Blog Dr. Kalifa Oliver on Human...

Dr. Kalifa Oliver on Humanizing Work Through Data & People-Centered Design

Last updated:

February 4, 2025

Darcy Jacobsen

How do you feel about your job – really? For business and people leaders, the stakes on job satisfaction have never been higher. Employees are demanding more meaningful work experiences, while organizations are struggling to bridge the gap between what they promise and what they deliver. 

The solution? A more thoughtful integration of data, design, and humanity, according to Dr. Kalifa Oliver.

At Workhuman Live 2025, Dr. Kalifa Oliver, a people analytics expert and global executive advisor, will explain how ethical data use and people-centered design can create workplaces that foster engagement, retention, and well-being. In her session, I Think I Love My Job: Humanizing Work Through Data & People-Centered Design, Dr. Oliver will offer real-world examples and actionable strategies. She will also explore how leaders can balance analytics with empathy to build trust and drive results.

In this preview Q&A, Dr. Oliver shared with us some of her perspectives on crafting intentional workplace experiences, aligning design with organizational values, and why simplicity is the ultimate sophistication in workplace innovation.

Here’s what she shared:

Q&A with Dr. Kalifa Oliver

Q: What role do employees play in shaping the desired workplace experience? What role do leaders play?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: Employees provide the lived perspective and demonstrated culture, offering invaluable insights into what works and what doesn’t on a day-to-day basis. Leaders, on the other hand, set the vision, develop strategy, and create the conditions for employees to thrive by actively listening and using their feedback to guide meaningful change. Both roles are interdependent; employees and leaders must collaborate to co create an authentic and impactful experience.

Q: How can organizations align their workplace experience goals with their company mission and values?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: Organizations can embed their mission and values into the employee experience by intentionally designing programs, policies, and interactions that reflect those principles. They have to actively make good on their employer value propositions (EVP). This involves leveraging data to ensure alignment and prioritizing initiatives that resonate with both employee needs and organizational priorities. This means setting employees up for real and tangible success. It means decentering engagement as a core KPI. Alignment fosters trust and ensures consistency between what an organization says and does.

Q: How can organizations best identify gaps between the current and desired workplace experience?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: Listening is key – whether through surveys, focus groups, people analytics, or ongoing passive listening mechanisms. Leveraging AI and analytics allows organizations to identify patterns and pinpoint areas of misalignment. Regularly benchmarking the current experience against desired outcomes ensures gaps are addressed in real time and progress is measurable. Taking action is key. And continuing to measure, pivoting where necessary, implementing strategic growth initiatives, closing the loop, and then, yes, measuring again is critical. It’s a continuous cycle.

Q: Why is simplicity an essential component of effective workplace design?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: Simplicity removes friction and creates clarity, allowing employees to focus on meaningful work rather than navigating complexities. It also ensures solutions are scalable and accessible, which is critical in a global and diverse workforce. A simple design doesn’t mean less sophisticated; it means intentional and people-centered. Simplicity demonstrates real understanding and execution of complex concepts and, in turn, move focus away from simply reporting and towards insights and storytelling – which creates real room for growth and innovation in the workplace.

Q: What is people-centered design – and how does it differ from traditional approaches?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: People-centered design puts employees at the core of every decision, tailoring experiences to meet both their aggregate and unique needs and preferences. Unlike traditional approaches, which often prioritize efficiency or cost over experience, it ensures solutions are not only functional but also enriching. It’s about creating a workplace that adapts to people, rather than the other way around. People-centered design is intentional, it slows people-related decisions down to be able to effectively move faster toward productive outcomes. It sees and acknowledges employees as key parts of operational effectiveness and important agents of business success.

Q: What strategies can leaders use to integrate people, technology, and experience harmoniously?

Dr. Kalifa Oliver: Leaders should adopt a holistic approach by viewing technology as an enabler of human connection and efficiency, not a replacement for it. Prioritizing ethical practices, transparency, and collaboration ensures alignment between people and systems. Continuous learning and feedback loops are also essential to refining the integration over time. And of course – people-centered design.

Employees and leaders must collaborate to co create an authentic and impactful experience
Dr. Kalifa Oliver
Speaker at Workhuman Live 2025

Why You should attend this session at Workhuman Live 2025

Dr. Kalifa Oliver’s session, I Think I Love My Job: Humanizing Work Through Data & People-Centered Design, is going to be required for leaders who want to elevate their workplaces with a blend of data and design. Feeling like an empathetic data nerd? These are your people!

Join Dr. Oliver on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, from 1:30 PM–2:20 PM, to learn:

  • How to ethically leverage people data to drive engagement and retention
  • Strategies to identify and close gaps in workplace experiences
  • The power of simplicity in workplace design to remove friction and foster clarity
  • How people-centered design fuels innovation and operational success

This session will offer insights you can take home to create workplaces where employees feel valued and empowered. Add it to your agenda today, and if you haven’t registered for Workhuman Live yet, you can still register here.

Join us at Workhuman Live 2025 in Colorado to learn how data can improve culture design and find solutions for building a more human-centric workplace.  

About Darcy Jacobsen

Darcy is a passionate storyteller and champion of workforce transformation, human connection, and recognition-driven culture. As an author on the Workhuman Live Blog, she loves to connect deep research insights with modern workplace dynamics to uncover what really drives engagement, belonging, and happiness at work. With a background in communications and a master’s in medieval history, she brings a unique perspective to her writing, taking deep dives into all topics around organizational psychology and the science of gratitude.

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Bizbash
One of the 10 most innovative meetings of 2022
Marcom Awards 2024
Platinum Award:
Team Achievement
Experience Design Awards 2024
Best Demo Zone:
Honorable Mention
Experience Design Awards 2024
Best Overall Event Branding:
Honorable Mention
TITAN Business Awards
Platinum Awards:
Best Conference 2024
TITAN Business Awards
Platinum Awards:
Best Customer Engagement Event 2024
TITAN Business Awards
Platinum Awards:
Best Live Event 2024
TITAN Business Awards
Gold Awards:
Best B2B Event 2024
TITAN Business Awards
Gold Awards:
Best Educational Event 2024

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