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The AI Reality Check: When Workplace Implementation Goes Wrong

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The AI Reality Check: When Workplace Implementation Goes Wrong

All those wonderful things you hear about AI make it seem like a magical wand that you only need to bring into your workplace to transform it completely.

Well, although there’s no denying the powerful effects of a well-implemented AI strategy, there are also quite a few challenges  that come along with it. Moreover, these hiccups sometimes give way to tragic outcomes too. 

We checked in with the HR Spotlight community of HR leaders and business experts so we could go behind the scenes and bring to you a narrative you won’t always find among the AI headlines of the day—narratives where AI goes the other way, resulting in negative consequences. 

Read on!

Ronald Osborne
Founder, Ronald Osborne Business Coach

Overlooks Qualified Candidates

A company I worked with in the UAE had implemented an AI-driven hiring tool to streamline recruitment. The system used algorithms to filter candidates based on their resumes and preset criteria. 

Initially, it seemed like a fantastic time saver but over time, the company noticed a troubling trend. 

Highly qualified candidates were being overlooked, and there was an apparent lack of diversity in the new hires. Upon investigation, it became clear the AI system had been trained on historical hiring data that carried implicit biases, causing the tool to favor specific profiles while filtering out others unfairly. 

This led to a skills gap in critical areas and tension within the HR team as they struggled to understand the discrepancies.

With my background in recruitment optimization and operational efficiency, I was brought in to address the issue. 

Drawing on years of experience, I helped the company audit the AI system and retrain its algorithm with a more inclusive dataset. We implemented a dual-layered approach where human oversight complemented AI recommendations to ensure fairness. 

Additionally, I coached their HR leaders on how to create unbiased hiring practices and monitor AI systems for unintended consequences. Within six months, the company saw a significant improvement in candidate quality and diversity while retaining the efficiency benefits of AI. 

This experience underscores the importance of balancing technology with human judgment, something I always emphasize in my coaching practices.

Victor Santoro
Founder & CEO, Profit Leap

Lowering Employee Morale

During my career, I’ve seen AI bring remarkable advances, but also some unintended issues, particularly in HR functions. 

At a diagnostic imaging company I helped expand, we considered using AI for employee assessment. However, a similar AI tool used elsewhere in the industry unintentionally reduced employee morale. 

By focusing too much on performance metrics extracted from work patterns, it failed to account for individual contributions that weren’t easily quantified, such as team collaboration and creativity. 

This experience underscores the need for caution. AI can inadvertently neglect the human touch and nuanced judgment that are crucial in HR. Implementing AI requires more than just algorithmic precision; it needs a balanced approach that combines technology with human insights. 

Ensuring constant oversight and human involvement helps preserve morale and align AI tools with broader company values.

Jeff Michael
Ecommerce Business Owner, Supplement Warehouse

Favors Keywords, Reduces Diversity

Being a small supplement and vitamin company with limited resources, we implemented an AI-driven recruitment tool to streamline the hiring process. 

While it significantly reduced the time spent screening resumes, we noticed an unintended negative consequence: the AI’s algorithm unintentionally favored candidates with specific keywords, leading to a lack of diversity in the shortlisted applicants.

As a solution to this problem, we started doing regular audits of the AI’s selection criteria and combined its insights with manual review by HR staff. 

This hybrid approach helped us maintain efficiency while ensuring we didn’t miss out on talented candidates due to algorithmic bias.

Justin McKelvey
Founder, SuperDupr

Creates Scheduling Conflicts

As the CEO of SuperDupr, I’ve seen AI’s potential to revolutionize various business functions, but it’s crucial to approach it with caution. 

In our work changing businesses, we encountered an AI tool designed to automate routine HR tasks, such as sorting emails and managing candidate workflows. 

However, the tool inadvertently created scheduling conflicts, impacting interview processes and frustrating both candidates and HR staff. 

Implementing AI in such critical areas requires careful oversight. 

At SuperDupr, we’ve learned that frequent testing and a strategic plan to integrate human oversight are vital. Providing team training to co-manage AI with human intuition can often prevent disruptions. 

We’ve found that a balance between AI efficiency and human ethics is key to fairly enhancing HR operations.

Azam Mohamed Nisamdeen
Founder, Convert Chat

Shows Bias in Recruitment

In the HR sector, AI has been used to streamline recruitment, but there have been instances where it created more problems than it solved. 

For example, some companies implemented AI-powered recruitment tools to screen resumes, only to discover that the algorithm unintentionally exhibited bias. One well-known case involved an AI system favoring male candidates because it had been trained on historical data skewed toward male hires.

As a chatbot owner, I’ve learned that data quality and transparency are critical when implementing AI. 

The bias in the AI tool wasn’t intentional, but it reflected the biases present in the training data. 

This highlights the importance of auditing datasets and ensuring that the AI systems align with company values and fairness goals. HR teams must work closely with data scientists to avoid these pitfalls.

The takeaway is that AI systems are only as good as the data they are fed. Companies need to remain vigilant and regularly test their AI implementations for unintended outcomes. 

In HR, the focus should not only be on efficiency but also on maintaining equity and inclusivity throughout the hiring process.

