ReportWire

Tag: human resources

  • How Performance Management Systems Fail Employees 

    Why do we spend millions on performance management systems that everyone—managers, employees, and executives—openly admits are broken? 

    The answer is uncomfortable but simple. We’ve designed these systems for idealized employees who exist only in organizational charts and HR textbooks. Meanwhile, real humans—with their psychological quirks, social needs, and cognitive biases—are forced to navigate processes that work against their nature. 

    As an organizational psychologist who’s spent two decades inside Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, I’ve witnessed this disconnect firsthand. We keep tweaking rating scales and buying new software, hoping to fix a system built on a fundamental misunderstanding of human psychology. 

    The measurement myth 

    Traditional performance management operates on the belief that we can objectively score people on abstract dimensions like “collaboration” or “strategic thinking.” Research reveals this is wishful thinking at best. 

    ​​​​​Studies show that 62 percent of the variance in performance ratings reflects the manager’s personal biases and rating patterns—not the employee’s actual performance. When your “objective” system is mostly measuring the manager, you’re not fixing performance problems. You’re creating them. 

    This isn’t because managers are malicious. It’s because they’re human. We expect them to be perfectly objective rating machines, but they are social beings wired to preserve relationships. They are motivated to inflate ratings to protect their team and avoid the social consequences of delivering difficult news. It’s a perfectly rational response to a poorly designed system. 

    The psychological trap 

    Here’s what most leaders miss: The moment you tie feedback to salary or job security; you trigger a neurological threat response. The brain perceives evaluative conversations as social threats, activating the same fight-or-flight mechanisms our ancestors used to escape predators. 

    This physiological response shuts down the prefrontal cortex—the exact brain region needed for learning, reflection, and growth. In other words, the high-stakes context required for fair compensation decisions makes genuine development neurologically impossible. 

    We’re asking for one process to serve three conflicting masters: evaluation for pay decisions, documentation for legal protection, and development for growth. This creates what psychologists call a “double bind”—a situation where success in one area guarantees failure in another. 

    The innovation killer 

    The most damaging consequence isn’t administrative burden—it’s the systematic elimination of breakthrough thinking. Traditional performance systems reward predictability through clear metrics and risk mitigation. Innovation requires uncertainty through experimentation and intelligent failure. 

    Under organizational pressure, managers default to “threat rigidity,” favoring safe, incremental improvements over transformative ideas. Your most innovative employees—the ones who drive competitive advantage—become liabilities in performance reviews. 

    Engineering a better system 

    The solution isn’t better ratings. It’s better decisions. Instead of asking “How did Jane score on leadership?” start asking “What evidence supports Jane’s readiness for promotion?” 

    This shift transforms performance management from a measurement exercise into a decision-support system focused on three critical business questions: 

    Manage: Which employees need intervention or support?  

    Recognize: Who delivered exceptional impact worth rewarding?  

    Promote: Who demonstrates capability for increased responsibility? 

    By separating these decisions, you eliminate the psychological conflicts that plague traditional systems. Compensation conversations become distinct from developmental ones. Trust grows because criteria are transparent and purposeful. 

    The bottom line 

    Let the evidence guide us. ​​​​The data is clear that our current performance management systems are built on flawed assumptions about human objectivity and motivation. You cannot have a high-stakes evaluation and expect a psychologically safe environment for development to coexist. The solution, therefore, must be equally grounded in science.  

    By applying the principles of psychological ergonomics—designing systems to fit how people actually think and behave—we can move beyond this failed experiment. The question for every leader is whether you will continue to manage by myth, or if you will choose to lead by design. 

    The early-rate deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, November 14, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

    Shonna Waters

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  • 9 Scary Workplace True Stories for Halloween

    It’s the spookiest day of the year, and often a nightmare for HR professionals who have to handle people who show up to work costumed as terrorists, wearing blackface, or dressed as Adolf Hitler.

    But it’s not only costumes that can be spooky. Sometimes the scary thing isn’t a bad choice by an employee but something that seems genuinely unexplainable. Here are nine true stories from spooky workplaces.

    The grabby ghost

    People and work strategist Robin Schooling shared:

    One of my favorite no-call, no-show resignation stories:

     Manager: “What happened? We haven’t seen you in four days.”

     Employee: “I was working Thursday night and saw a ghost in the kitchen. It grabbed my ankle. I can’t come back.”

    (And thus… he left and never returned….)

    The old hospital ghosts

    An anonymous HR professional shared:

    Our office is on the grounds of and built with recycled brick from an old hospital. Many times, while in the bathroom, you hear footsteps in front of the stalls that lead to the sink, and then the motion sensor paper towel dispenser goes off.

    Many CCTV still shots of ghostly figures in the halls.

    The cursed desk

    HR consultant Stacy Dennis shared:

    We had a desk that whoever sat at it would be fired. 🫣It was a cursed desk.

    The Halloween prank that went south

    Career adviser Chris Hogg shared:

    I worked in an aerospace company (think engineers, think Dilbert) where every Halloween, people, if they so chose, dressed up in costumes. It was a long-standing tradition, and many, but not everybody, dressed up.

    One year, an engineer dressed up as a gorilla, head to toe.

    So there were about five of us standing around a coffee station, when the gorilla-guy, with only the costume head on, came up behind a secretary (in her 40s) and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around… and screamed… loud enough to be heard in the next county… grabbed her chest… threw her coffee in the air… and backed/crashed into a nearby filing cabinet.

    Needless to say, the engineer ripped off the gorilla head, apologized profusely, while I imagine visions of him being hauled away and charged with manslaughter danced around in his head.

    Later that day, he and I were talking, and he told me he would never, never, never-ever again put on a Halloween costume.

    I’m pretty sure he never did.

    The puppy ghost

    HR consultant Katie Tanner shared: 

    Been in skilled nursing for a while.

    Lots of stories of “people surrounding patients” during their final breaths, or patients “talking to walls” and then saying it was a loved one.

    In one of the nursing homes, there is a “puppy” ghost that roams the halls barking and “licking the hands” of the patients. (I swear I heard it a few times when I was there.)

    The movie theater ghost

    Senior HR professional Tim Baker shared:

    Years ago, before my HR days, I was the general manager of a large Cineplex Movie Theatre in the Greater Toronto Area. This is back in the day of “film projectors.” We had 14 cinemas in the building, so the projection booth was huge and divided into two sides—east and west. Needless to say, at 2 a.m. while closing down the projection booths, it was quite spooky—a long dark corridor with several projectors. And typically, only two of us were left in the building. Ghost stories were aplenty.

    One night, I went up alone to close the west booth. I was shutting down a projector, and someone called me from the end of the corridor. I distinctly heard my name. It could only have been the other manager. When I walked in that direction, nobody was there. And then the other manager came walking toward me from the other direction. There is no way he could have run down the stairs, across half the building, and back up the other stairs in that time frame. 

    I felt the blood run from my face, and I felt cold. He asked what was wrong. I just said, “Let’s get out of here.” He knew what I meant, and we left. I didn’t tell him about it until the next day.

    The laughing ghost

    HR professional Stacie Racho-Ortiz shared:

    My Tribe’s casino is built right next to the cemetery, and the guard shack is at the bottom of the hill. When the graveyard security would work in the guard shack, they would experience sounds, laughing, hearing steps next to the shack.

    The stocking-stealing ghost

    An anonymous HR professional shared:

    I worked in a psychiatric hospital, and the HR offices were in the building that was the female ward. There was talk of if you were in the basement alone, one female would tug on your hair. I was watching security footage around Christmas time, and there were stockings that had been hung up on the wall for about three weeks. Twice, we saw those stockings, one by one, slide off the wall and halfway down the hallway 😬. People also saw a female figure in the attic window.

    And for some people, perhaps the scariest chair of all (and for others, the best chair of all)

    HR consultant Michelle Vernon shared:

    We once had a pregnancy chair—whoever had it as their designated chair fell pregnant. 😊 Does that count as spooky?

    Happy Halloween, everyone!

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Suzanne Lucas

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  • How to Build an HR Department Your Employees Won’t Hate

    Human resources is not popular with workers — many would go so far as to say they hate working with their HR department. Some 86 percent of U.S. workers are actually afraid of approaching these professionals and have no desire to talk to them about their grievances, according to a survey by MyPerfectResume. Of those that did bring concerns to HR’s attention, 90 percent said their grievance was not handled properly. Meanwhile, 65 percent of startups do not have an HR department at all, according to a BambooHR survey.

    But it doesn’t have to be that way, especially when you’re building your own company. One of the perks of starting your own company is you can build your team exactly the way you want to—and that includes HR. In a breakout session at the Inc. 5000 conference in Phoenix, I spoke with Christie Horvath, CEO and founder of Wagmo, a pet wellness company and employee benefit, about how she built her dream HR team. It didn’t happen overnight and mistakes were made, she said, but she eventually found the solution that works best for her company.

    “When you are cash constrained — which I think the vast majority of startups would consider themselves — figuring out where you’re going to put that incremental dollar matters a lot,”  Horvath said. “And it’s a really hard decision when you’ve got the option to invest it in customer acquisition that’s going to directly drive revenue or go hire someone to run your HR division.”

    For a while, Wagmo operated without HR for that very reason, but after the company raised Series A funding, investors told Horvath she should start thinking about adding HR. Investors, Horvath said, see HR as a tool to prevent internal lawsuits because “at some point you’re going to have an employee issue, it’s inevitable.”

    To appease investors, Horvath hired a vice president of people with a long work history in HR — it was “a disaster,” she said. The person hired was “awesome,” Horvath said, but not the type of HR person the company needed. This person’s specialty was in “employee relations,” but Wagmo needed someone to build internal systems like “employee reviews” and “career ladders and compensation bands.”

    Not only was this employee’s experience a poor fit for the company’s needs, their salary and job title were a drain on the company’s finances. The VP of people’s salary was upwards of $200,000 — which was “an insane amount of money to be paying when you are a Series A stage company with 15 people,” she said. 

