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The Discipline Gap: Practical Measures to Restore Standards at Work

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The Discipline Gap: Practical Measures to Restore Standards at Work

In today’s fast-evolving workplaces, a quiet erosion of discipline often signals deeper cracks—disengagement, unclear expectations, or mounting personal pressures—rather than simple defiance. 

What if the real solution lies not in stricter rules, but in rebuilding human connections, understanding beliefs that drive behavior, and balancing accountability with genuine compassion? 

On HR Spotlight, leading HR professionals and business executives reveal practical, insightful approaches to restore focus and productivity without relying on fear or heavy-handed policies. 

From repairing trust through transparent conversations and modeling consistent leadership, to implementing progressive discipline systems, celebrating positive behaviors, addressing root causes like financial stress via emergency savings programs, and empowering younger generations with focus tools—these experts demonstrate how culture, clarity, and empathy can transform slipping standards into renewed commitment. 

Discover their battle-tested strategies that foster ownership and long-term engagement.

Read on!

Milos Eric
General Manager, OysterLink

When discipline breaks down, HR needs to step back from policies and start focusing on repairing culture.

In many situations ‘indiscipline’ is not outright defiance, it is a reflection of loss of engagement and lack of clarity about expectations.

The first step needs to be repairing trust and transparency. Ask employees in one-on-one conversations what they think has changed. As a follow up to that, there needs to be consistency.

Rules/practices only work when leaders model them daily.

HR needs to pair accountability with compassion by collecting data and neutral feedback systems and regularly asking how people are doing to catch behavior developments in the early vale.

Positive behavior needs to be recognized and celebrated as publicly as correcting bad behavior.

A final step is that leaders need to be trained to articulate expectations in precise, fair and respectful terms.

The most disciplined workplaces are not those that instill fear, but places where people truly believe their behavior matters.

Repair Trust to Restore True Discipline

Graham Cherrett
Founder, The Longley Sales

The question “why is employee discipline declining?” Is almost impossible to directly answer as the decline is simply a symptom of an underlying issue.

The best way to understand what leads a person or group to change their behaviour is to understand what drives people to act the way they do.

By understanding how we are all built to navigate through life we can then follow the breadcrumbs back to the underlying issue of declining discipline.

The origin of all human behaviour is BELIEF.

Whatever the person believes about the task at hand starts a psychological cascade that ends driving their behavior and ultimately the results they get.

This cascade will be positive or negative depending on the underlying belief.

The BELIEF causes the person to THINK a certain way about the task at hand – the thoughts causes them to FEEL feelings that magnify the thoughts – the thoughts and feelings are the precursor to how they ACT (how disciplined they are) – their actions generate the RESULTS they get – their results will typically serve to reinforce the BELIEF that started the whole cycle.

This belief cycle can work in a positive way or a downward spiral.

Once you understand the psychological cascade at play you can dig into a person’s or team’s feelings, thoughts and beliefs about the task at hand because this is where change can happen.

Beliefs Drive Behavior—Change Starts There

Julia Spahiu
HR Consultant, Edi and Sienna Group

HR can address declining employee discipline by first re-establishing clear expectations and ensuring all staff understand updated policies, standards, and consequences.

Managers should receive training on consistent enforcement, proper documentation, and how to handle misconduct professionally, as inconsistency often leads to confusion and decreased accountability.

Implementing a structured progressive discipline system such as verbal warnings, written warnings, and final corrective actions helps create fairness and transparency.

HR should also analyze potential root causes, including workload issues, low morale, or leadership gaps, to determine whether deeper cultural or operational problems are contributing to the decline.

Offering refresher training, promoting positive behavior through recognition, and addressing chronic offenders promptly all help reinforce expectations.

Together, these actions help rebuild a respectful, accountable, and productive workplace environment.

Progressive Discipline Builds Fair Accountability

Samah T. Abukhodeir
Founder, The Florida Probate & Family Law Firm

Leading a fast-growing law firm has shown me that slipping discipline usually signals a communication or culture issue, not a people issue.

HR should start by talking to employees one-on-one.

Some may feel overlooked, some may be stretched thin, and others may be dealing with personal issues.

Once you understand the “why” and when you show real interest, the tone shifts fast.

But support only works when paired with accountability and the company culture sets the standard here.

If someone repeatedly ignores their duties and nothing happens, you’re teaching everyone else that effort is optional.

That’s when performance drops across the board.

