workplace culture

Women’s History Month Series – In Conversation with Advita Patel

March 11, 2026 by HRSAdmin

HR Spotlight Interview

Advita Patel

Women's History Month Interview Series

In Conversation with Advita Patel

Joining us is Advita Patel, an award-winning business communications consultant, professional confidence expert, and the 2025 President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. As the founder of CommsRebel and co-founder of A Leader Like Me, Advita specializes in building inclusive, high-performing environments. She is also the host of the Decoding Confidence podcast, with her highly anticipated book of the same name launching in May 2026.

In this interview, Advita breaks down the exhaustion of the modern workforce, the amplified pressures of the “Glass Cliff” for women of color, and why true empathy in leadership requires active practice, not just assumption. From setting non-negotiable boundaries to challenging the dangerous reliance on “gut feeling” in hiring, Advita provides a masterclass in leading with clarity and intention.

Thank you for joining us, Advita! If you could describe the current ‘mood’ of the workforce in 2026 using just one word, what would it be? Why?

Advita Patel:

Tired. The last six years have felt relentless for many people: constant change, new technology, economic uncertainty, and very little space to breathe or reflect. That’s why taking charge of the things we can control and prioritising our wellbeing matters more than ever. When you’re running on empty, you simply can’t show up properly for anyone else.

We often talk about the ‘Glass Ceiling,’ but lately, the conversation has shifted to the ‘Glass Cliff’, where women are promoted to leadership only during times of crisis. Have you ever felt that pressure to be the ‘fixer’ in a broken system?

Advita Patel:

Absolutely, and not just as a woman but also as a woman of colour, that pressure is amplified. There’s this unspoken expectation that you have to constantly prove yourself, outperform, and somehow fix what others couldn’t. You’re pitted against each other, and you genuinely believe you need to give twice as much just to be seen as half as capable. What makes it worse is that when you can’t fix a broken system, you internalise it as personal failure. It’s no wonder so many women burn out.

HR professionals are the ‘first responders’ of the corporate world, handling grief, layoffs, and conflict. What is your specific protocol for protecting your own peace after a day of absorbing everyone else’s stress?

Advita Patel:

Strong boundaries, and I don’t negotiate on them. My laptop stays in my office, and I don’t check anything work-related after 6pm. I know how tempting it is, especially when there’s an on-going issue. But if you don’t model your own boundaries, you can’t expect others to respect them either. Burning yourself out helps no one, and the long-term cost of not protecting yourself can be devastating.

Without naming names, tell us about a time you had to deliver tough news (a termination, a restructuring) that actually taught you something profound about leadership or empathy.

Advita Patel:

I was once asked to send out a restructure email just before a Bank Holiday weekend. The thinking was that it would get ahead of the rumours without leadership having to field questions straight away. I pushed back. Dropping news like that with no context, right before people disconnect for a long weekend, is unfair and causes unnecessary anxiety. The response from senior leadership? “Everyone’s an adult, they’ll understand.” That moment crystallised something important for me: empathy isn’t instinctive for everyone. It has to be actively practised, not assumed.

Have you ever felt pressure to soften your delivery or ‘be nice’ in a way that male counterparts aren’t? How do you balance empathy with the need to be firm on policy?

Advita Patel:

Yes. I was told my tone came across as aloof and cold, which genuinely surprised me because warmth is a big part of who I am. But I noticed the feedback only surfaced when I challenged or disagreed with something, and that told me a lot. Real empathy isn’t about backing down or over-softening to avoid discomfort. It’s about recognising that people aren’t difficult, they’re just different. It means understanding someone’s perspective without needing to agree with it, and holding your position without becoming defensive. Giving people space to be heard is empathy. Disappearing into agreeableness is not.

The age-old tension is between ‘People’ and ‘Profits.’ Can you share a specific example where you had to fight for a budget or a benefit that didn’t have an immediate ROI, but you knew was critical for the culture?

Advita Patel:

How to fight for a budget without a clear ROI? That’s practically a book I could write. In the work I do, it’s rarely possible to show an immediate return because it forms part of a much bigger picture. So, alongside attaching metrics to spend, I always talk about the consequences of not doing something, not just what success looks like if we do. That reframe gives budget holders the full picture rather than just our version of it.

We talk a lot about ‘gut feeling’ in hiring. How are you using data to challenge your own biases, or the biases of hiring managers, when it comes to promoting women and underrepresented talent?

Advita Patel:

Gut feeling is based on your lived experiences. And if your lived experiences have been sheltered and you haven’t had much interaction with people who are different from you, the bias you show in your gut will be aligned to your version of what good looks like. That’s why so many teams and boards have similar faces. This, in many cases, isn’t intentional. People will generally believe they have hired the best. But what they may not realise is that they are measuring best to their personal criteria. And if someone who is different or looks different is being interviewed, the natural reaction is that they are not a good fit. This is why data and evidence are needed to help slow your thinking down and help you tap into your reflective side of the brain.

If you could ban one corporate buzzword forever, what would it be?

Advita Patel:

Leverage. We don’t use that word at home, in conversation, in real life. I genuinely have no idea why it became so embedded in workplace language.

“Giving people space to be heard is empathy. Disappearing into agreeableness is not.”