    “If you don’t know what to look for as a startup founder, you can find yourself spending quite a lot of money on someone that’s objectively very skilled at their job, but that’s not actually the job that you need done,” Horvath said.

    Ultimately, Wagmo’s VP of people departed the company “on amicable terms” because it “wasn’t the right fit,” Horvath said. After the VP’s departure, Wagmo contracted an independent consultant the company used for the past few years as a “factional HR” role. The consultant was able to implement the internal reviews and processes the company needed, but because she only works part-time, Wagmo was able to pay her $7,000 a month — considerably less than the former VP.

    The company eventually grew to 30 employees, with plans to hire 10 more in the future, Horvath said. At this point, Horvath said it seemed like a more appropriate time to look for a full-time HR role because a staff of 30 plus workers is “when internal issues start happening.” This time around, Horvath knew she didn’t want someone with a traditional HR background. She was looking for “someone pretty entrepreneurial, pretty scrappy, and who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and get in there.”

    For Horvath, that person ended up being her chief of staff, someone who’s been her “right hand woman for the past couple of years.” This employee approached Horvath about taking on some HR responsibilities within the company because she wanted to learn them. While Horvath noted that hiring someone without HR certifications and experience is “risky,” the role can be learned if the person in question is a go-getter. 

    “She’s got that entrepreneurial fire in her belly where she fully recognizes she’s not been in HR, but she went and she found a coach that comes from that category,” Horvath said. “She’s got all the right component parts, she’s simply missing experience.”

    In addition to lessons from an executive coach, the new people officer is taking the necessary classes and training for HR certification on her own. But when it comes to building trust with the workforce, Horvath said this employee already has it because she’s an internal candidate — someone who understands the frustrations of her peers. In Wagmo’s case, building an HR team with an internal candidate has made all the difference. 

    “I personally think that hiring non-traditional people, it’s actually easier, because these people aren’t necessarily coming in with baggage or playbooks that may have mirrored what you’ve seen at other large companies,” Horvath said. “They do things a bit differently, which is always helpful.”

    Kayla Webster

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  • Job hugging. Quiet cracking. Rage applying. Are these buzzwords helping — or hurting — the workplace? | Fortune

    I’ve been in HR for over two decades, and I’ve never seen workplace terminology evolve this quickly: Job hugging. Quiet cracking. Rage applying. 

    Every few months, a new phrase takes over headlines and social feeds. They’re hard to keep up with and often even harder to decipher. But here’s the dilemma: Are these buzzwords just noise, or do they reveal something leaders need to pay attention to?

    I’ve come to believe it’s both. Buzzwords risk trivializing serious issues when leaders don’t look past labels and address what’s underneath. But they can spark helpful conversations about how employees are really doing. They can normalize experiences people might otherwise struggle to name, and when they spread, they show people they’re not alone. 

    The words themselves may not last long (goodbye, “quiet quitting”; hello, “quiet cracking”), but the feelings behind them are real. Workplace buzzwords are red flags business leaders miss at their own peril.

    Job hugging is real

    Consider “job hugging.” It refers to employees clinging to their jobs, often from fear of layoffs or lack of hiring at other companies. In today’s stagnant labor market, that fear is not entirely wrong: Layoffs are down, but hiring isn’t strong, either.

    For 15 years, the Aflac WorkForces Report has been tracking employee well-being, benefits and workplace sentiment across the U.S. workforce. This year’s survey backs up the job-hugging trend: Only 28% of employees are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, down from 37% in 2024.

    People are staying put, but not necessarily because they feel motivated. Record levels of burnout — a seven-year high, with 61% of employees reporting at least moderate burnout — suggest many are simply holding on.

    One contributing factor may be anxiety about AI-driven job cuts, making employees even more reluctant to risk starting over somewhere else. AI has been named one of the top five factors contributing to job losses this year, accounting for 10,000 job losses in July alone, according to a Challenger, Grey & Christmas survey.

    The hidden upside of hanging on

    Job hugging doesn’t have to be seen only as negative — it can be an opportunity to build long-term loyalty. At Aflac, we hire with the intention of hiring for life. And while that doesn’t always happen, it’s not uncommon to see employees stay 20 or 30 years, supported by recognition and access to leadership.

    Leaders across every function, not just HR, must make themselves visible and approachable if they want people to feel valued. They need to convert retention based on fear into commitment inspired by purpose, and nowhere is this more critical than for this country’s future leadership pipeline. At 74%, Gen Z is now the most burned-out generation at work, says the Aflac WorkForces Report.

    From hugging to cracking to rage

    Job hugging is just one example. “Quiet cracking” describes employees quietly working harder and longer without feeling reward or purpose, which fuels disengagement and poor performance. Rage applying is the frustrated response of workers who feel ignored and flood the market with résumés, even if they don’t really plan to leave.

    All are warning signs of workplace cultures that are falling short of employee expectations. Our survey shows fewer than half of employees (48%) believe their employer cares about them, down from 54% a year ago. Nearly one in five (18%) believe their company doesn’t care about their mental health at all, and only 60% say their employer encourages them to seek mental health support, down five points from 2024.

    What leaders can do 

    These data points translate directly into risks for retention, productivity and performance. Leaders can use these red flags to prompt proactive change:

    • Analyze employee responsibilities both on and off the clock, and thread the needle between productivity and work-life balance. Encourage employees to take PTO and unplug, and model this behavior at the executive level. When asked what would most help with burnout, survey participants rated more time off, working from home and a four-day work week as their top three choices.
    • Rebuild trust by being visible and showing care. Make leadership accessible and approachable, whether you lead HR, finance, operations or the entire company. Demonstrate care through mental health resources and consistent communication. Fewer than half of employees now believe their employer cares about them, a trust gap no leader should ignore.
    • Encourage job hugging for the right reasons. Create career pathways and growth opportunities that go beyond HR programs to touch every function. Celebrate tenure and reinforce a culture of development, so people stay because they want to.

    Behind every catchy phrase is an employee experience: burnout, frustration or hope for something better. The question isn’t whether employees will continue packaging their frustrations into new phrases. They will. The question is whether leaders will act. 

    In the end, buzzwords may have a short shelf life, but the responsibility of leadership to step in and help prevent the issues that drive these quips is forever.

    The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

    Matthew Owenby

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  • 41 Percent of Gen-Zers Get Prenups. They Want the Same Clarity at Work

    Mark Zuckerberg allegedly had a contract with then-girlfriend Priscilla Chan that if she moved to Silicon Valley, he would spend at least 100 minutes per week outside the home and office with her. It may seem like a particular and odd thing to put in writing, but Chan wanted to know what she was getting into before uprooting her life for a boyfriend.

    Increasingly, people want clarification before entering into serious relationships, including marriage. According to a 2023 Harris Poll, “(41 percent) of Gen Z and (47 percent) of Millennials who are engaged or have been married said they entered a prenup.” In the 1990s, that number was 8 percent.

    Consider that wedding site The Knot reports that 53 percent of couples date for two to five years before getting married, and 17 percent for six or more years, and yet they feel like life is uncertain enough that they want to lay out relationship expectations and what happens in a separation before getting married.

    You spend maybe three hours talking to a potential employee before hiring them. And while Chan asked for 100 minutes of date time per week, you ask someone to be with you (in the office or virtually) for 2400 minutes per week, generally with a poorly written job description and thinly veiled promises.

    What should be in a job description

    Just like a prenup doesn’t mean you expect a breakup, a job description doesn’t mean you expect conflict — it means you expect clarity.

    You should have a job description for every position, but many companies write job descriptions for marketing purposes when hiring, but don’t update them. In many jobs, what was on the job description bears little relationship to the actual job — especially years later, as things evolve.

    While there are good legal reasons to have accurate job descriptions — like having proper descriptions of any physical aspects of the job can protect you against a lawsuit based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, legal protection isn’t the only reason to have a good job description.

    A good job description gives the following information:

    Key functions of every job. Sure, job descriptions generally contain the phrase “other duties as assigned,” and that’s okay. But they should also have the core functions. If a person in this job must present monthly reports to the board of directors, the job description should say so.

    Physical functions of every job. Does this job require standing? Crawling? (Not uncommon in IT jobs, where employees may have to crawl under desks to set up equipment). Do you have to lift things? And are these duties core functions? For instance, you might want to write, “Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs,” on a job description. That’s a core function in a warehouse job, but not a core function for a receptionist who occasionally has to put away a paper delivery. Requiring that skill for a receptionist job could land you in trouble with the ADA.

    Reporting structure. While you wouldn’t necessarily put this information on a job you posted on Indeed, you would want to make it very clear who this person’s boss is. That may seem straightforward, but there is often confusion over who the boss really is. Put it in the job description!

    Travel expectations. Does this job require constant travel, no travel, or in between? Does the person need to maintain a driver’s license? Is the travel local or does it require overnight stays? Make it very clear so everyone knows just how much they’ll be on the road.

    Qualifications for the job. This is important in a job posting, but make sure that they are correct. Does the person really need a specific college degree, or do they just need the skills that are (theoretically) acquired in college? If you say “5-10 years of experience’ do you mean that they need at least 5 years of experience, but maybe a bit more, or are you saying someone with 15 years of experience can’t do the job? 

    Clear expectations are a kindness

    As a solopreneur for the past 16 years, I know that new tasks and obligations pop up all the time. I had no idea how much time I would spend on marketing, for instance. And in small businesses, employees will need to be flexible because things happen.

    But clear expectations aren’t the problem. They don’t prevent flexibility. They do help people feel secure in their understanding of what they need to accomplish. They keep arguments over who is responsible for what to a minimum.

    If you find you repeatedly need to pull someone into a different task that isn’t on their job description, talk with the person and formally change their job description. Depending on the task, you may want to offer a pay raise with the description change.

