FOUNDING COHORT · LIVE ONLINE · 16 CONTACT-AND-PRACTICE HOURS
BEYOND ENGAGEMENT:
Creating a Meaningful Workplace Program
A 16-hour executive program for those who want to move beyond standard well-being initiatives and build workplaces where people feel their work matters:
- 2 hours of self-paced pre-work
- 5 live 2.5-hour online modules
- 1.5-hour integration session
EARLY BIRD CODE: earlybird (Valid until August 12th.)
The Japanese Ikigai Framework For Leaders
Many organisations have invested in the familiar well-being toolkit: benefits, recognition channels, 1:1 templates, mental health resources, and growth mindset training. These initiatives matter — yet many employees still do not feel deeply connected to their work, their team, or the contribution they are making. Engagement scores plateau; quiet disengagement persists; another survey or perk will not move the needle.
This program translates Japanese concepts of meaning, belonging, rolefulness, and spaciousness into practical application within a corporate environment. The premise is simple: when people can see why their work matters and where they belong, energy, trust, and performance rest on a stronger foundation. Across five live modules and one integration session, you will explore the frameworks, diagnostics, and language you can use immediately with leaders, teams, and employees.
Do Japanese frameworks work in non-Japanese organizations?
Yes. The needs behind these concepts — meaning, belonging, role clarity, recovery, and contribution — are not uniquely Japanese. What Japanese language and practice offer is a different, more precise way to name and work with them, especially when standard engagement approaches are no longer enough.
PILOT COHORT - LIMITED TO 16 PARTICIPANTS
SAVE 10% WITH EARLY-BIRD PRICING — $900 (NORMALLY $1,000) UNTIL 12 AUGUST
DATES:
EACH SESSION STARTS AT THE SAME TIME ACCORDING TO THE TIME ZONE:
London 09:00am, Paris/Berlin 10:00am, Athens/Kyiv 11:00am, Dubai 12:00pm , Tokyo 5:00pm , Sydney 6:00pm.
10% OFF WITH EARLY BIRD PRICING - $900 ($1000)
EARLY BIRD CODE: earlybird (Valid until August 12th.)
EXPERT BASE
Grounded in the work of Prof. Mieko Kamiya, Japan's pioneering researcher on ikigai and author of About Ikigai, our program is evidence-based and culturally accurate.
Prof. Daiki Kato — the leading academic voice on Rolefulness in organisational settings, co-author of Rolefulness: A Guide to Purposeful Living
Special guest: Naoko Mikami, Japanese calligrapher,author of Wisdom of Shoguns and host of the Denoising Podcast.
Special guest: Melissa McIvor, Chief Editor and head of external communications for the Kokorozashi Faculty Group at GLOBIS University
The Ikigai Workplace Program
WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR
- You want a thoughtful strategic framework, not another short-lived toolkit
- You have already put baseline engagement and well-being practices in place — and you can feel their limits
- You value peer dialogue with senior people leaders, and direct access to researchers and practitioners working with ikigai and related Japanese concepts
- You are looking to expand your toolkit as a people management professional, People Advisor, People Partner, well-being specialist, organizational coach, consultant, or leader with people-management responsibilities.
WHAT YOU WILL WALK AWAY WITH
A heat map of your organization across eight dimensions of meaning and belonging, inspired by Mieko Kamiya's research on ikigai — ready to present to your teams
A behavior-change plan: one concrete people-management practice you will redesign during the program and test with peers during the integration session
Five practical diagnostics — one per module — you can run with individuals, teams, and leadership groups
A working vocabulary that connects meaning, role clarity, burnout, and mindful people management — so you can name what your engagement survey cannot
A senior peer network across cultures and industries, plus direct contact with Japanese ikigai researchers and practitioners
WHY THIS COHORT IS DIFFERENT
This is the founding cohort. In exchange for being first, you get founding pricing (the program will not be offered at this price again), a cohort capped at 16 senior peers, direct influence on the program's final shape, and priority access to future advanced cohorts. If you prefer to join once others have gone first, we will happily add you to the waitlist for cohort two.
PROGRAM - WEEK BY WEEK
PILOT COHORT - LIMITED TO 16 PARTICIPANTS
SAVE 10% WITH EARLY-BIRD PRICING — $900 (NORMALLY $1,000) UNTIL 12 AUGUST
DATES:
EACH SESSION STARTS AT THE SAME TIME ACCORDING TO THE TIME ZONE:
London 09:00am, Paris/Berlin 10:00am, Athens/Kyiv 11:00am, Dubai 12:00pm , Tokyo 5:00pm , Sydney 6:00pm.
EARLY BIRD CODE: earlybird (Valid until August 12th.)
Week 1:
BEYOND ENGAGEMENT: The Ikigai Concept
Many people first encounter ikigai through a popular four-circle Venn diagram — a Western invention with no basis in Japanese research. This session returns to the work of Japanese psychiatrist Prof. Mieko Kamiya and the original meaning of ikigai as a felt sense that life is worth living and explores how this deeper idea can shape employee experience, leadership conversations, and the design of meaningful work.
Focus areas:
- Work as a source of meaning and motivation
- Ikigai drivers in the workplace
- The link between contribution, growth, and well-being
- How leaders can use ikigai to deepen employee-experience conversations
Tool you take: Ikigai Drivers Diagnostic — a practical way to notice where meaning may be missing for individuals, teams, or the wider organisation.
