HR in the ER

So Besties…

You know that feeling when you're at brunch and your smartest friend drops some knowledge that makes you want to run home and reorganize your entire life? That's where I am. Except it was not at brunch, it was at the hospital and it was not my real BFF it was my ER nurse.

Yes I am writing from the hospital and when I see you I swear i will give you more detail. It is fine… Well it will be fine. No it is fine! Just know things have taken a sharp pivot and I have no idea what will be going on in the next few weeks.

Now before I came to the ER I was talking to a HR Tech CEO about the latest news and the latest in the world of work. The headlines are a mess of shiny-new-tech promises and the same old human problems.

I swear, you could put a sticker on a rock that says "Generative AI" and some company would buy it to manage their employee engagement.

And because of this remember last week when I said support this newsletter by checking out our sponsor. This time I REALLY mean it! Please click and support this newsletter so that we can keep doing it! Click it. Do it now. Thanks in advance!

Training AI? Let’s talk. If you're actively building or fine-tuning AI models, Shutterstock offers enterprise-grade training data across images, video, 3D, audio, and more—fully rights-cleared and enriched with 20+ years of human-reviewed metadata.

Our 600M+ asset library powers faster iteration, simplified procurement, and improved model accuracy.

We’re offering a $100 Amazon gift card to qualified AI decision-makers who join a 30-minute discovery call with our team. We’ll walk you through how our multimodal datasets, flexible licensing, and premium metadata can help de-risk development and accelerate time to deployment.

Book a call

_{For complete terms and conditions, see the offer page.}

But around 1:00 AM when I was freezing waiting for a warm blanket, I had a MASSIVE aha moment. Check it out. We're living through the biggest workplace opportunity in HISTORY.

Think about it! 68% of tech workers don't trust AI hiring tools. So that means the companies that figure out transparent, human-centered hiring are about to DOMINATE talent acquisition.

And here is another thing. 77% of Gen Z feels lonely at work! Imagine being the company that cracks the code on genuine connection and becomes their employer of choice!

38% of Gen Z is choosing office jobs over remote flexibility because they're craving mentorship and growth. Do you know what that means?? The companies that build REAL development programs are about to become talent magnets while everyone else is still arguing about badge swipes!

This week, I'm chatting with a ghosted job application (yes, really) who has ALL the tea about getting chewed up by ATS algorithms, plus Sarah's incredible transformation from surveillance to empowerment that's getting STUNNING results.

We're about to dive into why this moment of workplace chaos is actually the best thing that could happen to smart leaders, how the companies getting it right are already seeing incredible results, and exactly how YOU can position yourself to win big while everyone else is still measuring productivity instead of unleashing potential.

Grab your victory drink (mine's apple juice with that foil top because… hospital) and let's talk about how to turn all this workplace disruption into your competitive advantage!

-Jackye

Here's a stat that should get every leader EXCITED about culture transformation: one-third of U.S. employees say they'd literally take a pay cut to eliminate incivility at work.

Do you see the MASSIVE opportunity here? While toxic companies are hemorrhaging talent, the organizations that prioritize psychological safety and basic human decency are about to become talent magnets! People are putting actual dollar values on kindness - that's how rare and valuable good culture has become.

Be the coworker people want to partner with. Build the company people want to stay at! Audit your toxic high performers, invest in manager training, create psychological safety. Watch engagement soar and turnover plummet.

Identify the culture killers on your team and address them THIS WEEK. One toxic person affects everyone. Remove the poison and watch the entire team flourish.

43% of workers report "little to no" growth opportunities, and three in four are building or eyeing side hustles. Gen Z is the loudest about dead-end jobs. But instead of panicking, smart leaders are seeing this as their moment to DOMINATE talent retention!

Forget "quiet quitting" - we're dealing with "quiet freelancing." But here's the exciting part: companies that invest in real development are seeing incredible results. People stop planning exits and start planning their internal growth trajectories.

So while your competitors are funding Etsy shops and exit plans by ignoring career development, you can become the company that unleashes internal potential and creates career paths that people actually want to follow.

Create individual development plans for your team this month. Ask people where they want to grow and build concrete paths to get them there. Watch loyalty and engagement explode.

85% of employers now have formal office mandates, and 69% track compliance - up from 45% last year. Over a third enforce with discipline. But here's the plot twist: this isn't collaboration, it's attrition disguised as culture! Companies are using badge scans to shrink payroll without saying the quiet part out loud.

While your competitors are playing productivity police and losing talent, you can focus on outcomes over attendance, results over surveillance. Be the company that trusts people to deliver great work regardless of location.

Replace one surveillance metric with one outcome metric this week. Instead of tracking badge swipes, track project completions. Instead of monitoring desk time, measure client satisfaction. Show your team you trust them to deliver results.

Doctors are admitting patients for AI-induced psychosis - people convinced chatbots gave them a mission or identity. A UCSF psychiatrist reported a dozen hospitalizations this year alone! Meanwhile, HR keeps rolling out AI "wellness" tools without thinking about mental health risks.