    The younger generations are finding the value of setting expectations in romantic relationships, and will undoubtedly appreciate setting expectations at work because 40 hours is a lot more than the 100 minutes in the Zuckerberg-Chan agreement. Transparency isn’t just compliance — it’s compassion.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Suzanne Lucas

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  • Amazon is planning a new wave of layoffs, sources say | Fortune

    Amazon is preparing to cut as much as 15% of its human resources staff, with additional layoffs likely in other divisions, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans. 

    Two sources told Fortune that Amazon’s human resources division—known internally as PXT or the People eXperience Technology team—will be hard hit, but that other areas of Amazon’s core consumer business are also likely to be affected. It couldn’t be learned how many employees in total Amazon plans to let go, nor the exact timing of the cuts.

    The company laid off relatively small numbers of employees earlier this year in areas such as its consumer devices unit, its Wondery podcast division, and in Amazon Web Services.

    Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel declined to comment.

    Amazon’s PXT division, which reports to senior vice president Beth Galetti, has more than 10,000 employees worldwide, and includes a large recruiting team, plus technology staff and other traditional HR roles.

    The new cuts come as Amazon continues to look for ways to lower employee costs while investing aggressively in AI products and infrastructure – both for internal use and to sell to enterprise customers. The company has said it intends to spend upwards of $100 billion in capital expenditures this year, as it builds out its cloud and AI datacenters.

    Amazon CEO Andy Jassy already oversaw the largest layoffs in company history from late 2022 into 2023, when the company cut at least 27,000 corporate jobs, which accounted for a high single digit percentage of the company’s office jobs. Many other Big Tech companies also slashed their headcounts around that time as the pandemic receded and consumer demand trends changed.

    Now, many employers are looking to harness the power of AI—initially for mundane and repetitive tasks and eventually for more complicated jobs—to reduce the need to maintain the same level of human staffers on their payrolls.

    Jassy himself is one of them. The CEO fired a bit of a warning shot to his own employees in June, when he encouraged them to welcome this new AI-powered era.

    “Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact and help us reinvent the company,” he wrote in a companywide email that was also published on Amazon’s corporate blog.

    At the same time, Jassy also made a point to note that there won’t be room on the bus for everyone: “We expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”

    Jassy, who succeeded Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in the CEO job in 2021, has earned a reputation as a cost-cutter (though to be fair, he inherited a company that many say had become wasteful and bloated in some areas). Amazon executives regularly require managers to hit a certain percentage goal for unregretted attrition, or URA – essentially a percentage of employees that the company would be OK losing, whether through voluntary departures, being “managed out,” or through formal layoffs. But sources told Fortune that these cuts are being discussed differently internally than the typical URA process.

    While Amazon plans these layoffs of corporate roles, the company announced its typical holiday hiring spree of warehouse staff on Tuesday. This year, the company will hire 250,000 seasonal employees across its US warehouse and logistics networks.

    Amazon’s stock price is down about a little more than 1% this calendar year, but 15% higher than it was 12 months earlier. The company will report earnings later this month.

    Are you a current or former Amazon employee with thoughts on this topic or a tip to share? Contact Jason Del Rey at jason.delrey@fortune.com, jasondelrey@protonmail.com, or through messaging apps Signal and WhatsApp at 917-655-4267. You can also contact him on LinkedIn or at @delrey on X, @jdelrey on Threads, and on Bluesky.

    Jason Del Rey

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  • Research Says There’s a Hopelessness Epidemic at Work. Here’s What Leaders Can Do About It

    The workplace is facing what researchers are calling a hopelessness epidemic. New research from O.C. Tanner shows that only 52 percent of employees feel hopeful about the future of work, and 35 percent say they feel depressed.

    Economic uncertainty, rapid tech advancement, and constant disruption have left employees unsure about the future. Many feel disconnected from their work and organizations, fueling a cycle of stress and disengagement that leaders can no longer afford to ignore.

    O.C. Tanner surveyed nearly 39,000 employees, leaders, and HR practitioners across 23 countries to understand how hopelessness is affecting work and how leaders can turn things around.

    Hope fuels engagement and innovation

    More than wishful thinking, hope is a practice that helps employees overcome obstacles and reach goals. Leaders and workplaces that treat hope as something active fuel growth and change, highlight individual agency, and draw on the strength of teams and leaders. Organizations that embrace this approach don’t just help employees achieve more; they connect everyone to a more hopeful future.

    When employees feel hopeful, they are seven times more likely to be engaged. Hope also increases the odds of other outcomes, including great work, innovation, and a stronger sense of belonging. At the same time, the research points to a loyalty gap, with 30 percent of employees saying they don’t want to be working for their current employer a year from now.

    Leaders can counter this by setting goals that feel meaningful. Goals connected to passions, company values, or opportunities for growth give employees something to strive toward beyond the day-to-day grind. Regular one-on-ones or team meetings surface obstacles, provide resources, and reinforce employees’ path forward. These conversations send a clear message that what employees want for themselves matters and leaders will help them reach their goals.

    “Leaders can’t control economic upheaval or global uncertainty,” says Mindi Cox, chief people officer at O.C. Tanner. “But they can drive a practice of hope by connecting employees to something bigger. Linking work to personal goals and values builds hope, and hope fuels performance.”

    Inclusion can mitigate hopelessness and be the antidote to burnout

    Feelings of hopelessness can also be mitigated when employees feel their work matters. And to feel their work matters, every person must feel included. The report found that employees on non-inclusive teams are 218 percent more likely to feel anxious and 513 percent more likely to feel burned out. Exclusion shows up in many ways—from overlooked ideas to being shut out of decision making altogether. Over time, it erodes both morale and performance.

    Creating a supportive workplace community helps reverse the trend. When leaders and peers actively support employees’ goals, the odds of engagement rise by more than 250 percent, while the odds of burnout drop by about a third. That support can take many forms, such as asking for input in meetings, recognizing effort in real time, or simply checking in to see how someone is doing. These small but intentional acts build a culture where people feel seen and supported.

    “Inclusion isn’t a perk, it’s oxygen,” Cox explains. “A supportive community is what gives people resilience, especially in times of disruption or uncertainty.”

    Recognition builds momentum and hope

    With more than a third of employees reporting depression, hopelessness has become a well-being issue as much as a performance one. Recognition is one of the most effective ways to help employees push through uncertainty and maintain optimism.

    When recognition is woven into everyday culture, employees are five times more likely to feel hopeful. The most powerful recognition happens throughout the project, not just when the work is done. Celebrating milestones along the way validates effort, encourages persistence, and builds confidence. It also reinforces that progress is being made, which keeps momentum alive.

    “Recognition doesn’t have to be big or formal,” Cox notes. “It just has to be consistent and genuine. That’s what tells people they’re seen, they matter, and the future is worth leaning into.”

    Lead the charge to restore hope

    The hopelessness epidemic is real, but leaders have the chance to change it. By setting inspiring goals, building supportive communities, and making recognition part of daily work, they can bring optimism and resilience back to their teams.

    Hopeful employees show up with more energy, creativity, and commitment. Leaders who focus on creating hope see stronger employee well-being, greater loyalty, and more innovation across their organizations. Making hope a consistent part of leadership sustains both people and performance long term.

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    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Marcel Schwantes

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  • 4 Leadership Lessons From Faith Leader Russell M. Nelson for Any Business

    I woke up Sunday morning to the news that Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had died at the age of 101, and shortly after publishing an op-ed in Time Magazine: “We All Deserve Dignity and Respect.”

    As a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I always listen to the words of church leadership when it comes to my spiritual life, but I’ve also learned that applying these principles to my work life has worked as well. 

    Here’s what I’ve learned about business from President Nelson. Whether or not you share my faith, President Nelson’s leadership lessons in respect, managing anger, and lifelong learning, apply in the workplace as much as other areas of life.

    Remember, everyone has inherent worth

    Society is divided. Your employees are divided. There is hate and violence around the world, including a horrific attack Sunday on a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ in Michigan.

    Nelson wrote in Time: 

    First:  Each of us has inherent worth and dignity. I believe we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. But no matter your religion or spirituality, recognizing the underlying truth beneath this belief that we all deserve dignity is liberating — it brings emotional, mental, and spiritual equilibrium — and the more you embrace it, the more your anxiety and fear about the future will decrease. 

    When I’m dealing with a problematic client, vendor, or business partner, I’ve found that taking a moment to remind myself that this person deserves respect helps me make better, calmer decisions. By stepping back and recognizing that their lives are probably just as difficult as mine, and that they deserve grace, I can make better choices.

    Twice in recent times, I’ve had people unknown to me attack me. However, without escalating the situation, I’ve managed to resolve these conflict and make friends with the people. We still have different opinions, but by recognizing the inherent worth of each other, we were able to solve our concerns. 

    Anger doesn’t lead to solutions

    Nelson said, in April 2023, 

    “Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions.”

    Business is competitive for sure. But we don’t have to approach it antagonistically. While I’m certainly not a perfect peacemaker, and I do take strong positions that may upset some people, I actively seek solutions.

    I also do get angry from time to time. When that happens, I try to step back. I’ll take time to think before responding and run my response by trusted friends, and when necessary, legal counsel. I’ve found that being careful in what I say and dealing with my anger on the jogging trail or by getting out my nervous energy in an improv comedy practice.

    Could I make more money if I used my anger to engage in cutthroat tactics? Maybe. But would I be happier? Of course not. Frankly, using this method has resulted in some amazing solutions.

    Take care of your physical health

    President Nelson was a cardiac surgeon who was respected worldwide and “served as president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Council on Cardiovascular Surgery for the American Heart Association and president of the Utah State Medical Association.”

    I’m an overweight HR professional who eats her feelings. But I’ve also seen the research on how taking care of ourselves benefits all aspects of our lives so what President Nelson said, in a speech in 2019, hit me:

    There are specific ways in which we can likely improve. One is in the way we treat our bodies. I stand in awe of the miracle of the human body. It is a magnificent creation, essential to our gradual ascent toward our ultimate divine potential.

