HR tips

Take the Reins on Reducing Employee Turnover

September 30, 2026 by HRSAdmin

September 30, 2026

Take the Reins on Reducing Employee Turnover

By Ron Robinson

Employee turnover has enormous hidden costs. The cost of a termination ranges from half an annual salary for nonexempt employees to twice the annual salary of highly skilled exempt employees.

What’s more, when people quit, there’s lost production time and both lower quality of work and burnout as others are made to pick up the slack. The time spent training another person requires managers to redirect their focus to hiring activities, which also contributes to less efficiency and more cost.

Annual staff turnover rates in the U.S. range from 24 percent to 50 percent — depending on how turnover is defined and the particular industry measured. On average, companies lose 18percent of their workforce each year, of which 12 percent is voluntary and 6 percent involuntary. Of those who quit, 31 percent leave within the first six months of starting a job. A turnover rate exceeding 10 percent is considered excessive for optimum operational performance.

In 2022, the overall cost of voluntary employee turnover in the U.S. amounted to more than $1 trillion.

Reducing terminations offers a major cost reduction opportunity, along with happier and more productive people.

The D.C. region McDonald’s is a case in point for taking the reins to improve talent management. In doing so, they were able to reduce crew turnover by 66 percent and management turnover by 50 percent. This resulted in a 10 percent reduction in overall costs.

Consider taking these four steps employed by the regional McDonald’s team to reduce turnover and labor costs while also strengthening retention:

Solving their labor turnover costs required an accurate turnover count. As a consultant once observed, “You can’t change what you can’t measure.” They needed to calculate their annualized turnover to evaluate the effects of changes and establish a baseline for accountability.

For example, on January 1st the business employed 30 people. During the four months through April they employed as many as 35 people. Over the same four months, eight employees quit.

To calculate the average number of employees for the four-month period they:

Added the number of employees at the end of each month: 30 + 33 + 32 + 35 = 130
Divided 130 by 4 months = 32.5 average head count per month

To calculate the annualize turnover rate they:

Divided 8 (number of terminated employees) by 32.5 (average number of employees) = 0.246
Multiplied 0.246 x 100 = 24.6 percent (annualized turnover rate)

McDonald’s managers made it a point to listen to staff, to include them when planning and developing goals, to collaborate with them when making decisions and solving problems, and to inspire them with rewards and recognition for continuous improvement and attaining goals. Such practices also included involving employees in decisions about recruitment and retention initiatives.

In weekly meetings, managers and supervisors reported on employees who had recently quit and on anyone they anticipated leaving. They also shared their plans to retain them. Persons who weren’t expected to leave but did were discussed to problem-solve with managers and better forecast leavers. Action plans included developing them instead of writing them off. For additional accountability, weekly or monthly reports on annualized staff turnover in each department provided a greater sense of urgency for reducing staff turnover.

Implementation of 12 weekly one-hour sessions enabled new hires to adapt to their new culture and to network with others. They learned about policies and procedures and the duties of each part of the company. They also received recognition for work accomplishments, and were able to engage with one another in fun activities.

The lesson learned is that, when attempting to address employee turnover, companies are successful when they use data to count, record, and set targets for what they wish to achieve. Then, when they solve problems together, make changes for the better, and celebrate improvements, retention improves.

About the Author

Ron Robinson, author of the Amazon bestseller, Practices of Resilient Companies: Overcome Disruption with Compassion, Collaboration and Knowledge (Business Expert Press, March 2, 2026), has consulted with and helped turn around enterprises ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mid-size organizations to startups. He has presented to audiences as large as 3,000 and facilitated groups as large as 300 participants. His new book provides a business model for companies and nonprofits to become more resilient and succeed while navigating today’s disruptive forces. Learn more at ronspeaking.com.

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Beyond Gym Memberships: 3 Employee Wellness Perks That Can Bring Teams Together

September 28, 2026 by HRSAdmin

September 28, 2026

Beyond Gym Memberships

3 Employee Wellness Perks That Can Bring Teams Together

Employee wellness programs have traditionally revolved around familiar benefits such as gym memberships, fitness challenges and health apps. But as companies look for better ways to support their teams, the definition of workplace wellness is getting broader.

Well-being at work is not only about physical health. Employees also benefit from opportunities to step away from routine, connect with colleagues, pursue interests outside of work and feel genuinely appreciated.

That leaves room for employers to get more creative with the perks they offer.