That powerful distinction from Advita Patel fundamentally challenges how women are often conditioned to operate in corporate spaces. Her insights remind us that true leadership isn’t about fixing fundamentally broken systems at the expense of our own well-being; it is about establishing non-negotiable boundaries and using data to dismantle the biases hidden within our “gut feelings.”

A huge thank you to Advita for her candor and for giving us practical tools to protect our peace while driving meaningful organizational change.

Advita Patel is an award winning business communications consultant and professional confidence expert. She is the founder of CommsRebel, a consultancy supporting organisations to build inclusive, high performing workplace cultures, and the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, an international agency focused on inclusive leadership and employee experience. Advita is the host of the Decoding Confidence podcast, which explores confidence at work through honest conversation and practical insight. Her forthcoming book, Decoding Confidence, will be published in May 2026. An international speaker and award winning podcaster, Advita regularly speaks on confidence, leadership, inclusion, and communications. In 2025, she was the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2025.

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Employee Leave Isn’t the Problem. The Real Issue Is Lack of Planning.

March 9, 2026 by HRSAdmin

March 09, 2026

Employee Leave Isn’t the Problem. The Real Issue Is Lack of Planning.

By Rachel Shaw

Leave management is one of the most frustrating and most predictable parts of human resources.

And that is exactly the problem.

Employers often feel caught off guard when an employee needs time away from work for a medical condition, family care or a personal matter. The process becomes emotional, reactive and operationally disruptive. But the reality is this: over the course of any employee’s tenure, leave is not an exception. It is an inevitability.

Every workforce will experience illness, injury, pregnancy, caregiving needs, mental health events and life transitions. These are not outliers. They are part of the employee lifecycle. Yet many organizations still treat leave as a one-off rather than building systems that anticipate it.

The issue is not that employees need leave. The issue is that too many organizations are not designed to handle it well when it comes up.

Most employers have compliance mechanisms in place. They know how to issue an FMLA notice or respond to a doctor’s note. But compliance alone is not a strategy.

Where organizations struggle is in the absence of a clear, coordinated leave management program that addresses:

how leave is requested and tracked
how coverage is handled operationally
how supervisors respond in the moment
how leave interacts with ADA obligations and workplace accommodations
how employees are supported during and after the leave period

Without this infrastructure, every leave request becomes a disruption instead of a manageable workflow.

Proactive employers recognize that leave is a predictable operational reality and build programming around it.

When employers take the time to define their leave processes in advance, the experience changes dramatically.

Supervisors are no longer guessing what to do or reacting emotionally in the moment. HR is not reinventing the wheel with every request. Employees are not left feeling guilty, unsupported, or confused about their rights and responsibilities.

Clear programming allows organizations to respond consistently and with confidence. That includes:

clear expectations for how and when employees request leave
defined processes for job coverage and workload redistribution
structured communication points during leave
thoughtful return to work practices that support reintegration

This is not about eliminating the operational impact of leave. It is about managing it intentionally.

One of the most effective ways to reduce the strain of leave is through thoughtful flexibility.

In some environments, that may mean remote work or modified schedules. In others, particularly in the public sector, healthcare or frontline environments, it may mean shift swapping, modified assignments, or creative scheduling.

Not every role can be done from home. But every organization can evaluate where flexibility is possible.

When employees can adjust schedules for medical appointments or caregiving needs without immediately moving into formal leave status, organizations often see reduced absenteeism and improved morale.

Flexibility, when structured well, becomes a pressure valve that supports both operations and employees.

One of the most significant risks in leave management is not legal. It is cultural.

Supervisors often carry the operational burden when someone is out. That burden can lead to frustration, especially when leaves are extended, intermittent or complex.

Left unaddressed, that frustration can show up in subtle but damaging ways such as tone, comments, skepticism or disengagement. Employees quickly pick up on this and it erodes trust.

At the same time, employers are right to be attentive to potential misuse. That is part of good program management.

The solution is not to ignore concerns or to assume the worst. It is to train supervisors to operate with professional judgment, to follow process, avoid assumptions, document appropriately, and escalate concerns through the proper HR channels rather than reacting emotionally.

Employees should not feel like they are doing something wrong when they use a benefit or protection they are legally entitled to.

The way supervisors respond in these moments defines the organization’s culture far more than any written policy.

Another common breakdown point is what happens when statutory leave ends.

When FMLA or state leave entitlements are exhausted, the conversation is not necessarily over. Employers may have additional obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act to evaluate whether additional leave or other workplace accommodations are reasonable.

Too often, organizations treat the end of FMLA as the end of the process.

In reality, it is often the beginning of a different conversation, one that requires individualized assessment, interactive dialogue and thoughtful decision-making.

Organizations that build a coordinated ADA and leave management program, which I often refer to as programming the interactive process, are far better positioned to navigate these transitions consistently and defensibly.

At its core, leave management is not just a compliance function. It is a human one.

Employees request leave at some of the most difficult moments in their lives: a cancer diagnosis, a complicated pregnancy, a parent in decline, a mental health crisis or recovery from injury.

How an organization responds in these moments matters.

Employers that approach leave with clarity, structure and empathy see measurable benefits: higher engagement, stronger retention and increased trust in leadership.

Those that operate in crisis mode often see the opposite: burnout, resentment and turnover.

Mental health-related leave requests continue to rise across industries.

Employees are more willing to seek support, but they are still highly sensitive to how those requests are received. Stigma has not disappeared. It has just become quieter.