HR should revisit policies, make expectations clear, and train managers to address issues right away instead of letting them grow.

Early conversations, written expectations, and consistent action give employees a fair chance to correct course before things escalate.

Empathy + Swift Action Prevents Decline

Kyla Dufresne
Founder & CEO, Foxy Box Headquarters

At Foxy Box, we believe discipline starts with culture, not control.

When accountability slips, it’s usually a sign that connection, clarity, or communication has too.

HR’s job isn’t to police, it’s to realign and reignite. Start by re-establishing clear expectations and values, then have real conversations about what’s shifted and why.

Recognize wins publicly, address issues privately, and make sure every team member knows how their role impacts the bigger picture.

Empower leaders to model the behavior they want to see, because energy is contagious.

When people feel seen, supported, and part of something that matters, discipline naturally follows.

Culture Reignites Discipline, Not Control

Ally Meyers
Certified Executive, Ally Meyers Coaching and Training

In today’s workplace, flexibility and trust are key to attracting and retaining talent, but discipline is still essential for cutting through distractions and getting meaningful work done.

Millennials now make up the largest share of the workforce, with Gen Z expected to reach 30% by 2030.

Both generations, raised in a digital world, face unique focus challenges. HR can help them balance the flexibility they value with the productivity organizations need.

Three effective strategies include:

– Systemize one-on-ones. Hold biweekly meetings to create a consistent space for feedback and accountability.


– Celebrate small wins. Recognizing progress and small goal achievements fuels motivation and builds momentum.


– Prioritize focus time. Provide tools and norms that protect uninterrupted work through digital wellness training, deep work blocks, and team challenges that promote mindful technology use.

Focus Tools Empower Gen Z Productivity

Patrick D. Tobia
Partner, Trenk Isabel Siddiqi

When workplace discipline declines, HR must act quickly and consistently to restore standards.

Start by reviewing and clearly communicating company policies so employees understand expectations and consequences.

Conduct refresher training for supervisors to ensure fair and consistent enforcement.

Address issues promptly through documented corrective action: verbal warnings, written notices, or performance plans as appropriate.

Encourage accountability by recognizing positive behavior and addressing misconduct immediately.

Strengthen communication channels so employees feel heard and supported, reducing frustration that can lead to rule-breaking.

Finally, evaluate whether workplace culture, leadership practices, or unclear procedures are contributing to the decline, and implement targeted improvements.

A balanced approach of fairness, transparency, and consistency is key to rebuilding discipline and morale.

Consistent Policies Restore Workplace Standards

Najeeb Khan
Head of Training & Events, Teamland

When discipline starts to decline, it’s often a symptom of disengagement, not defiance.

Instead of defaulting to stricter policies, HR should reestablish clarity, accountability, and connection.

Start by reinforcing shared values through transparent communication and consistent feedback loops.

Create opportunities for employees to feel ownership, peer-led accountability circles, and team-based goals work well.

When people feel part of something bigger, discipline naturally follows

Shared Values Spark Natural Accountability

Devin Miller
CEO of SecureSave

One of the biggest drivers of disengaged employees is stress.

Short term money matters have long been one of the biggest drivers of stress for employees.

When this financial stress shows up at work, it leads to turnover and lost hours.

Our research at SecureSave shows that a workplace emergency savings program is a highly effective way to turn that around.

Workplace ESAs can have incredibly high adoption rates and research shows that employees with even a few hundred dollars of emergency savings are more productive, less likely to miss work and less likely to look for a new job.

Emergency Savings Ease Stress, Boost Discipline

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

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Hiring in High-Stress Professions: What Law Firms Reveal About Burnout, Retention, and Talent Fit

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February 14 2026

Hiring in High-Stress Professions: What Law Firms Reveal About Burnout, Retention, and Talent Fit

By the HR Spotlight Team

In nearly every industry, HR leaders are grappling with the same challenge: burnout is rising, retention is unpredictable, and traditional hiring indicators aren’t delivering long-term stability.

Few workplaces expose these cracks faster than law firms.

Legal environments are deadline-driven, adversarial, and emotionally demanding. Client expectations are high. Stakes are often personal. The margin for error is thin. When hiring decisions miss the mark in these settings, the consequences appear quickly, in performance gaps, morale issues, or early departures.

For HR leaders, law firms offer a valuable case study in what happens when high performance expectations meet imperfect hiring systems.

  • When Credentials Aren’t Enough

Law firms have historically prioritized pedigree: top schools, clerkships, trial experience, technical precision. But credentials alone rarely predict durability in high-pressure roles.