Here are three approaches that can support different aspects of employee well-being while giving teams something more memorable than another standard workplace benefit.

Corporate fitness benefits often assume everyone wants to exercise the same way. A gym membership may be valuable to one employee and completely unused by another.

One alternative is giving employees more flexibility to pursue the activities that actually interest them, whether that means private coaching, recreational sports, lessons or other forms of active development.

Gene Williams, founder of Athletes Untapped, a platform that connects athletes with private sports coaches, says personalization can make a major difference in whether someone stays engaged.

“One of the biggest things we see in private coaching is that people are much more engaged when what they’re doing is specific to them. A good coach isn’t just running everyone through the same workout. They’re looking at the individual, their experience level, what they enjoy and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Williams says employers should avoid defining fitness too narrowly.

“Not everybody wants to go to a traditional gym after work. Someone might want to learn tennis, get back into basketball or train for something they’ve always wanted to do. Giving people some freedom to choose how they want to be active can make wellness feel like a benefit rather than another obligation.”

Some workplace perks benefit employees individually. Others work because they bring people together.

Food can do both.

Companies can use catered lunches, food trucks or employee appreciation events to give staff a reason to leave their desks and connect with colleagues outside of their normal routines.

Food Truck Club connects companies with food trucks for corporate lunches and workplace events. Founder and CEO Cody Lee says the experience around the meal can be just as important as the food itself.

“The best workplace food events are not really just about feeding people. They create a natural break in the day where employees come outside, choose what they want to eat and end up having conversations with coworkers they might rarely interact with otherwise.”

Lee says those experiences do not necessarily need a formal team-building component.

“Sometimes the simple things work because they don’t feel forced. You don’t need a team-building agenda attached to lunch. Give people a reason to step away from their screens, enjoy something together and talk to each other.”

For employers, that can make a shared meal both a tangible perk and an informal opportunity to strengthen team connections.

Employee well-being also has an emotional component.

People want to know their effort is noticed, especially after major projects, demanding periods or meaningful milestones. But recognition can lose its impact when every employee receives the same generic item.

Courtney Taylor, co-founder of corporate gifting company Bundled, says personalization is often what makes employee appreciation feel genuine.

“Recognition works best when the employee can tell there was some thought behind it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive or elaborate. The important part is creating the feeling that this wasn’t something sent simply because a date appeared on an HR calendar.”

That could mean wellness packages, milestone gifts, welcome boxes or gifts tied to a team member’s interests.

Taylor says employers should focus on what the gesture communicates.

“If you’re thanking a team after an especially demanding quarter, the experience should communicate, ‘We saw the work you put in and we appreciate it.’ That emotional connection is much more important than simply putting a company logo on another product.”

Creative perks can contribute to a healthier workplace, but they cannot compensate for deeper problems with management, communication or employee development.

Bradford Glaser, president and CEO of workplace training company HRDQ, says employers should see wellness initiatives as one piece of the overall employee experience.

“A perk can reinforce a strong culture, but it cannot create one by itself. Employees still need effective managers, clear communication, opportunities to develop their skills and an environment where people know what is expected of them.”

Glaser recommends starting with the goal rather than simply copying benefits offered by other companies.

“Are you trying to help employees recharge? Build stronger relationships between team members?” Recognize good work? Encourage healthier habits? Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish, you can choose an initiative that actually supports that goal.”

That may ultimately be the bigger shift in workplace wellness.

The objective does not have to be creating the longest possible list of perks. It is offering benefits and experiences that employees genuinely value.

For some teams, that might mean personalized sports coaching. For others, it could be gathering around a food truck for lunch or receiving a thoughtful gift after a major accomplishment.

The individual perk matters, but what it communicates matters just as much: that employees are viewed as people, not simply as workers.

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Workplace Stress Is Killing People. The Answer Isn’t Another Wellness Program.

September 9, 2026 by HRSpotlightTeam

September 09, 2026

Workplace Stress Is Killing People. The Answer Isn't Another Wellness Program.

Dr. Jonathan Thorp, CEO, Quantum Connections

The International Labour Organization released a report in April that should stop every executive and HR leader in their tracks. More than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to workplace stress.

When research uncovers a number that large, the instinct is to reach for structural fixes like workload audits and mental health benefits. These ideas have their place, but the problem is that most of them are applied after the stress has already taken hold. You’re treating symptoms rather than the source. And the research suggests the source is something most organizations have largely ignored, which is the daily quality of the relationship between an employee and their direct supervisor.

