#employee-engagement

#employee-engagement

Character-driven leaders who display four cardinal virtues - integrity, compassion, the ability to forgive and forget, and accountability - consistently deliver return on assets up to five times larger than the ROAs produced by their counterparts with a self-focused leadership style, who never or rarely exhibit those four traits.

Across practitioner reports and peer-reviewed research, including a new report from the Institute for Corporate Productivity, organizations that commit to highly flexible models, including remote-first, report strong output, healthier engagement, and faster growth than mandate-driven peers.

Gathering training feedback is crucial because it shows whether your L&D initiatives are actually making a difference. While attendance metrics and completion rates give you surface-level insights, authentic feedback reveals how learners felt, what they understood, and which areas they struggled with. Feedback also identifies gaps between desired outcomes and real-world results.

What started as a casual indulgence became a shared ritual. And without intending to, Grease Wednesdays began to change our department culture. We all began to get to know each other as individuals, with pets and families and hobbies. The ritual also smoothed tensions between departments, built friendships between unfamiliar teammates, and helped us realize we hadn't felt all that connected before.

With more organizations employing teams spread across North America, Europe, and Asia, or allowing employees to work remotely from various countries, a "one-size-fits-all" local approach is no longer viable. Today, however, that approach is increasingly challenged by the rapid globalization of talent.

Companies aren't failing at AI because the tools don't work. They're failing because the culture never got on board. Morgan Stanley didn't just deploy an AI assistant - they earned the right to deploy it. Before rolling out their AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant, built on OpenAI and trained on more than 100,000 internal research reports, the firm ran rigorous evaluation frameworks to prove the tool met adviser quality standards.

Think about the last app you opened today. Netflix probably greeted you with a show that felt uncannily right for your mood. Spotify may have lined up a playlist that matched your energy without you lifting a finger. Duolingo likely nudged you to practice just enough to keep the habit alive, without making learning feel overwhelming. Now compare that to the experience most employees have when they log into a corporate learning platform. The contrast is hard to ignore.

However, instead of getting busy with your regular Monday work rituals, you learn about the team's volunteering at the local community center to help the homeless. Your day suddenly changes. It's no longer about the deadlines and meetings. Now you will be a part of something more meaningful and do your bit for society. This is what Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about. It creates connections with the community and makes work personally meaningful.

Loneliness and burnout-deeply interwined in the workplace-are hitting American workers (and companies) hard. In 2025, global healthcare firm Cigna found that over half of all employees surveyed felt lonely. Around 57% admitted to feeling unmotivated and stagnant, while two-thirds of full-time workers say they experience burnout on the job, according to a 2025 Gallup study. The financial toll is jaw-dropping. Harvard Business Review reports that loneliness costs U.S. companies up to $154 billion annually through lost productivity, increased burnout, and employees resigning.

If you're in an unfulfilling job or are dissatisfied with your work, it's possible to get a fresh start no matter what the season. In fact, there are a few strategies that can help you find meaning and enhance your experience even as you slog forward. A lack of fulfillment in your job can have intense effects. It can derail your motivation, your energy, and even your performance.

For the past five-plus years up to this very day, an 800-lb gorilla takes a seat at the table at every meeting in every Taylor Morrison conference room in every one of the organization's offices. From its Scottsdale, AZ headquarters, to its three national operating regions, to its divisional hubs in 20 markets across 12 states, to its sales centers in 345 actively selling neighborhoods, that gorilla is physically there in the room in all of those meeting rooms involving Taylor Morrison's 3,000 or so team members.

With shrinking attention spans and increasing workplace demands, traditional, long, and static eLearning courses often fail to make an impact. Learners now seek training that fits naturally into their day, feels relevant to their role, and respects their time. This shift in learner expectations has prompted L&D professionals to rethink the design of learning experiences. One innovative approach gaining momentum is Netflix-style microlearning, an experience-driven strategy that emphasizes personalization, short learning moments, and learner choice.

Bill Gurley is a general partner at venture capitalist firm Benchmarkand the author of "Runnin' Down a Dream, How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love." Gurley told Neal Freyman and Toby Howell on the "Morning Brew Daily" podcast that aired on Sunday that it is "horrific" how some people are actively disengaged at work, but the heart of the matter is that people "aren't ending up in the right place."

While they are frequently criticized for being performative or symbolic rather than genuinely impactful, CSR initiatives can be deeply meaningful for organizations, employees, not to mention entire communities. First and foremost, well-designed and comprehensive CSR programs generate positive social change for underserved communities and groups, address vital social and environmental causes, and allow welfare organizations to extend the quality and scale of their contributions.

In addition to offering best practices and insights to help you tackle common challenges, this eBook also features examples of how organizations used the right solution to achieve their outcomes. You'll find out how a global food and beverage company boosted compliance and delivered content in multiple languages by replacing their face-to-face training programs, and how a digital consultancy firm leveraged AI features to provide more personalized experiences for their team.