Creating a Flexible Work Environment

Hybrid Meetings ≠ Inclusive Meetings. I’ve lived it - and here’s 5 practical tips to ensure everyone has a voice, regardless of location. I spent more than 10,000 hours in hybrid meetings while as a remote leader for The Clorox Company. I was often the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 remote attendee - while the rest of the group sat together in a conference room at HQ. Here’s what I learned the hard way: 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲... ...by showing who gets heard, who feels seen, and who gets left out. If you're leading a distributed or hybrid team, how you structure your meetings sends a loud message about what (and who) matters. 𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: 1️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 – who will actively combat distance bias and invite input from all meeting members 2️⃣ 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿 – to monitor the chat and the raised hands, to launch polls and to free up the facilitator to focus on the flow 3️⃣ 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗻 - so that there is equal access to the chat, polls, and reactions 4️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 – pair remote team members with in-room allies to help make space in the conversation and ensure they can see and hear everything 5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 – be ready with a Plan B for audio, video, or connectivity issues in the room 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹-𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. If even one person is remote, have everyone log in from their own device from their own workspace to create a level playing field. 🔗 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 for creating location-inclusive distributed teams in this Nano Tool I wrote for Wharton Executive Education: https://lnkd.in/eUKdrDVn #LIPostingDayApril

Futurists use a framework called The Three Horizon's framework which is a helpful way to think about change over a period of time. It's one of the things we used at the University of Houston Foresight program. Horizon 1 is about today and your current way of operating. Horizon 2 is about transitional innovations or the "in between zone" where you are testing new ideas but are still anchored in today's systems and approaches. Horizon 3 is more long-term and focused on transformational futures. When applying this to HR, it can look something like this: ⚙️ Horizon 1: HR of today. -Running payroll, managing benefits, recruiting talent. -Performance reviews, employee engagement surveys. -Ensuring compliance, handling employee relations. -Efficiency, stability, and scale. 🛠️ Horizon 2: This is the HR in transition. -From roles to skills. -From static career paths to dynamic talent marketplaces. -From traditional management to distributed leadership. -From generic engagement efforts to personalized employee experiences. There’s no playbook. But this is where progressive CHROs are spending time—experimenting, iterating, and evolving. I see this a lot with my CHRO group Future Of Work Leaders (link in comments) 🌌 Horizon 3: This is the transformative future of HR. -What if your EVP was co-designed with AI and adjusted in real-time? -What if every employee had a personal AI career coach that evolved with them? -What if we stopped “managing” people and started orchestrating ecosystems of work? In Horizon 3, HR is not a department. It’s an experience engine. A culture architect. A strategic integrator of people, technology, and purpose. 🔮 Futurists use this model not to predict—but to prepare, provoke, and build. The most future-ready HR teams aren’t waiting for disruption. They’re designing the future while maintaining today. The future of HR isn’t something you respond to. It’s something you lead. Follow Jacob Morgan for more content on employee experience, HR, the future of work, and employee experience. #FutureOfHR #HRLeadership #ThreeHorizons #StrategicHR #EmployeeExperience #FutureOfWork #CHRO #Leadership #FuturistThinking #FutureReady