Supervisors need guidance on recognizing potential leave triggers, responding without prying into protected medical information and connecting employees with HR and available resources.

Organizations that treat mental health with the same seriousness and neutrality as physical health create a safer and more stable workplace for everyone.

The cost of poor leave management extends beyond legal exposure.

It shows up in:

operational disruption
supervisor burnout
inconsistent decision making
employee disengagement
avoidable turnover

Replacing experienced employees is expensive. More importantly, it disrupts the organization’s continuity and culture.

When employees see that their colleagues are treated with fairness, respect and professionalism during leave, it reinforces their trust in the organization.

Leave is not the problem.

The absence of planning is.

Organizations that move from reactive response to intentional design, build clear processes, train supervisors and align ADA and leave programming, are able to manage leave in a way that supports both operations and people.

That is the goal.

Not perfection. Not zero disruption.

But a workplace where employees can navigate life’s inevitable challenges without fear and where employers can respond with consistency, clarity and care.

That is what good leave management looks like.

About the Author

Rachel Shaw, founder of Rachel Shaw Inc., is a nationally recognized ADA and leave management expert and sought-after speaker known for helping organizations turn legal compliance into operational strength. With more than two decades of experience, she designs in-house systems that allow employers to manage accommodations with both legal precision and human-centered leadership. She is the creator of the ADA Interactive Process Hallway® protocol, now used by thousands of organizations to manage disability accommodation requests confidently, consistently, and with care.

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Women’s History Month Series – In Conversation with Rachel Shaw

March 3, 2026 by HRSAdmin

HR Spotlight Interview

Rachel Shaw

Women's History Month Interview Series

In Conversation with Rachel Shaw

Joining us is Rachel Shaw, the founder of Rachel Shaw Inc. and a nationally recognized expert who has spent over two decades helping organizations turn complex compliance into operational strength.

Rachel is the visionary behind the ADA Interactive Process Hallway® protocol, a system now utilized by thousands of organizations to navigate disability accommodations with consistency, legal precision, and, most importantly, care. Today, she shares her “superpowers” for cooling off a workplace on fire, why she’s trading “culture fit” for “culture add,” and how she navigates the unique pressures of being a “fixer” in the corporate world.

Thank you for joining us, Rachel! HR has been through the wringer lately. From being the ‘bad guys’ during layoffs to the ‘fun police’ during RTO, a lot’s been happening. If you could clear the air right now, what is the one thing you wish every employee understood about your job?

Rachel Shaw:

HR is not the “fun police.” We are the stability system of the organization.

We are responsible for ensuring that decisions are made consistently, legally, and in a way that allows the organization to survive long-term. Sometimes that means saying no. Sometimes that means enforcing boundaries. The goal is not control. The goal is fairness, sustainability and clarity.

The best HR professionals care deeply about people and the organization’s mission. Our job is to hold both at the same time, even when it is uncomfortable.

We’ve heard it said that ‘Nobody plans to go into HR; they are usually dragged into it because they are good at listening.’ Is that true for you? What was the specific moment you realized, ‘Oh, I’m actually meant to do this’?

Rachel Shaw:

Not at all. An early career assessment actually told me HR was the least likely fit for me.

What I discovered over time is that HR is the perfect fit for people who can do three things well. Have hard conversations with care. See the complexity in human behavior. Stay grounded in what is right and defensible.

I am deeply mission-driven. I feel the human emotion in situations, but I am not led by it. I am led by data, process, and legal guidance while still caring about the human in front of me. That combination is what made me realize this is exactly where I am meant to be.

HR requires a weird mix of skills. You have to be part lawyer, part therapist, and part data analyst. If we stripped away the job title, what is the one ‘superpower’ you rely on most when the office is on fire?

Rachel Shaw:

Curiosity.

When something goes wrong in a workplace, most people react. I get curious. What happened. What system failed. What data are we missing. What assumption are we making.

Curiosity slows down reaction and replaces it with better decision-making. It allows me to solve the right problem, not just the loudest one.

If you could describe the current ‘mood’ of the workforce in 2026 using just one word, what would it be? Why?

Rachel Shaw:

Disconnected.

Not because people do not care, but because systems, leadership and work design have not caught up with how people actually live and work today. The opportunity in 2026 is to rebuild connections with intention.

Rachel Shaw:

I absolutely identify as a fixer.

For women and other underrepresented groups, the standard has historically been higher. That pressure forces you to be sharper, faster and more creative. That pressure, while unfair, has also produced extraordinary leadership.

I walk into rooms assuming something can be better and that I have a role in making it better. That mindset is not ego. It is ownership.

Women in HR often get unfairly pigeonholed as the ‘office mom’ or the ‘policy police.’ How do you dismantle those stereotypes to ensure you are seen as a strategic business architect first?

Rachel Shaw:

I dismantle it by focusing on business outcomes.

HR drives profit, productivity, retention and risk management. We use data, process and structure to get there while also caring about people.

One example early in my career. HR was expected to provide food for every meeting. Instead of arguing about it, I rotated responsibility across departments. Within months, the practice disappeared because once everyone shared the labor, they realized it was not necessary.

I do not argue stereotypes. I redesign systems.

Rachel Shaw:

I use what I call the pillow test.

