Building Better Teams: Waster Talent and Worker Exploitation

In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, host Josh Anderson sits down with Sam Caucci, Founder of One Huddle and author of Wasted Talent: How Greed, Exploitation, and the Promise of the Future of Work Has Failed the Frontline—and a Plan to Fix It.

Sam shares why today’s workforce challenges aren’t caused by “lazy workers” or generational gaps—but by outdated systems, broken onboarding, and organizations failing to unlock the talent already in front of them. Drawing from over a decade of experience helping companies onboard and train frontline workers, Sam explains how businesses can move from wasting talent to accelerating it.

The conversation explores onboarding speed, middle management as coaches, workforce exploitation, wages, AI’s impact on work, and why companies must rethink how they train, develop, and support frontline employees. Sam also introduces practical frameworks—including the ABCs of people development (Autonomy, Belonging, Capability)—that leaders can apply immediately.

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