Nike’s recent decision to eliminate its annual wellness week—part of a broader push to “get back to winning”—reignited a familiar conversation in HR circles. Not because organizations can’t revisit perks but because decisions tied to well-being land differently today. Burnout, mental-health strain, and change fatigue remain top of mind for employees and CHROs alike. When shifts feel abrupt or disconnected from what people are experiencing, reactions are quick, emotional, and often public.

But this moment isn’t really about Nike; it reflects a broader pattern playing out across industries. Over the past few years, organizations in technology, financial services, retail, and other sectors have found themselves in the headlines not because of what they changed but because of how the change was introduced. A clear example came earlier this year when Amazon announced a new return-to-office mandate. The policy itself was not exceptional, but the rollout created friction as employees raised concerns about space constraints and circulated petitions. Media coverage highlighted the gap between what leaders intended and what employees actually experienced.

When Trust Breaks Down, It Usually Starts Small

These reactions were not all about office policies, perks, or schedules. At their core, they were about trust and the gap that is formed when employees feel excluded from decisions that affect their well-being, workload, and day-to-day experience. A breakdown in trust rarely happens all at once; it usually builds when early signals aren’t fully understood or acted on.

HR leaders from many organizations often tell us that warning signals were present prior to the disruption, but existing listening tools did not surface them clearly or early enough. Although employees were asking more questions in town hall meetings, managers were expressing hesitation about new expectations, and survey comments hinted at strain even when scores looked stable, many organizations relied on what we often see in moments of pressure: a top-down announcement meant to provide clarity but experienced by employees as a decision made without their input. When that happens, it is evident that early warning signs largely went unnoticed, and small issues can quickly turn into outsized disruptions, reputational risk, or talent loss.

The Environment Is More Fragile Than Leaders Realize

Today, the stakes are even higher. Organizations are moving quickly to restore optimal productivity, accelerate AI adoption, manage costs, and make hybrid work function more smoothly. In an employer-driven labor market, many leaders feel they have more room to set expectations and move quickly. But the pendulum will shift again, and the way companies navigate this moment will influence whether their top talent chooses to stay when opportunities open up. Employees are already carrying heavy workloads, navigating uncertainty, and expressing growing concerns about mental health. That tension creates a fragile environment, and it becomes even more pronounced when companies push forward without fully understanding how changes will land with the people expected to carry them out.

Why Listening Needs to Look Different Now

This is where a more comprehensive listening approach can help leaders move with confidence and reduce unintended consequences.

Listening goes beyond measuring sentiment; it requires understanding the experiences and pressures shaping how people respond to change. We start by listening in ways that make it safe for people to be honest, giving leaders a clear view into what is actually getting in the way of their strategic priorities. That includes not just what employees say but also the frictions, gaps, and disconnects that determine whether an initiative gains traction or stalls. Assess360 surfaces the factors that can slow momentum and the conditions that can help change take hold. We then translate what we learn into practical guidance and focused priorities that help leaders communicate clearly and act with surety.

Organizations that navigate high-stakes decisions most effectively share a common approach: They bring employees into the process early. Whether the change involves benefits, hybrid expectations, productivity goals, or new technology, these organizations treat listening as part of the strategy itself, not a step that happens afterward.

When change makes headlines, it is often because employees felt blindsided, not because the decision itself was unpopular. Listening early and bringing people into the process reduces the risk of excluding employee input and creates the alignment needed for change to take hold successfully.

The Path Forward for HR

If HR leaders want to reduce backlash, strengthen trust, and ensure alignment and adoption of a given policy or decision, it begins with listening deeply before moving forward. Assess360 gives organizations the insight and guidance to make decisions that land well and will take hold.

If you want to understand how deeper listening can reduce friction, build alignment, and support successful change, please contact us.

The post Nike Sparked a Conversation. Here’s What HR Should Hear in It. appeared first on Seramount.

This public debate has collapsed two separate issues—productivity and physical presence—into one narrative. But the evidence tells a far clearer story.

Well-designed hybrid work consistently improves engagement, retention, and, in many cases, productivity itself. Employees report they are able to work more efficiently, protect focus time, and better manage their energy when given flexibility in where and when they work.

For HR leaders, this disconnect presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The debate isn’t really about where people sit; it’s about how organizations define, measure, and experience productivity. And no one is better positioned to lead that redefinition than HR leaders.

Hybrid Didn’t Create a Productivity Problem—It Revealed a Measurement One

Most anxiety surrounding hybrid work stems from measurement systems built for another era. As the research shows, many organizations still rely on legacy metrics—time in seat, output volume, visible activity—systems built for an in-office world that can’t capture how value is created in a distributed one.

When those signals stop working, leaders understandably look for the most visible cue to latch onto, usually attendance. But visibility is not value. And surveillance is not measurement. Monitoring keystrokes, scanning badge data, or tracking idle time won’t restore productivity; it will erode trust.

Research continues to show that cultures built on trust outperform cultures built on visibility. Stanford researchers found that hybrid employees not only maintained productivity but had one-third higher retention rates, a clear sign of what’s possible when autonomy and clarity reinforce one another. When employees feel trusted, engagement rises and teams bring more energy to their work. Strengthening productivity, in other words, comes from setting clearer expectations and building the alignment people need to do their best work.