    Viewing our bodies as a miracle rather than a burden is an interesting shift. I’ve tried to take better care of my body through exercise, diet, and medical support. 

    When we consider that our bodies need rest and nourishment and our employees need the same, it switches how we think of things. Instead of pushing myself to the breaking point to make a sale or close a deal, I make sure to get adequate rest and try to eat a bit better. (I still struggle with eating my feelings, but I’m a work in progress.)

    You’re never too old to learn

    President Nelson was conversant in 11 languages. I’m fluent in English and conversant in German, and I’ve complained about every German word I’ve had to learn. When President Nelson was 55 in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ, advised leaders to learn Chinese.

    Nelson took that to heart and learned Chinese. It opened doors for him, and later for the Church, as he developed relationships with Chinese leaders. Nelson was able to introduce open-heart surgery to China in 1980.

    I haven’t learned Chinese, and I haven’t taught anyone open-heart surgery, but when ChatGPT came out in 2022, rather than saying, “Oh, I’m 49. That’s too old to learn new software,” I jumped right in. I’ve since then taught thousands of HR professionals how to use AI to make their lives easier.

    Through this, I’ve been able to give speeches and training on AI on three continents, and I continue to be a thought leader in AI for HR. 

    I think of President Nelson’s example often when I am faced with new tasks. I’m not too old to learn anything.

    I, personally, will miss President Russell M. Nelson, as will the 17 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His leadership reminds us that respect, health, and curiosity aren’t just personal virtues — they’re business strategies. Every leader, regardless of their faith, can carry those lessons forward.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

    Suzanne Lucas

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  • Should you give job applicants an assignment during the interview process? Be thoughtful about the ask

    Should you give job applicants an assignment during the interview process? Be thoughtful about the ask

    Hiring is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Companies need candidates who offer the right skills and experience for a given role, and who align with their organization’s vision and mission.

    To find the best fit, many companies still lean on a strategy that continues to generate debate: the assignment. Some candidates believe their experience and interviews should give prospective employers enough information to determine whether they will fit the role. Employers have to ask themselves whether they are willing to turn off a strong candidate by asking them to do additional work.

    Is the assignment valuable enough to the evaluation process that they cannot move someone forward without it? Sometimes it is—sometimes they help an employer decide between two strong candidates. And if they are necessary, how can employers make assignments fair and equitable for the candidate or candidates?

    When done right, assignments help assess practical skills and problem-solving abilities, giving a clearer picture of a candidate beyond what their resume or interview reveals. But employers should be thoughtful about the ask. While it may make sense for roles that require specific technical expertise or creative thinking, it isn’t appropriate for all roles—so assignments should always be given with a clear reason for why they are needed.

    Plus, they don’t just benefit the employer. For job seekers, an assignment during the interview process might also help them stand out from the competition. It can also offer a window into what their day-to-day in the new role might entail. Remember that the candidate should be interviewing the company, too. Having a test run of the work they’d be asked to do is a great way to see whether they believe the role is a fit.

    However, there is a rift in how people perceive the assignment as part of the interview process. Workers today span many generations, each with unique values and expectations. Whereas older workers often prioritize stability and loyalty, younger millennials and Gen Zers are more focused on flexibility and work well-being, Indeed data shows.

    This mindset impacts the amount of time and energy a candidate is willing to devote to each application. After multiple rounds of interviews and prep, taking on an in-depth assignment may feel like a bridge too far—especially if the expectations for the assignment are not clearly communicated ahead of time.

    Some candidates are wary of providing free labor to a company that may use their work and not hire them. Hiring managers should be clear about how the work will be used. They may also consider offering compensation if the assignment requires more than a couple hours of someone’s time, or if they plan to use the work without hiring the candidate.

    The key for early career candidates in particular is to ensure their time and efforts are respected. This is a win-win for employers: By providing clarity and transparency, they not only elicit the additional information they want from candidates, but they demonstrate that the organization is transparent and fair.

    Equity is also imperative: Which candidates are being asked to complete assignments? Is the hiring team consistent in giving out assignments across ages, experience levels, and roles? There should always be a process and clear evaluation criteria in place to ensure fairness.

    As we adapt to the rapidly evolving world of work, we must continue to think critically about each step in the hiring process. Candidate assignments can be a valuable tool, but only with appropriate respect for job seekers’ time and contributions.

    With the right strategy, we can bridge the gap between generations in the workplace and build a hiring culture that values efficiency, talent, and integrity.

    Eoin Driver is the global vice president of talent at Indeed.

    More must-read commentary:

    The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

    Eoin Driver

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  • Woman Goes Viral For Live-Recording Her Layoff, Talking Back | Entrepreneur

    Woman Goes Viral For Live-Recording Her Layoff, Talking Back | Entrepreneur

    A TikToker is going viral after secretly recording herself getting remotely laid off from computer and network security company, Cloudflare.

    Brittany Pietsch recorded the nine-minute-long clip on January 12 after about four months with the company, and said she knew that the layoff was most likely coming, which prompted her to start recording.

    But instead of gracefully accept her fate, Pietsch was ready to fight back.

    @brittanypeachhh Original creator reposting: brittany peach cloudflare layoff. When you know you’re about to get laid off so you film it 🙂 this was traumatizing honestly lmao #cloudflare #techlayoffs #tech #layoff ♬ original sound – Brittany Pietsch

    “I got let go by two people I didn’t know: a woman from HR and a director man I’ve never heard of,” Pietsch wrote. “I wanted to stand up for myself because what did I have to lose?”

    The HR team explained that her performance was not up to par and that many people were being let go, including her. But Pietsch told the people on the call (an HR rep and a director) that she had the “highest activity” amongst her team and that “things have been going really, really well” for her. She then questioned why her manager, or someone she had at least met, was not on the call.

    Related: Barbara Corcoran Shares What to Do If You’ve Been Laid Off

    “I disagree that I haven’t met performance expectations. I really need an answer and an explanation as to why Brittany Pietsch is getting let go, not why Cloudflare decided to hire too many people then are now actually realizing that they can’t afford this many people and they’re letting them go,” she said bluntly — and in the third person.

    Pietsch continued to push back and ask for direct answers about why she was really being let go, but HR didn’t budge.

    “I’ll be honest with you, there’s nothing that we’re going to say in this call and the time that we have, that’s going to undo the way that you feel right in this moment,” the unidentified person said. “I personally, I will do everything that I can to give you as much specific information as I can, after this call, I can’t make any promises.”

    Still, Pietsch asked for answers, to no avail.

    “Despite constant positive praise from my manager, great meetings that I’m having, the amount of activity that I have has all been positive, I have not received any negative inclination, I have not been put on a performance improvement plan,” she said in frustration. “It just doesn’t make any sense that you guys have still not been able to give me a reason why I’m being let go.”

    Pietsch’s video garnered mixed reviews from commenters, with many praising her for asking for justice and explanation when most are afraid to speak up.

    “You handled this so well,” one person wrote. “They tried to gaslight you into it being based on your performance and not their company issues.”

    Related: How Do Companies Decide Who to Lay Off?

    “Good for you speaking up and being so composed with such little time to prepare,” another said.

    Others were not as impressed with Pietsch’s attitude.

    “The company just didn’t make money and if it’s sales you just didn’t make enough money to justify them keeping [you]. It’s business,” one person wrote.

    “The points she made were valid, but it’s a bad career move to post this online,” another said.

    The now-viral video, which has been viewed over 1.37 million times on TikTok, prompted a response from Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, who wrote on social media platform X that the company laid off roughly 40 out of 1,500 workers in Pietsch’s round.

    He also noted that the company doesn’t always “hire perfectly,” and said that the company can usually tell within three months of a hire whether or not the employee is going to be successful or not.

    “The video is painful for me to watch. Managers should always be involved,” Prince wrote. “Any healthy org needs to get the people who aren’t performing off. That wasn’t the mistake here. The mistake was not being more kind and humane as we did.”

    Cloudflare was up over 69% year over year as of Tuesday afternoon.

    Emily Rella

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  • HR Teams Need This 1 Thing to Unlock Organizational Success | Entrepreneur

    HR Teams Need This 1 Thing to Unlock Organizational Success | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Industry leaders have long recognized HR as the fulcrum of organizational success. It stands to reason, after all, that the department charged with molding an enterprise’s identity and culture should have the most profound impact on how it achieves its organizational goals. It also follows, then, that with generative AI models at the vanguard of business innovation, human resources should be considered a pivotal area of development for leaders seeking to optimize their organizations through digital transformation.

    Current data bears this logic out, with recent research showing that 76% of HR leaders feel their organizations must leverage AI in the next 12 to 24 months to keep up with competitors in terms of organizational success. Yet, while some are embracing applications like generative AI in HR, benchmarking indicates that around 48% of leaders are still not exploring their use. This raises some key questions, namely: Are the benefits of AI genuinely significant in HR? And if so, why aren’t HR leaders taking the plunge to embrace it?

    I’ll explore these questions in this article, shedding some light on how enterprise leaders can confidently leverage AI to best empower organizational success.

    Related: Why Every Company Should Be Thinking About Artificial Intelligence

    Transformative potential

    In HR departments, where there is such a strong administrative focus, the power of AI to automate repetitive tasks and expedite data processing is nothing short of transformative. As such, the potential applications for AI are both extensive and varied.

    One area where AI can have a major impact is employee relations. For instance, enterprises can utilize AI to analyze responses to pulse surveys, allowing them to gain meaningful insights into employee sentiment without needing to invest substantial resources in the process. Additionally, AI can be used for predictive analytics, using massive volumes of current and historical data to forecast changes in employee turnover. In this sense, AI can enable enterprises to be more dynamic and responsive to HR trends to boost employee engagement and retention, even when operating at scale.

