Our July edition of our HR News Roundup features items on onboarding, what HR needs to know about the One Big Beautiful Bill, caregiving issues with the Sandwich Generation, barriers to employee development, and more. It’s a packed issue full of summer reading.
Beyond the First 90 days: Onboarding Strategies that Work
Dustin Ross, Domino’s Pizza, Rob Porter, CoSo Cloud – HR Daily Advisor
In today’s fast-paced, hybrid workplace, the first 90 days of an employee’s journey are more critical than ever. For Learning & Development (L&D) professionals, building an onboarding program that is effective, scalable, and flexible means combining structure with adaptability and aligning learning outcomes for business impact. Whether you are onboarding in-person, remotely, or across global teams, a thoughtful blend of delivery formats, synchronous and asynchronous, combined with mentorship, collaboration, and role-specific learning is essential to success.
Related: What Do Your Entry-Level Employees Need?
15 Takeaways for HR Pros from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Allen Smith, J.D., SHRM
The tax and spending law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has caused a sea change in the taxability of employee compensation and will have several effects on HR. This article highlights 15 takeaways from the new law for HR professionals.
Related:
- After the ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ Passage, Why Employers Can’t Afford to Ignore Student Loan Stress
- Employee Benefits Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: What Employers Need to Know
- How the Big Beautiful Bill Will Impact Your Employee Benefits and Compensation Strategy
- What Employers Need to Know About No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime
- The “Big Beautiful Bill” & Potential FLSA Pitfalls: What Employers Need to Know on “No Tax on Tips & Overtime” Provisions
The ‘Sandwich Generation’ Presents a Growing Caregiving Crisis for HR
Jen Colletta, HR Executive
By 2034, Sternberg says, the share of Americans over age 65 will top the under-18 population. And in the next 25 years, the over-80 population is expected to nearly triple.
… To support the growing group of sandwich generation caregivers, employers need to rethink their entire approach to employee benefits—shifting toward a “whole-life support system,” says Ruth Veloria, chief customer experience officer at University of Phoenix. The university recently released survey findings on sandwich generation caregivers and the impact on employers.
Why Employees Hesitate to Disclose Mental Health Concerns – and What Employers Can Do About It
Zhanna Lyubykh, Justin Weinhardt, Nick Turner – The Conversation
Mental health is increasingly being recognized as critical to workplace functioning. Organizations invest substantial resources in wellness programs, mental health training and employee assistance programs. Some even offer on-site therapy sessions at no cost to their employees.
Yet despite these efforts, many employees remain hesitant to seek help or disclose their mental health conditions. This reluctance can leave employees under-supported and contribute to increased absenteeism and turnover. Those who choose not to disclose often miss out on access to workplace accommodations and support, which can exacerbate their conditions and even increase the risk of job loss.
From Red Flags to Retention: A Proactive Guide to Employee Engagement
Lin Grensing-Pophal, HR Daily Advisor
Disengagement doesn’t always announce itself. More often, it hides in plain sight—behind polite smiles, quiet compliance, or a sudden dip in collaboration. For HR leaders and business executives, the ability to recognize these early signals can mean the difference between retaining top talent and watching them quietly disengage, then leave.
Addressing the Barriers Blocking Employee Development
Corey Tatel, Megan Mulherin – Gallup
Calls for upskilling are not new, but they are becoming more urgent. A majority of CHROs (59%) indicated in the first quarter of 2025 that development is one element of the employee experience their organization struggles with the most, up 16 percentage points from 2024.
… Despite growing awareness, however, participation in skill development is limited. In 2024, less than half of U.S. employees (45%) participated in training or education to build new skills for their current job. About one in three employees (32%) who are hoping to move into a new role within the next year strongly agree that they have the skills needed to be exceptional in that role.