This is where HR leadership becomes essential: making productivity transparent by defining clear outcomes and the behaviors that drive them, and doing so with employees at the table.

What HR Leaders Must Do Now to Redefine Productivity

Redefining productivity in a hybrid era starts with transparency—making expectations visible, shared, and grounded in how work actually gets done today. Research from Deloitte and RAND shows that sustainable performance comes from clear outcomes supported by engagement, autonomy, and well-being. To sustain excellence within flexible work arrangements, business leaders must redefine productivity through the following interconnected outcomes:

• Business impact measures the results, quality, and innovation that advance strategic goals.
• Collaboration captures how teams connect, share knowledge, and generate new ideas across locations.
• Engagement reflects the energy, focus, and well-being that enable long-term efficiency and effectiveness.

But transparency only works when it’s grounded in employee experience and input. In one mid-size organization we supported, the CEO wanted to make “Boosting Productivity” a top priority for 2026, driven by a lingering belief that performance had never fully recovered post-COVID, even with new tools, hybrid flexibility, and larger teams.

Before introducing any new expectations, leaders needed to understand how these norms would land and what was actually hindering productivity in the day-to-day. With Seramount’s support, they brought roughly 1,000 senior leaders together for an Employee Voice Session to pressure-test a draft of their new “Ways of Working That Strengthen Performance.” Leaders were asked directly: What feels clear? What feels unclear? And what won’t work, given the reality of how your teams operate today?

Instead of resistance, employees surfaced practical friction points—meeting overload, unclear priorities, inconsistent modeling—that would have quietly derailed the rollout. Their input allowed the company to refine expectations around impact, collaboration, and engagement so the standards were clear, usable, and culturally aligned.

This is the work HR must lead: co-creating outcome-based standards and the everyday behaviors that bring them to life. When employees help build the system, expectations gain credibility, trust strengthens, and productivity becomes something people can meaningfully achieve—not something measured through outdated proxies.

The Enablers of a Modern Productivity System

Once productivity standards are clear and co-created, HR leaders must ensure the rest of the system reinforces them.

Managers must lead with consistency, connection, and fairness.

In hybrid environments, proximity should not determine opportunity. Yet research shows remote employees remain less likely to be promoted or recognized. Managers must support their employees by communicating expectations, mitigating bias, and maintaining meaningful weekly conversations that anchor performance and well-being. These habits are what create equitable, high-performing hybrid teams—not physical visibility.

AI must be implemented in ways that protect human engagement.

AI can accelerate output, but research from Nature and the Harvard Business Review shows it can also dampen employees’ sense of ownership and connection if introduced without intention. HR leaders can guide organizations to adopt AI through structured experimentation, transparent communication, and the reinforcement that AI augments—not replaces—human judgment and creativity.

Well-being must be treated as a performance system, not a perk.

Burnout is one of the most expensive drains on productivity. Gallup estimates global burnout costs $8.9 trillion annually. Seramount research shows burned-out employees are 2.6 times more likely to leave. HR leaders can redesign work to sustain energy, protecting focus time, balancing workloads, and supporting caregivers and historically marginalized groups who benefit most from well-designed hybrid flexibility.

These are not “extras”—they are the conditions that enable people to meet the outcome standards business leaders set.

The Step Leaders Still Underestimate: Listening as Strategic Infrastructure

Even the best-defined standards will fail if employees don’t see their experiences reflected in them. What matters isn’t just listening—it’s structured listening that feeds directly into change management. When organizations gather real insight through voice sessions, focused dialogues, and ongoing feedback, then use those insights to shape decisions, productivity stays grounded in reality and employees trust the process.

Listening shows employees they are partners in shaping how work evolves. It reduces skepticism. It surfaces friction early. And it turns productivity from something policed to something co-owned.

Listening is the system that keeps transparency alive.

Redefining Productivity Is HR’s Leadership Mandate

The future of productivity will not be restored by mandates, monitoring, or nostalgia for pre-pandemic norms. It will be shaped by whether organizations define productivity with clarity, measure it transparently, and refine it continuously with their people.

HR leaders are uniquely positioned to lead that shift—not by choosing sides in the hybrid debate, but by establishing the frameworks that move the conversation beyond presence and toward performance.

Hybrid work can expose fractures or fuel transformation. The difference depends on whether HR leads the redefinition—or lets legacy assumptions write the next chapter.

The post The Productivity Strategy That Actually Boosts Performance: Build It with Your People appeared first on Seramount.

Earlier this month, Seramount partnered with Soho House to bring inclusion leaders across industries into community with creatives and artists in LA. Together, they explored how inclusion drives culture and how culture drives innovation, community, and belonging. Their conversations revealed a clear truth: Culture isn’t an outcome; it’s an engine.

The Power of Representation in Storytelling

Stories were the heartbeat of the day. Speakers reflected on how authentic storytelling is both an act of representation and reclamation, emphasizing that when people share their stories, they humanize difference and turn diversity into understanding. Stories define who belongs, which ideas gain momentum, and which values shape collective imagination. Representation in storytelling is not about visibility alone; it’s about shaping connection and context for everyone involved. Many spoke of the courage it takes to move from being the subject of a story to the author of one and shared examples of how they accomplished just that, paving the way for others to do the same. Through it all ran a shared conviction: Stories do more than entertain; they build empathy, community, and trust.