If I can put my head down at night and not replay the day, I know I acted with integrity. If I cannot, I ask two questions. Did I do something that needs to be corrected? Or did something happen that I need to process?

Then I take action. I adjust the process, or I get support.

Replaying the past without action is not useful. Learning from it is.

Without naming names, tell us about a time you had to deliver tough news (a termination, a restructuring) that actually taught you something profound about leadership or empathy.

Rachel Shaw:

Early in my career, I realized that even when a termination decision is legally and operationally correct, the process determines whether it causes unnecessary harm.

If an employee does not understand how the decision was made, they experience it as something done to them rather than something they were part of.

That insight led me to create the Interactive Process Hallway® protocol, a system that gives employees clarity, time and information so they can understand and accept decisions, even difficult ones.

Good HR reduces trauma. Great HR reduces risk and trauma.

Have you ever felt pressure to soften your delivery or ‘be nice’ in a way that male counterparts aren’t? How do you balance empathy with the need to be firm on policy?

Rachel Shaw:

I have always been direct. I have been told I am too much, too fast, or too direct.

What I have learned is this. Employees do not need you to be soft. They need you to be honest, respectful and consistent.

People can feel when empathy is performative. What they trust is clarity delivered with care.

My success has always come from employees and unions knowing that even on their worst day, I will treat them with dignity.

Rachel Shaw:

This shows up most clearly in onboarding and leadership development.

I often tell leaders to think about onboarding the way colleges think about frosh orientation. When a student arrives on campus, there is an intentional experience designed to help them understand the culture, learn the rules, build relationships and feel a sense of belonging. We do that because we know it increases success, retention, and engagement.

Yet in the workplace, we bring employees in, hand them a laptop and expect them to figure it out.

If organizations invested in onboarding as a structured, multi-day experience focused on connection, clarity and culture, and paired that with leadership development that teaches supervisors how to lead humans, not just manage tasks, we would see measurable improvements in retention, productivity and engagement.

The return on investment is there. Most organizations simply do not measure it, or they do not invest long enough to see it.

Rachel Shaw:

“Gut Feeling” is often a placeholder for bias.

To counter that, we need structured interviews, consistent scoring and when possible, blind or partially blind early-stage processes.

Data does not eliminate bias, but it forces us to justify our decisions with evidence rather than instinct.

Statistically, women get stuck at the first step up to manager. As an HR leader, what is one systemic change you’ve implemented (or want to) that actually fixes this ‘broken rung’?

Rachel Shaw:

One of the most effective strategies I have implemented is using third-party technical interview panels in the early stages of hiring.

These panels focus strictly on capability, not personality or familiarity, and they provide a fact-based recommendation to the hiring authority. When there is a mismatch between the panel’s recommendation and the hiring manager’s preference, it creates a necessary coaching conversation. I will often ask a simple question: what is getting in your way of selecting this candidate?

In one case, a candidate who used a wheelchair was the top choice of the panel but not the hiring manager. When we talked it through, the concerns that surfaced were assumptions about travel, attendance and potential accommodation costs. We were able to walk through each concern with actual data, including the candidate’s strong attendance record, prior travel requirements, and the organization’s existing ADA-compliant infrastructure and centralized accommodation budget.

The manager was able to move from assumption to evidence, and the candidate was ultimately hired and has been successful in the role for many years.

The lesson is not that bias can be eliminated. It cannot. The lesson is that organizations can build systems that slow the decision down, surface the bias and require leaders to move from belief to data before they make hiring decisions.

What is the biggest myth about working in HR that you wish would die?

Rachel Shaw:

That HR is the heart of the organization.

We are not the heart. We are the entire cardiovascular system. We touch every part of the organization. When we are working well, everything functions. When we are not, everything feels it.

If you could ban one corporate buzzword forever, what would it be?

Rachel Shaw:

Culture fit.

What we should be talking about is culture add, how someone expands the organization’s thinking, not how closely they mirror it.

HR is often described as a thankless job—you’re the villain when things go wrong and invisible when things go right. Why do you stay? What is the specific moment that reminds you ‘This is why I do this’?

Rachel Shaw:

I stay because of the moments when someone says, ‘That was one of the hardest days of my life and you made it easier’.

That is the work. That is the responsibility. When it is done well, it changes how people experience their workplace and sometimes their lives.

HR is thankless only when it is done poorly or unsupported. When it is done well, it is one of the most meaningful roles in any organization.

“We are not the heart; we are the entire cardiovascular system.”

That perspective from Rachel Shaw perfectly encapsulates the vital, often invisible work that defines modern HR. From dismantling the “office mom” stereotype to replacing “gut feelings” with data-driven equity, Rachel’s insights remind us that the strongest systems are those built on curiosity, clarity, and dignity.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, Rachel’s journey serves as a powerful blueprint for any leader looking to redesign broken systems rather than just managing within them. A huge thank you to Rachel Shaw for her transparency and for giving us a masterclass in leading with both a steady hand and a human heart.

Rachel Shaw, founder of Rachel Shaw Inc., is a nationally recognized ADA and leave management expert and sought-after speaker known for helping organizations turn legal compliance into operational strength. With more than two decades of experience, she designs in-house systems that allow employers to manage accommodations with both legal precision and human-centered leadership. She is the creator of the ADA Interactive Process Hallway® protocol, now used by thousands of organizations to manage disability accommodation requests confidently, consistently, and with care.