Quantum Connections surveyed more than 12,000 employees in 49 industries to understand what actually drives engagement, retention, and performance at work. What they found is that the single most powerful predictor of how an employee experiences their job is whether they feel seen and heard by their direct supervisor. It turns out, compensation packages and job titles aren’t as important as the daily conversational quality of their relationship with their manager.

The effects are measurable and significant. Fully connected workforces are 38.7% more profitable than disconnected ones. Employees who feel seen and heard are 55% more likely to contribute ideas and 31% less likely to think about leaving each week. They stay an average of 9.5 months longer. Organizations spend millions trying to drive these metrics through engagement initiatives and retention programs. The research shows that the real driver is simpler and more direct than most of those programs assume.

A manager who genuinely connects with their team changes how they experience work. Being heard changes how stress registers. When an employee believes their manager actually understands what they’re dealing with, the psychological burden of that load is different. When they believe no one is paying attention, the same load becomes isolating, and that isolation only grows over time.

Most managers aren’t indifferent to their teams. In my experience, the vast majority of managers genuinely want their people to feel valued. The issue is one of skill. Organizations need to invest in developing the skill of dialogue. Being able to listen in a way that makes the other person feel genuinely received, rather than processed.

There is a meaningful difference between a manager who holds regular one-on-ones and a manager who conducts genuine dialogue in those conversations. While the first is a calendar event, the second is a practice. In a genuine dialogue, the manager’s primary orientation is toward understanding what the employee is actually experiencing, asking questions that are motivated by curiosity rather than assessment, and reflecting back what they heard before moving to feedback or direction. That sequence of understanding first, and responding second isn’t the natural default under organizational pressure. It’s a learned behavior, and like any learned behavior, it requires instruction and practice to develop.

Teaching dialogue is where most manager training falls short. Organizations invest in communication skills programs that teach managers how to deliver feedback or handle conflict. They rarely teach the foundational behavior that makes that communication effective, which is how to make another person feel genuinely heard. That capability isn’t a personality trait reserved for naturally empathetic people. It can be taught, practiced, and measured.

The practical starting point for any organization serious about addressing workplace stress is examining the quality of the conversation happening in manager-employee one-on-ones every week. In most organizations, those conversations are either too infrequent or too transactional, think status updates and performance metrics. What’s missing is the space where an employee can say how they’re actually doing, and where a manager is equipped to receive that answer in a way that builds trust.

Training managers to conduct dialogue requires teaching them a small set of specific, practicable behaviors:

Mirroring, the act of reflecting back the essence of what someone said before responding, demonstrates reception in a way that a nod and a pivot to advice does not.
Asking questions out of genuine curiosity rather than to gather information for evaluation changes the dynamic of the conversation in ways employees notice immediately.
Staying present with discomfort rather than rushing to resolve it creates the psychological safety that allows honest exchange.

None of these behaviors are complicated. All of them require deliberate practice to become reliable under pressure.

When hundreds of thousands of deaths per year are linked to workplace stress, the issue is more than a wellness challenge. It starts with leadership. The answer can’t be found in another benefits offering. It’s in the quality of attention their managers bring to the people sitting across from them every week.

That quality of attention is a skill. Teaching it to managers is among the most effective investments an organization can make in the health of their people and in the performance of their business.

About the Author

As the visionary leader of Quantum Connections, Dr. Jonathan Thorp spearheads Quantum Connections’ strategy to support its mission to bring the power of dialogue to workplaces and individuals while expanding the organization’s global influence. Under his guidance, Quantum Connections seamlessly integrates the Safe Conversations Dialogue Methodology with the dedication of its practitioners, significantly enhancing the company’s impact and reach.

Jonathan’s expertise spans three distinct career paths—naval aviation, corporate training, and academia—providing him with a wealth of insights into adult learning. His diverse experiences have honed his understanding of optimal learning patterns, effective leadership strategies, and the importance of nurturing curiosity in students for enduring impact.

Outside of his professional pursuits, Jonathan treasures family time above all else. He enjoys exploring the Texas outdoors with his wife and children, indulging in hobbies such as hiking, golfing, and landscaping, and embarking on road trips in search of unforgettable adventures.

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Everyone Is Searchable. The Right People Still Rarely Meet.

September 8, 2026 by HRSpotlightTeam

September 08, 2026

Everyone Is Searchable. The Right People Still Rarely Meet.