Tim Wheeler, Partner at Greene Broillet & Wheeler, has seen this firsthand.

“Technical competence is table stakes,” Wheeler explains. “What separates long-term contributors from short-term hires is judgment under pressure. In litigation, stress is constant. The people who succeed are typically steady, collaborative, and able to manage intensity without letting it disrupt the team.”

For HR leaders outside the legal field, the lesson is clear: high-stress roles magnify soft-skill deficiencies. Emotional regulation, communication under pressure, and adaptability are foundational.

Organizations that overweight résumé signals and under-evaluate resilience often discover the mismatch only after the hire is embedded in high-stakes work.

  • Burnout Often Begins at Recruitment

Burnout is frequently framed as a workload problem. But in high-pressure professions, it is often a hiring alignment issue.

Justin Lovely of Lovely Law Firm Injury Lawyers notes that expectations play a decisive role.

“In plaintiff litigation, cases move quickly and emotions run high,” Lovely says. “If candidates don’t have a realistic understanding of that intensity before they join, the adjustment can be overwhelming. Transparency during hiring is critical. It’s better to lose a candidate upfront than lose them six months in.”

This insight resonates beyond law. Across industries, organizations often soften job previews to remain competitive in talent markets. But when reality diverges from recruitment messaging, disengagement accelerates.

HR leaders who prioritize honest role descriptions (including the difficult aspects) reduce attrition driven by surprise and misalignment.

  • High-Stress Environments Expose Weak Onboarding

In calmer settings, onboarding gaps can go unnoticed. In high-demand environments, they become liabilities.

The pressure can compound rapidly if new hires enter roles without:

  • Clear performance expectations
  • Defined communication channels
  • Decision-making boundaries
  • Access to mentorship

Legal workplaces, where time sensitivity and client accountability are constant, demonstrate how essential structured onboarding is. The same holds true in healthcare, technology, finance, and other performance-driven sectors.

HR teams that treat onboarding as an operational ramp-up rather than a cultural integration period may inadvertently increase early burnout risk.

  • The Role of Flexibility in Sustaining Performance

While high-stress roles may be unavoidable in certain professions, work design still matters.

Frederic S, co-founder of RemoteCorgi, observes that flexibility (when structured correctly) can extend sustainability even in demanding careers.

“Remote and hybrid options don’t eliminate pressure,” Frederic explains, “but they give professionals greater control over how they manage it. The key difference we see is autonomy. When employees feel trusted to structure their work around outcomes rather than constant presence, resilience improves.”

However, Frederic cautions that flexibility without clarity can backfire.

“Organizations that advertise flexibility but maintain unclear performance standards create confusion, not relief. High-performing teams need both autonomy and clearly defined expectations.”

For HR leaders, the takeaway is not simply to expand remote options, but to ensure that flexibility aligns with measurable outcomes and accountability systems.

  • What HR Leaders Can Learn From Legal Workplaces

Law firms are not unique in facing burnout challenges. What makes them instructive is the speed at which hiring misalignments surface.

From their experience, several consistent themes emerge:

  • Resilience must be evaluated, not assumed. Behavioral interviewing and situational assessments are critical in high-pressure roles.
  • Honest job previews reduce early attrition. Transparency builds trust and improves retention.
  • Onboarding is risk management. Structured mentorship and expectation-setting prevent performance shock.
  • Autonomy supports sustainability. Flexibility works when paired with clarity.
  • Culture amplifies stress or mitigates it. Competitive environments without collaboration accelerate burnout.
  • Turning Pressure Into a Strategic Advantage

High-stress professions will always demand more from employees. But the solution is not simply about reducing expectations but you must also improve alignment.

Organizations that refine how they hire, communicate role intensity honestly, and build support structures around performance can convert demanding environments into sustainable ones.

Law firms offer a clear example: when talent fit, transparency, and structured leadership align, pressure becomes a catalyst for growth rather than a driver of turnover.

For HR leaders across industries, the message is practical: burnout prevention does not start at resignation. It starts at recruitment.

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The HR Policy Battleground: Experts on What Employees Resist Most

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The HR Policy Battleground: Experts on What Employees Resist Most

Ever wondered why that one HR rule sparks instant eye-rolls across the office, turning policy into pushback? 

In a world where work-life balance clashes with operational needs, certain mandates—like rigid schedules or mandatory audits—ignite resistance faster than a bad coffee break. 