Dan Brown
CEO & Founder, Textun

Rejects Freelance Applications

We decided to try to use AI to filter applications a little while ago. 

However, we noticed that a large number of applications were being rejected and only a few were filtering through. 

After adjusting, we noticed that the AI was eliminating those with freelance experience-but as a content agency, most of our collaborators are freelance. This was relatively minor and we wound up adjusting the AI and feeding the resumes through again. 

However, I don’t know what would have happened had the rejection rate been just low enough that we didn’t notice anything wrong.

Alexander Anastasin
CEO and Co-Founder, Yung Sidekick

Cultural Bias in Performance Evaluation

We integrated AI to evaluate employee performance, aiming for objectivity and efficiency. The AI used communication style, task completion patterns, and language usage as metrics. 

However, it inadvertently penalized employees from non-native English-speaking backgrounds and introverted individuals who preferred concise responses over elaborate ones.

This created friction within the team as those affected felt unfairly labeled as underperformers. It also overlooked high performers in roles where communication wasn’t critical. 

The company faced backlash, leading to the suspension of the AI tool and temporary reinstatement of manual reviews.

The takeaway is that AI often amplifies cultural and contextual gaps if it isn’t trained with diverse datasets and clear ethical guidelines. 

Before implementation, it’s crucial to assess how metrics might disadvantage subsets of employees and include cross-functional reviews to mitigate biases. Otherwise, you risk damaging morale and trust in workplace technology.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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Performance Management in 2025: Setting Goals for the Future of Work

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Performance Management in 2025: Setting Goals for the Future of Work

The workplace of 2025 is probably one of the most innovative and challenging yet. A mix of in-office, hybrid, and remote is only the beginning of a long list of myriad elements that shape this new workplace, bringing with it as many roadblocks as opportunities.

In this dynamic setting, where the traditional meets the new like never before, how do HR and management teams approach performance management? We all know an agile and holistic approach is just what’s required, but what are the performance goals to set for 2025 that will truly empower employees and drive organizational success?

We reached out to our HR and leadership community seeking answers, and received in return a range of performance management strategies to unlock the full potential of a workforce.

Read on!

Mindy Honcoop
Fractional HR Leader & Advisor, Agile in HR

Shift to Continuous Feedback and Development

For 2025, my goal in performance management is a shift to how organizations approach feedback-from a governance activity focused on documenting past performance to the daily practice of continuous feedback and forward-focused development. This cultural shift entails making the whole process one of building an environment for real, trusted conversations that develop people and impact business outcomes-less about compliance.

The traditional model of performance management can be reduced to a set of checkboxes: managers gather feedback, document it, and then deliver it in some formalized, transactional review. This approach misses the full potential of feedback as a tool for growth. I want to see performance management integrated into daily work rhythms where feedback is timely, relevant, and connected with the achievement of business goals.

It will work only where trust lives within the workplace. Employees and managers need an ecosystem in which they can say their words without judgment. The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team can be helpful, supported by DISC in working with teams to establish their method of communication and defining common terms when talking about these things.

A continuous feedback culture requires a change of heart in the way we perceive failure. Instead of treating a mistake as an occasion for blame, we have to view it as a valuable source of data that informs us in trying to work better with one another. When failure is embraced-not stigmatized-people will take risks and therefore be able to innovate.

Feedback needs to be viewed not as a formality but actionable data to help teams get better and align their efforts toward shared business goals. Feedback should be less about what went wrong in the past and more about how we can grow and succeed in the future. Treating feedback as a constant and desired source of information lets teams course-correct in real time and continuously improve collaboration and results.

Focusing on future outcomes, building trust, and making daily feedback normal as a positive driver of change-these are ways workplace ecosystems can be created where both the employees and the businesses prosper together.

Tim Toterhi
CHRO, Plotline Leadership

Simplify the Performance Management Process

To ruthlessly simplify the performance management process.

Some managers will make a 100k plus hiring decision after a 45-minute interview but agonize endlessly over a performance rating that, in some organizations, spells the difference between a 2% and 4% merit increase. It’s madness.

I’m on a mission to define high performance, negotiate meaningful rewards for reaching that level, and then demonstrate how to get there. I realize performance management is both art and science, but we’re not talking Picasso and particle physics. Clear communication, process rigor, and consistent action drive simplification.

Jenni Stone
HR Director, InfoMC, Inc.

Focus on Igniting Employee Potential

For 2025, my top performance management goal is to shift the focus from “managing performance” to “igniting potential.” I want to create a culture where employees feel empowered to experiment, fail forward, and stretch beyond their comfort zones without the fear of punitive evaluations. Instead of static metrics, I’m championing real-time feedback loops, personalized growth pathways, and team-driven success narratives. The goal is to make performance management a living, breathing process-one that sparks innovation, amplifies purpose, and turns every team member into a co-architect of the organization’s success. It’s not about hitting a target; it’s about creating a workplace where ambition thrives and results follow.