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Women’s History Month Series – In Conversation with Jenn Harrold

March 2, 2026 by HRSAdmin

HR Spotlight Interview

Jenn Harrold

Women's History Month Interview Series

In Conversation with Jenn Harold

In HR Spotlight’s special Women’s History Month edition, we are sitting down with Jenn Harrold, the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at NewDay USA. With over 20 years of experience spanning technology, fintech, omni-channel retail, and logistics, Jenn has built a career translating business needs into human impact.

In this candid interview, she pulls back the curtain on the heavy emotional toll of being a corporate “first responder,” absorbing organizational stress so others can move forward. She also confronts the reality of the “glass cliff,” where women are often brought into leadership roles during crises specifically to fix broken systems. Jenn shares how she unlearned the conditioned need to “over-function” to prove her worth, transforming her approach by setting boundaries and refusing to carry fractured cultures alone.

Thank you for joining us, Jenn! HR has been through the wringer lately. From being the ‘bad guys’ during layoffs to the ‘fun police’ during RTO, a lot’s been happening. If you could clear the air right now, what is the one thing you wish every employee understood about your job?

Jenn Harrold:

I wish more people understood that HR professionals are people first.

When we orchestrate layoffs, we are not just managing spreadsheets, we are thinking about how to preserve dignity, how to communicate with clarity, and how to protect the people who are leaving and the people who are staying. We think about the ripple effects, and it takes a toll.

Sometimes we are asked to eliminate roles that belong to colleagues we’ve worked alongside for years. Sometimes we are even involved in decisions that impact our own teams. That work is heavy.

What’s rarely talked about is that we are the support system for everyone else, but we don’t always pause to process what we carry. We absorb a lot so others can move forward with steadiness.

Behind the policy and the process, we are simply human beings doing our best to balance compassion with business reality.

What boundary did you have to learn to set in your career that changed everything?

Jenn Harrold:

Early in my career, I thought being capable meant being available — all the time.

I’m a mom. A wife. A leader. I’ve carried a lot of titles. And somewhere along the way I decided I should be excellent at all of them simultaneously. I said yes quickly. I fixed things fast. I prided myself on being the person who could just get it done.

And for a while, that felt like ambition.

But if I’m honest, I was over-functioning. I wasn’t fully present anywhere. I was stretched across roles trying to prove I could carry it all — at work and at home.

I had to confront something uncomfortable: many women are conditioned to believe we have to outperform, overdeliver, and overextend just to earn and keep our seat at the table. I see it in my circles all the time.

At some point I realized that constantly being the fixer wasn’t leadership so, I started setting clearer boundaries.

At home, that meant being intentional about when I was working and when I was not. Not taking calls at dinner. Not mentally drafting responses during family time.

At work, it meant pushing back when “Can you just handle this?” became the default. My ability to GSD doesn’t mean I should absorb every urgent ask. Capability should not automatically equal responsibility.

The boundary that changed everything was this: I don’t have to prove my value by exhaustion.

When I stopped over-functioning, I didn’t lose influence. I gained clarity. And I show up stronger in every role because of it.

Jenn Harrold:

Like many people in this field, I found my way here through proximity to people and performance. I began in the staffing agency world and eventually corporate recruiting.

The turning point came during a restructuring when I found myself leading recruiting and talent management. It was uncomfortable at first. I wrestled with imposter syndrome, the quiet voice asking, ‘do you actually belong in this seat?’

Then I led a major initiative that required aligning business strategy with talent outcomes. We weren’t just filling roles; we were shaping the future of the organization. That was the moment it clicked.

I realized I wasn’t just good at listening, I was good at translating business needs into human impact and vice versa. That’s when I knew this wasn’t accidental. It was alignment.

Jenn Harrold:

Calm under pressure.

HR requires a strange but powerful blend of skills, part compliance, part therapist, part strategist, part analyst. But when things escalate, none of that matters if you can’t regulate the room.

In moments of crisis, my role is to create stability. I slow the pace emotionally, even if the decisions need to move quickly. I gather facts rapidly, assess risk, consider impact, and then move people toward clarity and action.

Panic spreads fast. If I can steady the energy, align the stakeholders, and keep the focus on solutions rather than noise, we can navigate almost anything. Rapid change and adaptation don’t intimidate me, they energize me.

If you could describe the current ‘mood’ of the workforce in 2026 using just one word, what would it be? Why?

Jenn Harrold:

Volatile — but not fragile.

The modern workforce is informed, vocal, and hyper-aware of power dynamics. Employees are recalibrating what loyalty, leadership, and work-life integration mean to them.

That creates intensity. Reactions are sharper. Decisions are faster. Transparency is demanded, not requested.

Volatility isn’t chaos — it’s compression. Everything moves faster now. Trust builds slower and it breaks quicker.

Organizations that lead with clarity and consistency will steady the room. Those that don’t will feel the swings.

Jenn Harrold:

Absolutely.

I have a natural bias toward action. I move quickly. I assess, diagnose, and want to stabilize what feels chaotic. That instinct has served me well, especially in environments where change is constant and stakes are high.

But I’ve also learned that there’s a difference between being invited to lead transformation and being handed a mess and expected to absorb the fallout.

