team conflict and conflict within close relationships, and engage in conversations in which one person expresses negative emotions (e.g., frustration, sadness, or anxiety). Dr. Kori Krueger has experience designing interventions to improve interpersonal communication and foster intrapersonal and interpersonal growth.