Actionable steps:

• Create internal forums or creative showcases where employees can share lived experiences.
• Embed storytelling into leadership development as a discipline of empathy.
• Use stories to test whether culture statements reflect reality, not aspiration.

The State of Inclusion Today

As the conversation turned to inclusion strategy, two themes arose: exhaustion and renewal. The rapid pace of change around topics such as AI, politics, and demographics presents disruption and opportunity for the workforce and for communities. In response, leaders are calling not for more programs to address these areas but for more clear and focused messaging that provides transparency and connection to employees and peers.

Inclusion must evolve beyond jargon to speak a language that feels accessible and supportive to all throughout the constant state of change. The group agreed that it’s paramount to make inclusion an enterprise capability that empowers everyone. Plain language and integrated metrics will bring inclusion closer to business outcomes and create more sustainable change.

Actionable steps:

• Reframe inclusion messaging in accessible terms (e.g., replace “psychological safety” with “building trust for team success”).
• Integrate inclusion goals with business metrics, not as add-ons but as growth levers.
• Foster cross-functional learning communities where culture, HR, and operations align on shared outcomes.

The Blueprint of Belonging: Designing for Impact

Panelists explored how belonging must move from inspiration to infrastructure and shared how they’ve started this evolution themselves. They shared experiences of redesigning hiring systems, empowering employee resource groups, and reframing inclusion from a side effort into a strategic driver.

The most resonant idea: Belonging begins in community. Culture can’t be engineered through policies alone, particularly in the workplace; it grows through knowledge, engagement, and authentic participation in a shared vision and purpose.

A sustainable culture of belonging depends on systems that reward collaboration, accountability, and alignment to the business and to each other. The panelists reiterated the importance of embedding inclusion into decision-making structures, measuring what truly matters, and creating space for reflection and dialogue.

Actionable steps:

• Design your inclusion ecosystem: formal programs, informal networks, inclusion metrics, and leadership champions.
• Establish regular feedback rituals that surface barriers to belonging.
• Develop a balanced scorecard for culture: one part data, one part narrative.

The Stories We Inherit and the Stories We Create

The final session closed on a powerful note: imagination as a discipline.

Speakers reflected on how creativity can transform not just narratives but systems. One speaker described imagination as “a form of freedom”— a way to resist cynicism and keep possibility alive. Others spoke of the need to guard creative energy fiercely, refusing to let external forces or fatigue drain the capacity to dream.

That same spirit of imagination extends beyond individuals. Every organization lives inside a story. The most inclusive cultures rewrite their narrative through imagination and shared authorship. Storytelling becomes both legacy and action: honoring the past while opening space for new voices.

The conversation moved from theory to practice, with participants exchanging ideas for nurturing collective imagination in their teams. Leaders agreed that imagination is a strategic resource, as vital as capital or data, and that inclusion work is most powerful when it transforms not just policies but how people see themselves at work.

Actionable steps:

• Host cross-generational dialogues that connect origin stories to future aspirations.
• Encourage creative collaborations across departments to reimagine traditions and rituals.
• Recognize employees who embody inclusion through creativity and care.

Final Thoughts

Sustaining cultural momentum requires balance between urgency and patience, data and humanity, imagination and accountability. Culture leaders must prototype inclusion: Test, refine, and scale what resonates.

Culture fuels creativity when inclusion and belonging become a responsibility for and from everyone. The path forward isn’t about defending this work; it’s about expanding creativity, trust, and possibility through collaboration. Leaders who cultivate inclusive imagination will shape workplaces that endure change and inspire innovation.

The post Culture Fuels Creativity: Reimagining Inclusion for a New Era appeared first on Seramount.

But these shifts haven’t just changed the work of inclusion; they’ve reshaped the role itself. As organizational priorities are realigned and reporting structures are shifted, inclusion leaders are finding themselves navigating new boundaries, expectations, and definitions of success. With so much in flux, many are asking a simple but urgent question: What now?

The New Priorities for Inclusion Leaders

As the role of inclusion leader evolves, so too must the strategies behind it. The same playbook that worked five years ago no longer applies. To stay effective and ensure their work endures, here are three areas for inclusion leaders to focus on right now:

1. Redefine what success looks like

Representation goals and hiring benchmarks have long been the backbone of inclusion work, but in today’s environment, those metrics have become politically charged.

This moment presents an opportunity: to step back and ask what really drives inclusion inside an organization and how we measure it. When everyone agrees on a shared definition of inclusion, we can finally measure the right things and track progress in meaningful ways.

Seramount’s latest research identifies four core drivers of an inclusive organization, defined as one in which employees:

• feel psychologically safe on their teams,
• believe their personal and professional contributions are valued,
• see their identities reflected elsewhere in the organization, and
• trust that inclusive behavior is a cultural normexpected of everyone.

That’s just the starting point. The hard work lies in figuring out how to measure these experiences and behaviors, something Seramount’s research team is actively exploring. Get a sneak peek in our webinar, Measuring Inclusion in Today’s Legal Landscape.