Following my recent talk on "Why Good People Leave Organizations," I've been hit with this burning question: "So, how do you actually keep those stellar individuals around long enough to truly make a difference?" First off, let's get one thing straight: retention isn't just about throwing money at people. It's about creating an environment where they feel valued, supported, and downright excited to come to work every day. Here's how we do it: 1. Invest in Growth: 🌱 It's all about development, folks. Offer mentorship, training programs, and opportunities for advancement. When your team sees a clear path forward, they're more likely to stick around for the journey. 2. Show Some Love: ❤️ Let's go beyond the standard pat on the back. I'm talking about creating a culture of appreciation. Encourage peer recognition, personalize rewards, and make sure everyone knows their hard work doesn't go unnoticed. 3. Perks with Purpose: 💼 Sure, ping pong tables are cool, but let's talk about perks that actually matter. Think flexible work hours, paid parental leave, wellness programs. 4. Collaborate Like Crazy: 🤝 Teamwork makes the dream work, right? Foster a collaborative environment where ideas flow freely, and everyone has a seat at the table. When your team feels like they're part of something bigger, they're in it for the long haul. 5. Be Real with Your People: 🗣️ Transparency is key, my friends. Keep those lines of communication wide open. Host regular check-ins, town hall meetings, or whatever it takes to show your team that their voices are heard and their opinions matter. 6. Balance, Baby: ⚖️ Work-life integration is where it's at. Encourage flexibility, offer remote options, and support your team in finding that sweet spot between work and play. When they can bring their whole selves to work, magic happens. 7. Lead from the Heart: ❤️ And finally, it all comes down to leadership. Lead by example, lead with empathy, and lead with your heart wide open. Your team is looking to you for guidance, so show them that you've got their backs every step of the way. So there you have it, folks. Retaining good people isn't rocket science, but it does take some serious dedication. By investing in growth, showing appreciation, offering meaningful perks, fostering collaboration, being transparent, promoting work-life balance, and leading with heart, you'll create a workplace where your team doesn't just stick around—they thrive. #EmployeeRetention #TalentDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #LeadershipEngagement #EmployeeWellness #dsw2024

“People don't leave jobs, or companies, when they quit. They leave managers…” … right? ^This statement is a popular but I actually think it’s grounded in a fundamental flaw.   Let me tell you why:   Because sometimes there are procedures & HR practices that companies can build into their operating culture to *ensure* a better experience for *both* employees and managers and significantly reduce friction points that tend to come up. At Top Employers Institute we survey the HR and talent teams of more than 2,400 global multinational organizations to help them understand which people practices most correlate to business outcomes that matter (i.e. profitability, revenue growth, retention, promotion rates, and employee engagement). We then help them benchmark their people practices through a rigorous certification process so that they don’t *just* claim to be a Top Employer, but earn the validated (data-backed) status of certified Top Employer. In our 2025 data, we found that the fastest growing priority for HR and talent teams is *Talent Acquisition & Retention*.   What’s the best talent acquisition and retention strategy? Step 1: retain the great people you already have. Here are 7 people-practices we found most correlate to lower voluntary turnover: 1) Offering Loan Repayment support (19% lower voluntary turnover) 2) Encouraging community involvement by offering a financial contribution to employees fundraising for good causes (17% lower voluntary turnover) 3) Initiatives that are designed to support and empower women in the organization (17% lower voluntary turnover) 4) Recognition awards for innovation (16% lower voluntary turnover) 5) Empowering employees to manage their own work hours and location (16% lower voluntary turnover) 6) Consistently offering mentoring/coaching for career development (16% lower voluntary turnover) 7) Offering the benefits for home office expenses when work needs to be done outside of the office (15% lower voluntary turnover) When organizations align people-practices to best support employees and managers, it can limit friction points, reduce stress, and deliver greater results. Outside of your manager, what are some of the benefits or workplace practices that keep you happy with your employer? Comment your thoughts below.

Today most companies combine three types of work forces. 1)   A full-time employee, 2)   A full-time or part-time contracted employee from another firm (e.g., Wipro or Cap Gemini) 3)   Free-lancers (directly or via an intermediate firm) Full-time employees are usually the backbone of any company and its culture with contracted and free-lancers being mixed in to expand expertise and manage oscillating workloads in a cost-effective manner. We may now want to think of a fourth type of worker to reflect the forces of technology, shifting demographics and new mindsets: The Fractionalized Employee. Imagine if one could get both the continuity and loyalty of a long-term employee with the flexibility of cost management of a part time employee and the expertise of a free-lancer and do so in a way that both grows employees and retains them in the long run. Every employee in the company is given a choice to work 100%, 75% or 50% of their time. They get to select this at the beginning of every year or can adjust to a different level when a life event occurs No longer does an employee have to choose between staying or going or being torn trying to do two things at one time. If they wish to try out a different type of non-competitive job it behooves their employer from letting them do so because retaining half or three quarters of a talented person is better than zero. As importantly these external skills or vocations will make the employee better rounded and probably more productive. And there will be cost savings from both reduced compensation but also eliminating the friction and cost of severance, re-hiring, and training. And as AI makes companies realize they need to change, adapt and manage new talent mixes, fractionalized employment allows for a smart way to manage costs by dialing down employee cost while ensuring the dignity of continued employment, the security of continued health care and the enablement of those employees using the non-employment time to earn revenue or build new skills for an AI age or take care of personal needs. This will not just retain talent but attract new talent including the more seasoned who might only want to work half time. For the employee they do not have to give up an income stream, health benefits or a part of their identity to build new skills, pursue new horizons or take care of life’s events. The Fractionalized Employee model will allow companies to retain talent, grow talent, mix, and match talent in ways that are truly win-win. Employees gain greater flexibility, optionality, opportunity for growth, managing life stages, and time to build additional expertise. Employers can attract new types of talent, retain stars, elongate the careers of seasoned experts and long time employees, calibrate costs in humane ways that do not negatively impact culture, and enhance adaptability to changing circumstances. https://lnkd.in/gt_WypB8

