Latest news with #HR
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Collective Effervescence: Hope From HR Leaders As They Face Challenges
Teamwork and thought leadership can overcome any challenge. If you're in the business of HR nowadays, the world of work can feel bleak. The divides amongst us grow broader and deeper; our businesses face layoffs, real and existential threats; DEIB has become a four-letter word; the C-suite implore us to help solve and ready the organization for an AI-laden near future, except instead of building the plane as we fly it, we're dismantling and repurposing the parts as we take off. At the interpersonal level, those of us in HR can feel like caretakers. We are the willing, compassionate warriors who strive to prevent and alleviate the suffering of others. We are a place where people air their grievances. And many times, that's a good thing. But who cares for the caretakers? Enter Workhuman Live, an HR conference put on by Workhuman, an employee recognition software company. My team attended Workhuman Live in Aurora, Colorado, the week of May 12th this year, and came home full of topical insights, new friends, and, more importantly, hope. Waypower and Willpower In psychology and the social sciences, hope is a measurable psychological state with tremendous power to enable action. Its component parts are Waypower and Willpower. Waypower encompasses the strategies necessary to achieve a goal, and willpower refers to the motivational energy required to reach it. Workhuman Live and events like these, when done well, can provide both. For ten years, Workhuman Live has gathered HR professionals, senior leaders, social scientists, and thought leaders to explore: How do we make work more human? From the likes of Adam Grant and Trevor Noah this year, to Michelle Obama, Brené Brown, Amal Clooney, and others in past years, this conference explores a wide range of topics. It seeks to unpack big questions, ponder challenging ones, and tread on uncomfortable ones, providing a place for HR professionals to collaborate, strategize, and bring actionable insights home to make a meaningful impact. This all contributes to the Waypower aspect of Hope. Beyond the brainpower and best practices, though, this conference provided attendees with the powerful experience of collective effervescence, a sociological term describing the feeling of belonging and connection to a group, making one feel like they are part of something larger. With high-energy visuals, engaging and thoughtful emcees KeyAnna Schmiedl and Holly Ransom, high-powered speakers, coffee bars, customizable water bottles, and (actually) good, healthy food, the week in Colorado at Workhuman Live was a place of connection and re-energization. Through this, Workhuman Live enlivened our Willpower. Key Themes: AI is Here to Stay One of our biggest takeaways from this year's conference was, possibly no surprise, the role of AI as a workplace disruptor. Met by some with cautious optimism, others with trepidation, and others with doomsday predictions, there is no doubt that AI is here to stay and changing work in ways yet to be fully revealed. With heavy-hitters weighing in like Adam Grant, Kelly Jones, the Chief People Officer at Cisco, and Kerry Dryburgh, the Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer at BP, it was nice to know that we are kindred spirits pondering the question: how will AI affect the future of work, workforces, and (up)skilling? Adam Grant suggested that we tap into the collective wisdom and creativity of our own workforces by launching a sort of AI hackathon, inviting employees to unlock the best possible ways to deploy AI to improve the organization. Whether you take his advice or not, the answer is not to crawl under your desk in the fetal position and hope that AI goes away soon. Great leaders are People-Centric We sat down and interviewed conference presenters, authors, and leaders, and asked them to differentiate between good and great leaders. Although our interviewees hailed from different industries, backgrounds, and areas of study, they all agreed that great leaders need to be people-centric, building relationships and cultivating the best in their people. Best-selling author and keynote speaker Cy Wakeman has been pondering this question for some time. Her insights were summed up with 'I think there's a totally new skill needed for great leaders. They are not going to manage the systems and the processes. That is for AI. Leaders should be managing the energy of their people. The new great leaders will be alchemists.' Niamh Graham, Vice President, Global HR at Workhuman said the great leaders truly care about their people. '[They] have to be a good listener, and [they] have to care.' We also spoke with Kia Afcari, Director of Greater Good Workplaces at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center (GGSC), who brings an academic lens to the question, given the GGSC's focus on the psychology and neuroscience behind wellbeing in the workplace. Kia shared, 'We've been doing a lot of research and writing on kindness in leadership. Known in academia as prosocial behavior, prosociality is generally defined as 'positive' social behavior intended to promote the welfare of others. Companies with prosopical CEOs perform better. Employees perform better for prosocial managers.' He writes in his article Why Kind Workplaces are More Successful, 'fostering a prosocial and well-being–oriented workplace is not only 'the right thing to do' but also a strategic business decision.' One way to initiate a more intentional approach to developing people-centric leaders is to explore the compassionate leadership toolkit, which includes a free assessment, and consider attending WorkHuman's next conference for educational and morale purposes.