2. Stay close to the business

For many inclusion leaders, the biggest risk right now isn’t backlash; it’s irrelevance.

As scrutiny around DEI has grown, many organizations have quietly rebranded their inclusion efforts, including retitling leadership roles. For example, a “Chief Diversity Officer” might now be a “VP of Culture and Belonging.” These shifts can seem like semantics, but they fundamentally change who gets access to decision-making and how close inclusion leaders remain to the center of power.

Similarly, Seramount research shows a small but noticeable trend of DEI functions moving under larger HR or Talent umbrellas. That structural change can also influence who’s in the room and who isn’t. In fact, 35% of inclusion leaders say being situated within HR has reduced their access to the CEO and C-suite.

The solution isn’t new, but it’s never been more important: Build relationships with intention. Stay close to peers across the business, understand their goals, and look for places where inclusion can accelerate them. Just as critically, keep a pulse on what senior leaders value most. Even hearing what’s top of mind for the C-suite can reshape how you frame your programs; leaders rarely cut what advances the priorities they care most about.

3. Make a new case for inclusion

This may be the most urgent shift of all. According to recent data, 53% of C-suite leaders expect their organization’s DEI commitments to decrease within the next year. To safeguard their programs, inclusion leaders must make the business case clear: Inclusion isn’t just a value; it’s a driver of shareholder value.

The challenge is that too few leaders feel equipped to make that case effectively. According to Seramount research, only one in five Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) strongly agrees that they can influence their C-suite to support inclusion, and on average, CDOs spend just 20% of their time engaging senior executives. When influence is limited, so is impact.

The fact is that the old way doesn’t work anymore. Framing inclusion as “the right thing to do” or even “good for the business” isn’t enough in today’s environment. Leaders must connect inclusion to what matters most to their executives: specific, bottom-line business metrics.

That’s exactly what Seramount’s Science of Influence framework is designed to do. The framework outlines four steps to align inclusion goals with executive priorities:

• Identify a current business priority
• Build your singular and precise ask
• Curate relevant and convincing evidence
• Show the impact on the business sheet

With this framework, inclusion work gains clear, measurable outcomes that demonstrate its impact on the organization. It helps executives see that inclusion isn’t a separate initiative but a business advantage they can’t afford to lose.

What’s Next?

If the past nine months have proven anything, it’s that the pace of change isn’t slowing down. Policy shifts, organizational restructuring, and evolving expectations have already reshaped the work of inclusion—and more change is coming.

Inclusion leaders are becoming, by necessity, change-management experts. Whether it’s adapting programs to meet new realities, redefining your role within the company, or helping your organization respond to broader workforce trends (see our State of the Workforce research for more on that), navigating change will be a defining skill in the year ahead.

As the landscape continues to shift, inclusion leaders will need new tools, strategies, and allies to stay ahead. Seramount can help you navigate the evolving role of inclusion leader in 2026 and beyond, connecting you with the research, frameworks, and expertise to adapt and sustain your impact. Connect with our experts to learn more.

The post How the Role of Inclusion Leader Is Changing appeared first on Seramount.

At the Think Bigger Summit in Chicago, Seramount brought together inclusion and talent leaders to confront today’s most pressing workplace challenges. Across sessions, one theme was clear: Inclusion leaders must rebalance defensive risk management with forward-looking, business-aligned strategies. Each session surfaced not just insights but concrete steps leaders can take to strengthen inclusion and culture strategies for 2025 and beyond.

The Summit also coincided with Hispanic Heritage Month, a reminder of the importance of celebrating cultural heritage as part of a year-round commitment to belonging.

The State of Workforce Today

The opening session highlighted the four mega-trends most reshaping the workplace: AI, hybrid work, mental health, and a shifting employer-employee compact. The good news is that research shows that trust in employers is growing. This is a great privilege and opportunity for businesses to build on the trust and create a thriving company culture.

Action:

• Reinforce trust through micro-acts of inclusion: regular, visible signals that every perspective matters.
• Create space in leadership agendas to focus on essential cultural foundations, not just urgent tasks.
• Become a “student of your craft.” Curate internal resources so leaders can learn quickly.

Inclusion at a Crossroads

Seramount’s research showed a retreat from bold inclusion commitments, leaving employees—particularly vulnerable groups—feeling less psychologically safe and less like they can be themselves. Only 13% (down from 24% in 2024) of employees say they feel psychologically safe in the workplace in 2025, and only 70% (down from 83% in 2024) said they can be themselves at work. This work is more critical than ever, and the importance of creating an agile, sustainable, and future-proof strategy is paramount.

Action:

• Double down on ERGs. They remain the lowest-risk, highest-value tool for belonging.
• Reframe programs as “open to all” while preserving equity goals.
• Communicate consistently that inclusion is a business imperative, not just a values statement.

Making the Case in a Challenging Climate

The conversation turned to how inclusion leaders can influence C-suite decision-makers. While many make the case for inclusion work through moral or even the business case arguments, few link inclusion initiatives to balance-sheet outcomes. Inclusion leaders must align with shareholder priorities—such as cost containment, retention, or business expansion efforts—and present specific, measurable asks backed by data. Without this financial alignment, C-suite support is difficult to sustain.