But here's the opportunity: companies that focus on creating mentally healthy work environments (not just AI bandaids) are seeing incredible results. Address root causes like toxic cultures, growth stagnation, and workplace stress, and watch engagement soar.

Be the company that creates conditions for mental wellness instead of just treating problems with AI chatbots after they develop.

Draw boundaries around AI usage. Train managers to notice overuse. Make it clear AI is a tool, not a therapist. Focus on creating psychologically safe work environments.

While some companies are creating AI dependencies that literally hospitalize people (yes, this is real), smart leaders are using AI to enhance human capabilities rather than replace human judgment.

The companies getting this right are seeing productivity gains AND employee satisfaction improvements. They're using AI for administrative tasks while investing more in human connection, creativity, and strategic thinking.

Use this opportunity to be the company that uses technology to make work more human, not less human. Use AI to handle routine tasks so people can focus on growth, innovation, and connection.

Audit your AI tools for dependency risks. Train your team on healthy technology relationships. Use AI to free up time for human development, not to replace human interaction.

While 69% of companies are tracking office attendance like digital hall monitors, the smart ones are focusing on outcomes, growth, and results. And guess what? They're the ones people actually want to work for!

Companies that shifted from surveillance to support are seeing incredible business results. Higher engagement, better retention, stronger performance, and they've become talent magnets in competitive markets.

While your competitors are playing productivity police, you can be unleashing human potential. Focus on development over monitoring, growth over surveillance, empowerment over control.

Replace one surveillance metric with one development metric this week. Instead of tracking time, track growth. Instead of monitoring presence, measure progress. Show your team you trust them to deliver results.

Here’s where you come in.

I’m opening up Q4 activations for companies ready to stop measuring people and start unleashing them. This fall, I’ll be running:

Spots are limited because change work requires focus. If your org wants in before 2026 hits, now’s the moment.

👉 [Book your Q4 Activation Call]

For paid subscribers, time for the strategy that's too powerful for the general audience!

I talked to a leader last week who completely transformed her 2,000-person company in just eight months. While her competitors were implementing surveillance systems, she went full empowerment mode and the results are absolutely stunning.

Here's what she did: Instead of tracking productivity, she invested that entire budget into what she called "human potential acceleration." Skills bootcamps, mentorship matching, internal innovation challenges, external conference sponsorships - basically everything focused on growth instead of monitoring.

The results? Employee satisfaction up 85%. Retention up 60%. Revenue up 40% because people were actually innovating instead of just showing up. Their Glassdoor rating went from 3.2 to 4.8 in six months, and now they have people literally lining up to work there.

But here's the part that's going to blow your mind: She discovered that 80% of her "disengaged" employees weren't actually disengaged - they were BORED. They were talented people stuck in roles that didn't challenge them, working for managers who didn't develop them, in systems that didn't recognize their potential.

Once she started treating "disengagement" as untapped potential instead of a performance problem, everything changed. She created internal mobility programs, cross-functional projects, innovation time, and skill-building challenges. People who were planning to leave became her biggest advocates.

The lesson? Every workplace "problem" is actually an opportunity for competitive advantage. Loneliness becomes mentorship programs. Career stagnation becomes development pathways. Mental health challenges become proactive wellness cultures. Trust issues become transparency advantages.

While your competitors are playing whack-a-mole with symptoms, you can be solving root causes and creating the workplace people actually want to be part of.

This CEO told me something that I'll never forget: "I stopped trying to manage people and started trying to unleash people. The business results have been incredible, but watching people discover their potential has been the most rewarding part of my entire career."

That's what we're building here. That's the future of work. That's your competitive advantage.

The companies that figure out human empowerment while everyone else is stuck on human monitoring are going to absolutely dominate the next decade. Make sure you're one of them.

OKAY BEAUTIFUL HUMANS,

Maybe it is the pain meds. But I just feel like every single workplace "crisis" we talked about today is actually a massive competitive advantage waiting for smart leaders to claim it. Gen Z loneliness? Build mentorship programs and become their dream employer! Trust breakdown in hiring? Be transparent and watch applications flood in! Career stagnation? Invest in growth and become a talent magnet!

Reply and tell me: What's the first empowerment strategy you're going to implement? Are you ready to flip surveillance into support? Which workplace "problem" are you most excited to turn into your competitive advantage?

Forward this to that one leader who's ready to stop measuring people and start unleashing people. Or to anyone who needs to know that the future belongs to companies that remember humans want to be developed, not monitored.

Keep building, keep growing, keep showing people what's possible when you choose empowerment over control!

Your girl who's about to revolutionize the entire workplace landscape,

— Jackye 💜

P.S. If you implement even ONE strategy from this newsletter and see results, I want to hear about it! Success stories fuel my soul and prove that human-centered leadership isn't just nice - it's the smartest business strategy of our time.