Associated Press
14 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
goHappy Launches Frontline Referrals to Transform Hourly Workforce Hiring
RICHMOND, Va., May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- goHappy, the leading engagement solution for frontline workers, today announced the launch of Frontline Referrals, a new product designed to transform how organizations recruit hourly employees by tapping into their existing workforce as a valuable talent pipeline. Frontline Referrals provides a simple, app-free solution that empowers frontline employees to easily refer friends, family, and former coworkers, while giving employers the tools they need to track, manage, and reward successful hires automatically. The result is faster hiring, lower recruitment costs, and more engaged teams. 'Referrals have always been one of the most effective hiring channels, especially in hourly industries,' said Shawn Boyer, Founder and CEO of goHappy. 'But most referral programs are built for desk workers, not the frontline. We built Frontline Referrals to be radically simple. No logins, no apps, just a fast and transparent way to refer great people and get rewarded.' Designed with both frontline workers and HR teams in mind, Frontline Referrals streamlines every step of the process with: The launch of Frontline Referrals builds on goHappy's mission to help organizations improve retention, engagement, and overall workforce well-being through easy, accessible tools built specifically for the frontline. To learn more, visit: About goHappy goHappy is transforming how employers communicate and engage with their frontline workers by providing the most inclusive and simple app-free frontline engagement technology. The key to goHappy's success is enabling employers to reach 100% of their frontline employees where they already are - in their text messages. The team at goHappy has been operating in the frontline employee space for over 25 years. Its mission is to help ALL frontline workers feel more valued and connected so they can reach their full potential. In turn, employers not only improve communication to maximize engagement and happiness within their frontline employees, but also benefit from the bottom line impact that those improvements deliver. For more information on goHappy and its suite of frontline employee engagement solutions, visit Media Contact: Keith Gordon [email protected] View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE goHappy
Globe and Mail
19 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Teamflect Unveils AI HR Partners: Transforming Human Resources into a Strategic Powerhouse
LONDON, May 28, 2025 /CNW/ -- Teamflect, the all-in-one performance management platform built for Microsoft Teams, announces the beta launch of its AI HR Partners. A groundbreaking feature that aims to revolutionize HR operations by automating routine tasks, enabling HR professionals to dedicate more time to employee engagement and development.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘It wasn't a request': Boss asks employee to work on day-off, threatens to cut her bonus
One boss is getting slammed on social media for demanding that an employee work on her pre-approved day off and threatening to cut her bonus if she failed to show up. Screenshots of their text exchange were shared on Instagram by UK workplace expert Ben Askins. Askins kept the identities of the boss and employee anonymous, but his TikTok video has racked up more than 27 million views, with thousands of people criticising the boss for his 'insane' demand. The issue began when the boss texted a team member to handle a presentation on behalf of another employee. 'Hey, Jasper won't be coming in today so you'll need to handle the presentation,' the message read. The woman replied saying she had approved leave for the day and would therefore not be in office. 'Sorry, I can't. I've got today booked off for plans with the kids. I'll be back on Monday,' she wrote. The boss's response to this message left millions shocked. 'It wasn't really a request TBH. I need you in by 11am,' he fired back. The employee did not back down easily. She pointed out that she had been putting in extra hours for weeks and was entitled to leave, especially one that had already been approved in advance. However, the boss refused to budge. 'One day isn't too much to ask. I can revoke your day off and expect you in at 11 am,' he wrote. 'That doesn't feel very fair,' the employee wrote, arguing that a colleague at brunch should not get priority over her time with her children. 'Not going to lie. I decide what is fair. We will have a conversation about our commitment when you're in today. If you're not here, it is coming out of your bonus,' the boss responded. People were shocked by the exchange and the manager's attitude, with many urging the employee to file a complaint with Human Resources. 'The first text message should not have been responded to. It is that simple,' an Instagram commenter wrote. 'I'm confused why people are even responding on days off, any work devices get turned off and any sent to private gets ignored,' another said. 'Hope this was reported to HR,' a user added.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Curiosity Culture Turns Neurodiversity Into an Advantage
What's needed is a shift from workplace cultures of compliance to curiosity, where cognitive ... More differences are met with genuine interest and inquiry rather than standardized accommodation protocols. Some organizations approach neurodiversity like they approach fire safety—as a compliance issue requiring basic accommodations to avoid problems. They offer noise-canceling headphones, adjust lighting, create flexible work arrangements and then consider the job done. This kind of compliance culture is a defensive posture focused on risk mitigation rather than opportunity optimization. It's also a lamentable waste of talent and opportunity for both people who are neurodiverse and organizations that employ them, or who could be their employers. According to data from McKinsey, about 20% of the population exhibits neurodivergent traits—for example, autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia. But people who are neurodiverse face an 80% unemployment and underemployment rate despite possessing advanced qualifications in analytical and creative thinking: the very skills the World Economic Forum identifies as most critical for organizational success. What's needed is a shift from workplace cultures of compliance to curiosity, where cognitive differences are met with genuine interest and inquiry rather than standardized accommodation protocols. Here's what usually happens when a manager learns they have a