Trust isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s essential to building an engaged and productive workforce. Our research on employee experience shows that the most impactful practices for business, people, and innovation outcomes all center on trust in the organization.   Yet, trust is eroding, both inside and outside the workplace, driven by continuous micro- and macro-level disruption. In today’s environment, business practices like active listening, clear and transparent communication, and integrity matter more than ever. Organizations that prioritize trust-building and cultivate a change-ready mindset among employees will be best positioned to thrive through transformation.  Today’s Trust Crisis  According to Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer, we are experiencing a global trust crisis— referred to as the “Crisis of Grievance”—marked by a widespread lack of optimism and growing sense of resentment toward the institutions perceived as making life harder.  Below are some key findings from Edelman’s research:  Declining trust in employers: Trust in employers “to do what...

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In this podcast I interview Eric Mosley, the Founder and CEO of Workhuman, a $Billion dollar company that pioneered the market for employee recognition. Today Workhuman has more than 7.7 million users and is widely used by many of the largest companies in the world. What does Workhuman do? Well they help you build a corporate wide program for employee recognition and feedback that creates one of the most important positive engagement drivers one can find. Employees who feel appreciated and recognized are 4X more likely to be highly engaged and 4X more likely to see a growth path in their companies. Our research found that companies with a high recognition culture have a 70% lower voluntary turnover rate. And there’s much more: the information from recognition (Workhuman calls it “Human Intelligence”) gives you valuable information on skills, strengths, culture, and organizational health you can find. This is a story...

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The statistics on employee engagement and happiness are shocking. Gallup’s 2025 data shows that only 21% of workers are fully engaged (down 10% from last year), only 27% of managers are engaged (down 11%), 66% of employees are “suffering,” and 8% are “struggling.” And there’s more distressing news. The 2025 World Happiness Report shows that US happiness plummeted from 15th in 2024 to 24th in 2025, showing a drop out of the top 20 for the first time. US happiness is just above Poland, Belize, and Taiwan and is now below that of the UK. And this is not a problem of blue-collar or front-line workers: as the WSJ article “Why Are Managers so Miserable” points out, managers (27% engaged) are 11% less happy than last year and young managers feel the worst. Only a third of young managers received any training at all and their spans of control keep...

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This week I have an update on the “real world” of AI transformation, based on some important conversations I’ve had (and these folks will join the podcast soon.) First, I talked with the Department of Labor and also reviewed new research from Goldman Sachs and we do find that “AI is not wiping out jobs.” As you’ll hear, there is a slowdown in hiring, but actually AI is “creating new work,” despite Dario Amodei’s predictions that white collar jobs are going away. (I don’t know about you, but I rarely wear my white collar shirts any more, so he may be correct on the shirt front.) Second, listen to the discussion about software automation, Thomas Dohmke, who was interviewed on The Verge. That convo was fascinating: despite AI’s ability to write code, engineers will just write more code.  Listen to my explanation in the podcast. Third, I had a wonderful...

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Overview  For 75 years, succession management processes have been based on two outdated assumptions: that talent supply is unlimited—and that human potential is not. Today, the emergence of “superworkers”—employees who leverage AI to unlock their potential and unleash excellence—has flipped the equation. Now, in a world defined by talent scarcity and rapid technological change, talent supply is limited and human potential is unlimited.  This shift warrants a radically different approach. Organizations must support continuous development and enable talent mobility for all employees—not just a select few “high-potentials”—to unleash the unlimited potential within an existing, limited talent pool. Activating the full potential of today’s workforce requires a more agile, skills-based, and AI-powered solution.  Rethinking Traditional Succession Management  Succession planning was originally conceived to ensure business continuity by identifying and developing individuals to step into critical leadership roles. In practice, however, it devolved into a rigid and subjective process—notably driven by the...

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After many dozens of conversations with companies and AI vendors about AI transforming work, I’m left with one burning question. If we actually succeed in automating all our work tasks, data analysis, coding, and content generation, are these systems truly able to replace humans? I”m left with a very simple answer: NO. And the reason for this is not that AI won’t keep getting “smarter,” it’s the fact that we, as human organic animals, possess a magical power of intuition, largely fueled by our emotions. And emotions are built on millions of years of adaptation, genetics, and personal experiences – attributes that AI simply does not have. My argument, as you’ll hear in this podcast, is that these emotions make up our intuitive decision-making power. And this very human part of our intelligence is what makes companies, teams, and individuals succeed. No matter how “superintelligent” the AI becomes, I advocate...

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