The “glass cliff” is real because women are often seen as emotionally intelligent, stabilizing forces. We’re brought in when morale is low, when culture is fractured, when trust has eroded. The unspoken expectation is that we will “fix” things.

What I’ve learned is this: I am willing to lead in a crisis, but I’m no longer willing to carry a broken system alone. Real change requires shared ownership. I’ll bring urgency, clarity, and solutions — but leadership is a team sport.

Being the fixer is powerful. Being the scapegoat is not.

Jenn Harrold:

I compartmentalize — sometimes too well. It’s a strength and a liability.

Over time, I’ve realized that absorbing everyone else’s stress without releasing it is not sustainable. So, I’ve had to become intentional about decompression.

After an emotionally heavy day, I seek quiet. No noise. No input. I give myself space to process rather than immediately moving to the next thing. The pause matters.

Then I regulate — yoga, breath work, meditation. Movement is non-negotiable for me. I start every morning with a workout. It’s how I create resilience before the day ever asks anything of me.

Protecting your peace isn’t indulgent — it’s operationally necessary.

Without naming names, tell us about a time you had to deliver tough news (a termination, a restructuring) that actually taught you something profound about leadership or empathy.

Jenn Harrold:

I will never forget that day.

During a major restructuring, a new organizational design resulted in the elimination of a role held by a dear friend, and I had to be the one to tell her.

Professionally, I was composed. Personally, I was crushed. There is a particular kind of silence that follows news like that — the kind that stays with you long after the meeting ends.

We didn’t speak for a long time. When we eventually reconnected, something had shifted. She has since moved away, and our relationship was never the same.

Leadership is not about emotional distance. It’s about carrying responsibility even when it costs you something personally. Sometimes doing your job well doesn’t feel like winning and you have to be mature enough to hold that complexity without turning it into defensiveness.

That experience changed me. It made me softer in some ways. Stronger in others.

If you could ban one corporate buzzword forever, what would it be?

Jenn Harrold:

“Circle back.”

Not because the phrase itself is offensive — but because it’s often code for avoidance.

If something matters, address it. If a decision needs to be made, make it. If there’s conflict, have the conversation.

“Circle back” has become the polite cousin of procrastination.

Jenn Harrold:

Because in the moments that matter most, you see the impact.

It’s not in the big announcements or polished town halls. It’s in the quiet moments — when a leader grows into someone more self-aware. When a struggling employee stabilizes and finds their footing. When a difficult decision is handled with integrity instead of ego.

The moment that reminds me “this is why” is when someone says, “You told me the truth when I needed it,” or “You helped me see something I couldn’t see myself.”

HR sits at the intersection of performance and people. That tension is hard. It’s messy. It’s rarely celebrated.

When you help shape a system that both demands results and respects people — even imperfectly — that matters.

That’s why I stay.

A massive thank you to Jenn Harrold for bringing such profound clarity and empathy to HR Spotlight. Her journey proves that true leadership isn’t about absorbing every urgent ask or fixing every broken system alone; it is about creating stability, demanding shared ownership, and respecting the humans behind the performance metrics.

Jenn Harrold is the Senior VP of Human Resources at NewDay USA and an HR leader focused on talent strategy, organizational development, and growth. With 20+ years of experience spanning technology, omni-channel retail, fintech, and logistics, she partners closely with executive leadership to align people strategy with business goals and help emerging growth companies and SMBs scale through talent and culture. Jenn has a track record of leading transformative initiatives that drive engagement and performance, with deep expertise in performance management, retention, succession planning, and change management, and she is known for guiding teams through ambiguity and rapid change. A purpose-driven leader, she is committed to mentorship, community, and building high-performing teams that unlock organizational potential.

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Why Workplace AI Adoption is Quietly Becoming a Retention Risk

February 26, 2026 by HRSAdmin

February 26, 2026

Why Workplace AI Adoption is Quietly Becoming a Retention Risk

By Stephanie Davis Neill, COO of Click Boarding

The rapid adoption of AI has many employees, and organizations for that matter, feeling like everything is spinning. We are witnessing a pivotal moment in the evolution of the modern workplace. We have just released some new research at Click Boarding, which has found that mandated AI adoption is quietly emerging as a retention risk for employers.

AI processes being implemented across workplaces seem to currently be driving disengagement instead of delivering productivity gains. U.S. employee engagement has fallen to its lowest level in 10 years, while job-seeking activity is at a decade high. This month is especially high risk for employers, with the most resignations happening in March last year.

A disconnect is apparent as only 4% of employers report employee resistance as a barrier to AI adoption. However, nearly a quarter of workers (22%) say that they would consider leaving a job because of this. This suggests many leaders are unaware of this growing resentment from employees. Analyzing social media posts, we found that employees are quitting over mandatory AI tools that reduce their autonomy, create extra processes and make their work feel less meaningful.

Search data also shows a 10% year over year increase in U.S. searches for “quitting my job.” More tellingly, we are seeing the emergence of specific queries like “made to use AI at work,” which now garners 1,000 monthly searches. This disengagement stems from the challenges of managing change, with AI adding another layer of uncertainty for employees and HR alike. When tools are mandated across a workforce without proper integration, it can create a friction that workers are increasingly unwilling to tolerate.