neurodivergent team member. HR provides an accommodation checklist, perhaps offers brief training on "working with differences," and the manager dutifully implements prescribed adjustments. Well meaning as it can be, this compliance-driven approach often overlooks potential and reinforces stigma. The individual's neurodivergent traits are now a formality in the system — an issue to be addressed and a potential liability to be avoided. This dynamic can provoke shame in the employee and fear in the employer, stifling opportunities for dialogue and missing a transformative opportunity. In an interview with McKinsey, Dr. Lawrence Fung, director of Stanford University's Neurodiversity Project, said that approximately half of neurodivergent professionals choose not to disclose their conditions precisely because of these well-meaning but limiting accommodation-focused approaches. They've learned that disclosure often leads to being managed as an exception rather than valued for unique contributions. But when SAP launched its Autism at Work program, the company discovered something remarkable about their applicant pool. These weren't individuals seeking help or accommodation—they were accomplished professionals with master's degrees in electrical engineering, biostatistics, and economic statistics, many graduating with honors or holding patents. The problem wasn't their capability; it was that traditional hiring and management practices had systematically excluded exceptional talent. The most successful neuro-inclusive organizations have discovered that practices enabling neurodivergent employees to thrive happen to be the same practices that help to unlock potential in all employees. According to Harvard Business Review, a team of neurodiverse software testers at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) helped a client to re-engineer its project launch process after 'strenuously questioning' why the client was tolerant of chaotic deployments. The questions of the HPE team, intolerant of apparent disorder, was met with a culture of curiosity. Again, according to research published in Harvard Business Review, 'At SAP, a neurodiverse customer-support analyst spotted an opportunity to let customers help solve a common problem themselves; thousands of them subsequently used the resources he created.' The key was organizational curiosity about his different way of processing information rather than simply accommodating his social interaction style. The shift from compliance to curiosity becomes practical through what I call everyday development—integrating growth-oriented conversations into regular work interactions rather than creating separate accommodation discussions. This approach transforms how leaders engage with all cognitive differences. The foundation is learning to get curious and be dynamic. Effective leaders learn to observe engagement patterns and ask "What conditions help you do your best work?" or "When do you feel most energized in your role?" This shift from deficit-focused accommodation to strength-based optimization changes everything. Take the practice of noticing sparks of engagement and points of friction. Effective leaders learn to observe when team members light up during certain types of work and when they seem to struggle, then get curious about those patterns rather than applying standard performance management approaches. We also need to deal with what Dr Fung calls, the Hidden Curriculum—the million-and-one norms of workplace life that everyone takes for granted that might need to be explained. As Dr Fung says in his interview with McKinsey: 'A hidden curriculum, for example, is that most people would expect the leader of a meeting to sit at the top of a 30-person conference room table, with the more junior people sitting in more peripheral positions. But there's usually no book talking about this, and no one verbalizes where people should be sitting. People with autism need a heads-up about those types of things. Another example is if you're planning to call upon an autistic person to give a report or share comments, spontaneously, it's usually not going to go well. But if they're told ahead of time what they are supposed to do, what their responsibilities may be, they can really shine.' Finally, effective neuro-inclusive leaders foster ongoing dialogue about working styles and encourage personalization. In our executive coach training, our refrain is ABC (always be contracting). In this case, that means regular conversations about optimal working conditions that evolve with projects, stress levels, and team compositions. This amounts to ongoing and fluid accommodation, which allows everyone a say in how they work best together. Organizations implementing curiosity-driven approaches report benefits that extend far beyond the neurodivergent employees they initially sought to support. Employee engagement increases across teams that include neurodivergent colleagues, as neurotypical employees report finding their work more meaningful and challenging. The perfectionist tendencies that some neurodivergent employees bring to projects have pushed entire client organizations to raise their standards and stop accepting certain problems as inevitable. Perhaps most significantly, these organizations develop greater agility in recognizing and leveraging diverse forms of talent across all employees. SAP uses a powerful metaphor to describe this evolution: people are like puzzle pieces with irregular shapes. Traditional organizations ask employees to trim their irregularities to fit standard rectangles. But innovation comes from the unique edges, from capabilities that can't be standardized or replicated. Then, of course, there's what we never speak about. Neurodiversity in leadership. Up to 25% of CEOs may be dyslexic, according to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, yet few feel confident enough to publicly acknowledge neurodivergent traits. The question facing leaders is not whether to accommodate neurodivergent employees, but whether they possess the cultural sophistication to transform organizational responses to cognitive difference from compliance to curiosity. In an economy increasingly dependent on analytical thinking and creative problem-solving, organizations that learn to optimize for cognitive diversity will substantially outperform those that continue optimizing for conformity. Are we ready to replace accommodation checklists with curiosity practices, transforming cognitive differences into opportunities for organizational learning and capability enhancement? The most successful organizations of the future may well be those that master this shift from managing differences to maximizing diverse capabilities.