There is a compelling business case for improving employee development. Gallup projects, based on meta-analytic findings, that organizations could realize an 18% increase in profit and 14% increase in productivity by doubling the proportion of employees who feel that they have opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Why You Might Want to Say Goodbye to the Annual Performance Review
Michael Blanding, featuring Katherine B. Coffman – Working Knowledge, Harvard Business School
“When a review is something that only happens once a year, it can feel very consequential and anxiety-inducing, but if it’s happening on a more regular basis, it makes the stakes for any one of these conversations feel a bit lower,” Coffman says.
Plus, many managers make the mistake of doing backward-looking assessments of an employee’s work during the previous year and fail to initiate forward-looking discussions about career advancement opportunities. What they should do instead, Coffman says, is clearly outline potential paths to promotions and provide advice for how to get there, since doing so can help to prevent employees from fleeing organizations in search of higher-level positions elsewhere.… “When people feel stuck in an organization and don’t know how to get to where they want to go, that’s a recipe for losing people,” Coffman says.
Employers, Before You Pick Up the Phone to Call an Employee’s Physician, Put it on Hold
Jeff Nowak, FMLA Insights
Friends, whether it’s an FMLA or ADA situation, employers must follow very specific rules when communicating directly with an employee’s physician about the employee’s medical condition. They start with these:
Employers may communicate directly with the physician only with the employee’s express permission.
The scope of the information sought must specifically relate to the leave of absence or accommodation requested.
Let’s take a look how this issue arises under both the FMLA and ADA.
The Best Leaders Encourage “Spacious Thinking”
Megan Reitz, John Higgins – Harvard Business Review
For the last few years we have been researching two modes of attention that people use at work: doing mode, in which people pay narrow attention to a specific task in order to control, predict and get it done efficiently; and spacious mode, in which people pay attention more expansively, without hurry, making them more receptive to relationships, interdependencies, and possibilities—like Soren’s approach to cost-cutting. Spacious mode leads to critical benefits in the workplace, such as gaining insight into challenges, thinking strategically, spotting opportunities, building relationships, and sparking joy and motivation.
HR News Roundup: Quick Takes
- Majority of Workers Feel Uneasy Taking Time Off, Survey Shows
- Employers in So-Called ‘Sanctuary Cities’ Need to Prepare for Increased ICE Enforcement
- The ‘Gen Z Stare’ Is More Than a TikTok Trend — It’s a Real Problem in the Workplace and the Job Market
- Mercer: Half of Large Employers Plan to Shift Health Plan Costs onto Employees
- Women Are a Rising Share of U.S. Managers and Professionals
- Coldplay and the Kiss Cam
- How Sorry Are You? Why Learning to Apologize Well Could Save Your Relationships
- Glassdoor Worklife Trends 2025: Midyear Check-In
- As Measles Cases Hit Record-High, an Employer’s Guide to Potential Outbreaks
- How to Support an Employee Who Has Had Cancer
- How Lifeguards Avoid Sunburns (and Treat Them When They Happen)
- Gen Z Are Lying on Their Resumes and Job Applications — and It’s Not Why You Think
From the Lighter Side …
- Check out The Ultimate Corporate Lingo Guide For 2025: 30 Terms You Can’t Ignore! Good to know, although we are all pretty much united in making fun of corporate speak. See The Rise of ‘Elite Speak’: Why Do Smart People Sound So Dumb? – “Told someone lately that you’d “circle back”? Bemoaned all the “emotional labor” you’re doing? Corporate jargon and academic buzzwords have created an almost impenetrable dialect in educated circles. Given the current political reality, is it time for, well, a pivot?” See also: A List of Generational Slang Words and Phrases – X, Y and Z.
- OK, this has no relation to work but it might offer an amusing break. The world is an amazing place, as are all the fellow creatures we share our planet with. You may not be familiar with eider ducks, but their vocalizations are sweet and amusing. Here are some animals that don’t look like how they sound. Both clips have sound so turn the volume down or you might startle your colleagues, pets, or whoever you share your workplace with.(Instagram)
- What a great example of peer support. See how this new mom group brought one of their members to tears. (Instagram)
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