Action:

• Utilize Seramount’s Science of Influence four-step framework: Identify business priorities, define a measurable ask, defend with data, and tie to financial metrics.
• Pilot one initiative tied directly to a bottom-line goal (e.g., reducing turnover in a key unit).
• Track and share early wins in financial terms to strengthen the case for scaling.

What Do We Measure Now?

With legal and political scrutiny rising, traditional inclusion metrics may no longer be legally compliant. Yet data has never been more important; without it, it’s impossible to know where you are or where to go.

Seramount’s surveys and benchmarking offer early signs of what the next generation of inclusion metrics may look like; join our upcoming webinar, Measuring Inclusion in Today’s Legal Landscape, to get a taste of what’s to come.

Action:

• Connect your inclusion metrics back to what the definition of an inclusive organization is.
• Benchmark with peers to identify emerging practices and track your own progress.
• In your next employee survey, pilot one new inclusion measure, such as belonging or psychological safety.

Solving Today’s Inclusion Challenges

In peer breakout discussions, inclusion leaders tackled four of the most urgent challenges facing inclusive workforces today: political pushback, talent lifecycle disruption, redefining the role of inclusion leaders, and responsible AI integration.

One area of particularly fruitful conversation was “how much the inclusion role and how we show up in them has changed in the past nine months.” Participants emphasized that inclusion leaders must be recognized as business partners with access to data and decision-making. Without visibility into organizational priorities, inclusion leaders struggle to demonstrate impact or align initiatives with strategy.

Action:

• Secure monthly touchpoints with at least one C-suite leader.
• Use those moments to connect inclusion initiatives directly to organizational strategy.
• Build an internal coalition of business-unit allies to strengthen influence beyond HR or inclusion.

ERGs as a Strategic Lever

Employee Resource Groups are among the lowest-risk, highest-value inclusion programs available today. They can serve as trusted communities for employees while also providing insights into customer segments, emerging talent, and business opportunities.

Leaders discussed where their ERGs land on Seramount’s ERG maturity model to help them determine not only what their groups are currently capable of but also if they are ready to tie back to the business priorities, moving beyond community-building to offering measurable business value.

Action:

• Take Seramount’s Employee Resource Group Maturity Assessment (SEGMA) to evaluate the current state of your ERGs and chart a path to greater strategic impact.
• Position ERGs as business drivers by linking efforts to customer or market outcomes.
• Launch one ERG pilot tied directly to revenue, retention, or customer engagement.

Think Bigger: Stories of Innovation

The closing spotlights showcased how organizations are rethinking inclusion across industries. The lesson: Inclusion efforts that are embedded in the culture of the organization and/or connected to broader organizational goals are most likely to endure in today’s climate. The leaders shared a variety of their programs, from how they’ve pivoted supplier diversity efforts in the new legal landscape to using more accessible topics, such as multigenerational diversity, to open the movable middle’s eyes about the real work we are doing.

Action:

• Reach out to a peer or two to find a program they are still successfully driving today.
• Identify a program and a C-suite leader who sees the value and bring it “to market” together.
• In the next 90 days, launch a small-scale experiment that links inclusion directly to a core business outcome.
• Capture impact data from pilots and share results widely to demonstrate proof of concept.

Implementation Considerations

Taken together, the Summit’s sessions reinforced a central truth: Inclusion leaders must balance reactive adaptations to today’s environment with proactive innovations that build trust and belonging in the workplace while driving measurable business impact. Success requires discipline and consistency: clear priorities, precise asks, and visible alignment with organizational goals.

The path ahead for inclusion leaders is demanding, but the conversations in Chicago showed that peers are finding creative ways forward. Leaders who refine their strategies now and embed them across the business will be best positioned to navigate both risk and opportunity in 2026.

The Think Bigger Summit underscored that inclusion is not optional—it is a core driver of business success.

The post A New Roadmap For Workplace Culture appeared first on Seramount.

Below are some key takeaways and themes from the conversation.

Employees Will Keep Using Outside AI Unless Internal Tools Improve

Leaders acknowledged that staff are already using tools like ChatGPT on personal devices, often because they feel easier and more responsive than company-provided platforms. Several CHROs said the real risk is not curiosity itself, but that unsanctioned use of these tools may expose organizations to data security and IP risks. Leaders agreed that internal tools must be safe and user-friendly; otherwise, employees will continue to bypass them.

Recruiting is Where AI Has Gained the Most Traction

AI has gained the most traction in recruiting, likely because the business case is straightforward. Leaders described how AI tools are being used to guide candidates toward relevant roles, automate scheduling, and reduce the amount of administrative time recruiters spend on each search. One example shared was from a large professional services firm that built an internal assistant to support candidate engagement. The tool streamlines interactions and connects applicants to opportunities but deliberately avoids delivering rejections, a choice made for both legal and cultural reasons. Participants agreed that this type of human-centered approach, where AI handles repetitive tasks while people retain responsibility for judgment and empathy, is the basis for adoption moving forward.

Rolling Out AI is a Cultural Choice

Leaders noted that decisions about when and how to deploy AI carry cultural weight. Some described holding back on certain applications because the timing didn’t feel right for their organization. Others pointed out that transparency around data, fairness, and legal guardrails matters just as much as efficiency gains.