    AI can also serve to enhance talent acquisition. Businesses can leverage the power of AI algorithms to scan the resumes of job candidates and shortlist the most optimal matches — a traditionally painstaking task. Moreover, AI applications can help promote better outcomes in the screening process by selecting candidates based solely on objective, standardized criteria, eliminating the possibility of unconscious biases skewing results.

    Were this not enough, AI can also be applied to a plethora of other HR duties, from performance analysis to resource allocation, risk management, and more. So, if the benefits of embracing AI are so considerable, then what’s at the root of HR leaders’ misgivings?

    The AI fear factor

    In my view, the trepidation around AI in HR can primarily be attributed to an aversion to perceived risk.

    Of course, there certainly are risks associated with using artificial intelligence in HR. Utilizing generative applications, for instance, naturally raises concerns about ethics, privacy, and security, as it requires companies to provide large quantities of potentially sensitive data to AI models. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of all enterprises will rank the ethical use of generative AI among their top concerns, and understandably so. In many cases, however, I believe that the perception of the risks around AI is skewed by a misunderstanding of how such tools should be implemented.

    In essence, it would appear to be a question of adoption. Companies that are leading the exploration of AI in HR are those with a proven track record of successful transformations, such as IBM, who have emphasized the benefits of the technology in improving aspects like candidate selection, hiring cycles, compensation planning and employee support. Those who are more hesitant, then, must be those who are less confident in their ability to adopt the technology.

    When uncertainty prevails around the implementation of new technologies, the potential benefits of using them, however immense, will always be dwarfed by the perceived risks.

    Related: The Top Fears and Dangers of Generative AI — and What to Do About Them

    The thoughtful approach

    To gain the confidence to embrace AI wholeheartedly, enterprise leaders need to carefully evaluate their approach to its adoption. That starts with dispelling misconceptions about the technology.

    AI models are not the all-knowing, ungovernable entities that they are often suggested to be. Quite the opposite, in fact. While modern AI models are undoubtedly impressive in their ability to process, analyze and extrapolate from data, the fact remains that they can only work from the data they are fed. This is why data governance is critical.

    By establishing comprehensive policies and guidelines on how data assets should be stored, updated and maintained, organizations can keep a firm grasp on what data AI models will have access to. Additionally, by designating teams to conduct regular assessments of AI models, companies can prevent erroneous or discriminatory outcomes in HR that might result from machine learning biases.

    In conjunction with proper data governance and regular auditing, businesses should seek to develop more comprehensive onboarding processes for those utilizing AI tools. This should entail the establishment of designated communication channels for employees to provide feedback on AI-powered technologies.

    Moreover, a thoughtful approach to AI adoption should involve the utilization of a digital adoption platform, which can provide employees with personalized, real-time guidance on how to use AI tech proficiently. Such a platform can help mitigate risks associated with user error and enable IT to monitor the use of new tech to weed out shadow AI.

    By employing these measures, companies can create an internal framework that enables the seamless integration of AI tools for HR.

    Related: Watch Out for These 5 Artificial Intelligence Problems in HR

    The future of AI in HR

    While AI applications have enormous potential in human resources, the sensitive nature of the data they will be required to handle is proving a cause for trepidation at many organizations. That needn’t be the case, however, as taking a thoughtful approach to adoption can assuage the concerns associated with the use of generative AI.

    By engaging in proper data governance and auditing and implementing purpose-built adoption solutions to facilitate the transition to AI, you can confidently embrace new technologies in HR. As a result, your enterprise will be empowered to evolve its internal culture, improve overall performance and reach its organizational goals with greater consistency and velocity.

    Alon Ghelber

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  • Gen Z remote workers are ‘probably not going to become CEOs’ and will likely fall behind, says NYU business professor

    Gen Z remote workers are ‘probably not going to become CEOs’ and will likely fall behind, says NYU business professor

    Remote work is great for a lot of things. There’s no commute, and many employees feel they’re more productive without the distractions of the office. But for Gen Z workers whose career-building has just begun, in-person collaboration at the office might be the better way to get ahead.

    “The young people who choose to have that life—that go into work maybe one or two days a week or never, and work entirely remotely—they may have a version of success that is not our version of success,” New York University business professor Suzy Welch told Insider this week. “It’s all about how you define success. They’re probably not going to become CEOs, but maybe that’s not what they want.” 

    She also warned that, down the line, such employees may fall behind and not see the same “financial rewards” as hard-working peers making their presence felt in the office and, say, skipping a party to deal with clients instead. 

    Recently, a GenZer’s TikTok video, in which she complained about the 10-hour-day required to commute to an office for her first job, went viral. In it, she asked, “How do you have friends? How do you have time for, like, dating? Like I don’t have time for anything, and I’m like so stressed out.” 

    If the job were remote, she tells viewers, “you’d get off at 5, and you’re home and everything’s fine.” Or if she could just walk to the office, instead of having to commute because rents near it are too expensive, that would fix the problem.

    Welch, however, cautioned that “there’s never really been a time where you could just sort of show up at work, work nine to five and have wild success. That wasn’t the deal in my generation, and it’s not going to be the deal going forward.”

    Remote workers might also be more vulnerable to their jobs being outsourced to countries. This week in Australia, an Indian investor said that jobs done remotely Down Under can “absolutely” be outsourced to his country, calling the Indian workforce “one of the largest opportunities” for Australian companies.

    “Support staff, IT, finance, mortgages—all of those can be supported because of a lower cost and at the same time English-speaking workforce,” he noted, while estimating that roles filled by Indian workers would cost 10% to 15% of an Australian employee’s salary.

    Gen Zers opting for remote work should also beware of proximity bias, or the tendency of company leaders to give preferential treatment to employees who are physically close to them. It’s difficult to overcome the bias when the time comes for performance reviews and promotions—or, for that matter, layoffs.

    Perhaps most concerning, Gen Zers skipping the office will likely miss out on important mentoring, suggests a recent report from WFH Research. It found that in-office workers spend significantly more time per week getting mentored or mentoring than peers working from home. 

    But Gen Z “shows the strongest overall preference for working in an office,” according to a 2023 State of Workers report from Morning Consult.

    Oliver Pour, a 2022 college graduate, told Fortune of his generation earlier this year: “People want to grow quickly, [and] mentorship—being able to connect with the manager or director on a more personal level—is extremely important.” 

    Steve Mollman

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  • UAW increases pressure on lone holdout GM after reaching tentative pacts with Ford and Stellantis: ‘Everybody’s really fired up’

    UAW increases pressure on lone holdout GM after reaching tentative pacts with Ford and Stellantis: ‘Everybody’s really fired up’

    The United Auto Workers union has widened its strike against General Motors, the lone holdout among the three Detroit automakers, after reaching a tentative contract agreement with Jeep maker Stellantis.

    The escalated walkout began Saturday evening at a Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, GM’s largest in North America, just hours after the Stellantis deal was reached. Its nearly 4,000 workers join about 14,000 already striking at GM factories in Texas, Michigan and Missouri.

    The UAW did not immediately explain what prompted the new action after 44 days of targeted strikes. The added pressure on GM is substantial as Spring Hill makes engines for vehicles assembled in a total of nine plants as far afield as Mexico, including Silverado and Sierra pickups. One plant already on strike it supplies with engines, in Arlington Texas, makes full-size SUVs including the Tahoe and Suburban. Vehicles assembled at Spring Hill include the electric Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Acadia and Cadillac crossover SUVs.

    “The Spring Hill walkout affects so much of GM’s production that the company is likely to settle quickly or close down most production,” said Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan business professor. The union wants to wrap negotiations with all three automakers so “Ford and Stellantis workers don’t vote down (their) tentative agreements because they want to see what GM workers get.”

    The Stellantis deal mirrors one reached last week with Ford, and saves jobs at a factory in Belvidere, Illinois, that Stellantis had planned to close, the UAW said.

    GM said it was disappointed with the additional strike at the Spring Hill plant, which has 11 million square feet of building space, “in light of the progress we have made.” It said in a statement that is has bargained in good faith and wants a deal as soon as possible.

    In a statement, UAW President Shawn Fain lamented what he called “GM’s unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement.”

    “Everybody’s really fired up and excited,” Spring Hill assembly line worker Larry Montgomery said by phone on Sunday. He said workers were taken by surprise by the strike call. “We thought it was going to happen earlier.”

    UAW Local 1853 President John Rutherford in Spring Hill didn’t immediately return a telephone message.

    Fain said in a video appearance Saturday night that 43,000 members at Stelantis would have to vote on the deal — just as Ford workers must. About 14,000 UAW workers had been on strike at two Stellantis assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, and several parts distribution centers across the country. The company makes Jeep and Ram vehicles.

    The pact includes 25% in general wage increases over the next 4 1/2 years for top assembly plant workers, with 11% coming once the deal is ratified. Workers also will get cost-of-living pay that would bring the raises to a compounded 33%, with top assembly plant workers making more than $42 per hour. At Stellantis, top-scale workers now make around $31 per hour.

    Like the Ford contract, the Stellantis deal would run through April 30, 2028.

    Under the deal, the union said it saved jobs in Belvidere as well at an engine plant in Trenton, Michigan, and a machining factory in Toledo, Ohio.

    “We have reopened an assembly plant that was closed,” Fain said. The deal includes a commitment by Stellantis to build a new midsize combustion-engine truck at the Belvidere factory that was slated to be closed. About 1,200 workers will be hired back, plus another 1,000 workers will be added for a new electric vehicle battery plant, the union said.

    Vice President Rich Boyer, who led the Stellantis talks, said the workforce will be doubled at the Toledo, Ohio, machining plant. The union, he said, won $19 billion worth of investment across the U.S.

    Fain said Stellantis had proposed cutting 5,000 U.S. jobs, but the union’s strike changed that to adding 5,000 jobs by the end of the contract.