Meghan Calhoun
Co-Founder & Director of Partner Success, Give River

Cultivate Gratitude and Recognition

In 2025, my top performance management goal is to cultivate a culture of gratitude and recognition that drives employee engagement and well-being. At Give River, we’ve leveraged the power of appreciation through our Gratitude feature to boost productivity by up to 22% and reduce absenteeism by 37% among clients who actively engage with the platform.

For instance, by integrating gratitude and recognition seamlessly into daily workflows via platforms like Slack and MS Teams, teams witness a significant boost in morale and retention rates. When employees feel valued and recognized, turnover costs, which can range up to 200% of an annual salary, are drastically minimized.

From my diverse background, including hosting television shows and tackling high-pressure sales, I understand the emotional pulse of varied workplaces. My podcast, “Don’t Just Manifest, Megafest,” further reinforces the centrality of leveraging positive psychological frameworks, ensuring working moms and others strike a joyous balance between personal and professional demands.

Patty Miller
President & Sr. HR/Business Advisor, MillerNet HR & Business Solutions Inc.

Implement Real Employee Growth Metrics

Employee Growth Metrics – Real Ways to Measure:

  • Skill Acquisition: Implement a competency-based performance framework where employees self-assess their skills against role-specific benchmarks, supplemented by manager evaluations. Track progress in tools like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or internal training platforms.
  • Training Completion Rates: Monitor participation in professional development programs and correlate these with improved job performance or internal mobility. For example, if an employee completes a leadership development course, track their subsequent performance reviews or leadership opportunities.
  • Career Progression: Use HRIS systems to track role changes, promotions, or project lead assignments. Pair this with data on tenure and performance to identify patterns of growth and success.

Engagement and Alignment Surveys – Real Ways to Measure:

  • Pulse Surveys: Deploy brief, monthly or quarterly surveys focusing on specific aspects of engagement, such as the value of feedback or recognition. Tools like Gallup’s Q12 or Qualtrics provide customizable templates for engagement tracking.
  • Goal-Tracking Platforms: Use software like Lattice, Workday, or 15Five to align individual goals with organizational objectives. These platforms often provide dashboards to visualize how personal achievements contribute to team or company-wide priorities.
  • Recognition Analytics: Track the frequency and impact of recognition using tools like Bonusly or Slack integrations. Measure whether employees who receive regular recognition have higher engagement scores or performance metrics.

Dr. Pramod Solanki
Leadership Coach and Founder, Performance Enablers

Connect Everyone with Organizational Goals

I aspire to make two major changes in the way we manage performance.

1. Connect everyone – directly or indirectly, with the goals that the organization is trying to achieve.

Once we in the top team have agreed on what we plan to accomplish during 2025, we shall ensure the following:

A) Break it down to strategic actions required to achieve them.
B) Ensure clear ownership of those actions.
C) Since there are interdependencies across functions, monthly / quarterly reviews against the set goals will involve all the divisional heads.
D) It’ll be a dynamic plan and corrections in the goals / strategic actions will be made based on the experience / actual achievement for the month or quarter.

In a nutshell, the OKR approach will be followed.

2. The same process will be cascaded across the teams by the respective divisional heads. And more importantly, the managers will be trained and encouraged to keep reinforcing the linkage of the tasks being carried out by grassroot employees with the larger goals of the division and the organization.

Sangeetha Gururaj
Senior VP – People & Talent, Qualitest

Building a Constructive and Tough Feedback Culture

We need to look at leveraging performance management through a sharper lens now. It’s not only about achieving ratings or completion metrics. It’s now a priority to curate a performance-driven culture that a multi-generational workforce is able to connect with and be motivated by. We need to be inclusive and agile enough to suit hybrid work cultures. Managers need to be able to effectively assess and support remote employees.

It is now necessary to build a constructive and tough feedback culture to get the best potential and productivity from team members while ensuring that the right rewards and timely recognition are the foundation. Companies should also be very keen on leveraging the performance management process to assess skill gaps, identify potential future leaders, and create learning and development programs. After all, internal fulfillment through upskilling and grooming future leaders is the most cost-effective; retention of talent is the most efficient hiring!

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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HR Stack Essentials: Top HR Tools for Streamlining Processes

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HR Stack Essentials: Top HR Tools for Streamlining Processes

With HR professionals juggling several core responsibilities at the workplace, and with remote work requiring them to be even more on their toes, it only makes sense to equip an HR team with HR tools that helps them free up time to take care of the most important task of them all – your people!

We asked our community of HR leaders and experts about their choice of HR tools and why they choose to rely on them. The responses we received not only gave us a thorough lineup that others could very well use but also showed us just how essential the right HR tool could be for a team’s success.

Although Bamboo HR seems to be a crowd favorite, there are quite a few others on the list to offer you choices.

Read on!

Malati Thomas
Vice President – Global HR Operations, AML RightSource

Workday

Workday allows us to centralize and manage many HR processes efficiently and effectively across all of our geographic regions (17+ countries and 4500+ employees and counting!). As our company continues to grow, Workday also supports us by being scalable, user-friendly, and allows for integration with other business systems, making it much easier for us to use data to help drive decision making.

