ANN ARBOR—The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan will host its annual Positive Business Conference — an event aimed at informing and discussing topics related to improving workplace culture and delivering tangible business results — on May 13 and 14.
The theme for this year’s virtual conference is “Meaningful Engagement in a Fragmented Time: Connecting with Self, Others, and Society.” The event will feature Michigan Ross faculty experts, including Professor Ethan Kross, bestselling author of the new book, Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It, and accomplished business industry leaders. Each session will discuss and share best practices, practical implementation tools, and other strategies for building stronger, more connected teams and designing organizations where employees can flourish.
The two-day conference will cover a wide range of important topics, such as how women mentoring men can eliminate gender bias in corporations and how companies can implement a stronger commitment to racial justice and improve employee engagement. New to the event this year are a series of four 15-minute sessions called “If I Could Tell You Just One Thing: Conversations with Ross Thought Leadership.” The full lineup of presenters and session topics is available online.
“The past year has been a time of unprecedented disruption that has affected leaders and employees alike, and in many ways impacted how we engage with our work and with each other,” said Jane Dutton, one of the event organizers and Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Business Administration and Psychology at Michigan Ross. “The Positive Business Conference presents an opportunity to begin to address those challenges by hearing from experts how leaders can build supportive structures, practices, and cultures that foster connection, and how employees can develop a mindful and meaningful connection to their work.”
Michigan Ross held its first Positive Business Conference in 2014. At the time, there was a major shift in how organizations managed employees, driven largely by the generation currently entering the workforce that seeks a deeper sense of purpose from employment. Since then, the conference has annually drawn hundreds of attendees seeking to learn from Michigan Ross faculty experts and other business thought leaders on how to create more mindful employees, deeper organizational engagement, and awareness surrounding the positive role of business within the global community.
For additional information and to register for the 2021 Positive Business Conference, go to https://positivebusinessconference.com