Week 2:
IBASHO: Belonging and Psychological Safety
This session looks at belonging as something people experience in everyday moments: being heard, being included, and feeling able to contribute without hiding important parts of themselves.
Topics include:
- Belonging and psychological safety through ibasho — a place where people can be themselves
- Key ideas from Ryosuke Ishii's How to Create Psychological Safety
- Workplace relationships and trust through the Japanese concept of wa
- Creating cultures where people feel seen, valued, and supported
Tool you take: Belonging and Psychological Safety Audit Canvas — a guided reflection using the concepts of ibasho, and wa.
Week 3:
KOKOROZASHI: Where Individual Purpose Meets Company Mission
This session explores yarigai — the experience of worthwhile, motivating work — and kokorozashi, a sense of personal aspiration that can be connected to team and company goals. Guest Speaker: Melissa McIvor, Chief Editor, GLOBIS Business School (Japan)
Participants explore:
- The difference between job satisfaction and meaningful engagement
- The role of purpose, autonomy, growth, and contribution (kokorozashi, shimei-kan — sense of mission and purpose)
- How HR can design conversations and practices that help people feel their work matters
Tool you take: Kokorozashi coaching framework for linking personal aspiration with meaningful contribution
Week 4:
ROLEFULNESS: Strengthening Role Clarity and Contribution
This session introduces rolefulness — the feeling that one has a meaningful role and contributes to others — with insights from Prof. Daiki Kato, the leading researcher on the concept.
This session explores:
- General and specific rolefulness in daily work
- How to prepare for de-rolling and role transitions with care
- Helping employees clarify strengths, values, responsibilities, and impact
Tool you take: Rolefulness Framework for role-clarity conversations.
Week 5:
DENOISING: Preventing Burnout Before It Starts
This session brings together yutori — spaciousness and margin — with practical ways to reduce noise, pressure, and fragmentation in modern work.
This session explores:
- Denoising as a way to create space for meaningful work
- Recognizing burnout risks beyond workload alone
- Creating personal and organizational space for recovery
Tool you take: Burnout diagnostic and practical denoising techniques.
INTEGRATION SESSION
From Frameworks to Practical Interventions
The final 1.5-hour session connects the ideas from the program and turns them into concrete next steps for your people function, leadership practice, coaching work, or employee-experience agenda.
This session includes:
- Key insights and integration across the Japanese concepts
- Peer review (on demand) of participants’ ideas to revise people management practices in a company
- Q&A and next steps for applying the frameworks after the program
TRAINERS
Lead trainer — Nick Kemp
Nick Kemp is an author, founder, and keynote speaker known for demystifying the Japanese concept of ikigai. Drawing on cultural insight, academic research, and thoughtfully chosen personal stories, Nick delivers engaging sessions that create space for meaningful reflection while offering practical insights participants can apply to their lives and work. He is also a corporate facilitator, podcast host, and holds a Diploma of Positive Psychology.
Co-trainer — Olesia Kyrylchuk
Head of People with more than 25 years of experience developing meaningful workplaces and people practices across global organizations. Since 2020, she has led people teams across the Asia East and Pacific region, embracing its rich cultural diversity. Olesia is a certified coach and facilitator, co-creator of the Ikigai Coaching Cards, and has been based in Japan since 2022.
WHAT'S INCLUDED?
THE FIND YOUR IKIGAI COURSE
Pre-program access to the self-paced Find Your Ikigai course (~2 hours)
FIVE 2.5-HOUR LIVE ZOOM CALL SESSIONS
Five live 2.5-hour educational modules on Zoom, cohort capped at 16 participants
INTERGRATION SESSION
One 1.5-hour online integration session after the main modules
POST PROGRAM SUPPORT
30 days of post-program support and access to the alumni WhatsApp community
SESSION WORKBOOK
Session workbook with practical diagnostic tools and templates
RECORDINGS
Recordings of all sessions and guest expert discussions
CERTIFICATE
Certificate of completion
INVESTMENT
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Comparable executive HR and leadership programs at business schools such as INSEAD or Wharton typically cost US $3,000–12,000+ before travel. This founding cohort is priced accessibly because it is a focused, high-touch learning experience without large-program overhead — and because founding participants are helping shape it.
The ROI case. Replacing a single highly-skilled professional typically costs 50–200% of their annual salary in recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity (SHRM; Gallup). Disengaged teams show materially lower productivity and higher absenteeism. Against a $1,000 fee, this program pays for itself if it helps you retain one valued employee, lift engagement in one critical team, or redesign one people practice so it creates more meaning and trust.
FAQs
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER COHORT
PILOT COHORT - LIMITED TO 16 PARTICIPANTS
SAVE 10% WITH EARLY-BIRD PRICING — $900 (NORMALLY $1,000) UNTIL 12 AUGUST
DATES:
EACH SESSION STARTS AT THE SAME TIME ACCORDING TO THE TIME ZONE:
London 09:00am, Paris/Berlin 10:00am, Athens/Kyiv 11:00am, Dubai 12:00pm , Tokyo 5:00pm , Sydney 6:00pm.
EARLY BIRD CODE: earlybird (Valid until August 12th.)