🙎 HR Is Yet Again Being Left Out

Hi folks!

It’s a new month and the start of a fresh quarter. Grab a coffee and catch up on the latest in the world of work! ☕️ 

Let’s kick it off with a bold idea: what if everyone at your company felt like they actually owned the business? That’s exactly what GE Appliances did by ditching old-school hierarchies and giving small teams real power and it worked, big time. This shows how HR can help employees step up, build trust, and turn a giant company into a fast-moving, customer-focused machine.

Let’s dive in.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 🛠️ Case Study | GE Appliances’ CEO Busts Hierarchy

• 🧠 Latest on AI | Millennials’ Love-Hate Relationship with AI in the Job Hunt

• 🔢 Report by Harvard | HR Is Yet Again Being Left Out

• 🗣️ Latest on AI | AI Can Polish CEO Speeches, but It Can’t Earn Trust

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 📰 Latest in HR News

• DEI is non-negotiable for Gen Z and Millennials, new survey shows

• Organizations falling short on AI policies

• Debt collectors are coming for student loan holders. Affected employees may need HR’s help.

• Employment outlook for Q3 dips as employers face economic uncertainty

🛠️ Case Study | GE Appliances’ CEO Busts Hierarchy

(read the full 583-word article here)

Challenge: Slow innovation, rigid hierarchy, lack of responsiveness to changing customer needs.

Solution: CEO Kevin Nolan restructured GEA by breaking down traditional hierarchy into autonomous, entrepreneurial microenterprises - small teams with full accountability for products and customer segments.

Strategy & Implementation

• Distributed Leadership Model: Leadership authority was pushed down to microenterprises responsible for their own profit and loss, creating accountability at the team level.

• Zero Distance Philosophy: Barriers between customers and employees were removed, ensuring teams had direct customer interactions for real-time feedback.

• Passion-Driven Teams: Leaders were chosen based on passion and commitment to their product or market, not just tenure or seniority.

• Self-Funding Innovation: Hubs like FirstBuild operated without corporate budgets, relying on revenue generated by innovative products to sustain R&D.

• Platform + Microenterprise Balance: Combined the manufacturing scale of a large company with the nimbleness of small, focused teams.

Results

• 📈 Fastest-Growing U.S. Appliance Manufacturer: GEA’s market share and growth rates outpaced competitors by responding more quickly to consumer trends.

• ⚡ Accelerated Innovation: Microenterprises reduced product development cycles and quickly iterated on new ideas.

• 🙌 Employee Empowerment: Teams became more engaged and invested due to direct accountability and autonomy.

• 💡 Customer-Centric Culture: “Zero distance” led to solutions closely aligned with customer needs, increasing satisfaction and loyalty.

Conclusion

GE Appliances’ microenterprise model demonstrates how decentralizing leadership and fostering direct customer connections can transform a traditional manufacturing giant into an agile, innovative leader. By empowering passionate teams with full accountability, GEA combined startup speed with big-company scale which is a blueprint for organizations seeking to thrive in fast-changing markets.

🧠 Latest on AI | Millennials’ Love-Hate Relationship with AI in the Job Hunt

Millennials and Gen Z are leading the charge in using AI tools for tasks like customizing resumes and preparing for interviews, yet they paradoxically express the highest levels of fear that the same technology could one day replace them.

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers and Gen X, though slower to adopt AI, show significant interest in embracing it soon.

The research by iHire highlights how perceptions of AI’s threat to job security don’t always align neatly with actual usage patterns, revealing a complex relationship between enthusiasm and anxiety in the evolving job market.

What HR Needs to Know

• 🔎 Millennials & Gen Z: High Use, High Anxiety: 52-54% use AI for job searches, yet over a third fear it could replace them.

• ⏳ Older Generations Warming Up to AI: 43% of Baby Boomers and 39% of Gen X plan to adopt AI tools soon despite low current use.

• 🛠️ AI’s Real Value in Job Seeking: Resumes, cover letters, and interview prep are where candidates find immediate AI-driven benefits.

• ⚖️ Support Needed for Younger Workers: High adoption doesn’t equal confidence—HR must address anxieties about AI-driven job displacement.

(read the full 560-word article here)

😄 Comic Relief (HR Edition)

🔢 Report by Harvard | HR Is Yet Again Being Left Out

Instead of leading conversations about AI’s workforce impact, nearly half of HR departments remain on the sidelines due to perceptions of lacking technical expertise or not being consulted by AI decision-makers.

Yet as AI redefines job roles and workflows, HR’s involvement is essential to support employees through upskilling, ease anxieties about job security, and connect business goals with responsible tech adoption.

Key Data:

• 🚨 Engagement Gap is Real: Only 21% of HR leaders are highly involved in AI strategy, while nearly half report little or no involvement.

• 🧩 Lack of Expertise Stalls Progress: Over half (52%) of HR leaders cite insufficient AI knowledge within HR as the top barrier to playing a strategic role.

• 🔄 Upskilling is Underway: 54% of HR teams are investing in AI training for employees to help them adapt to evolving job requirements.

• 🗣️ HR Must Address AI Anxiety: Meeting employees where they are and easing fears about AI’s impact is a unique HR responsibility critical for successful adoption.

(read the full 576-word article here)

🗣️ AI Can Polish CEO Speeches, but It Can’t Earn Trust 

As generative AI tools enter the executive suite, many leaders are using them to craft messages that appeal not just to stakeholders but also to the algorithms and sentiment trackers analyzing every earnings call and statement.

While these AI-polished communications can make executives sound confident and consistent, they risk creating a “sentiment bubble” where tone and polish overshadow reality, leaving stakeholders with a distorted picture of performance.

As investors and employees increasingly value authenticity, the credibility gap that AI-generated spin creates could undermine the very leadership premium CEOs rely on to inspire, reassure, and guide their organizations through uncertainty.

How HR Can Help Leaders

• 🗣️ Promote Authentic Communication: Coach leaders to speak clearly and honestly, avoiding over-reliance on AI-polished messaging.

• 🔎 Gather Employee Feedback: Studies show even the perception of AI-written CEO messages reduces employee trust, regardless of the message’s true source. Provide leaders with insights on what employees really need to hear to build trust and connection.

• 🤝 Bridge AI and Human Touch: Help leaders use AI tools to enhance clarity, but ensure messages stay grounded in transparency and real performance.

• ✅ Align Words and Actions: Reinforce credibility by tracking leadership commitments and ensuring follow-through across the organization.

(read the full 970-word article here)