By Sebastian Scott, CEO and Co-Founder of Clera

Building Clera, I keep seeing the same pattern: companies review dozens of plausible profiles without finding anyone they want to meet, while strong candidates ignore dozens of relevant-looking roles until one opportunity speaks to something they actually care about.

A hiring manager can look through thousands of profiles in an afternoon. A candidate can find thousands of open roles. Access is abundant.

But access is not the same as understanding.

In many cases, the difference is not the title or salary. It is direct access to founders, the chance to own something meaningful, or a team whose working style fits. None of that is obvious from a resume.

That contradiction is what I think of as the “discovery gap.” The internet made people easy to find. It did not make it easy to know who should talk.

A resume is useful. It tells us where someone worked, what they studied, and which skills they list. But it mostly describes the past.

It does not tell us why someone might move now. It does not show which tradeoffs they are willing to make, what kind of leader they want to work with, or whether they value ownership, stability, or compensation most.

A job description has the same problem from the other side. It lists responsibilities and requirements, but rarely captures what the hiring manager truly cares about, where they are willing to compromise, or what would make someone exceptional in that particular team.

Many hiring systems try to match these two incomplete documents. They compare job titles, years of experience, keywords, and credentials, then assign a score.

That can identify plausible candidates. It cannot determine whether a conversation will be worth having.

Real matching requires context from both sides: ambition, timing, working style, appetite for risk, and what each side wants next. Most of that only emerges through conversation.

Instead of fixing this gap, the industry has spent years increasing volume.

Candidates are encouraged to apply to more roles. Companies add more sourcing tools and expand their talent pools. When the resulting volume becomes overwhelming, both sides automate even more of the process.

AI has accelerated this. Candidates can now tailor applications in seconds. Employers can screen and reject them just as quickly.

The result is a strange arms race: both sides automate access while learning less about each other.

One of the most useful things we have learned at Clera is that candidate preferences are often not static or perfectly stated at the beginning. Someone might say they want an early-stage startup, then realize that what they actually want is direct access to the founders. They might say compensation is the priority, but consistently engage with roles offering more ownership.

That signal appears over time. Each response, rejection, and change of mind adds context that a resume never contained.

That context should not become another hidden score controlled by the employer. The candidate should control it. AI should help people clarify and update what they want—not quietly make career decisions on their behalf.

AI can help maintain those ongoing conversations and notice when someone’s timing or priorities change. But AI should not be the reason two people meet. The reason should be that there is enough shared context to believe the conversation could matter.

Before making an introduction, both sides should be able to answer three things: Why now? What is non-negotiable? And why this specific opportunity?

Those answers should come from conversations with both sides—not from assumptions made about a profile or a job description.

Hiring managers should answer the same questions from the other side. What problem must this hire solve? Which requirements are truly essential? And why would the strongest person for the role choose this team over another one?

If neither side can answer those questions, it is not really a match. It is another guess dressed up as one.

The purpose of technology in hiring should not be to create more introductions. It should be to prevent the unnecessary ones and make the important ones happen sooner.

The right candidate should not need to submit a hundred applications to discover one relevant company. A hiring manager should not need to screen hundreds of resumes to find one person worth meeting.

The future of hiring will not be won by whoever creates the largest candidate pool. It will be won by whoever creates the fewest unnecessary conversations and makes the important ones happen sooner.

More profiles will not fix hiring. Better reasons to talk might.

About the Author

Sebastian Scott is the Co-Founder and CEO of Clera, an AI-powered talent platform rethinking how professionals connect with career opportunities. He leads the company’s strategy, fundraising and go-to-market efforts, having grown Clera to more than 60,000 represented professionals and over 500 startup clients in under a year. He personally onboarded the company’s first 100+ startup clients and developed a success-fee model. He also led Clera’s $3 million pre-seed round, backed by 1984 Ventures, Deel Ventures and angels from companies including OpenAI, LinkedIn, and more.

Sebastian founded his first company at 17, later building an on-demand tutoring platform that scaled to more than 15,000 users. He has also developed AI agent systems for German manufacturers seeking automation solutions. Sebastian studied at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Columbia University and Tsinghua University. He was born in Singapore and is now based in San Francisco.

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The Overlooked Productivity Killer in the Office: Noise

July 27, 2026 by Ananth

July 27, 2026

The Overlooked Productivity Killer in the Office: Noise

By Todd Marshall, CEO, Versare

As organizations continue to refine their workplace strategies, conversations about productivity often center on technology, leadership, employee engagement, and flexible work policies. While these factors certainly influence performance, one workplace issue is frequently underestimated despite affecting employees every day: noise.

