My first real job was as a retail clerk at Spencer Gifts, which, for anyone who didn't spend their formative years wandering a shopping mall, was the store that glowed faintly purple from the doorway ...

If you’ve polled a room full of HR leaders during 2026 about their “hottest topics,” anything AI-related undoubtedly dominated the first ten minutes of conversation. But the more revealing discussions...

Over half of 260 workplace child fatalities between 2013 and 2023 lacked data on cause of death or the industry worked

Most employees misunderstand their health plans and HR must translate. Benefits literacy is a design failure that landed on HR's desk.

Performance reviews and open-door policies are just a few HR best practices worth retiring. And the label itself deserves some scrutiny too.

What "children of the magenta line" reveals about AI deskilling at work, and why we should worry about employees who never learn to hand-fly.

Today, on the first Tuesday in September, folks across the US are heading back to the office after the long weekend that has come to symbolize the end of summer. Please note that I'm saying “the offic...

Half of the workplace rules in SOPs or your handbook have outlived their explanations. So has the rule against wearing white after Labor Day.

Workplace nostalgia; your coworker regales you with tales of work "back in the day" but you're also mourning a former version of yourself.

How micro is micro-shifting, really? Taking a look at where the workday's small breaks end and a hidden second schedule begins.

The mug and cardigan go home in a box, but someone's real workplace legacy often remains via the mundane; checklists, habits and jokes.

Observations about work and the role of HR; candid, considered, and cognizant of what the job requires. For the leaders, people managers and HR pros who believe work can be better. (You know who you a...

The AI notetaker joins early, captures everything, and understands none of it. What happens when its summary becomes the official record?

When AI absorbs HR's transactional work, employee relations is what's left standing; the discipline the profession has invested in least.

It arrives at 4:47 PM on a Friday, which is itself part of the form. You know what it is before you've read past the subject line, which is either “A note of thanks” or “Some news” or “Moving on.” Occ...

Is being decisive the same as being a good leader? What's the difference between decision-making as a skill ... and decision-making as a competency?

Themed HR conferences (circus tents or superheroes) feel harmless. But they infantilize the profession and confirm every tired HR stereotype

Mark from Security arrived at the pavilion at 5:30 this morning. Nobody asked him to do this.

Charisma in leadership isn't awe, fear, or stage presence; it's trust. Let's take a look at what "the rizz" really means for leaders.

AI isn't disrupting HR so much as diagnosing it; showing what the function really looks like once the transactional busywork finally clears.

There's a workplace factor that never appears in employee engagement surveys but exerts an outsized influence on the workday - and not in some vague, hand-wavy way, but in a very specific, visceral, w...

Performative AI - deploying tech as part of one's image - is a sequel to plays we've seen before. Is your strategy substance - or stagecraft?

Summer hours are great - so why only in summer? A look at the logic (maybe?) behind them, and why the rigid workweek is more habit than rule.

Transformation and continuous improvement are different strategies for HR or organizational change. Understand when, why and which to choose.

The 3-day holiday weekend is actually 5 days, and somehow you return to the office more exhausted than before. Let's break it down.

The stuff that happens on the acres of asphalt before anyone reaches the front door of your office building is, in many ways, a fascinating microcosm of how your company operates. Who parks where, who...

It's a tough time for job seekers, but some launch a job search strategy to find an audience - not a job. Meet the Unemployable Influencer.

Silver medalist programs sound smart in theory. But if your hiring process was a race candidates endured, don't expect them to line up again.

You don't need a personality assessment, a Myers-Briggs debrief, or a team-building session with color-coded cards to understand the people you work with. You just need to pay attention to how they ty...

HR job titles carry more weight than we admit - to others and to ourselves. A look at what they signal and why your identity matters more.

Deloitte's 2026 Human Capital Trends report has a clear message: AI is replicable. People aren't. Here's what HR leaders need to know.

YouTube video by Hellcat Records

Documenting the Distraction

People + Work Strategist | HR Leader | Author + Speaker | Drive Thru HR (podcast) Co-Host | Making sense of the art, angst + absurdity of modern work. Click to read Robin Schooling on Substack. Launch...

“Go along to get along" sounds like pragmatism in the workplace. In practice, it's how organizations silence dissent by suppressing opinions.

Low-hanging fruit sounds clear until you realize nobody defined "low." It's the workplace phrase that assumes a consensus that doesn't exist.

There's a particular moment in organizational life that I've come to recognize with the same familiarity I usually reserve for bad weather or a Monday calendar full of scheduled “sync-ups”: the moment...

Guest article by Dina Doll

Corporate polo shirts are ugly, uncomfortable, and built for no one. This default company swag/branded apparel conveys more than you think.

You know the email chain I'm talking about: it’s the one sitting in your inbox that has 47 replies, a subject line that reads "Re: Re: Re: Re: FW: Parking Lot Update - PLEASE READ," and approximately ...

HR career realignment is underway - and the biggest logo isn't your safest bet anymore. Here's why SMBs are where the smart money is in 2026.

A yard sale reminded me about talent sharing strategy — and why sharing people and skills across companies might be the smartest talent move.

by Heather Bussing