But is employee rebellion a sign of entitlement, or a cry for better communication?

HR Spotlight tapped CEOs, founders, and managers who’ve weathered these storms: from therapists charging no-show fees to auto techs snapping repair photos, and uniform audits rebranded as “refresh sessions.” 

Their candid stories reveal it’s rarely the rule itself—it’s the “why” that’s missing. 

Learn how reframing policies as protective armor, tying them to real metrics, or piloting flexible tweaks transforms grumbles into buy-in. 

If your team’s resisting, these insights might just rewrite your rulebook. 

Unlock the resistance-busters right here on HR Spotlight.

Read on!

Tim Johnson
CEO, Bizrok

I’ve worked with 50+ dental and medical practices, and the policy that gets the most resistance is mandatory personal development time.

When I require team members to spend 30-60 minutes weekly on skill training or reading during work hours, front desk staff and assistants initially see it as “time they could be catching up on patient calls or paperwork.”

The turning point came at a practice in Atlanta where the office manager resisted this for three months straight.

She finally committed to reading *Give and Take* by Adam Grant (one of our recommended books), and within two weeks she completely restructured how the team handled patient scheduling conflicts.

Their daily schedule gaps dropped from an average of 4.2 hours to 1.1 hours per provider–that’s an extra $180,000 in annual production capacity.

I address the resistance by tracking one specific metric before and after implementation.
For that Atlanta practice, we measured schedule efficiency.

For another practice in Indianapolis, we tracked patient complaint resolution time, which dropped 60% after their team started development sessions.

When team members see their own work getting easier because of what they learned during that “wasted” hour, they stop fighting it.

The key is making it protected time with a business metric attached.

Not “professional development because it’s good for you,” but “this solves the specific problem that’s been driving you crazy for six months.”

Mandatory Training Unlocks $180K Efficiency Gains

Alan Choi
Owner & Managing Director, Rainbow Auto Center

I’ve been running Rainbow Auto Center in Hayward since taking over from my father, and the policy that always gets pushback is mandatory post-repair photo documentation.

My techs hated stopping mid-workflow to photograph every stage of a collision repair–they saw it as micromanagement that slowed them down.

I changed the conversation when a customer’s insurance company tried to deny coverage on frame damage we’d already repaired.

Our step-by-step photos proved the structural work was necessary and legitimate.

That claim got approved within 48 hours instead of the usual 2-week fight, and the customer walked away trusting us completely.

Now my team requests the camera system before I even ask.

They realized those photos weren’t about me watching them–they were protection against blame when a claim gets disputed or a customer questions the bill six months later.

One tech told me it actually saved him from redoing work because he caught a prep issue in his own photos before painting.

The lesson: policies feel like punishment until people see them as armor.
Show your team how the “annoying rule” protects *them* from getting burned, and resistance turns into buy-in fast.

Repair Photos Become Team’s Best Armor

Dr. Elizabeth Barlow
Founder & CEO, Kinder Mind

I run a national mental health practice, so I see policy pushback from a clinical perspective.

The one that creates the most friction? Our 24-hour cancellation policy with a $25 first-time fee, then $75 after.

Clients feel punished when they’re charged, especially if they’re already struggling with anxiety or depression.

But when we tracked the data, late cancellations were costing our therapists an average of 8-12 hours per month in lost income and blocking waitlisted clients who desperately needed those slots.

One therapist lost $2,400 in a single month from no-shows before we implemented the policy.

I addressed it by reframing the conversation entirely–it’s not a penalty, it’s like buying concert tickets.

If you miss the show, you can’t get a refund regardless of the reason.

We also made sure therapists explained this during intake as protecting *everyone’s* access to care, not just protecting revenue.

When clients understood that their missed Monday appointment meant someone in crisis couldn’t get seen that week, resistance dropped significantly.

The shift happened when we stopped defending it as “policy” and started showing the human cost.

Our no-show rate dropped from 18% to under 4% within three months, and our waitlist times improved by nearly two weeks.

Cancellation Fees Protect Crisis Care Access

Selene Luk
Customer Care Manager, Spanish Cultural Association of Hong Kong

Strict clock-in rules always make employees nervous, especially in customer service or education where the work isn’t steady.

They often think it’s about trust, not time.

My advice? Talk to them directly about why the rule exists.

Then, try out a flexible option as a pilot.

People feel included that way, and the work still gets done.