Since implementing Workday within our company about 2 years ago, we’ve been able to streamline onboarding, performance management, and offboarding processes, all while ensuring we remain compliant with various employment regulations. While there is still much more we can achieve with Workday (supported by an active Workday Roadmap and backlog to help get us there), implementing this system has already helped us move away from administrative tasks and instead shift our focus towards more strategic HR initiatives that drive greater business outcomes.

Liliana Bernal
CEO & Owner, Balanced Diversity

Bullhorn ATS

My team and I are huge fans of Bullhorn, our Applicant Tracking System tailored specifically for the Staffing and Recruiting industry. This powerful tool truly gets our unique workflows, making it an invaluable asset in our recruitment journey.

Bullhorn transforms the hiring process into a seamless experience. It effortlessly posts job openings, tracks applications, and manages communication with candidates. Plus, it streamlines onboarding, ensuring that every step is organized and efficient.

Not only does Bullhorn centralize our hiring workflows, but it also helps reduce administrative headaches and fosters collaboration across our teams. With this system in place, we can focus on what really matters—finding the perfect candidates for our clients!

If you are looking for an ATS, research and look for a tool specifically for your industry. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

  • Ensure that it offers simple workflows to minimize training time for your team.
  • Look for flexibility to adapt to your own hiring process.
  • Integration capabilities are crucial—ensure it can merge with other systems you use, such as HRIS or payroll systems.
  • Seek features like resume parsing, interview scheduling, and follow-up management.
  • Consider analytics and reporting functionalities; these will help you evaluate metrics, refine strategies, and ensure a user-friendly process to attract top talent.

By looking for these features, you will find a tool that supports your efficiency and aligns with your long-term recruitment goals.

Jose Angelo Gallegos
Marketing Consultant, Jose Angelo Studios

BambooHR

One indispensable HR tool I recommend is BambooHR. It’s the Swiss Army knife of HR platforms, offering everything from applicant tracking to employee engagement surveys.

What makes it a game-changer is its ease of use and data centralization.

For example, BambooHR tracks progress, streamlines paperwork, and makes sure new hires are prepared for success during the onboarding process. HR departments can use the time saved to work on important projects like enhancing the employee experience.

For instance, I helped a mid-sized software company cut down onboarding time by 40% so that HR personnel could concentrate on efforts to foster a culture.

Additionally, it facilitates improved decision-making. HR can monitor diversity measures or retention trends with analytics tools.

For instance, a retail customer of mine enhanced their staffing strategy by 30% by using BambooHR to find seasonal employment gaps. They also redesigned management training to improve retention after noticing a pattern in exit interviews.

BambooHR is difficult to surpass if efficiency and actionable insights are your goals.

Steve Faulkner
Founder & Chief Recruiter, Spencer James Group

Inhouse ATS

At Spencer James Group, we use a variety of tech tools across our organization, both to manage our internal teams and processes and to support our work helping our clients to find and hire the right people.

While we use a variety of technology, there is one tool I can point to as indispensable: our ATS. We use a proprietary system but it shares many features with similar programs that are widely available, including multi-channel job posting tools, resume parsing and screening, a centralized and searchable candidate database, interview scheduling, communication and engagement tools, analytics/reporting functions, and so on.

Bringing all of these things together in one platform is the main thing that makes our ATS so indispensable. All of our interactions with candidates are in the same place, from our initial sourcing and outreach efforts through skill assessments, reference checks, interviews, and other communications.

This has dramatically streamlined our search process, both thanks to simply having all of these things in the same place and because it enables us to automate some aspects of the process and workflow to further improve our efficiency. It also makes it much easier to maintain a robust talent pipeline and candidate database that we can draw on for new roles we’re filling.

Even for companies that aren’t in the recruiting sector, if you hire with any kind of frequency, I’d strongly recommend integrating an ATS into your HR department, because it can absolutely transform your hiring process for the better.

Dionne Jayne Ricafort
Marketing Manager, CSO Yemen

Bamboo HR

BambooHR is a tool that keeps our HR work simple and organized by managing data, onboarding, and time off in one place, saving time and simplifying tasks.
BambooHR keeps onboarding simple by organizing tasks like collecting documents and scheduling orientation. This not only helps HR stay efficient but also creates a better experience for employees, making them feel welcome and supported from day one.
Tools like these allow us to focus on fostering a positive team culture while still staying on top of administrative tasks.

Jennifer Mihajlov
EVP North America, Qualee

Qualee Employee Experience Platform

One indispensable tool in our HR tech stack at Qualee is our own employee experience platform.

Qualee integrates onboarding, training, and engagement into a seamless solution, providing HR teams with powerful automation and data-driven insights.

The engagement features, such as personalized onboarding journeys, real-time feedback surveys, and push notifications, help keep employees connected and motivated from day one.

This consistent interaction boosts employee satisfaction and fosters a sense of belonging, reducing early-stage turnover and increasing retention rates. By minimizing attrition and improving engagement, Qualee directly contributes to increased productivity and profitability, making it a vital component of our HR strategy.

