Bring Your Human to Work by Erica Keswin Summary

Bring Your Human to Work explores strategies to create workplaces prioritizing human connection, balancing technology with authentic relationships. It offers actionable frameworks like designing inclusive rituals, fostering trust through storytelling, and redefining leadership to honor empathy. Case studies from Lyft, Starbucks, and SoulCycle illustrate how human-centered cultures boost retention and productivity.

This book is ideal for HR professionals, managers, and leaders seeking to build inclusive, purpose-driven cultures. It’s particularly relevant for hybrid-work strategists, organizational development teams, and companies navigating remote collaboration challenges. Keswin’s actionable advice also resonates with entrepreneurs aiming to scale culture intentionally.

Yes—the book combines research-backed insights with real-world examples, offering tools like “Human Action Plans” for immediate implementation. Reviewers praise its practicality for improving communication, reducing burnout, and aligning values with daily operations. It debuted as a Wall Street Journal bestseller and remains a staple for workplace culture guides.

Keswin advocates rituals like structured feedback sessions, intentional onboarding programs, and “Tech-Free Tuesdays” to strengthen team bonds. For example, JetBlue uses storytelling to embed core values during training, while NASA prioritizes face-to-face debriefs to maintain trust in high-stakes environments.

The book emphasizes “high-tech for human touch,” advising leaders to use tools like video calls mindfully while preserving in-person rituals. Keswin highlights flexible scheduling, transparent communication norms, and inclusive meeting designs to ensure remote employees feel valued.

Some argue its focus on large companies like Nike or Starbucks may not translate seamlessly to smaller teams. Others note it prioritizes culture over operational scalability. However, its principles on empathy and adaptability are broadly applicable.

Keswin writes, “The most successful leaders honor relationships in everything they do—from running meetings to evaluating talent.” This underscores her thesis that human connection drives performance, not just metrics. The JetBlue restroom story exemplifies this, showing how empathy builds brand loyalty.

While Rituals Roadmap delves deeper into habit design for teams, Bring Your Human to Work focuses on foundational relationship-building. Both books stress intentionality, but the latter provides broader strategies for embedding humanity into policies like hiring and tech usage.

Technology should enhance, not replace, human interaction. Keswin advises setting boundaries—like email-free weekends—and using platforms for collaboration, not surveillance. For example, she praises companies that use Slack for recognition threads but avoid after-hours pings.

By fostering belonging through mentorship programs, transparent career paths, and recognition systems. The book cites companies that reduced turnover by 30% through initiatives like peer-nominated awards and leadership “listening tours”.

With AI and automation rising, Keswin’s emphasis on emotional intelligence and adaptive leadership remains critical. The book’s hybrid-work strategies align with 2025 trends like decentralized teams and AI-augmented collaboration, making it a timely guide for sustaining culture amid disruption.

Key frameworks include the “3R Method” (Rituals, Respect, Results) for virtual meetings and the “Connection Canvas” for mapping team interactions. Keswin also advocates “virtual watercooler” channels and quarterly in-person retreats to bridge distance gaps.