Leadership Development is a Missing Piece

Technical capability alone is not enough. Several HR executives pointed out that leadership development was “decimated” during COVID, leaving many managers without the skills to support employees effectively. Today, those same managers are being asked to juggle hybrid work dynamics, employee burnout, and the uncertainty brought by AI, often without the tools they need. Leaders agreed that organizations must reinvest in leadership development and coaching to rebuild empathy, adaptability, and change management so managers are prepared to guide their teams through this period of disruption.

Employee Burnout and Culture Remain Top Concerns

Breakout sessions reinforced that well-being and culture are still pressing concerns. Leaders in healthcare and other sectors described employees facing constant new demands, leading to burnout and exhaustion. Several noted that hybrid work policies have created tensions and perceptions of unfairness between different groups of employees. Others highlighted the importance of reducing stigma by positioning mental health within broader wellness conversations. Across these perspectives, participants agreed that organizations must stay focused on supporting employees holistically, even as they explore new technologies.

Join our growing community of HR Leaders transforming the future of work—together.

The post 40 HR Executives Gathered to Discuss Today’s Biggest Challenges: Here is What They Said appeared first on Seramount.

Whether your score rises, flatlines, or dips, the number alone won’t protect you from losing top talent, productivity, or credibility with the C-suite. If you stop at the score, you’ll miss the signals that could help avoid a costly performance or retention crisis.

High Score ≠ Low Risk

Whether scores look strong or start to fall, the number alone can be misleading because scores never explain the why, and employees don’t always tell the full story. Organizations with high scores still battle quiet quitting, stalled change efforts, and lost productivity. Why? Surveys only capture surface-level sentiment, and actions are rarely taken once the data comes in.

Even when scores look strong, many employees don’t believe surveys are anonymous. They hold back, give “safe” answers, or click through quickly because they don’t expect follow-up. Others tell leaders what they think they want to hear. That means your score may reflect disengagement as much as engagement. What’s left unsaid has greater implications for emerging challenges and impending disruptions you need to get ahead of.

A falling score may feel like a red alert, but how do you explain what’s driving the decline? Is it burnout, a breakdown in trust, or career stagnation? Numbers don’t tell you where to focus, which leaves HR leaders reacting to symptoms instead of addressing root causes. Without context, a dip could create panic instead of progress.

The Real Benchmark: Action, Not Numbers

IIf you miss the signals hiding in your survey results or fail to close the loop with employees you asked for input, you risk losing your top talent and having to explain “what went wrong” to your board or CEO.

What separates thriving workplaces from those that stall? It’s the honest conversation about “what now” after the survey is done. However, understanding and anticipating what’s needed to keep talent disruptions from derailing business success is easier said than done. When you dig deeper into survey results, you often find that the barrier isn’t a lack of data, but a lack of direction.

That’s why the most effective people leaders focus on closing the gap between how things look from your engagement score and what employees experience at every level. Instead of asking, “Did we score high enough?” savvy HR leaders ask:

• Where are we seeing turnover despite a good score?
• Which teams or employee groups are consistently less engaged?
• What stories are employees telling us in open comments, exit surveys, or focus groups?
• Are we closing the loop and following up on feedback?

This is the hard, unglamorous part: translating ambiguous, sometimes messy feedback into concrete steps that move your organization forward. It takes intentional effort, time, and support. That’s why Seramount’s approach isn’t just about collecting data. We help HR leaders make sense of it, prioritize what matters, and build a strategy that sticks.

Make Surveys the Starting Line, Not the Finish Line

Engagement survey should be the starting line, not the finish line. Real impact is determined by what you do after Real impact is determined by what you do after results are ready, not the number on your dashboard. So, if you’re about to review your results, don’t just ask “How did we do?” Challenge your team to dig deeper:

• “What does this number miss?”
• “Where is our risk building?”
• “How are we communicating next steps?”

Seramount’s employee voice platform is built for the “what now.” Assess360 helps you answer these challenging questions by contextualizing survey results, digging deeper via anonymous voice sessions, and providing change management support to work on solutions with you.

Key elements of our approach:

• We do the heavy lift. We take work off your team’s plate by analyzing and prioritizing the findings and helping you close the loop with your stakeholders, saving you time, money, and resources.
• Unlimited expert support. You don’t have to become a data scientist or change management expert overnight. Our team partners with yours for every phase to translate insights into strategy.
• One holistic approach. Instead of hiring multiple employee engagement vendors, you get an all-in-one solution. So, you never lose time chasing disconnected data.

With our support, you can move from “what’s the score?” to “what’s our strategy?” Our partnership gets to the heart of the issue, reduces talent risk, and maintains momentum while ensuring employees see and feel the change. Surveys alone can’t shield you from turnover or disengagement. What you do next determines whether those signals fuel strategy and give your leaders a clear path forward.

Ready to connect the dots and turn your signals into strategy with Assess360? Schedule a call with one of our experts to move beyond your score to implement the listening strategy your organization needs to stay ahead of disruption.

The post The Real Benchmark of Employee Engagement Isn’t the Survey Score appeared first on Seramount.