12 silent reasons your top talent quits. (and how you can retain them) This isn’t about perks—it’s about humanity. Your competitors retain stars effortlessly. Losing one employee costs 2x their salary. Your team’s loyalty hinges on invisible fixes. Here's what your best people won’t tell you: 1. Flexibility > Rigid Schedules → 9-5 rigidity burns out top performers. → Let them block “focus hours” guilt-free. 2. Recognize Effort Early → Praise before exit interviews. → Spotlight wins weekly, not annually. 3. Invest in Growth → Stagnation = silent resignation. → Fund courses, even unrelated to their role. 4. Kill Micromanagement → Autonomy fuels innovation. → Swap daily check-ins for weekly goals. 5. Pay Fairly, Not “Market Rate” → Underpayment breeds resentment. → Audit salaries before they get offers. 6. Protect Mental Health → Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. → Enforce meeting-free Fridays. Model boundaries. 7. Clear Promotion Paths → Ambiguity = “Why stay?” → Co-create 6/12/18-month career plans. 8. Let Them Disconnect → After-hours emails erode trust. → Ban non-urgent messages post-6 PM. 9. Fix Toxic Dynamics Fast → Ignored conflicts = endorsed dysfunction. → Train managers to mediate, not avoid. 10. Make Work Meaningful → “Hit KPIs” crushes souls. → Tie tasks to real-world impact. 11. Fix Broken Processes → Clunky tools = daily frustration. → Let them veto one pointless task quarterly. 12. Build Real Community → Forced fun fails. → Create peer mentorships, not pizza parties. Retention isn’t luck, it’s intentionality. Your culture is your currency, invest wisely. Which one hits the hardest? ♻️ Repost this and spread the word. P.S. It's always better to retain the best.

The old recruiting playbook is broken. The talent supply chain mindset has to keep up with the workforce. Workforce planning ➜ Forecast demand before it becomes urgent. Talent pipelines ➜ Not just for active candidates ➜ Passive, rediscovered, and internal talent. Sourcing strategies ➜ shift from reactive hiring to proactive market mapping. The companies doing this right are filling roles AND designing supply chains that: ✔ Predict hiring needs ✔ Optimize sourcing ✔ Stay ahead of talent trends Future-proof your recruiting strategy. ➜ Use historical trends, hiring velocity, and business growth projections to figure out hiring needs before they become fires to put out. ➜ Your next hire is probably already in your network. Look at past applicants, passive candidates, and internal mobility. ➜ Monitor competitor hiring trends, salary shifts, and skill demand to stay ahead. ➜ Use AI and automation for repetitive tasks. Let recruiters focus on sourcing and engagement. Think beyond the open role today. #hiringbestpractices #recruiting #jobmarkettrends

