The HR Tool You Can’t Afford to Get Wrong

Hey HR Pros!

HR leaders are being called to navigate everything from AI integration to rising retention, grievance handling, and skills volatility. This week, we’re diving into four timely insights: how to create a real AI culture, why employees are sticking around longer than expected, how to handle grievance interviews, and what it takes to reconnect learning with business impact.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 🚪 Workplace Trend | Who’s Staying, Who’s Going: The New Retention Reality for 2025

• 🤖 Lessons for HR | How One Company Is Actually Building an AI Culture

• 🗣️ Grievance Interviews: The HR Tool You Can’t Afford to Get Wrong

• 🎙️ Featured Podcast: Reconnect learning to business outcomes (with Vincent-Pierre Giroux)

🎁 Free HR Tech Advice + $100 Amazon Gift Card

1. Tell Annie what you need: Your free HR Software Advisor listens to your HR software goals and budget.

2. Get your tailored shortlist: Annie will introduce you to the matched vendors that best fit your needs.

3. Complete a quick call: Talk to your matched vendors and get your $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you from SSR

 📰 Latest in HR News

• AI tied to 7,000 job cuts in September, Challenger finds

• Sock it to the shoes: why more offices are going footwear-free

• Few employers ready for EU's pay transparency rules

• Google makes a HR AI play with launch of Gemini Enterprise

🚪 Workplace Trend | Who’s Staying, Who’s Going: The New Retention Reality for 2025

Retention across the U.S. workforce just hit a record high, according to a national employee sentiment index designed to track four key reasons workers stay: culture, compensation, confidence, and the job market.

With job openings stagnating and voluntary quits at a five-year low, workers are gripping their current roles tighter than ever — a trend now dubbed “job hugging.”

Key Insights 💡

• 📈 Compensation satisfaction hit a historic high: The Compensation Indicator soared 6.5 points to 109.9, marking the largest gain across all metrics this quarter.

• 🌟 Millennial women are the new loyalty leaders: Millennials (+8.9) and women (+6.9) posted record-high retention scores, signaling rising engagement and stability.

• 📉 Not all is rosy for Gen X and men: Retention Index dropped 4.7 points for Gen X and 0.8 points for men — a warning sign for future churn.

• 🔒 Job market still sluggish, fueling ‘job hugging’: With job openings flat and quit rates down, workers are less likely to risk jumping ship in a stagnant market.

read the full 738-word article here

🤖 Lessons for HR | How One Company Is Actually Building an AI Culture

In the middle of mounting pressure to deliver AI results, one company’s executives stood in front of a room full of HR professionals and posed a different kind of question: Are your people even ready?

Key Takeaways:

• 🚨 95% of generative AI pilots fail to show ROI: MIT research reveals most failures are due to lack of change readiness—not the technology itself.

• 📚 67% of employees lack AI training—yet 63% say it’s critical: A major disconnect that puts career confidence and workforce agility at risk.

• 🤝 AI leadership teams must be cross-functional: Dayforce's CPO, CDO, CMO, and transformation head aligned on messaging, investment, and execution.

• 🛠️ AI isn’t a side project—embed it in the work: From comp reviews to learning design, Dayforce uses AI to transform how HR actually operates.

read the full 1,055-word article here

HR LOLs

🗣️ Grievance Interviews: The HR Tool You Can’t Afford to Get Wrong

A structured, impartial interview process gives employees the confidence to speak up and gives HR the chance to intervene before problems spiral into performance drops, disengagement, or even litigation.

And like any effective workplace conversation, it starts with asking the right questions—and truly listening.

Key Insights 🔍

• 📋 A grievance interview is a structured, documented process: It protects both the employee and the company under labor law and internal policy.

• 🎯 Asking the right questions builds clarity and trust: Questions like “What outcome feels fair to you?” reveal more than just facts—they surface values.

• ⚖️ Objectivity and follow-up are essential: A neutral tone, active listening, and clear next steps are what separate HR leaders from checkbox processes.

• 🏛️ Proper documentation shields the org from legal risks: Every question and answer should be recorded to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability.

read the full 533-word article here

🎙️ Featured Podcast: Reconnect learning to business outcomes (with Vincent-Pierre Giroux)