Category: Learning & Development

Employees are valuing career development more than ever—it’s a sign that the company is willing to invest in their future. How are businesses approaching training today? What are their pain points, and what topics are being addressed in training?

Alleviating Financial Stress: How HR Teams Can Support Employees Amid Economic Turmoil 

Employees have been forced to deal with constant economic upheaval over the past few years. First, there was the surging unemployment and job displacement—as well as physical displacement—caused by a once-in-a-century pandemic. Then there was the explosion of post-COVID inflation. Now employees face a huge spike in healthcare costs, high levels of indebtedness, and a cooling labor market. While AI is […]

Presenting? Your Hands Point the Way

Many readers give presentations to all sorts of groups—the C-suite, staff, business partners—or they’re sought out for advice from colleagues on how to do so effectively. So an article in the January-February 2026 issue of the Harvard Business Review titled “Hand Gestures Make You More Persuasive” caught my attention. Data Doesn’t Lie The article points […]

The Autonomy Mandate: HR’s Playbook for the “Entrepreneurial” Workforce

In 2026, the traditional corporate ladder is being replaced by a desire for “ILWE”—Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, and Equity. Marissa Frois, CEO of The Entrepreneur’s Source, revealed this startling data during our recent webinar, “Why Isn’t This Working? The Great Career Pivot: Why Your Top Talent is Dreaming of Being Their Own Boss.” Frois also revealed […]

When Fairness Meets Finance: The New Reality of People Decisions 

People decisions are some of the most scrutinized decisions organizations make. Pay adjustments, promotions, bonuses, and headcount choices are no longer quiet HR moments, they are visible, questioned, and often challenged. Employees expect fairness and transparency. Finance leaders expect discipline and predictability. Managers are asked to balance empathy, accountability, and cost often all at once.  This shift matters because it […]

Why Employee Engagement Should Feel ‘Calm and Boring’ and Other Takeaways With McKesson’s Sr. Director of Talent Succession

Engagement strategies are often treated as exciting, fun perks that help employees stay motivated and fulfilled at an organization. But Jenessa Disler, Senior Director of Talent Succession at McKesson, and speaker at SPARK HR 2026, turns that thinking on its head. The reality is, she says, “When engagement is done really well, it’s actually just […]

The Hidden Cost of Silence: How Low Psychological Safety in the Workplace Undermines Compliance, Culture and Growth 

As organizations enter the new year focused on driving growth and elevating performance, a critical risk continues to go overlooked: the absence of psychological safety in the workplace.   Psychological safety is a foundational requirement for effective compliance, sound decision-making and strong business performance. When employees don’t feel safe to speak up, organizations lose visibility into risk, culture erodes and innovation slows. […]

What HR Needs to Know About Pen Testing

Penetration testing is just as important to the human resources department as it is to the information technology (IT) sector. Humans often cause data breaches, which is why HR professionals with experience dealing with workers are crucial. Pen testing helps HR and IT departments identify vulnerabilities in the security system and utilize that information to […]

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Rethinking Employee Wellness: Self-Care, Mindfulness, and the Power of Play 

There is a real disconnect in the culture of American companies. A recent Gallup survey of Chief Human Resource Officers reveals that employee wellbeing ranks among the top organizational priorities of the year, however, it has yet to make a difference in the workforce as only 21% of employees agree their organization cares about their overall wellbeing. This is a record […]

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Verbs in Communication

Words matter, and they matter a lot. As Mark Twain purportedly once said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lightning bolt and a lightning bug.” So, I read with interest a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) by @Simons, whose name is Simon Ingari, a […]

Why Effective Facilitation is the Skill Your Team Needs in an Age of Uncertainty

It’s been three years since OpenAI released ChatGPT, making generative AI mainstream and introducing a new era of innovation and organizational transformation. While many have adopted the technology and experienced significant gains in productivity, emerging challenges are also affecting the people in our organizations. Currently, we see companies, big and small, slashing office jobs and […]