Belema Ronabere
Business Formation Expert and Marketing Specialist, Persuasion Nation

BambooHR

In our bundle of HR tools, it is clear that BambooHR stands out as the most important piece of the architecture. It allows access to employee information, employment procedures and evaluation systems from a single platform. Importantly, nothing gets neglected as it adopts customisable workflows and reminders, facilitating the effectiveness of HR processes.

BambooHR’s reporting tools also provide valuable insights into metrics such as employee turnover and engagement rate and thus help in making decisions that would fit within the goals of the organization. As such, it is not just an HR application but a tool that enhances productivity by making sure more time gets dedicated to things that add value strategically rather than only in operations.

With a rapidly growing company, BambooHR has been instrumental in ensuring compliance performance, employee satisfaction and an HR foundation that can be customized in the future. It’s how we make sure our team is appreciated whilst concentrating on growing the business.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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Navigating the Gig Economy: Expert Advice from Top Leaders

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Navigating the Gig Economy: Expert Advice from Top Leaders

Pratyush Rai
CEO, Merlin AI

As the founder of our AI startup, I see the role of gig workers evolving in our organization as a pivotal part of our strategy.

We definitely plan to utilize gig workers to fulfill our long-term talent needs, especially in creative roles such as content creation and design.

An interesting incident comes to mind when we hired a UGC (User Generated Content) creator for a short-term project.

We were so impressed with their work that we decided to engage them for a longer-term project. Their ability to bring a fresh and authentic perspective to our content really made an impact, and it made us realize the value of tapping into diverse talent through gig workers.

The primary reason for this departure from the traditional employment model is the flexibility and agility gig workers bring to the table.

Being able to access specialized expertise for specific projects and adapting quickly to our evolving needs is a game-changer for us. Integrating gig workers into our long-term talent pool allows us to stay nimble and innovative in a competitive landscape.

Daniel Vasquez
Owner, Dynamic Auto Movers

Using Gig Workers as Route Planners

At Dynamic Auto Movers, gig workers are becoming increasingly significant, particularly in the case of a route planner.

These workers demonstrate high adaptability, efficiently handling tasks such as monitoring weather and traffic patterns, managing the delivery schedule, and determining the best route for our drivers in real time.

This specialized area, which might be challenging to justify a permanent staff for, is effectively managed by gig workers, bringing in the required expertise as and when needed.

Utilizing Gig Workers for Tech Integrations

We have also noticed an increasing dependency on gig workers for projects that are invariably of limited duration, like the installation of new vehicle monitoring systems.

Engaging these tech-proficient freelancers on these projects enables us to quickly and cheaply adopt such new and innovative methods without touching our permanent crew.

This development improves our operational effectiveness relative to the costs incurred.

Garrett Ham
CEO, Weekender Management

As CEO of a property management firm, I rely on gig workers to fill specialized roles and scale key initiatives. For leadership positions, full-time staff provide stability. But for niche, short-term needs, independent contractors offer flexibility and expertise.

Last year, we launched a rebrand targeting high-net-worth clients. Freelance marketers helped optimize digital ads and PR, driving a 37% traffic increase from targets. Their skills allowed us to scale fast while maintaining quality.

We also use gig developers for ambitious software projects with tight deadlines. Recently, freelancers built a custom CRM integration in 3 months that would’ve been otherwise impossible given our bandwidth.

The future of work depends on blending gig workers and FTEs. For leadership, full-time staff are ideal. But for specialized or temporary needs, independent contractors provide agility to accelerate growth.

At my firm, this balanced approach has been key to scaling strategically while upholding standards.

Ashley Smith
Owner, Batana Babe

The role of gig workers in small businesses like ours is pivotal, particularly in marketing and digital aspects. Employing gig workers allows us to tap into a diverse pool of talent with a wide range of skills.

For instance, we collaboratively work with freelance digital marketers to boost our online visibility and reach. These gig workers are vital for our long-term strategy, given the increasing importance of digital presence in the beauty industry.

This departure from the traditional employment model is primarily due to the flexibility it offers, enabling us to adjust our team size as per the project requirements, while also keeping overhead costs in check.

Christopher Falvey
o-Founder, Unique NOLA Tours

We’re a tour company here in New Orleans. Tour guides have been “gig workers” before the term was coined.

We have a culture of guides who do tours for multiple companies, not just ours. This is a long-term plan, and has been for decades.

The pay is very good on a per-tour basis. And there is a reality that every guide is approaching the gig with different career aspirations. Some only do a few tours. Some do 4+ tours per day.

This just works in this industry.

Darian Shimy
Founder & CEO, FutureFund

The evolution of gig workers evolving in our organization: Gig workers are increasingly serving as innovation catalysts at FutureFund.

Their diverse skills and perspectives often spark novel ideas that can push boundaries and take our programs in new directions.

For example, gig designers from different cultural backgrounds recently provided feedback on our membership templates, spurring the development of customizable features allowing schools to represent their diverse communities more authentically.

Looking ahead, we aim to harness this outside perspective even more by incorporating gig worker input across various stages of the product development cycle.

Our plan to use gig workers to fulfill our long-term talent needs: Yes, we do plan to utilize gig workers to fulfill long-term talent needs.

As a platform supporting thousands of schools nationwide, demand for our services fluctuates greatly depending on the time of year and varying fundraising cycles.