Clock-In Rules Ease with Flexible Pilots

Josiah Lipsmeyer
Founder, Plasthetix Plastic Surgery Marketing

Here’s what I’ve seen running digital marketing teams: non-compete agreements cause the most drama, especially with creative folks.

We finally just changed the contract to spell out exactly who it applied to and for how long.

The complaining stopped pretty much immediately.

We explained why the policy existed and actually listened to their concerns.

If you want to keep good people, make these agreements fair and specific.

Don’t be vague.

Clear Non-Competes End the Drama Fast

Dr. Edward Espinosa
Owner, OptumMD

Healthcare workers hate rigid schedules, they really do.

So we tried letting them swap shifts easily and help build their own schedules.

It made a huge difference.

People were less stressed out, and we actually had better coverage.

Turns out, giving staff some control over their time keeps them happier and on the job longer.

It’s a simple fix that works.

Staff-Built Schedules Slash Stress Levels

Justin Carpenter
Founder, Jacksonville Maids

Our younger team is fed up with fixed schedules.

They want the freedom to swap shifts with coworkers.

We got a system where they handle it themselves, and it’s way better than our old method.

The stress of planning shifts is gone and morale is up.

If you can, give people control over their own time.

It’s worth it.

Self-Managed Swaps Boost Morale Overnight

Jodi McConnell
CEO, Uniform Connection

After 27+ years in the uniform business working with healthcare groups across Nebraska, the policy that gets the most resistance is mandatory dress code compliance audits.

When facilities require us to do quarterly on-site checks to ensure staff are wearing approved items correctly, employees immediately feel like they’re being policed rather than supported.

I fixed this at one large hospital group by reframing the visits entirely. Instead of “compliance checks,” we called them “wardrobe refresh appointments” where staff could swap worn-out scrubs, get refitted after weight changes, or grab new accessories–all during their shift.

We tracked that 40% of nurses were wearing the wrong size simply because their bodies had changed since their initial fitting, which meant they were uncomfortable all day for no reason.

The kicker was when one nurse told her manager she almost left for another facility because her scrubs fit so poorly she dreaded getting dressed for work.

After our refresh appointment, she stayed.

Management realized these “audits” weren’t about catching people–they were retention tools.

Now staff actually request the visits because they know they’ll leave feeling better, and compliance went from 73% to 94% without a single written warning.

Audits Rebranded as Refresh Sessions Win

Robin Mullins
Business Development Manager, Octagon Restoration

In my two decades in operations and HR leadership, the policy that consistently gets the most pushback is mandatory documentation requirements–especially incident reports and daily logs.

People see it as bureaucratic busywork that slows them down.

At the Chamber, our team initially resisted documenting every member interaction and partnership conversation.

They wanted to just “get things done” without the paperwork.

But when we had a sponsorship dispute with missing details about what was promised, everyone suddenly understood why records mattered.

I flipped the narrative by showing how documentation protects them personally, not just the organization.
When a property manager questions why emergency work was done without approval, our techs at Octagon have timestamped photos and notes proving the damage required immediate action.

That paper trail has saved jobs and prevented liability claims.

The key is proving that five minutes of documentation today prevents five hours of problems tomorrow.

Once employees see one real example where records saved someone’s job or protected the company from a lawsuit, resistance drops fast.

Documentation Saves Jobs from Disputes

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

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At Work, Relationships Are Operational

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February 13, 2026

At Work, Relationships Are Operational

By Tim Mobley, President, Connext Global

Valentine’s Day is usually framed as personal, but it’s also a useful moment to zoom out at work and ask a different question. What makes a professional relationship healthy in the first place? It’s not the perks or the forced bonding exercises. Instead, leaders should focus on whether people feel clear, safe, and supported enough to do great work with their colleagues, despite differences in their roles, backgrounds and pressures.

That’s why I keep coming back to a simple idea: Healthy workplace relationships rarely happen by chance. HR’s job is to design the conditions that make them possible.

  • Relationships Break Down When Systems Are Vague

Workplace relationships are shaped by structure, not just personality. How work gets assigned, how decisions get made, how feedback is delivered, and how conflict is addressed all determine how relationships feel day to day. 

Consider a long-term initiative that spans multiple departments, such as a year-long systems rollout involving operations, IT, finance, and customer support. These kinds of complex projects inevitably have overlapping deadlines and shifting priorities. Even when the entire team puts forward their best effort, pressure builds. 