Subtle Shifts that Predict Bigger Problems

Burnout, disengagement, and misalignment rarely appear overnight. The earliest signs of trouble are usually subtle and build slowly. When overlooked, they lead to bigger performance and retention problems. For example, a new trend, called “quiet cracking,” describes high-performing employees whose resilience fades when they begin quietly struggling. Leaders often dismiss these moments as temporary team dynamics, workload shifts, or other evolving challenges. But together, they can signal deeper challenges, such as declining mental health, communication gaps, and broken trust.

Watch for additional clues that a bigger issue could be on the horizon:

• Missed deadlines from previously reliable teams
• Declining participation in collaborative settings
• A drop in proactive problem-solving or innovation

In hybrid workplaces, these signals are even easier to overlook. Distributed teams often rely on asynchronous check-ins and siloed communication, making it even easier for burnout or misalignment to go unnoticed until it affects delivery or morale. While these changes may seem minor in isolation, they often signal that employees feel disconnected, overlooked, or overextended. Missing these early cues can turn manageable friction into costly setbacks.

Why Great Leaders Need Better Signals

To spot talent risks earlier and understand the underlying causes, HR leaders need listening methods that capture context, not just ratings. That’s the difference between learning that trust is low and understanding which teams feel shut out of decisions, or how an unclear strategy is fueling disengagement. Traditional listening tools tend to confirm what leaders already suspect is happening, but they rarely explain how to solve the challenge.

Engagement and pulse surveys don’t provide the clarity needed to meet employees’ needs. Most surveys don’t ask about emotional drift, hesitancy, or suppressed feedback. They aren’t built to detect the top two predictors of disengagement, team friction, and stalled performance: belonging breaking down or psychological safety eroding. That’s why leaders need an approach that catches issues early, reveals what’s behind them, and shows how to respond.

Smarter Listening Uncovers What’s Driving Risk

At Seramount, we don’t believe the solution to rising talent risk is listening more frequently—it’s listening differently. Our Listen–Diagnose–Transform framework identifies the root causes of workforce risks and provides expert guidance to solve them before they escalate:

• Listen: Capture the underlying issues impacting employees’ lived experiences and recurring challenges that often go undetected in survey data alone.
• Diagnose: Identify the root causes of troubling trends, such as workload strain, poor communication, or leadership misalignment.
• Transform: Translate insights into strategic priorities—strengthening systems, skills, and leadership habits that prevent risks from recurring.

Our approach closes the gap between what leaders perceive and what employees actually experience, preventing hidden issues from becoming costly talent disruptions. Once employees see their input reflected in meaningful changes, they’ll put more trust in your transformation efforts. Early action helps HR leaders protect team performance and maintain business continuity even during change.

Here’s the bottom line: employee voice is more than an engagement metric. It’s your organization’s early warning system, a way to detect talent risks before they become attrition, mistrust, or stalled performance. When HR leaders shape their strategies around employee voice, they don’t just improve workplace culture—they reduce risk, accelerate performance, and reinforce trust across the business. This intelligence gives leaders the edge to steer their organizations through change with more confidence. See how Assess360 can help you prevent costly talent disruptions before they spread.

The post Employee Voice Is the Early Warning System Every HR Leader Needs appeared first on Seramount.

When inclusion is embedded into how a business hires, develops, supports, and retains talent, it becomes a force multiplier for innovation, resilience, and growth. It is a performance enabler and can’t be treated as a standalone program. There’s simply too much at stake.

We’ve seen time and again that inclusive workplace cultures aren’t just more welcoming—they perform better. Companies that foster a strong sense of belonging tend to be more adaptable, more innovative, and better positioned to meet their goals. One study found that organizations with inclusive cultures are six times more likely to be innovative—proof that when people feel seen and supported, they’re more willing to contribute new ideas and take smart risks. When you design with a wide range of identities, abilities, and life experiences in mind, you’re not just accommodating difference—you’re creating the conditions for everyone to thrive.

That’s more urgent than ever. With six generations now in the workplace and expectations evolving rapidly, leaders must think about talent optimization efforts where inclusion is at the heart. Today’s strategies must address the full spectrum of human experience—including disability, neurodiversity, mental and emotional health, caregiving, and socioeconomic background. When companies adopt a “rising tide lifts all boats” mindset—designing with the most overlooked voices in mind—they create stronger systems for all. Think of the curb cut: designed for wheelchair users, it now benefits delivery workers, travelers, and parents with strollers. Inclusive culture, when done right, has that same universal design power.

Ignoring this evolution doesn’t just risk internal disengagement—it limits a company’s ability to connect with a rapidly changing customer base. Inclusive organizations are more attuned to market shifts and better equipped to meet the needs of diverse consumers. That includes Gen Z buyers, multicultural families, and customers with disabilities—segments that are increasingly shaping the future of the marketplace.

One powerful example comes to mind. For the Miami Heat, that meant recognizing a growing number of fans who weren’t seeing themselves reflected in the merchandise offerings. Engaging the customer of the future, it turned out, required a data-driven awareness of specific demographic changes to their fan base. Creating a truly inclusive fan experience—and capitalizing on an untapped market opportunity—led the organization to design a new line of size-inclusive apparel, intentionally developed with all body types in mind. This wasn’t a matter of optics. It was a business decision rooted in listening, understanding, and responding to who their fans really are. The result: stronger fan loyalty, broader reach, and increased merchandise revenue—proving that when inclusion meets insight, everyone wins.