While there is a consistent baseline level of work, periods like the beginning of semesters bring surges that require extra hands-on-deck. Rather than scale our permanent workforce up and down erratically, relying on gig workers gives us scalability.

This allows matching labor to workload reliably without over- or under-staffing during different seasons.

A role we intend to fill with a gig worker: One such role is content creator. To best serve schools across diverse regions, we aim to source culturally relevant fundraising ideas and resources tailored to different communities.

However, the periodic nature of content production does not warrant a full-time position. Therefore, we plan to fill this role with contracted gig workers on an as-needed basis according to production schedules. This enables access to specialized expertise without the long-term commitment of permanent employees.

Rose Robinson
Founder & Director, Casia Robinson LTD

Since founding my company in the UK in 2020, we have operated entirely as a remote business. I’ve hired a few gig workers as architects remotely to work on our projects.

For effective collaboration, it’s crucial to use the right platforms, without them, the system wouldn’t function smoothly.

As a micro-company, this setup benefits both us and the gig workers.

They handle their own taxes and benefits, while we keep payroll simple through bank transfers, minimizing administrative tasks, as we do not have enough manpower to do admin scopes.

This arrangement also saves on office rental costs.

I believe this is an efficient model for micro-companies like ours to scale and grow.

Max Williams
Founder & CEO, Herobot

As the Founder and CEO of herobot.app, I see the role of gig workers evolving as a core part of our talent strategy.

While we have a strong internal team, gig workers offer a level of flexibility and specialized expertise that is hard to match in a traditional employment model.

For instance, when we need niche skills for short-term projects—like a UX designer for a website overhaul or a data scientist for a specific AI-driven feature—we turn to gig workers.

Looking ahead, we plan to use gig workers to fill roles in specialized areas, such as AI development and digital marketing. These are fields where the landscape changes rapidly, and having access to on-demand experts allows us to stay agile and innovative.

The primary reason for this shift from traditional employment is the flexibility gig workers offer. It allows us to scale resources based on project demands without the long-term overhead costs, ensuring we remain lean and adaptive to market changes.

This approach also helps us bring fresh perspectives to our work, as gig workers often come with diverse experiences from various industries.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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Igniting Innovation from Anywhere: Leaders’ Strategies for Remote Teams

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Igniting Innovation from Anywhere: Leaders' Strategies for Remote Teams

Adrien Kallel
CEO & Co-Founder, Remote People

A simple but effective way to boost innovation in a remote team is to set up regular brainstorming sessions with people from different areas of the company. Get folks from engineering, design, product, and other teams together to focus on specific challenges.

When you bring in different perspectives, you often uncover ideas you wouldn’t find if everyone stuck to their own group.

To make these sessions work, use a straightforward approach like asking focused questions (“How might we…?”) to keep things on track. It’s also important to make sure everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas, no matter how out there they might seem.

Another useful tactic is setting up a space for people to drop ideas anytime, whether that’s a shared Slack channel or a simple online board. This keeps the ideas flowing between meetings and makes sure quieter voices get heard too.

It’s a no-fuss way to keep innovation going remotely.

Kris Flank
Head of Growth, Lunar Links

I’ll be honest, it’s challenging to implement an innovative culture in a remote setting.

Since everyone is working at their own location, establishing the connection is difficult but here’s what I do: I casually talk to my team.

We talk most of the time and let them know of the current situation. With that, they’ll feel more confident in sharing their ideas which can foster collaboration.

As a result, we can come up with more innovative ideas at the same time, they become deeply involved since it’s their ideas that are coming to life.

That’s hitting two birds with one stone 🙂

Peter Hamdy
Co-founder & MD, Auckland & Beyond Tours

When fostering a culture of innovation in a remote work environment, I’ve found that building genuine trust among team members is paramount.

Early on in my experience with Auckland & Beyond Tours, I realized that remote settings can obscure emotional cues and intentions, leading to misunderstandings.

To counter this, I’ve made it a point to regularly schedule informal virtual coffee chats, where the team can discuss innovative ideas without the pressures of a formal meeting setting.

This approach not only encourages open dialogue and creativity but also helps build camaraderie, ultimately leading to more collaborative and innovative solutions.

Trust, bolstered by consistent communication and mutual respect, is the bedrock upon which a thriving innovative culture is built.

Dr. Sarah Porter
Licensed Psychologist & Founder,  Dr. Sarah Porter

Try brainwriting instead of traditional brainstorming.

Before coming together as a group to discuss a problem you need to solve, send your team the question to consider and ask each person to generate ideas on their own.

When you introduce the prompt, encourage quantity over quality – perfectly polished solutions are not necessary at this stage of innovation – and invite “out there” ideas – the zanier, the better. Have your team members put their thoughts into a shared document before you meet.

Plan to then convene as a team twice. Use the first virtual meeting to conduct a group review of the brainwriting results with a focus on coming up with more ideas – those that build on what folks wrote plus those that are wholly original.

After giving team members a few days to reflect, host a second virtual meeting where you decide which idea you’d like to move forward.