    Gordon, the University of Michigan professor, said the Stellantis deal “shows that the car companies feel they are at the mercy of the UAW, that the UAW is not going to give any mercy, and that companies will be co-governed by their boards and the UAW.”

    He said competing companies with non-unionized workforces, which include Toyota and Tesla, “couldn’t have gotten a better year-end gift.”

    Under the Stellantis contract, a top-scale assembly plant worker’s base wage will exceed all increases in the past 22 years. Starting wages for new hires will rise 67% including cost-of-living adjustments to over $30 per hour, it said in a statement. Temporary workers will get raises of more than 165%, while workers at parts centers will get an immediate 76% increase if the contract is ratified.

    Like the Ford agreement, it will take just three years for new workers to get to the top of the assembly pay scale, the union said.

    The union also won the right to strike over plant closures at Stellantis, and can strike if the company doesn’t meet product and investment commitments, Fain said.

    Bruce Baumhower, president of the local union at a large Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, that has been on strike since September, said he expects workers will vote to approve the deal because of the pay raises above 30% and a large 11% raise immediately. “It’s a historic agreement as far as I’m concerned.”

    Some union members had complained that Fain promised 40% raises to match what he said was given to company CEOs, but Baumhower said that was merely an opening bid.

    “Ultimately, the numbers they did come to agree with is what the UAW wanted,” said Jermaine Antwine, a 48-year-old Stellantis worker who had been picketing the automaker’s Sterling Heights, Michigan, plant Saturday. A team leader in materials at the plant, the Pontiac, Michigan man has has 24 years with the automaker.

    Negotiations between the UAW and Stellantis had intensified Thursday, the day after the Ford deal was announced.

    The union began targeted strikes against all three automakers on Sept. 15 after its contracts with the companies expired. At the peak, about 46,000 workers were on strike against all three companies, about one-third of the union’s 146,000 members at the Detroit three.

    With the Ford deal, which set a template for the other two companies, workers with pensions will see small increases when they retire, and those hired after 2007 with 401(k) plans will get large increases.

    Other union leaders who followed aggressive bargaining strategies in recent months have also secured pay hikes and other benefits for their members. Last month, the union representing Hollywood writers called off a nearly five-month strike after scoring some wins in compensation, length of employment and other areas.

    ____

    Bajak reported from Boston. AP writers John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, Corey Williams in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Haleluya Hadero in Jersey City, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

    Tom Krisher, Frank Bajak, The Associated Press

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  • ‘I don’t have time for anything’: A Gen Zer’s horror at the 10-hour day required to commute to an office for her first job goes viral

    ‘I don’t have time for anything’: A Gen Zer’s horror at the 10-hour day required to commute to an office for her first job goes viral

    A TikTok video of a young woman complaining about her work-life balance after getting her first 9-to-5 position after college—described as “Gen Z girl finds out what a real job is like” in an X post— has gone viral. But while many have perceived her rant to be about having to work, a closer listen shows it’s really about having to commute to and from the office—and what little time there is left in her day after that. 

    The TikTok video has racked up 228,000 likes since being posted on Oct. 19, with many viewers sympathetic to the poster, identified on the platform as Brielle. The X post mentioned above, from the account @TTEcclesBrown, has racked up 47 million views since being posted on Wednesday, with many responses deriding her.

    In the video, the woman notes that remote work would solve her problem, as would affordable rent closer to her office.

    “If I was able to walk to work, it’d be fine,” she says, adding later, “Nothing to do with my job at all…Being in the office 9-to-5, like, if it was remote, you’d get off at 5, and you’re home and everything’s fine.”

    Instead, she says, “I get on the train at 7:30 and I don’t get home till like 6:15 earliest.” She complains that after her commute she doesn’t have the time or energy to cook dinner or work out. She also wonders, “How do you have friends? How do you have time for, like, dating? Like I don’t have time for anything, and I’m like so stressed out.” 

    As for why she doesn’t live closer to work, she notes, “There’s no way I’m gonna be able to afford living in the city right now, so that’s off the table.”

    Jason Calacanis, an angel investor and serial entrepreneur, mocked the woman for her complaints, writing on X: “Oh princess… I’m sorry you had to commute and work and have a job and everything — it’s like so extra!”

    Many criticized Calacanis for his post, which itself has garnered 7.8 million views. But he was hardly alone in ridiculing the young woman.

    “Recent college grad has breakdown over working a job. We’re doomed,” posted the Libs of TikTok account on X.

    Others suggested ways in which the woman could improve her situation. On the site Ricochet, which bills itself as a “community for smart, civil conversation on the center right,” a contributor with the handle “Seawriter” wrote:

    “You cannot have everything — not at once and not straight out of college. Decide what is most important to you and determine what you have to do — and what you have to sacrifice — to get it. Want to live in the city? Look for ways to make it affordable. Find a roommate or two roommates to split the cost of an apartment — live two or three to a room. Don’t want a long commute and don’t want to share a room? Get a job in the suburbs.”

    The woman is hardly alone, however, in being frustrated with commuting. With more CEOs demanding workers return to the office, many Americans are asking why the routine is necessary, especially given that remote work sufficed during the pandemic. 

    In a recent survey of over 8,400 U.S. workers by FlexJobs, 63% of respondents said remote work was still the most important part of a job to them, ahead of salary and a good boss. 

    “The tightly closed Pandora’s box of ‘work from anywhere’ has burst open, and will never be resealed,” Expensify CEO David Barrett wrote in a blog post this week after running a return-to-office experiment involving a upscale lounge for employees. “No amount of begging or coercion is going to work in the long run: The businesses that demand it are fighting a losing war of attrition.”

    Office attendance in large cities, meanwhile, is still only about half the level seen in 2019, as the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. That’s despite a slight uptick in attendance recently coupled with tough talk from high-profile CEOs about enforcing return-to-office policies.

    In an email to Insider, Brielle wrote that while she’s grateful to have her corporate job in the New York area after five months of post-college searching, “it is discouraging and understandable why Americans are burnt out and mental illness levels are high.” She also worries about office workers not finding enough time to enjoy “sunlight, exercise, adequate sleep, healthy eating, and forming connections with other people.”

    Steve Mollman

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  • What is The ‘Coffee Cup’ Test? Watch Out For This Tricky Interview Trend. | Entrepreneur

    What is The ‘Coffee Cup’ Test? Watch Out For This Tricky Interview Trend. | Entrepreneur

    Imagine you’re interviewing for a new job. You arrive at the office, the hiring manager greets you, and then walks you into the kitchen to offer a refreshment.

    You might be getting set up for the “coffee cup test” — an interview technique that’s gotten a lot of attention on social media. Some say it’s a great way to test how considerate a candidate is; others say it’s an empty trick that says more about the interviewer than it does the interviewee.

    So what is the test, and what should you do if you’re confronted with it? Read on.

    Jason Feifer

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  • How to Update Resume to Get Promotion | Entrepreneur

    How to Update Resume to Get Promotion | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This story originally appeared on Under30CEO.com

    Your resume is not just a list of job roles and duties; it’s your personal marketing tool. And what’s the best way to make it shine? By utilizing different resume examples that vividly display your leadership prowess and professional growth.

    Different resume examples serve as a wellspring of inspiration and guidance. Studying the resumes of successful individuals in your field or desired position can provide valuable insights into how to effectively present your leadership. These examples can inspire fresh ways to structure your achievements, articulate your responsibilities, and demonstrate your capacity for advancement.

    Understanding the power of resume examples

    Before we dive into the specifics, let’s grasp the power of using resume examples to your advantage. A well-structured resume highlights your skills, experience, and achievements, but it also tells a story about your journey in the professional world. When aiming for a promotion, this story should revolve around your ability to lead, learn, and grow.

    1. Start with a strong opening

    The first impression matters, so your resume’s opening must catch the reader’s attention. Craft a crisp summary statement that encapsulates your career journey, highlights your key leadership roles, and showcases your growth. Use the keyword “different resume examples” to demonstrate how you’ve adapted your approach to various challenges.

    Related: 4 Simple Steps to Building a Better Resume

    2. Emphasize leadership roles

    Promotions often come with more responsibilities and leadership opportunities. So, your resume should emphasize the times you’ve stepped into leadership roles. Whether managing a team, leading a project, or mentoring juniors, explicitly state how you’ve guided others to success.

    3. Highlight accomplishments

    Growth is not just about moving up the hierarchy; it’s about achieving tangible results. Use quantifiable achievements to back up your claims of growth and leadership. Metrics like revenue increase, cost savings, or improved customer satisfaction can speak volumes.

    4. Showcase skill development

    Promotions often require a broader skill set. Display how you’ve acquired and mastered new skills over time. This can demonstrate your adaptability and willingness to learn — essential qualities for any leadership role.

    Related: The Best Way to Add Keywords to Your Resume

    5. Display adaptability

    Leaders need to adapt to new challenges and changing environments. Use your resume to exhibit how you’ve embraced change and navigated through transitions. Certainly, this showcases your resilience and ability to steer through uncertainty.

    6. Incorporate feedback

    Effective leaders are open to feedback and use it to improve. Highlight instances where you’ve received constructive feedback and demonstrate how you’ve implemented it to enhance your performance and contributions.

    7. Volunteer and extracurricular involvement

    Leadership extends beyond the workplace. If you’ve held leadership positions in community organizations, clubs, or volunteer groups, certainly make sure to include them. This demonstrates your commitment to leadership on various fronts.

    8. Show progression within the company

    Promotions often involve climbing the ladder within the same organization. Illustrate how you’ve progressed internally, taking on more challenging roles and increasing your scope of influence.

    9. Demonstrate problem-solving

    Leaders are adept problem-solvers. Hence, use your resume to spotlight instances where you’ve identified challenges, devised innovative solutions, and led their successful implementation.

    10. Summarize with impact

    As you conclude your resume, summarize your leadership journey and growth in a way that leaves a lasting impact. Reinforce how your experiences have uniquely positioned you for the promotion you’re aiming for.