A primary driver of employee frustration is the lack of inclusion in AI-related discussions with leadership. Our analysis found workers to have expressed discomfort with developing AI tools and reporting on their performance, something which is rooted in fears that the systems they train could eventually replace their own roles. Without transparency, employees may feel they are being asked to build the very tools that will lead to their job roles becoming obsolete.

In sectors like information, technology, and professional services, AI adoption and labor demand for AI skills are rising sharply. Stanford’s AI Index notes an 80% year over year increase in AI skill demand for the information sector alone. Yet, despite this demand, Glassdoor reviews for leading IT companies in the U.S. show that workers feel sidelined and want to be involved in AI-related discussions.

We also found that many employees still prefer to spend longer doing something without AI due to creativity and quality issues. In some cases, the pressure is so high that people are lying about their AI use to meet mandatory usage requirements. There are frustrations around poor AI performance blamed on “bad prompts”, and that management has too high expectations of AI to replace job responsibilities it is not yet capable of.

The implementation of these tools is sometimes also perceived as a new form of surveillance. One Glassdoor review described their organization’s AI tools as “AI Big Brother,” negatively mentioning having daily screen time tracked down to the minute. Another suggested that those who do not engage with, or believe in, AI, faced worsened career prospects. This creates a culture of performative adoption rather than genuine, productive integration.

Even before AI, change management has always been one of the most challenging things to get right in business. HR is often looked at to lead these efforts, but HRs are navigating the same uncertainty as the rest of the staff. We must remember that just as AI must learn and iterate, so do the employees working alongside it. It is a gradual process of adaptation and not a binary event that happens overnight.

To mitigate AI-related retention risks, I recommend that employers update compliance-driven policies to include AI guidelines and share key AI process information early in onboarding. It is essential to ensure that employees acknowledge these too. This sets a foundation of transparency for the entire tenure of the employee, and sharing this information early helps set the right expectations from day one.

Internal feedback mechanisms, especially anonymous ones, often provide a place for disengaged employees to communicate some of the frustration that can build up. This is especially vital when regular conversations are not happening with a direct leader. Providing regular and open feedback channels will allow organizations to address concerns proactively. By listening to their staff, organizations can pivot their AI strategies to be more supportive.

Ultimately, the goal is to keep employees engaged and empowered as AI adoption continues to evolve. You can learn more about the retention risk of getting AI adoption wrong to ensure your organization is on the right side of this transition.

About the Author

As COO, Stephanie Davis Neill leads efforts to retain and grow Click Boarding’s customer base while optimizing operations for scalable growth. With over 25 years of experience in operations across startups, private-equity-backed firms, and Fortune-ranked companies, she is a proven change leader, most recently serving as VP of Customer Success & Direct Sales at Aaron’s.

Passionate about building efficient processes, she applies Lean/Six Sigma methodologies to drive strategic problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration. Her expertise spans B2B account management, customer experience, and service management. A Georgia Tech graduate, Stephanie enjoys traveling and volunteering when not at home in Marietta, Georgia, with her family and rescue dog, Peanut.

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Black History Month Series – In Conversation with Jim Stroud

February 24, 2026 by HRSAdmin

HR Spotlight Interview

Jim Stroud

Black History Month Interview Series

In Conversation with Jim Stroud

Today, we have the privilege of speaking with Jim Stroud. With over two decades of experience navigating the intersection of talent and technology at global powerhouses like Microsoft, Google, and Randstad, Jim has been a constant force for innovation in how organizations hire and scale. Currently the Head of Market Strategy & Industry Engagement at ProvenBase, Jim joins us to discuss the realities of AI in recruiting, the vital skill of “adaptive reinvention,” and his candid advice for the next generation of Black professionals.

Thank you for joining us, Jim. Please share with our readers your experience and what you currently do for work (and passion projects)!

Jim Stroud:

I’ve been working at the intersection of technology and talent for more than two decades, long enough to see multiple waves of disruption come and go. I started in internet recruiting in the late 1990s, when sourcing candidates online was still considered experimental. Since then, I’ve served in roles at companies such as Microsoft, Google, Siemens, MCI, Bernard Hodes Group, and Randstad Sourceright, where I was Global Head of Sourcing and Recruiting Strategy. Across those experiences, my focus has been consistent: use technology, data, and creativity to solve hiring problems that feel unsolvable.

Over time, my work expanded beyond sourcing into thought leadership and demand generation for HR technology companies. I’ve led marketing and brand strategy efforts, built content engines from scratch, increased inbound lead flow, and translated complex labor-market shifts into narratives executives can act on. I’ve also spent years on global stages speaking about AI in recruiting, the hidden job market, and how employer behavior is changing faster than most systems can keep up.

Today, I serve as Head of Market Strategy & Industry Engagement at ProvenBase. In that role, I own external narrative, industry visibility, and market engagement. I evangelize our Deep Search approach, work closely with sales and product, engage directly with talent acquisition leaders, and help shape how we position ourselves in a skills-first, AI-influenced hiring landscape. My job is to connect the dots between what’s happening in the labor market and what organizations should do next.

Alongside that, I continue to build and create. I publish The Recruiting Life newsletter, host The Jim Stroud Podcast, and develop career intelligence tools focused on uncovering hidden hiring signals. I’ve launched products like The Invisible Job Market Detector and Relaunched Recruiting Radar to help recruiters and job seekers alike see what traditional systems miss. I also speak internationally and experiment constantly with AI-driven workflows, content formats, and audience-building strategies.

