This issue of HR News Roundup includes items about the employee experience, the multi-generational workforce, pay transparency laws, how leaders develop a coaching mindset, salary projections, and more. Don’t miss our quick links and the fun items from “the lighter side.” .
Is Your Employee Experience Feeling Tired? Here Are 10 Ways to Refresh It
Jill Barth, HR Executive
As 2025 continues to unfold, HR leaders face the pressing challenge of influencing employee experience in an era of rapid technological change, evolving work dynamics and increasingly diverse workforce needs.
The stakes are high: Only 23% of employees globally and 33% in the U.S. are considered engaged at work, according to Gallup. Addressing this gap requires innovative strategies that blend technology, culture and personalization to foster trust and engagement, according to experts.
The Boomer-Gen Z Shift: Strategies for a Multi-generational Workforce
Lin Grensing-Pophal, HR Daily Advisor
The workplace is undergoing a profound transformation. For the first time in history, Gen Z now outnumbers Baby Boomers in the workforce, signaling a generational shift with wide-ranging implications.
Yet, as Boomers begin to transition out of full-time roles, their contributions remain vital. With decades of institutional knowledge, industry expertise, and leadership skills, Boomers are an irreplaceable resource for organizations.
Navigating 2025 Pay Transparency Laws: What Employers Need to Know Across States
Robert Horton & Alex Redmond, Bass Berry + Sims
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Vermont have each enacted pay transparency laws which are effective in 2025 and Illinois amended its Equal Pay Act to include pay transparency requirements effective as of January 1, 2025. Enactment of pay transparency laws and equal pay laws is trending across the nation, as a means for states to address the ongoing concern of gender and minority-based pay disparities.
Related: Pay Transparency Laws: A State-by-State Guide [Updated 2025]
Related: Top 10 Pay Transparency Actions for Employers in 2025
CFOs Project 7.3% Jump in Wages, Salaries, Deloitte Survey Finds
Maura Webber Sadovi, CFO Dive
CFOs expect their companies to see a 7.3% rise in salaries and wages paid in the next 12 months, according to a Q4 Deloitte survey, which polled 200 finance chiefs at companies with a minimum of $1 billion in revenue shortly after the U.S. election in November. The pay projection was nearly double the 3.65% rise anticipated in Q3, according to the findings of the Big Four firm’s previous quarter’s report.
Cognitive Impairment in the Workplace: Compassionate Approaches for a Hidden but Growing Concern
Report prepared for Bank of America by the Alzheimer’s Association
Due to the aging of the U.S. population, rates of cognitive impairment and dementia in the workplace are on the rise. This creates challenges for employers, many of whom may not know how to best support employees who are experiencing symptoms of cognitive impairment. Conversely, employees may be hesitant to share with their employer the challenges that they’re experiencing.
How Adopting a Coaching Mindset Can Benefit Leaders
Kara Glassman, SmartBrief
Leadership conversations often emphasize the importance of adopting a growth or resilient mindset to enhance performance and leadership skills. While these approaches are undeniably valuable, a less discussed but equally impactful perspective is the coaching mindset.
Coaching, as defined by Adam Grant, involves “helping people reveal their potential and overcome challenges.” Whether we think of a sports coach, career coach or life coach, the common thread is uncovering and fostering potential. For leaders, adopting a coaching mindset shifts the focus from simply providing answers to empowering others to grow holistically.
How the Lego Group Built Culture Change: From the Ground Up
Donald Sull and Charles Sull, MIT Sloan Management Review
” … the top leaders also “embarked on a journey to define what leadership culture we need to operate in the world today,” Shuster said. The team began to think through what type of culture it wanted and what to take forward or leave behind. The Lego Group had accumulated dozens of different leadership models and change programs over the decades, and Shuster wanted to take a unified approach. “Like many organizations, particularly ones that have been around for 92 years, there are … different models and processes and artifacts and articulations. We wanted to clean all that up,” he said.
The process produced the “leadership playground,” which Shuster described as the “articulation of the leadership culture that we are looking to nurture and develop within the Lego Group.” Three core behaviors — being brave, focused, and curious — are “represented in the language and the principles of how children operate or feel free to operate in a playground, an external environment, where it’s relatively safe to experiment,” Shuster said.
HR News Roundup: Quick Takes
- 7 Steps for Having More Fun at Work (and Still be Productive)
- Are You Being a Nice Jerk?
- After the L.A. Wildfires, Why HR Needs to Rethink Disaster Preparedness
- How to Help Team Members Resolve Conflict with Each Other
- Nearly Half of All Hospitality Worker Fatalities in 2023 Were Caused By Workplace Violence: 10 Steps You Can Take to Address Workplace Dangers
- Study Highlights Prevalence of Ageism in the Workplace
- These People Used Narcan to Save Lives. Here’s How They Did It.
- Employee Recognition Ideas That Go Beyond the Gesture
- What’s Better for Cardio Fitness: One Long Walk or Multiple Short Walks a Day?
- REAL ID Driver’s License: Why You Need One by May 2025
- Cocaine Use Is on the Rise
- How Long Does It Really Take to Form a Habit?
From the Lighter Side …
- One of the most wholesome channels across various social media sites is WeRateDogs, which features cute and amusing video snippets of dogs. The annual video compilation of the “best of the best” is always very fun and a great stress reliever. Spoiler alert: none of the dogs are naughty, they are all good boys and girls.
- Getting cabin fever over cold winter months? Do some armchair geographic explorations with TripGeo, which bills itself as “a portal for map-based games and resources.” Challenge your geographic knowledge and skills by unscrambling maps, plotting paths between cities, and more.
- Usually, when you talk about frozen locks, it’s the frustration of trying to get in your car after a nasty winter rainfall that ices everything up. But there are some other types of frozen locks – check out the styled locks in the people who entered the Hair Freezing Contest. Be sure to check out the gallery of past winners.
- Kudos and deep gratitude to all the firefighters, first responders, and everyday heroes who fought to save lives and property in the devastating Los Angeles area fires. In seeing a number of women firefighters in the front lines, we went looking for more information. The website Women in Fire says that “Statistics from the 2020 US Fire Department Profile indicated there are approximately 90,000 female firefighters in the country, equating to 9% of all firefighters. The vast majority (72,400) of these female firefighters hold volunteer positions. Over 22,316 fire chiefs are currently employed in the United States, approximately 6% are women. ” The University of Illinois Library has some interesting historic photos or women firefighters, and tells us that “Molly Williams, a former slave in New York City, is often reported to be the first known female firefighter. She became a member of Oceanus Engine Company #11 in about 1815.”
HR News – Blog posts you may have missed
- Workplace Immigration Resources for Employers & Employees
- February Key Dates & Events for Employee Communications
- California Wildfires – Emergency Resources