This is why leading companies are reframing inclusive workplace practices not as a response to social pressure, but as a core business imperative. These organizations understand that psychological safety and flexibility aren’t perks—they’re key performance drivers. They also recognize that building trust isn’t a one-time initiative. It requires continuously listening to employees, addressing real barriers, and measuring progress.

Some of the most effective strategies are surprisingly straightforward: updating performance evaluations to recognize different work styles, normalizing caregiver leave and mental health days and creating systems that invite employee feedback regularly—not just through annual surveys, but through structured, ongoing dialogue.

These actions are mission-critical for long-term competitiveness, from attracting and engaging to retaining the talent of today and tomorrow.

The future of work will belong to organizations that evolve alongside their people—those that think holistically about employee experience, reimagine leadership development, and embed inclusion into every decision, not as an afterthought but as a standard.

The question isn’t whether to invest—it’s how to lead in a way that reflects the realities of the modern workplace and the values of the customers you serve. The time for inclusive leadership is now.

This article first appeared on forbes.com. View original article.

The post Talent Is Changing—Has Your Strategy Evolved With It? appeared first on Seramount.

This was the central theme of Seramount’s June Employee Voice Session (EVS), where senior HR executives shared their challenges and lessons learned. Most organizations now track a wide range of metrics, from compensation to engagement, but half of the participants admitted they struggle to select the right metrics and translate them into actionable intelligence.

The Paradox of People Analytics

People analytics has matured from basic reporting to a core strategic function. Some companies use homegrown systems, and others rely on HRIS platforms or third-party analysis. With so many options, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers and lose sight of what matters most. As one EVS participant put it, “There are so many KPIs. It can be difficult to understand which ones correlate with business performance and which ones managers can influence.” Forty percent of the participants said the hardest part is knowing what to measure and how to use it.

As AI and automation become a daily part of work, workforce data will shape decisions for both human employees and virtual agents. Some companies are even merging HR and tech departments to create unified, data-driven talent strategies.

Why Your Key Stakeholders Respond More to Stories than Spreadsheets

The most effective HR leaders aren’t just reporting numbers—they’re connecting the dots. Storytelling with data is now a core expectation for HR leaders.  The ability to weave quantitative and qualitative feedback into a narrative is what helps business leaders turn information into action.

Pairing dashboards with narratives helps HR’s insights stand out amid the noise. Why does this matter for talent initiatives and business outcomes? Research shows that stories activate more parts of our brains than statistics alone, leading to deeper impact and recall. For HR, this means:

• Executives see the connection between workforce trends, retention, productivity, and profit
• Managers understand what they can influence and where to focus
• Employees feel heard and know their feedback resulted in real change, which increases trust and participation

Teams that rely on static dashboards or “data dumps” struggle to move from metrics to meaningful action. When results are framed in context and connected to company priorities, HR can secure buy-in, prioritize resources, and propel the business forward.

Bridging the Feedback-to-Action-Gap

The risk of collecting so much employee feedback is that your insights disappear into a black hole of dashboards and benchmarks, never to be addressed beyond a highlight reel or annual report. Employees notice when their feedback leads nowhere, and over time, their participation drops, making engagement data even less representative.

Our EVS identified four high-impact practices for HR leaders:

• Synthesize multiple data sources: integrate engagement, operational, and qualitative data for a holistic view
• Highlight impact, not just activity: show how feedback and metrics foster change
• Elevate the employee voice: use anonymized quotes and real stories to humanize the data and visualize outcomes
• Invest in data storytelling skills: partner with an external expert to clarify and communicate your story

Not every HR team has a dedicated analytics function or endless resources, so focusing on storytelling and the insights that matter most can help even lean teams make a measurable difference with busy stakeholders.

When engagement data explains why employee sentiments matter and what to do next, HR can influence business priorities, not just report on them. Building a culture of feedback, where leaders share what they heard and act on employees’ input, is essential. It improves engagement and retention, and strengthens HR’s influence across the business.

The Takeaway

Tracking employee data is more than a check-the-box activity. Leading organizations know exactly why they’re collecting each data point, plan to contextualize and communicate what they collect, and empower business leaders to act on it. This strategic approach builds trust and engagement, while strengthening HR’s credibility and impact with the C-suite.

Many HR teams partner with an external advisor to ensure their data analysis is free from internal bias. They uncover the real story behind the numbers and frame insights in a way that resonates with executives, making it easier for leaders to act with confidence. When HR and talent leaders empower their teams to turn numbers into compelling narratives, they bridge the gap between data and action, fueling both business and culture change.

If you’re ready to move from metrics to meaning, start here:

• Audit your current metrics to see if they connect to your business’s top priorities
• Start with one key initiative to build your team’s data storytelling abilities
• Make employee feedback a visible, ongoing part of your talent strategy

Learn how a strategic storytelling partner, such as Assess360, can help you listen differently, act decisively, and build a workplace where employees want to stay.

The post Why Data Storytelling Is the New HR Superpower appeared first on Seramount.