Without clear ownership and decision rules, small miscommunications start to feel personal. A delayed response reads as avoidance, and a blunt message sounds dismissive. Tension grows even when no one intends harm.

  • Distributed Work Raises the Stakes

This dynamic intensifies in distributed teams. In a shared office, misunderstandings get corrected quickly because you can clarify intent in real time. In remote or global teams, it takes a more deliberate effort for those corrections to happen.

Returning to that cross-department project, imagine contributors spread across time zones. Scheduling constraints can cause some team members to miss meetings, while late-night emails may arrive without the context needed to interpret them right away. When this happens, silence fills the gaps and assumptions take hold.

In distributed teams, relationship issues surface faster when expectations are not written down. HR has to formalize how teams communicate, collaborate, and course correct, or small misunderstandings quietly turn into long-term disengagement.

  • Team Building Starts With Predictability

Many organizations misunderstand team building. They treat it as an event rather than an operating principle. Real team building is created through predictability. People need to know who makes decisions and how to communicate respectfully. 

On complex projects, this clarity matters even more. When teams know how tradeoffs are decided and how feedback flows, conflict becomes manageable instead of personal. HR sets those guardrails so the work can stay focused on progress rather than unspoken rules.

That’s how we create psychological safety — by delivering predictable outcomes when people speak up. 

  • Boundaries Protect Relationships From Burnout

Boundaries have become nonnegotiable in remote and hybrid environments. Without clarity, flexibility often turns into constant availability. People burn out when they never know where the edges are.

Team members stay online late to avoid being seen as uncommitted and they jump into issues outside their scope to keep projects moving. Over time, that leads to exhaustion and faltering collaboration.

One of HR’s most important responsibilities now is protecting boundaries. Clear norms around response times, escalation paths, and ownership prevent burnout before it starts. These norms do not need to be complex, yet they do need to be explicit.

  • Consistency Is the Foundation of Trust

Trust at work comes from consistency. When performance is measured predictably and feedback is delivered fairly, relationships feel steadier.

Inconsistent standards turn relationships political. People chase visibility instead of progress and credit becomes competitive. Employees are afraid to take the risks required to innovate. But if employees have a clear understanding of what good looks like and how growth is supported, collaboration becomes easier.

HR is responsible for building that consistency into the system.

  • Designing Relationships That Support Performance

I have seen firsthand how quickly relationships improve when these guardrails are treated as part of the operating system rather than personal preference. At Connext Global, we led a team transition for a U.S.-based managed service provider, and found that the real challenge was rebuilding trust, morale, and operational reliability after a strained outsourcing relationship. By establishing clear communication rhythms and consistent expectations, the team scaled while improving retention and satisfaction.

By designing expectations and boundaries into the system, relationships stop depending on guesswork and start supporting performance.

Ultimately, modern HR must lead this transformation. HR is creating the environment where relationships form and live. To be healthy, these relationships don’t require everyone to be close friends, but they do demand consistency and guardrails that protect people from unspoken expectations.

Valentine’s Day may be the reminder, but the work is ongoing. When HR designs the conditions for healthy relationships, teams spend less time managing friction and more time doing their best work.

About the Author

As President and Founder of Connext Global Solutions, Tim Mobley brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience to the team, including 10 years in the healthcare industry. He is a proud United States Military Academy graduate with an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tim enjoys mentoring young professionals, snowboarding in Japan and delivering Hawaiian chocolates to our offshore teams.

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5 Ways to Manage Your Team Like an Olympic Coach

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February 10, 2026

5 Ways to Manage Your Team Like an Olympic Coach

By Ashley Herd, Leadership Speaker and Podcast Host

Every two years when the Olympics roll around, we all become experts in sports we may not have even tried ourselves (though curling does make a surprisingly fun team outing). We’ll yell to the slalom racer on TV, “You should’ve taken that turn tighter!” even though we wouldn’t want that same racer showing up on Monday morning to give us play-by-play feedback in the office.

But Olympic athletes don’t succeed because of random commentary from the sidelines. They succeed because of consistent coaching, years of preparation, and the kind of feedback that’s based on trust. Those breakthrough moments aren’t luck; they’re the result of practice, support, and someone helping them get better over time.

This is where HR comes in. One of the most valuable things HR can do is help managers move from “sideline commentary” to real coaching, with practical tools for feedback, trust, and development. If you want to empower your managers to set their team members up for their own “gold medal” moments, here are five tips to share:

  • 1. Train for the real event, not the imaginary one

Olympic coaches don’t prepare athletes for vague success. They train for the exact conditions of competition.