The modern office is expected to support many different types of work at once, often within the same shared environment. While open layouts encourage communication and teamwork, they also create a level of background noise that can make sustained concentration increasingly difficult, especially during video calls and focused work.

For HR professionals, workplace noise is more than a facilities concern. It directly influences employee productivity, cognitive performance, workplace satisfaction, and even overall well-being. As organizations look for ways to create healthier and more effective work environments, acoustic comfort deserves a place in the conversation.

Not all workplace distractions are created equal. Interruptions such as emails or instant messages are visible and easy to recognize, while background conversations are often treated as simply part of office life. Yet surrounding speech is especially difficult to ignore. Even when employees are not actively listening, the brain continues processing nearby voices, making it harder to concentrate on mentally demanding tasks.

Knowledge workers spend much of their day solving problems, analyzing information, writing reports, developing strategies, or making decisions. These activities require sustained attention. Each nearby conversation or loud meeting across the room creates another interruption, pulling employees away from deep work.

The challenge isn’t simply the brief moment lost to a distraction. Regaining focus can take much longer, creating a cumulative effect throughout the workday. Multiple small interruptions can leave employees feeling mentally exhausted while accomplishing less than they intended.

Over time, excessive workplace noise contributes to frustration, increased stress, lower engagement, and reduced team efficiency.

Hybrid work has changed the rhythm of the office. Rather than rows of employees quietly working at individual desks, today’s workplace often functions as a hub for collaboration. Employees come into the office specifically to attend meetings, brainstorm with teammates, and connect with colleagues. At the same time, many meetings now include remote participants.

It’s now common to see several employees participating in video calls from the same open workspace. Nearby teams may be holding impromptu discussions while others conduct client presentations or training sessions. The result is an environment where multiple conversations overlap throughout the day.

Ironically, efforts to encourage collaboration can also create distractions and undermine productivity for everyone sharing the space. This doesn’t mean collaboration is the problem. Rather, it highlights the importance of designing workplaces that support different types of work instead of expecting one environment to serve every purpose equally well.

One of the biggest misconceptions about office design is the assumption all employees work under the same conditions. In reality, employees shift between different modes of work throughout the day.

They may spend one hour collaborating on a project, another preparing financial analyses, followed by a performance review with a direct report or a virtual presentation with clients. Each activity requires a different level of privacy, concentration, and interaction.

A workplace optimized exclusively for collaboration can make focused work difficult. Likewise, an office designed only for quiet individual work may discourage teamwork and spontaneous problem-solving.

Instead of viewing workplace design as an either-or decision, organizations should consider how different environments support different activities. Quiet areas for focused work, collaborative spaces for team discussions, and semi-private areas for virtual meetings can coexist within the same office. Providing employees with choices allows them to select the environment best suited to the task at hand.

The conversation around workplace noise often focuses on productivity, but employee well-being is equally important. Constant background noise contributes to cognitive fatigue because employees must continuously filter out competing sounds while trying to focus. By the end of the day, this ongoing mental effort can leave employees feeling drained, even if they haven’t completed physically demanding work.

Persistent distractions may also increase stress levels. Employees who struggle to find quiet places for concentrated work often compensate by arriving early, staying late, or taking work home to complete tasks requiring uninterrupted attention. Over time, these patterns can contribute to fatigue and disengagement.

Creating work environments that support concentration demonstrates respect for employees’ time and mental energy. It signals that organizations recognize productivity is not just about asking people to work harder, but about creating the conditions people need to perform at their best.

Improving workplace acoustics doesn’t always require major renovations or expensive redesigns. Many organizations can make meaningful improvements by evaluating how existing spaces are used and making thoughtful adjustments.

For example, creating designated quiet zones allows employees to complete focused work without constant interruptions. Reserving certain spaces for phone calls and virtual meetings helps reduce overlapping conversations in shared work areas. Adding sound-absorbing materials—such as acoustic ceiling panels, wall treatments, rugs, upholstered furniture, or other finishes—can reduce echoes and improve overall sound quality throughout the office.

Flexible dividers and movable partitions can also help separate collaborative spaces from quieter work areas without permanently changing the office layout. These solutions can create acoustic zones, giving employees clearer choices about where to take calls, collaborate, or focus. Because workplace needs continue to evolve, adaptable solutions often provide greater long-term flexibility than fixed construction.

