Sarah Sladek
Workforce Retention Expert, Futurist, Generations Guru
Sarah Sladek has been referred to as a social equity expert and recognized as both a Global Leader in Strategy and a Talent Economy Influencer. Organizations worldwide have relied on her insights to plan their futures, foster cultures of relevance and belonging, and realize growth.
Leaders who seek Sarah’s expertise tend to want a different outlook for their organizations, but they aren’t sure how to make it happen. They feel stuck. Overwhelmed by change, turnover, conflict, and decline.
Sarah has the solutions to these challenges and more.
Since 2002, she has dedicated her career to understanding the concepts of engagement and belonging and answering these core questions:
- Why are organizations experiencing more turnover, disengagement, and decline than ever before?
- Why are younger generations less likely to feel like they belong?
- Is sustainable change possible?
Sarah studies belonging through the lens of social change and generational influences, alongside trends and shifts in organizational cultures, workforce development, consumerism, and economics. She refers to this comprehensive approach as Next Gen Intelligence. Using this approach, Sarah has successfully turned organizations around, bringing them to a place of increased relationship-building and revenue generation.
Sarah is the founder and CEO of XYZ University, a training and consulting firm advising organizations worldwide.
She is the author of six books. Her latest book, MemberShift: Why Members Leave and the Strategies Proven to Bring Them Back, hit the market in late 2023 and was honored with a Nonfiction Book Award.
Sarah is a web show host, podcaster, member of Forbes Business Council, and contributing writer for Boardroom magazine. She was recently named to the global list of Women Who Advance Associations, and she’s prominently featured in a Jobs of Tomorrow docuseries currently streaming on Tubi.
Sarah’s expertise has been prominently featured in international media, and she has keynoted events worldwide. Backed by years of experience and supported by solid research, she remains committed to helping organizations plan for their futures and prosper in the new economy.
Team-Building in a Turbulent Time
Society is changing, demographics are shifting, and work as we've always known it is at an end. In this time of incredible transition, teamwork has taken a hit.
We've all felt stressed, directionless, isolated, and wary of facing any additional change. Enthusiasm and motivation has waned, and we desperately need to get the team -- and ourselves -- reconnected, inspired about the future, and re-engaged in the work and mission. But how?
It's become obvious we can't rely on 'pep talks' to bring a team out of its funk. In fact, many of our tried-and-true team building efforts are falling flat in this changing work environment and at a time when the call for inclusion and collaboration is louder than ever.
But there is a solution.
In this presentation, Sarah Sladek will share strategies to motivate, inspire, and reconnect with your team. Drawing from her research on both employee engagement and generational shifts, Sarah will share her insights on what it takes to bring people together in a time of change and create a happier, more productive work environment.
Talent Generation: How Visionary Organizations are Redefining Work and Achieving Greater Success
Welcome to the Talent Economy - a 21st century economy characterized by unprecedented innovation, connectivity, disruption, and opportunity. As well as unprecedented turnover, declining job satisfaction, and shrinking profitability. How is it possible we're in a Talent Economy and struggling to engage talent?
For too long, we've just assumed there is no way out of this mess, but Sarah Sladek proves otherwise.
For her book, Talent Generation, Sarah spent two years studying the traits shared among organizations realizing the highest employee engagement and profitability. Drawing from this documented workforce research, as well as her own ongoing study of generational impacts, her presentation cites numerous examples of organizations that have been capable of engaging employees in this era of disruption -- what they did, why it worked, and how it's made a difference to the organizations' outlook and bottom line.
Sladek proves that it's possible to create an organization designed to engage talent and thrive in an era of disruption, and she provides audiences with the guidance to do it.
Ready or Not Here Comes Z
Meet Gen Z. This generation of teens and 20-somethings are coming of age during the most disruptive decade in history. They’re walking into the workforce with radically different skillsets, values, and expectations. Does your organization have what it takes to engage them?
Born 1996-2009, Gen Z's arrival marks the end of clearly defined roles, traditions, and experiences. Zs are more cautious and pragmatic, but they are also driven to create meaningful change -- and in many ways, they already are. After all, Zs have been taught the skills to successfully defy the norm.
While the spotlight has been on Millennials for several years, Z is stepping into the limelight, and they are nothing like their elders. There’s much to learn about Gen Z before you can successfully engage their participation.
Drawing from research, Sarah Sladek's presentation brings Z's unique traits, expectations, and values to life. She clearly identifies what organizations need to do now to make room for Z and engage them as employees, consumers, members, and volunteers.
Ready or not, here they come!
Generations@Work
The Great Resignation. The War for Talent. The Silver Tsunami. Whatever you call it, turnover is skyrocketing and generation gaps are partly to blame. Research indicates workplace hostility, ageism, and conflict are looming large, killing concepts like inclusion, collaboration, and teamwork dead in their tracks.
Sarah Sladek specializes in helping teams understand and leverage their differences and bridge the gaps.
Sarah has been researching demographic shifts and helping organizations navigate generational differences for 20 years. Using humor, pop culture references, and numerous best practices, she shows multi-generational teams how to build trust, empathy, and get to a place of enjoying work. Together.
In this presentation she shares valuable insights into what makes each generation tick, when and why conflicts emerge, and how best to resolve them. In the process, audience members learn a lot about themselves and one another and have fun doing it.
Think you know everything there is to know about generations and workplace conflict? Think again. Audiences rave about Sarah’s unique approach, in-depth perspective, and research on the subject matter.
Need a completely different, proven approach to generational team-building? Sarah Sladek provides it.