This process is time well spent. Research tells us that allowing for ample divergent thinking before converging on a decision leads to more creative solutions – a real win for innovation!

Aurelija Gintaliene
COO & Co-founder, Breezit

Being in an industry where creativity and innovation are a two of the most crucial job requirements, we needed to find a way around remote working and try to make sure that this aspect of the job stays alive and thriving.

A few years post-pandemic, it seems that we have managed quite nicely, despite everything.

One of the ways we try to continuously foster a culture of innovation and creativity is to conduct regular check-ins and provide feedback to individual team members.

At a glance, this may seem counter-productive, but it certainly isn’t. This allows team members to discuss at length the projects that they currently have going on. By giving them feedback, they might gain a different perspective on an issue they may be struggling with, and all they needed was an outside eye to make the aspect work.

This space allows employees to feel comfortable with sharing their thoughts and suggestions without any pushback and criticism. It is important to validate their suggestions and help guide them.

Matt Erhard
Managing Partner, Summit Search Group

It’s been my experience that collaboration often yields some of the most significant innovations, especially when you can bring together teams from a variety of different backgrounds, functions, and departments.

In a remote environment, facilitating this kind of “cross-pollination” between different groups or areas of the organization often requires more effort, but it’s worth putting the time and attention into it because you can get some very innovative ideas as a result.

The first step of this is up to leadership, and that’s creating cross-functional teams that encourage more conversation between people from different areas of your business.

Consider ways that you can adjust team assignments or workflows to bring more diverse individuals, and the ideas they bring with them, together on projects.

Once you have those teams, consider all the possible ways they could work together.

Video conferencing can be a useful tool for this but it’s definitely not the only option, and a Zoom meeting isn’t always the best option.

Sometimes shared documents where multiple team members can edit and add their thoughts can be the better approach, for instance, allowing for asynchronous collaboration that can give team members more time to think about and make use of their colleagues’ input.

Steven Ip
Owner, Cleanzen Boston Cleaning Services

In our team, we start with a virtual meeting where everyone is encouraged to share personal topics or good news, helping to build rapport.

After that, we transition into what we call a ‘Level 10 Meeting.’ In this part, we review the tasks from the previous week, address any current issues, brainstorm, and make sure we are on track.

At the end, we rate the meeting on a scale of 1-10 to determine its effectiveness.

This structure not only promotes open communication and problem-solving but also ensures we continuously improve our meetings.

Soumya Mahapatra
CEO, Essenvia

At the risk of being accused of holding meetings that could have been emails, one of the best tools we have to maintain a culture of innovation–or any culture, for that matter–in a remote environment is holding regular “report” meetings where different individuals, teams, and departments let us know what they’re up to, why they’re doing it, how it’s progressing, and how we can help.

This helps to keep everyone on the same page and lays the groundwork for the kinds of collaborative relationships that make innovation possible.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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How Leaders Keep Remote Teams Engaged and Thriving

by

How Leaders Keep Remote Teams Engaged and Thriving

Alex Johnson
Remote Team Culture Architect, Man and Van Star

Beyond the Basics: Tackling Remote Team Challenges with Ritual Design
A highly unique strategy to address disengagement and isolation in remote teams is the practice of “ritual design”—the intentional creation of shared team rituals to reinforce culture and connection. Unlike traditional team-building exercises, these rituals aren’t about one-off events but are embedded in the fabric of the team’s everyday workflow.

Biggest Challenge: Disengagement from the company’s mission
Disengagement often stems from a lack of connection to the bigger picture. Teams may feel disconnected from the impact of their work when isolated remotely. The solution is to create a ritual of storytelling—encouraging employees to regularly share brief stories about how their work has positively impacted clients or advanced the company’s goals.

Recommended Solution: Incorporate these storytelling moments into regular meetings or Slack channels, focusing on personal wins and collective successes. This ritual builds a strong emotional connection, reminding employees that their work matters. Additionally, small, meaningful rituals like virtual team toasts for project completions or quarterly team playlists can foster a sense of community that goes beyond digital screens.

Insight: Anthropologists argue that shared rituals, even small ones, play a vital role in maintaining cohesion in remote or dispersed communities. This human-centric approach makes ritual design a powerful tool for remote teams, offering a fresh, cultural perspective on engagement and retention

Guy Hadas
Co-founder and CEO, Age Group

Respect their boundaries.

If it’s their day off, don’t call, text, or email them regarding work. If they request time off, grant it without really questioning why, unless there’s an emergency at work that requires their presence, and avoid making them do so much overtime.

Employees are not machines; they can become so easily burned out by excessive work hours, stress, and an unappreciated work environment that it will force them to leave and seek out another place where they are valued as workers.

You should respect their boundaries and allow them to pursue their interests outside of work as long as they are fulfilling their responsibilities, meeting deadlines, and making a significant contribution to the team.

Joosep Seitam
Co-founder, Icecartel

My main strategy for keeping my remote team engaged is focusing on connection and communication. Working from home can feel lonely, so we make sure to have regular video calls where we chat about both work and life. This helps everyone feel included and builds stronger bonds within the team.