Before making changes, organizations should first identify where noise is creating the greatest disruption. Look for areas where noise levels fluctuate throughout the day or where team movement and conversations frequently overlap. This assessment can help determine whether the best response is a change in space usage, furnishings, or physical separation.

Although workplace design is often associated with facilities or real estate teams, HR leaders have valuable insight into how office environments affect employees. HR professionals regularly gather employee feedback, monitor engagement, oversee workplace policies, and help shape organizational culture. This broader perspective makes HR well-positioned to identify when physical workspace challenges are affecting morale or productivity.

Employee surveys and workplace observations can reveal recurring concerns about ongoing distractions or difficulty concentrating in open workspaces. Including questions about the physical work environment alongside engagement initiatives provides organizations with a more complete understanding of the employee experience.

Cross-functional collaboration between HR, facilities, and leadership teams can help ensure workplace decisions reflect both operational goals and employee needs.

The future of work isn’t about choosing between open offices and private offices. It’s about creating workplaces designed to support the different kinds of work employees move through each day.

Collaboration remains essential for innovation, relationship building, and organizational culture. Equally important, however, is providing opportunities for uninterrupted focus when employees need to think deeply, solve complex problems, or complete important projects. Organizations that intentionally balance these needs create environments where employees can do both effectively.

As companies continue investing in employee experience, acoustic comfort should be viewed as part of a broader workplace strategy rather than an afterthought. A thoughtfully designed office makes room for communication, concentration, and teamwork without allowing one to undermine the others.

Noise is not just a background issue. It shapes how employees focus, collaborate, and experience the workplace each day. For organizations focused on productivity and well-being, acoustic comfort is a practical investment in people. When the office supports both connection and concentration, productivity becomes less about pushing through distractions and more about giving employees the environment they need to succeed.

About the Author

Todd Marshall is the CEO of Versare, where he leads the company’s growth in flexible, design-forward space solutions for workplaces, schools, commercial environments, and more. With a background spanning McKinsey & Company, Target, Patterson Companies, and Shutterfly’s Lifetouch division, he brings deep expertise in scaling operations and translating customer needs into practical, high-impact design solutions. At Versare, Todd focuses on helping organizations adapt spaces quickly without costly renovations by using flexible walls, room dividers, and other reconfigurable solutions. He is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Reimagining Talent: Transforming Workforces for a Dynamic World

July 24, 2026 by HRSAdmin

July 24, 2026

Reimagining Talent: Transforming Workforces for a Dynamic World

How shifting to skills-based models and fluid structures enables organizations to thrive amid uncertainty and a shrinking talent pool.

By Joe Sagrilla

For decades, large organizations have been trapped in a destructive antipattern: swelling staff during economic upswings only to resort to mass layoffs—sometimes in the thousands—when downturns hit. This boom-and-bust cycle is not merely a symptom of economic volatility but a consequence of outdated organizational design. Static roles, rigid hierarchies, and a lack of visibility into workforce capacity create inefficiencies that harm companies, shareholders, and employees alike. As technological and geopolitical disruptions reshape the global business landscape and a new generation of talent faces unique challenges, organizations must act decisively to break this cycle. By transitioning to skills-based models, rethinking organizational structures, and fostering outcome-driven cultures, companies can build resilient, agile workforces capable of thriving in an era of constant change

Traditional organizational models, defined by fixed roles and rigid hierarchies, are ill-suited for today’s dynamic business environment. Employees are hired to fill specific roles, often sized for peak workloads—such as during annual budgeting cycles, when resource demands spike across departments. Yet, these peaks are temporary, and average workloads are often significantly lower. This mismatch leads to overstaffing, with some estimates suggesting that administrative roles in US companies are overstaffed by as much as 30%. During lulls, employees may engage in “make-work” projects to maintain the appearance of busyness, obscuring excess capacity from executive leadership. The result is a toxic cycle: overstaffing during good times, followed by abrupt, large-scale layoffs when economic pressures mount. This approach erodes trust, disrupts continuity, and undermines long-term performance.

Two converging forces amplify the urgency to rethink workforce strategies: a shrinking, less experienced talent pool and accelerating disruption.