At heart, I’m a translator. I study where work is going, where hiring is breaking, and where technology is overpromising or underperforming, then I turn that into practical insight. Whether I’m advising an HR tech startup, speaking at a conference, or building a new tool, the mission is the same: make the invisible visible, reduce friction in hiring, and help people navigate the future of work with clarity instead of fear.

What problem are you most excited to be working on right now?

Jim Stroud:

One problem I am genuinely excited about right now is how to leverage AI to increase brand visibility and generate qualified demand for an HR tech company. Not vanity metrics. Not surface-level automation. Real awareness that converts into meaningful conversations.

I’ve been deep in experimentation mode — exploring emerging AI workflows, testing what some call “vibe coding,” and pushing myself beyond simple prompt usage into systems thinking. How do we structure content so it ranks inside large language models? How do we turn expertise into scalable distribution? How do we design AI experiences that create pull instead of noise?

This particular initiative is still in stealth mode, but it represents a practical proving ground for everything I’ve been studying. The goal is simple: use AI not as a gimmick, but as a strategic force multiplier for narrative, visibility, and pipeline.

I’m looking forward to sharing more details publicly soon.

What skill has been most important to your growth so far?

Jim Stroud:

The skill that has mattered most in my growth across tech and HR is adaptive reinvention.

This industry does not sit still. The tools change. The platforms change. The labor market shifts. AI rewrites the rules. What worked five years ago can quietly become obsolete. My ability to continuously learn, unlearn, and rebuild has kept me relevant — and useful.

I have moved from early internet sourcing to social recruiting, from content marketing to demand generation, from manual research to AI-augmented intelligence. Each phase required new skills, new frameworks, and often a new identity. I have never been overly attached to how things used to work.

Beyond adaptability, I’ve consistently paired data with imagination. Data tells you what is happening. Imagination helps you see what could happen. The intersection of those two is where real strategy lives. AI has amplified that capability for me. It allows me to test ideas faster, surface insights sooner, and scale execution in ways that would have been impossible even a few years ago.

Staying curious, staying uncomfortable, and staying willing to evolve — that has been the consistent pattern in my career.

What is some advice you want to give to other young Black people in the industry or entering the space?

Jim Stroud:

First, master the craft before you chase the spotlight.

There is nothing more powerful than being undeniably good at what you do. Learn the tools. Learn the business model. Learn how revenue is made. Learn how decisions are really made inside organizations. Competence builds confidence. Competence also travels. When you are excellent, your options expand.

Second, do not wait for permission to build your own platform.

Your voice does not need validation to have value. Write. Publish. Record. Speak. Share your perspective. The industry often discovers people after they have already been creating consistently. Visibility compounds. Ownership compounds. Build something that is yours.

Third, understand the room without shrinking in it.

You will walk into rooms where you are underestimated. That is real. Prepare anyway. Speak clearly. Know your numbers. Bring receipts. You do not need to perform respectability. You need to deliver insight. When your thinking is sharp, the room adjusts.

Fourth, study technology early.

AI, automation, analytics — these are not side conversations. They are reshaping hiring and career mobility in real time. If you understand how technology influences power, access, and opportunity, you position yourself ahead of the curve instead of reacting to it.

Finally, protect your imagination.

Do not let the limitations of the present define what you believe is possible. I started in recruiting when the internet was still new. I have watched entire categories appear out of thin air. The future of work is still being written. There is room for you to shape it.

Be excellent. Be visible. Be prepared. And build something that outlives the moment.

What do you want people to understand about Black people in the industry that often gets missed?

Jim Stroud:

What I want people to understand is that Black professionals in tech and HR are not a monolith.

We are not a talking point. We are not a diversity statistic. We are not an ideology. We are individuals with different beliefs, different experiences, and different political and cultural views. That often gets missed.

Too often, conversations about Black professionals get filtered through a narrow cultural lens. The assumption is that we all think the same, vote the same, interpret the workplace the same, or prioritize the same issues. That is simply not true. Some of us are builders. Some of us are technologists. Some of us are entrepreneurs. Some of us are conservative. Some of us are progressive. Most of us are focused on doing excellent work and building stable lives.

Another thing that gets missed is agency.

Black professionals in tech and HR are not passive participants waiting to be “included.” Many of us have built platforms, companies, communities, and intellectual property from scratch. We are contributors to innovation, not just beneficiaries of access. The narrative often centers barriers. It rarely centers capability.

I also think it is important to emphasize standards.

Excellence matters. Competence matters. Preparation matters. The fastest way to earn durable respect in any industry is to be excellent at your craft. That principle transcends race. When we focus on skill, results, and value creation, we elevate the conversation beyond symbolism.

At the end of the day, I want people to see Black professionals the way they should see any professional: as individuals judged by the quality of their thinking, the strength of their character, and the results they produce. Not as representatives of a cultural script, but as people building meaningful work in a rapidly changing industry.

Jim Stroud is a globally recognized voice on recruiting, careers, and labor market intelligence. With more than two decades of experience spanning Microsoft, Google, and Randstad, he helps organizations and professionals navigate shifts in hiring, AI, and workforce strategy. He currently serves as Head of Market Strategy & Industry Engagement at ProvenBase and is the creator of The Recruiting Life newsletter and host of The Jim Stroud Podcast.

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