    Your resume is not just a document, certainly; it’s your story of growth, leadership, and accomplishments. To position yourself for that coveted promotion, use different resume examples as a source of inspiration. Craft a narrative that showcases your leadership roles, quantifiable achievements, adaptability, skill development, and commitment to growth.

    Your resume should resonate with confidence and competence, reflecting your readiness to take on new challenges and lead with excellence.

    Kimberly Zhang

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  • Black creators built TikTok. But Black employees say they experienced ‘toxicity and racism’ | CNN Business

    Black creators built TikTok. But Black employees say they experienced ‘toxicity and racism’ | CNN Business


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Nnete Matima said she was attracted to work at TikTok because of how the social media platform was “really built upon Black culture” and the work of Black creators.

    She saw and welcomed TikTok’s public pledge of support for the Black community in the wake of the 2020 police murder of George Floyd and applied to work for the company because she felt its corporate values “really resonated with me,” Matima told CNN.

    Shortly after she began working at TikTok-parent company ByteDance last year, however, she alleges she encountered “toxicity and racism” in the workplace. Her manager would refer to her as a “black snake” behind her back and set unrealistic and uneven expectations for her compared to her white peers, Matima claims. The mistreatment only got worse, she said, after she spoke up about it via human resources channels.

    Matima is one of two Black former ByteDance employees who together filed a formal complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday. Their complaint asks the agency to investigate alleged racial discrimination and retaliation against Black workers at the social media giant.

    Corporate America has long come under fire for racism in the workplace, especially in the wake of the racial reckoning that swept through the nation in 2020. The criticism is especially pointed for technology companies, where having employees with diverse perspectives is especially crucial because tech products have faced accusations of perpetuating racial and ethnic discrimination.

    Matima, who is based in New York City, and fellow former employee Joël Carter, who is based in Austin, Texas, alleged in the proposed class action complaint that they each faced repeated instances of discrimination at work and then faced retaliation when they raised concerns about it.

    “Rather than holding anyone accountable, TikTok denied the blatant discrimination that Ms. Matima and Mr. Carter suffered, failed to stop it from continuing, engaged in sham ‘investigations’ of their complaints, took away their work, and then terminated Ms. Matima and Mr. Carter in retaliation for complaining about race discrimination and mistreatment,” the complaint states.

    “We are asking the EEOC to investigate TikTok’s pattern or practice of retaliation against workers who complain about discrimination,” the complaint adds.

    In a statement to CNN on Thursday, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We take employee concerns very seriously, and have strong policies in place that prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. As an organization, we have a strong record of championing diversity and inclusion.”

    TikTok skyrocketed in popularity in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and as of this year has amassed more than 150 million American users. As the app has become more entrenched in American culture, it has also faced mounting scrutiny from US lawmakers over perceived security concerns due to its China-based parent company’s ties to Beijing. Talks of an outright US ban of the app have simmered in Washington, DC, since the Trump era but have largely subsided in recent months as lawmakers turn their attention to the rise of generative AI out of Silicon Valley.

    Even TikTok itself has also acknowledged the important role that Black users play on the platform — and its need to support them.

    “Black creators inspire mainstream culture and continue to define what’s next — from creating viral moments and pioneering new spaces in fashion and music, to advocating for others and organizing for a better future, they have always been at the forefront of innovation,” the company said in a statement last January.

    Two years earlier, TikTok had acknowledged concerns that Black users felt “unsafe, unsupported, or suppressed” and vowed to “actively promote and protect” diversity on the platform.

    ‘Dehumanizing and demoralizing’

    Carter, who began working at TikTok in June 2021, told CNN in an interview that experience at the company was “dehumanizing” and “demoralizing.”

    Carter was initially hired as a risk analyst responsible for managing the safety of TikTok’s ad ecosystem, but was transferred to the platform’s ad policy team as a policy manager eight months later. Shortly after starting his new role, Carter alleges, he discovered that he was being significantly underpaid compared to his colleagues. He says he raised these concerns to human resources and his department leader. Carter was at the time the only Black employee on his 80-person ad policy team, the complaint states.

    Carter’s manager prevented him from attending important meetings and took credit for Carter’s work, according to the complaint. Carter alleges that in response to his complaints, his role at the company “was changed and severely diminished,” prompting him to again alert human resources that he was concerned about discrimination and retaliation.

    The complaint filed with the EEOC shares parts of Carter’s April 2022 performance evaluation, where he was given an overall score of: “Exceeds expectations.” A reviewer described Carter as “open and humble above all” and a “great teammate.” He was “happy to provide assistance or guidance whenever needed. He never had an ego and was always open to collaboration and feedback,” the reviewer added, per the complaint.

    But after Carter began raising concerns at work about racial discrimination, he alleges he was retaliated against in a performance review in April 2023.

    He was labeled as “tense” and “angry” and accused of “slamming doors” in the office in that review, the complaint states. But Carter says he never slammed a door in the office. In fact, he says, the doors at the office were hydraulic — not even capable of being slammed.

    Carter told CNN that he felt his managers were trying “to establish this narrative of me about being the ‘angry Black man.’” Carter grew emotional as he talked to CNN about the pain and “the historic significance of using that kind of inflammatory language, especially when it’s unfounded.”

    His experience at work deeply impacted his mental health, and for the first time in his life he began seeing a psychiatrist and dealing with symptoms of depression for “months on end,” he said. “It was like overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.”

    Matima — who worked in sales for Lark, ByteDance’s workplace communication division — similarly alleges she was treated differently from the colleagues on her team “who were nearly all white,” according to the complaint. For example, Matima says she was not given adequate time to complete required onboarding courses before being asked to start her work, so she had to finish the courses during nights and weekends. By contrast, Matima’s white colleagues “were given ample time during normal work hours to complete their training before they were required to start their sales outreach,” the complaint states.

    In January 2023, the complaint alleges, Matima was told by a colleague that her manager and other colleagues “commonly referred” to her as a “black snake.”

    “This outrageous ‘black snake’ nickname was not only racially derogatory and inflammatory, but also suggested that Ms. Matima is a deceitful, untrustworthy, and sneaky person,” the complaint states.

    Matima and Carter both allege that multiple requests to switch managers were denied and that their complaints to the company’s human resources department were not adequately investigated and managed.

    Both Matima and Carter were ultimately terminated by TikTok in August.

    Now Matima says she feels a “moral obligation” to share the experiences publicly. “When there is injustice happening, it festers in the dark and the shadows,” she said. “By going public, we can inspire others who are still suffering in there to stand up and speak out.”

    Are you a current for former employee of TikTok or ByteDance and have information to share about what it’s like to work there? Learn how to reach out journalists securely: https://www.cnn.com/tips/

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  • What is Loud Quitting | Entrepreneur

    What is Loud Quitting | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This story was originally published on Under30CEO.com

    Recently, workplace dynamics have undergone significant changes, and the rise of social media has introduced a new trend known as “loud quitting.” This phenomenon involves disgruntled employees expressing their frustrations publicly on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Live, making a spectacle of their decision to leave their jobs. While this approach may seem enticing to some, human resources experts caution against engaging in such behavior due to the potential long-term consequences it can have on an individual’s career.

    Related: Quiet Quitting Is Dividing the Workforce. Here’s How to Bring Everyone Back Together.

    Niki Jorgensen, the managing director of client implementation at Insperity, told Under30CEO that it highlights that although loud quitting may be a new name, it is not a new concept. She points out that almost one in five employees participate in this practice, while disengaged “quiet quitters” constitute 59% of the workforce, according to Under30CEO. The allure of sharing resignations on social media is understandable, especially in a world where digital natives feel comfortable expressing significant life changes online. However, the implications of such actions can be far-reaching and may leave lasting negative impressions on both the company and its leadership.

    Job experts unanimously agree that loud quitting is not a recommended approach to resigning. Instead, they emphasize the importance of acting professionally and gracefully, particularly when seeking to maintain one’s reputation in the workplace. Mike Steinitz, senior executive director for Robert Half in Washington, D.C., told Under30CEO that it underscores the potential risks involved in loud quitting, highlighting that it may lead to burning bridges with employers, resulting in severed ties that can be detrimental to future career opportunities, according to Under30CEO.

    In contrast, taking a more positive approach can yield better results. Jorgensen told Under30CEO she advises employees to initiate conversations with their managers when feelings of disengagement arise. This approach allows for constructive discussions and opportunities to effect change in the workplace. Resigning professionally is essential for preserving one’s professional reputation and network of connections, as the business world is relatively small, and news of a less-than-ideal exit can spread quickly, impacting future career prospects.

    Related: Some Workers Aren’t Just ‘Quiet Quitting’ — They’re ‘Fast Quitting’ and Leaving Companies Earlier Than Ever Before

    When contemplating resignation, it is vital to schedule a meeting with the manager to discuss the decision formally. Providing the resignation in writing and adhering to the standard two-week notice period is customary in most workplaces. During the meeting, employees can also discuss how to handle the transition of pending work, notify clients of the departure, and ensure coworkers are trained on critical processes.

    Furthermore, being mindful of social media posts is crucial, as it can significantly influence how potential employers and colleagues perceive individuals — negative content about employers, whether current or past, can be detrimental to one’s professional image. Steinitz reiterates the importance of maintaining a cordial and professional online presence, as social media posts are readily accessible to the world and can have lasting implications, according to Under30CEO.

    While the allure of becoming an online sensation through “loud quitting” may be tempting, job experts emphasize the value of maintaining professionalism, grace, and dignity when resigning from a position. This approach not only safeguards one’s reputation within the industry but also leaves the door open for potential future opportunities. By understanding the potential risks and consequences of loud quitting, individuals can make more informed decisions when navigating their careers in the digital age.