NextGen Talent Challenges

The incoming generation of workers is smaller than its predecessors, with fewer individuals available to replace retiring baby boomers, who are exiting the workforce with decades of critical experience. Compounding this, the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted educational and early-career opportunities for younger workers. Many were unable to gain critical experience as baby boomers delayed retirement to rebuild depleted savings. Additionally, the rise of hybrid work environments has hindered the development of essential soft skills—collaboration, communication, and relationship-building—further limiting the readiness of emerging talent.

Disruptive Forces

Technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), are fundamentally reshaping the skills organizations require. AI is not only transforming how work is executed but also redefining the organizational capabilities needed to remain competitive. Simultaneously, geopolitical instability—evidenced by tariffs, supply chain challenges, and currency fluctuations—signals the start of a decades-long cycle of disruption. Organizations need agile, skilled employees capable of navigating these complexities with precision and foresight.

To break the boom-and-bust cycle and prepare for an era of disruption, organizations must adopt a forward-looking approach to talent and structure. Three imperatives stand out.

1. Transition to a Skills-Based Talent Model

The traditional role-based model locks employees into rigid job descriptions, limiting adaptability. A skills-based approach, by contrast, focuses on the competencies needed to address a spectrum of business challenges. Research indicates that 55% of organizations worldwide have already begun transitioning to skills-based talent models, with an additional 23% planning to start in 2025. Moreover, 81% of leaders agree that this shift drives economic growth by enhancing productivity, innovation, and agility. As of 2023, 70% of companies have adopted skills-based hiring methods, signaling a broader trend toward flexibility.

To operationalize this shift, organizations must invest in robust management systems for skill development. Self-service training platforms, flexible budgets for employee-driven learning, and results-focused mentorship programs can empower workers to acquire and refine skills as needs evolve. By prioritizing skills over roles, companies can better align talent with strategic priorities, reducing the risk of overstaffing and enabling rapid redeployment when disruption inevitably occurs.

2. Rethink the Organizational Chart

Static organizational charts, with their fixed roles and reporting lines, are relics of a less dynamic era. Organizations must reimagine their structures as fluid ecosystems of projects, where resources are allocated dynamically based on issues or opportunities. This requires identifying the skillsets needed for each initiative and establishing governance processes to reconfigure resources efficiently. To signal a commitment to leveraging breakthrough technologies, AI should be explicitly integrated into the resource pool or organizational chart—not as a peripheral tool but as a core enabler of operations.

Additionally, organizations must mature their approaches to sourcing external talent. Stronger partnerships with large consulting firms for major projects, combined with the ability to integrate solo advisors or specialized consultants into project teams, can address hard-to-fill skill gaps effectively without permanent headcount increases. Leading firms will configure teams to ensure internal employees learn directly from outside advisors, unlocking talent development value alongside expert advice and execution support.

3. Underpin with a Results-Driven Culture

A skills-based model and dynamic organizational chart will require a profound cultural shift in many organizations. Too often, managers prioritize inputs or the appearance of “busyness” over measurable outcomes. Leaders must refocus on business results, dismantling fiefdoms and territorial behaviors that hoard resources. A culture of collaboration, where skillsets are fluidly reconfigured to meet project needs, is essential. A shared foundation of beliefs and values enables employees to rapidly coalesce into new teams and collaborate effectively, delivering results through membership in multiple teams throughout the year. This cultural transformation is perhaps the most challenging imperative. It requires leaders to model accountability, reward outcomes over activity, and foster an environment where adaptability and collaboration are non-negotiable. Only then can organizations fully realize the benefits of a skills-based, project-driven model.

Organizations face a critical juncture: they must rethink talent strategies to navigate a one-two punch of retiring baby boomers and a smaller, less skilled younger workforce unprepared to fill the gap under outdated organizational models. The boom-and-bust cycle of hiring and layoffs is merely a symptom of organizational designs that have not evolved to match the dynamism of today’s business environment. By shifting to skills-based models, companies gain the flexibility to build evergreen skills that remain relevant amid severe, discontinuous disruptions, unlike role-specific skills that are vulnerable to rapid obsolescence. Streamlined talent models that leverage outside advisors not only enable dynamic project execution but also upskill internal resources through collaborative learning, maximizing long-term value. This transformation positions organizations to turn talent scarcity and disruption into opportunities for innovation and sustained competitive advantage.

About the Author

Joe Sagrilla is an independent management consultant and business advisor, top business school faculty, board member, writer, and speaker. His specialties include business strategy, transformation, technology, process improvement, and organizational performance. He currently lives in Austin, TX.

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