Managers sometimes do the opposite. We tell employees, “Do your best,” and “Be successful,” but we don’t clarify what success actually looks like. Or we assume people know what the finish line is, because we can see it.

Olympic-level management means being specific:

  •       What does a great outcome look like?
  •       What’s expected of them, and what will they receive from others?
  •       How will you each measure it along the way?

Teams can’t hit a target that hasn’t been clearly, and specifically, communicated.

  • 2. Give feedback constantly, not just at the “big review”

No Olympic coach waits until the gold medal round to say, “By the way, your form was off.”

Feedback happens in real time. It’s part of the process. If managers are only talking about performance at review time, this can be a training gap, not necessarily a motivation problem. The strongest leaders build a culture where feedback sounds more like coaching than criticism:

  •       “This was great. Keep doing that.”
  •       “Here’s one tweak that could help.”
  •       “Let’s look at that together.”

Consistent, constructive feedback makes it feel supportive, not stressful.

  • 3. Push people, but don’t break them

Olympic coaches absolutely challenge their athletes. They stretch them, and raise the bar. But the best coaches also know the difference between growth and burnout. They support, and require, recovery. They notice when someone can do more, but also when they need a break. They understand that performance isn’t just about effort. It’s about sustainable effort.

Managers need that same awareness. If your team is always sprinting, they’ll eventually stop running. A good question to ask your team is “How can we make sure you’re able to balance getting your work done and taking time to recharge?”

That check-in can prevent a lot of breakdowns later.

  • 4. Build trust before the pressure hits

When an athlete steps onto the world stage, they’re not wondering if their coach believes in them. That trust was built long before the spotlight.

In workplaces, trust works the same way. You can’t wait until the big moments to try to build it. It comes from showing up regularly, following through, and communicating clearly day to day.

Trust isn’t extra. It’s what makes everything else work.

  • 5. Remember: the goal is development, not perfection

Olympic athletes are chasing excellence, which means no one’s perfect on Day One. They get there through repetition, learning from mistakes and adjusting along the way.

Managers sometimes forget that work is developmental, too. If someone isn’t getting it, the question isn’t always, “Why can’t they do this?” It’s often: “How can they learn and grow?”

A manager’s job isn’t to lead a team of flawless performers. It’s to lead real humans who are learning, trying, growing, and doing it all over again.

  • Takeaway

A team member’s presentation next week might not come with medal chances, but it can still feel like they’re on the world stage. That’s where good coaching matters. Managers can use these tips to help people not only understand what’s expected, but feel supported in how they’ll succeed. And HR can play a role in making that kind of leadership the norm.

About the Author

Ashley Herd is a former Chief People Officer and General Counsel , leadership speaker, and podcast host who has trained over 250,000 managers through LinkedIn Learning and live corporate trainings. Ashley has spent her career helping professionals navigate leadership challenges with clarity and confidence. Ashley built Manager Method after leading HR and Legal teams at McKinsey, Yum! Brands and Modern Luxury. She’s a top LinkedIn Learning instructor and co-host of the HR Besties podcast. As the CEO of Manager Method, Ashley works with organizations of all sizes to equip their managers with practical, proven tools that drive clarity, accountability and stronger teams – because better managers build better workplaces.

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Volatility is the baseline: Why CEO turnover is rising and how boards must rethink succession planning

by

February 9, 2025

Volatility is the baseline: Why CEO turnover is rising and how boards must rethink succession planning

Dan Russell, Senior Partner, Global Head of Assessment at RHR International

CEO turnover is rising, bringing chaos for organizations that do not thoughtfully invest in their leadership strategies. CEO departures have increased over the past couple of years due to a number of factors: retiring baby boomers ushering in generational shifts; added pressure within the financial, retail, and entertainment sectors; and complexities and rapidly shifting economic, technological, and political landscapes. At the same time, expectations of the role have changed; people now desire shorter tenures and greater work-life balance. 

Cultivating a healthy pipeline of CEO and senior executive talent can take a decade. Without proper planning and investment, CEO succession can throw a company into crisis mode. Consequently, proactive CEO succession plans have grown significantly more important on the corporate priority list to ensure smooth transitions.