    Joe Rothwell

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  • 5 Ways HR Can Drive Success In Today’s Turbulent Times | Entrepreneur

    5 Ways HR Can Drive Success In Today’s Turbulent Times | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We live in an era in which the role of human resources is often challenged: media reports routinely fawn over the ability of artificial intelligence to replicate many “traditional” HR tasks, the move to remote work (and the switch back) has many HR teams struggling to find their place to support shifting workplace cultures, limited people budgets have required increasingly difficult choices and the weakened economy have left many HR teams with skeleton crews, many of which report they are stressed out – and burned out.

    Against this backdrop, now is an excellent time to take stock of the future of human resources. In this age of turbulence and transformation, how and where can HR teams focus on making the most significant impact on their organization?

    1. Build Employee Commitment – From Day One

    HR is traditionally the first point of contact for newly hired employees, but the experience can often be underwhelming. The tasks associated with onboarding are often mundane and standardized.

    In the last few years, many companies have focused on maximizing engagement and excitement by sending or providing employees with company merchandise, notes from their CEOs, or even decorations for their home office. These steps help make an employee feel welcome but don’t drive real commitment.

    Outside of the C suite, HR is the department best positioned to help new employees understand why their company exists and how it contributes to society while building commitment around the kind of corporate culture and initiatives the organization is driving. It takes more than words on a screen to communicate whether employees have bought into a company’s broader purpose.

    Focus on ways to help every employee understand their role in bringing the company’s purpose to life, showing employees why the work they do will matter every day in the lives of others, ask them to think about how they can help further the mission of your organization and to find ways to improve in that goal constantly. You will jump-start commitment and maximize effort from day one.

    Related: Watch Out for These 5 Artificial Intelligence Problems in HR

    2. Relentlessly drive focus to drive results

    In a constantly shifting world, priorities seem to change quickly. Most employees report they are overwhelmed and don’t have the basic time to think — or work — on their given tasks. HR is in a prime position to help organizations drive focus.

    • Job Clarity: ensure every employee clearly understands their role and what is expected of them. Go beyond job descriptions and onboard talent by providing a more robust understanding of their role and how it fits into the broader picture of their respective departments and the company.
    • Goal setting: setting clear, stretch goals that are difficult but achievable can disproportionately drive long-term performance. Set organizational goals using simple communication tools like the “one-page strategy” concept articulated by One Page Solutions. Then, cascade these goals to every employee. Calibrate goals to ensure you don’t have unintended conflicts, train managers on prioritizing and focus your people on what matters most.
    • A culture of feedback: the best, high-achieving cultures are comfortable giving regular feedback up, down and across the organization to help everyone improve. Train employees on the art and science of feedback: how to make observations first, then assessments, describe impacts and provide ideas to make improvements.

    3. Pair people with technology and champion the possibilities

    Generative AI will absolutely transform how work gets done. Embrace it for the benefit of your team, their workload and all employees who will appreciate the responsiveness. Imagine an AI script that walks an employee through a series of choices to pick the most appropriate medical, dental and vision plans during Open Enrollment. Not only does this save time, but it could also be customized based on their specific situation, life events for them or their family, and more. Consider standardized assessments, training tasks and even videos as potential areas to explore with AI.

    Related: The Benefits and Drawbacks of AI Integration in HR Departments

    4. Create global talent plans

    Work-from-home and remote jobs are likely here to stay, despite the current shift and ask from many leaders coming back into the office regularly. That only underscores the need for corporate leaders, HR included, to go the extra mile to make human connections with remote employees ― and to understand the cost-benefit analysis of remote work.

    HR teams can help coordinate strategies to add more rigor to the remote work decision process: Which jobs need to be done in the office? Which are better outsourced to lower-cost locations? What locations best fit the work your company needs?

    HR can help identify lower-cost talent hubs as potential sources for remote work, effectively maximizing an organization’s productivity while minimizing expenses. HR should assess if there are clusters of talent that are cheaper and easier to recruit from, but also whether the savings from employing a remote strategy is worth the trade-offs such as in-person oversight, team camaraderie and cohesive workplace culture.

    Related: Top 5 HR Challenges You Must Overcome When Expanding Globally

    5. Instill a diverse culture to create more ideas

    A more diverse team is also a more innovative team. In times of financial stress, pressure can build to push diversity, equity and inclusion practices to the back burner. But an important function of HR teams will always be their ability to apply data to safeguard against implicit bias when hiring and recruiting employees. In the long run, this can be a competitive business advantage.

    As organizations start to employ talent more globally, it’s increasingly important to consider ethnic diversity, understand different cultures and learn how best to work with people from unfamiliar backgrounds.

    Jesse Meschuk

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  • 3 Tips to Ensure Your HR Department is Properly Empowered to Protect Your Employees and Business | Entrepreneur

    3 Tips to Ensure Your HR Department is Properly Empowered to Protect Your Employees and Business | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Too many founders have learned the hard way that weak people practices can expose their employees to risk, their company to costly legal jeopardy and leave their reputations indelibly stained.

    Today’s employees are seeking values-driven companies and come with a deeper understanding of their rights. If your HR shop isn’t screening applicants with an eye toward culture or speaking frankly with you about the impacts of key hires, your ability to shepherd your organization toward future success will be impaired.

    Worse, if your HR head has not been trained to act impartially or empowered to intercede quickly, it can result in systemic problems that prevent victims from finding justice. This pushes victims to seek other remedies, which show up daily in viral callouts and highly publicized court cases.

    Beyond unflattering headlines, many startups can see their financial value decimated just as they were taking off. If it’s not attorneys’ fees and settlement costs, it’s lost customers and potential partners due to the negative coverage. Even if a lawsuit exonerates your company, the mere accusation can come at a price, and extended court battles can expose sensitive internal company dealings.

    Related: This Entrepreneur Has Solutions for HR Problems You Didn’t Know You Had

    To prevent this, you must focus on how to set up a respected and experienced HR team that is empowered to handle misconduct allegations from the start, even if it involves someone from your executive team. It is on you to create a culture that supports calling out, investigating, and punishing workplace misconduct — be it harassment or discrimination, bullying or any other unlawful action.

    When setting up your HR department, here are three steps to help you avoid misconduct from arising in the first place — or, if it does arise, to ensure it is dealt with quickly and consistently.

    1: Hire experienced HR leaders who share your company’s values

    It can be difficult for HR staff to discern which aspects of a grievance are true and which ones aren’t. Add in a power imbalance like those that occurs between a manager and a subordinate, and HR may find itself not only caught between two employees but between higher-ranking staff who want the problem to simply go away. If you have not hired HR professionals with the experience to navigate the necessary conversations and evenly enforce the rules, you may be held liable for any wrongful acts that follow.

    As a founder, you must prioritize hiring HR executives who are strong and principled leaders. When interviewing potential candidates, ask them how they would handle tough allegations and what processes they would utilize to ensure fair outcomes for all parties. Based on their answers, you want to ensure they see eye to eye with your company’s values. You may also want to seek out experienced HR chiefs who have handled tough employee accusations before.

    After hiring the right talent, you need to make clear that they have the authority and the responsibility to handle all misconduct allegations equally, no matter who is accused — even if it’s someone on your executive team.

    Related: Here’s How Companies Are Ensuring Women’s Workplace Safety

    2. Create protocols that protect victims and your company, not the accused

    A National Women’s Law Center study found that as many as 70% of those who report harassment face some form of retaliation. And 37% noted that nothing happened to the harasser after the complaint. But even when the company is engaged, many will still farm out the process to outside investigators and attorneys. This, too, lends itself to a predictable pattern and usually concludes with a benign acknowledgment of the complaint followed by language indicating that the company took all steps required by law to resolve the complaint. What this really means is that they took as little action as possible to avoid liability.

    Unfortunately for these companies, there are many experienced attorneys watching and waiting for this. They know that there is likely to be damaging information in investigative reports and will use the discovery process to gain leverage for their client. This can be prevented if the company takes appropriate action from the beginning.

    This requires, first, conducting a fair and neutral investigation. This doesn’t require hiring an outside firm. A victim’s claims can often be verified by interviewing key staff and reviewing written communications and other records.

    Second, if the accusations are deemed to be true and serious, take swift action to hold the offender accountable. In many instances, that means terminating his or her employment.

    To ensure your process of investigating and ruling on a case is respected by all parties, it should be based on protocols that treat all accusations equally. This will ensure everyone involved — from the HR team to the executives, to the accuser, to the accused — has the same rights and responsibilities.

    3: Empower HR to let go of toxic employees, even if they are high-performing

    Proper handling of an allegation is rarely an issue when a low-level employee commits an offense. If an hourly worker engages in misconduct, companies can often be counted on to take appropriate action. But when it’s a highly-valued officer, decisions may be weighed against the perceived value the employee brings to the company. This reflects a misunderstanding of the true costs of these individuals.

    An abusive person in a management position can cost more than many realize through high employee turnover and productivity problems. Half of employees who leave their jobs do so, at least in part, because of bad managers, and replacing employees costs a company as much as 50% of the person’s salary. In terms of productivity, one study found that teams with toxic managers yielded 27% less revenue per employee than well-managed teams.

    A similar effect can be measured for public companies. When a high-level official of a publicly traded company gets called out for wrongdoing, the hit to the company’s stock price can cause the rapid loss of millions or even billions of dollars in market cap.

    Protecting these abusive employees isn’t just wrong. It’s costly and potentially fatal to your business. This is why it’s important to make clear to your HR department that it has the power to terminate employment for any employee based on the results of a fair investigation, even if they are high-ranking or high-performing.

    You may think none of this applies to you or that accusations will never occur in your company, but the numbers tell a different story. 60% of U.S. workers have experienced or witnessed workplace discrimination and, unfortunately, 40% reported being retaliated against after speaking up.

    In every one of these cases, the company has exposed itself to potential liability. Increasingly, law firms are looking out for opportunities to step in on behalf of these victims. You can protect your company and your employees by doing exactly that — protecting them, not the accused.

    Kim Williams

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