We also do fun virtual activities, like online games or casual coffee chats, to keep things light and fun. It’s important to create an environment where everyone feels like they’re part of something, even when they’re far apart.

The hardest part has been making sure no one feels disconnected or unmotivated. To fix this, I always try to recognize and celebrate the team’s hard work. Whether it’s a shout-out during a meeting or a small reward like a gift card, it makes a big difference.

When people feel appreciated, they stay motivated and happy. Keeping the communication open and giving regular feedback also helps everyone feel supported and valued.

Mark Shayani
Managing Partner, Pacific Attorney Group

One of the most significant hurdles I have encountered as a law firm owner about talent retention is a lack of motivation due to burnout. Another nontraditional practice I have learned to be helpful in the organization is the “Rotating Shadow Partner Days.”

Every month, the junior associates and staff will spend a day with partners outside the client engagements, performing firm-wide vital strategic activities, including business development meetings, case strategy sessions, and firm financial planning.

While this practice is definitely out of the ordinary, it means that it takes the monotony out of routine legal work, affords one a vantage point to gain a better understanding of the inner operations of the firm, and allows members of the staff to embrace leadership roles.

Enabling employees to peek into the firm’s life in terms of vision and decisions made does two things: firstly, it eradicates burnout and cements the link between the firm and all the future activities it will be conducting.

Since the implementation of Shadow Partner Days, this is an exciting approach that has shown positive results in both turnover and employee motivation.

Simon Brisk
Co-Founder, Click Intelligence

To handle challenges like these, we focus on creating chances for informal chats. We have set up virtual “watercooler” channels. This allows team members to talk about topics not related to work and recreates the casual, social feel of an office.

We also hold regular virtual happy hours and informal video calls where everyone can unwind and connect. These activities help boost team spirit and build a positive atmosphere.

I also emphasize the importance of 1:1 conversations and video calls over emails. While written messages are useful, personal interactions are better for building relationships and reducing misunderstandings.

The biggest challenge is preventing employee burnout. Burnout is less about working long hours and more about how employees feel about their work.

To address this, it’s important to keep employees engaged and appreciated. We offer flexible work hours, recognize their efforts, and provide support, which can help reduce burnout.

James Oliver
Founder, Oliver

Make unedited videos of yourself doing whatever work you’re delegating to your team.

“I think it’s really important to make unedited videos of yourself doing whatever work you are delegating to remote team members.

The unedited nature of these videos is very important for three reasons:

  • It ensures that you are not delegating a task that is impossible or absurdly difficult (I think this is the number one cause of employee disengagement)
  • It shows your employees exactly how much time and effort they should be spending on each step on a task. That way they don’t get stuck chasing their tail
  • Showing that you can roll up your sleeves and do whatever work you’re delegating yourself shows your staff that you do not see yourself as above them. This helps earn their respect and loyalty.

If your staff get stuck, make a video showing them how to overcome whatever bottleneck they have so you can create a library of common bottlenecks and solutions for every process”

 

James Oliver has been building retail focussed websites for himself and clients since 2014.

Shenella Karunaratne
Director of Operations, Online MFT Programs

I feel that the isolation and disengagement of remote workers is commonly the most challenging aspect of managing these teams. It’s important for leaders to be informed on these topics and to have compassion when addressing them. I have found it helpful to personally reach out to members of my remote teams to check in—not just about work projects and deadlines, but also to touch base and see how they’re feeling, if they feel engaged with their coworkers and leaders, and more. Team building exercises and activities are also important, I think especially on a remote team.

Stephanie Pittman
Communication and Marketing Coach, Improvement Solutions

The biggest advice I give my clients is how to improve retention online to turn their cameras on during virtual meetings.

Having those nonverbals cues from others (like eye contact, smiling and nodding) helps us be more present during these conversations.

Studies have also found that memory recall during video calls improves significantly when eye contact is maintained for at least 30% of the time.

That’s just 20 seconds every minute!

So the next time you’re in a virtual meeting try and remind yourself to make a little extra eye contact.

Tricia Harrison
Remote Work Strategist, The Remote Catalyst

As a VA Niche Specialist and Remote Work Strategist with extensive experience in virtual team dynamics, I’ve found that the cornerstone of overcoming remote work challenges is fostering a culture of intentional connection.

The most significant challenge I’ve observed is combating the sense of isolation and disconnection that can creep into fully remote teams. This issue, if left unaddressed, can lead to decreased engagement and higher turnover rates.

My recommended solution is implementing a structured “Virtual Water Cooler” program.

This involves:

  • Scheduled, informal video chat sessions where team members can drop in for casual conversation.
  • Themed days (e.g., “Wellness Wednesdays” or “Fun Fact Fridays”) to spark non-work discussions.
  • Cross-departmental virtual coffee chats to break down silos and foster broader team connections.

This approach tackles isolation head-on by creating organic opportunities for social interaction. It helps replicate the spontaneous encounters of an office environment, building camaraderie and strengthening team bonds.

By prioritizing these human connections, we not only address the immediate challenges of remote work but also cultivate a sense of belonging that significantly boosts employee retention and overall job satisfaction.

The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing their insights.

Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?

Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.

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