  • Volatility is the new normal, and the upcoming leaders have been baking in it

Today’s CEOs and senior leaders are operating under unprecedented pressure. Boards expect transparency, candor and a learning orientation for incoming leaders, along with the ability to cut through noise and focus on what actually matters to the organization’s continued growth. Simultaneously, as volatility continues to rise, decision-making cycles are shorter and public visibility into leadership actions has never been greater and more accessible. The combination of these factors results in intense pressure that’s felt most acutely across the retail, entertainment and financial services sectors.

In response to this pressure, leaders are searching for better ways to make decisions and execute faster, taking advantage of the rate at which technology is advancing. Some are heavily investing time and money to incorporate AI into their processes, but the most thoughtful leaders are taking their time experimenting with AI to evaluate where it’s most valuable. Even as organizations become more adept at leveraging this technology in their decision-making processes, they also must become more confident using their intuition. The staggering pace and truly unprecedented decisions they are being asked to make further fuel their appetite to lean on external tools to take measured, thoughtful risks.

For emerging CEOs and senior leaders, this volatility is not an interruption of stability, but a baseline from which they operate.

  • Why succession planning is evergreen and what boards must unlearn

Many CEOs are stepping away earlier, emphasizing the point that succession planning must be a long-term, continuous process rather than be treated as a simple handoff. 

Still, many boards remain loyal to outdated assumptions about what CEO readiness looks like. For example, succession discussions of the past revolve around a single “heir apparent” or default to candidates that resemble (or directly contrast) the sitting CEO. The actual key is shifting the focus from who to what. State-of-the-art succession planning starts with defining what the next CEO needs to accomplish within the future-facing context of the organization, rather than mirroring the past.

The charismatic visionary CEO of the 2010s with disruptive ideas has become a moment of the past, but it still has influenced the next era of leadership and made room for a new set of expectations for the role. The CEOs of today and the future must continue to make good decisions and galvanize people around a shared agenda that focuses on maintaining agility and resilience, all while continuing to operate under extreme pressure. They are incredibly purpose-driven problem solvers with a greater focus on scanning the external landscape, recognizing the implications of market trends and embracing the need to continually evolve and innovate. These leaders foster multidisciplinary approaches to opportunities across their organizations, balanced with cultivating their individual resilience and the resilience of those around them. The importance of these components will become more vital in the future and set a higher bar.

While elite academic credentials remain a common thread among top leadership, today’s CEO candidates reflect a notable shift toward functional and geographic diversity. In RHR’s work with companies of all sizes around the world, boards are increasingly looking beyond traditional Ivy League pipelines, prioritizing operational readiness and specialized experience over prestige alone. In a volatile market, a candidate’s track record of navigating disruption has become as critical a differentiator as their pedigree.

  • Coaching for uncertainty through the leadership transition and beyond

The most common mistake organizations make in the transition process is waiting for a crisis to occur. In reality, effective CEO transitions begin the moment a new CEO is named, and remain an intentional and ongoing process to ensure leadership continuity is not left to chance in a world where mayhem is the baseline.

Collaboration is key; great CEOs and boards partner closely with their CHROs to create and execute evergreen processes for all critical leadership positions. It begins by identifying the type of leadership required for the future based on the specific needs of the company and assessing candidates against that profile while providing development support and feedback to help them grow into the role while still in their current one. From ongoing talent reviews and leadership assessment to career pathing, the best prepared organizations are those that treat succession planning as a continuous cycle. Steady leadership investment allows companies to respond when disruption occurs, such as an unplanned vacancy or an unexpected opportunity that requires strong leadership.

As my colleague Deb Rubin says, relying on a future CEO to simply “emerge” from the organization is like riding on the highway in a go-kart. You might make it, but the odds are against you.

Despite preparing to exit, outgoing CEOs still have a critical role in this process. When engaged productively, they help build leadership by focusing on strengthening the organization rather than preserving an individual legacy and casting a shadow over the transition. The legacy of founders and board members does not lie solely within their own performance; it relies on the readiness of the person who takes your seat. Preparation is a combination of ambition, education and situational context.

About the Author

Dan Russell is a senior partner and head of Assessment at RHR. In this role, he combines deep psychological expertise with commercial acumen to design and scale executive succession programs. Dan has advised Fortune 100 companies across industries in North America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Europe. His expertise spans leadership assessment, succession planning, talent strategy, and advanced people analytics, including predictive modeling and machine learning.

Prior to RHR, he had senior roles with global firms including Deloitte and Aon. Dan holds a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Austin Peay State University. He is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, an active member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology over some 30 years, and a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation.

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