I used to think people leave for better pay. But most leave because they don’t feel seen. Treat your employees like your best customers. Because when you don’t, someone else will.   Richard Branson said it well: "Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to." After 20+ years building several successful businesses, Here’s what I’ve learned: Top performers don’t quit jobs. They quit environments. 8 ways to retain your best people 👇 1. Growth opportunities 📈 → Stagnation is a deal-breaker. → Promote learning, stretch roles, and career mobility. 2. Competitive pay + benefits 💸 → Loyalty isn’t a discount. → Pay them what they’re worth, or lose them to someone who will. 3. Work-life balance ⚖️ → Burnout is not a badge of honor. → Respect boundaries and time off. 4. Recognition + appreciation 🏆 → Don’t just notice wins, celebrate them. → People stay where they feel seen. 5. Strong company culture 🔗 → Toxic culture = silent exits. → Build a place worth bragging about. 6. Clarity in communication 🗣️ → Confusion creates friction. → Set clear goals, give feedback, and listen often. 7. Trust + autonomy 🔓 → Micromanaging is a morale killer. → Hire great people, then get out of their way. 8. Flexible work options 🧭 → Flexibility isn’t a perk; it’s expected. → Trust people to deliver from where they work best.   Weak cultures push away strong people. And when they walk, They take their best work with them. Great teams don’t stick around because they have to. They stay because they want to. 💬 Which one of these is your team already doing well? Let me know in the comments. ♻️ If this helped, repost to share it with another leader who cares. ➕ Follow Nathan Crockett, PhD for more.      

The Future of Tech Talent isn't what you think... Our AI-powered research at AI ALPI reveals a seismic shift in developer behavior that's reshaping HR strategies: The Rise of Portfolio Developers 📊 Key Findings → • 8 in 10 top developers now run multiple side projects • 73% prioritize employers who support side ventures • 65% generate additional income streams • 47% leverage their projects for rapid skill development Why This Matters ↳Talent Risk: Your best developers are building escape vehicles ↳Innovation Gap: Side projects are becoming innovation engines ↳Culture Shift: Traditional loyalty metrics are evolving ↳Competition: The creator economy is your new talent competitor Strategic Imperatives for CHROs → • Modernize IP policies (86% of developers consider this crucial) • Create "intrapreneurship" programs • Implement flexible work arrangements • Develop portfolio-based compensation models The Opportunity ↳ Transform this challenge into competitive advantage: • Innovation spillover from side projects • Enhanced skill development • Stronger employer brand • Reduced hiring costs • Increased retention through flexibility The Warning ⚠️ Organizations slow to adapt risk: → 3x higher attrition in tech roles → 2.5x slower innovation cycles → 4x higher recruitment costs The Future Is Here: Side projects aren't just hobbies anymore - they're the new career development strategy 🔥 Want more breakdowns like this? Follow along for insights on: → Getting started with AI in HR teams → Scaling AI adoption across HR functions → Building AI competency in HR departments → Taking HR AI platforms to enterprise market → Developing HR AI products that solve real problems #HumanResources #FutureOfWork #TalentManagement #HR #Innovation #Leadership

You can’t retain top talent with perks and pizza days. You retain them by building a culture where they feel: – valued. – trusted. – challenged. – and seen as more than just “resources.” Here are 10 things that actually make your top performers stay: 1/ Value from Day One Show appreciation not just at performance reviews — but every day. 2/ Give Autonomy Trust them to own projects and make real decisions. 3/ Personalized Growth Plans Align their career path with their dreams — not just company goals. 4/ Provide Learning Top talent wants to grow. Give them access to new skills and ideas. 5/ Create a Safe Space Let them speak up, take risks, and be human — without fear. 6/ Give Influence Let them lead, not just manage tasks. 7/ Flexibility = Loyalty Remote options, async work, flexible hours — it all matters. 8/ Be Their Advocate Speak their names in rooms they’re not in. Defend their value. 9/ Fair Salary Reviews Respect is reflected in pay. Be transparent. Be fair. 10/ Build Real Relationships Check in. Celebrate wins. Remember the human behind the output. When people feel respected, challenged, and safe — they don’t look elsewhere. They stop job hunting. They bring their best ideas forward. They grow with you — not away from you. Because top performers don’t just want a paycheck. They want purpose, autonomy, and trust! ♻️ Steal this cheat sheet as a reminder. ☝️ Follow me, Victoria Repa, for more mindset shifts.