Some employers promote pay transparency to address pay inequality, build trust with employees, and create a more productive dialogue about value.

Pay transparency also can boost recruitment and retention, helping employers attract and retain top employees who know the value of their work — and their neighbors’ contributions. Top talent want to work where there is an open dialogue about equality, benefits, bonuses, and salary ranges because it shows the employer values openness and trust.

Several states have enacted laws mandating employers to disclose wage ranges to their employees. These laws are designed to promote transparency and ensure fair compensation practices. Providing employees with information about the wage ranges for specific positions enables them to understand their earning potential, negotiate salaries more effectively, and help address pay inequality and discrimination. These measures seek to create a more equitable and informed labor environment.

When it comes to pay, there are three levels of transparency:

Full transparency: Employees have access to all salary information. Fully transparent employers make this information widely accessible to avoid pay gaps, motivate employees, avoid salary negotiations, and improve employee morale.
Partial transparency: Companies practice varying levels of transparency. Although this model can allow for inequities, it does help employers motivate employees with basic salary information.
No transparency: Employers do not disclose salary ranges or compensation practices, which can lead to potential inequities and wage gaps.

Pay transparency shines a light on compensation practices. It levels the playing field and encourages fairness in how employees are compensated. Further, it addresses the long-standing issue of wage gaps and helps combat discrimination based on gender, race, or other factors.

There’s no doubt pay transparency can come with challenges. Openness often reveals new issues. Employees might feel confused or frustrated by the information. If so, it’s the employer’s responsibility to promote trust and feedback instead of conflict. After all, poor communication is one of the main reasons why employees leave to find another job.

Strategies to overcome the challenges of pay transparency include:

• Ensuring local and national legal compliance
• Spending time creating clear expectations for each pay bracket
• Holding regular compensation reviews for all employees
• Focusing on employee performance and experience
• Setting clear expectations during hiring and onboarding processes
• Addressing problems and offer meaningful solutions
• Collecting and monitoring confidential employee feedback

One of the main issues pay transparency addresses is the gender wage gap. That gap arises from various factors, such as occupational segregation, unconscious bias, and discrimination. Women often earn less than their male counterparts for the same job. This can lead to reduced financial security, hindered career advancement, and a diminished overall lifetime income.

The initial step in implementing pay transparency is determining the company’s goals for greater transparency in compensation practices. This involves identifying objectives such as reducing pay disparities, enhancing employee satisfaction, and fostering a more inclusive work environment.

Once the goals are established, the rollout of pay transparency should occur incrementally, starting with internal pay transparency, which involves making compensation information accessible to employees within the organization. This can be followed by external pay transparency, where companies disclose salary ranges and compensation structures to potential candidates during the hiring process.

By adopting a step-by-step approach, organizations can build trust and adapt to the changes by pay transparency, ultimately fostering a more equitable and transparent workplace.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces.

For the 14th year, employee survey firm Energage has partnered with the Hartford Courant to determine the best places to work in Greater Hartford. It’s not a popularity contest, and not everyone gets a blue ribbon. A select few are honored based on a scientific survey process.

Energage administers an employee survey that covers 24 factors and takes just a few minutes to complete. The survey asks employees to offer feedback about such things as pay and benefits, direction, leadership, meaningfulness, and appreciation. Energage crunches the feedback data and scores companies based on the responses.

There is no cost to participate in Top Workplaces and no obligation to purchase any product or service. For 2024, 1,595 organizations were invited to survey their employees. Based on the survey feedback, 51 have earned recognition as Greater Hartford Top Workplaces.

“Being honored with a Top Workplaces award is a distinctive mark of excellence, setting companies apart in a recognizable way,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “Top Workplaces embody the highest standards, and this award, rooted in authentic employee feedback, is a point of immense pride for company leaders.”

The award is open to any employer with 50 or more employees in Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland, New London and Windham counties. Survey results are valid only if 35% or more employees respond; employers with fewer than 85 employees have a higher response threshold, requiring responses from at least 30 employees.

Employers earn Top Workplaces recognition if their aggregated employees feedback score exceeds national benchmarks. Employers are grouped into similar sizes to best compare similar employee experiences. Energage has established those benchmarks based on feedback from about 30 million employees over 18 years. They are ranked within those groups based on the strength of the survey feedback.

There are a few reasons why you might not find a particular company on the list. Perhaps the organization chose not to participate. Or, the employee survey feedback might not have been strong enough to merit recognition. It also might not have been large enough to meet participation standards, or not enough employees responded.

Energage runs tests on survey feedback and in some cases may choose to disqualify organizations, for example, if a high number of employees said they felt pressured into answering positively.

To participate in the 2025 Top Workplaces awards, or for more information, go to the nomination page at courant.com/nominate.

Company culture impacts productivity and performance. When a company has a high-performance culture, employees are motivated to go above and beyond, daily operations are more efficient, and customers feel the improvements. Recruitment and retention jump, too, when people talk about their amazing and productive culture.

Here are seven common characteristics to a high-performing workplace culture:

1. Motivational and inspirational leaders. The tone is set at the top. Motivational leaders inspire employees to reach their fullest potential. When more people are driven to achieve success, performance skyrockets.

2. Engaged and empowered employees: Companies perform at a higher level when employees are engaged. An engaged workforce brings together people willing to go the extra mile.

3. Strong growth mindset: Growth directly correlates with organizational and financial success. Companies must have a robust and open-minded growth mindset to perform at a high level. From entry-level employees to senior executives, it creates a culture where everyone is empowered to embrace challenges, learn together and develop innovative ideas.

4. Trust and understanding: Employees lean in when they trust the process and understand their direct impact on company performance. High performance cultures rely on leadership to motivate employees and build trust. Engaged, trusting employees see how their daily tasks contribute to company performance. And if they do not, it is the job of leadership to build trust and understanding.

5. Continuous learning: To stay innovative and hungry, employees need regular opportunities for training and development. Learning new skills is key for company innovation and future-proofing. But it’s also great for individual confidence, engagement, and retention. After all, data shows most job seekers want continuous learning.

6. Communication and collaboration: Whether it’s helping a teammate or a different department, high performance cultures are built on support. When employees collaborate and work towards shared goals, they save time. That time can then be used to think outside the box or work on another project.

7. Culture of accountability and autonomy: Defining responsibilities and timelines keeps everyone accountable and on track. In high-performance environments, employees need to know exactly what is expected and how to properly handle slowdowns. After all, things will always pop up. How teams handle them and take responsibility says a lot about company culture and the tone at the top.

Every high-performing workplace culture is built on the same four principles: people, technology, culture and intentional organization.

Get the right people: People are the backbone of any organization. Hiring hungry, like-minded people who value performance and innovation makes it easier to achieve shared goals. Identify the hard and soft skills needed to succeed in your organization, and hire based on those skills. It’s about who is the most productive and who cares about your core values. Hiring employees with meaningful connections to your company vision makes success more satisfying.

Invest in technology: Investing in new technology and tools gives employees the opportunity to save time and learn new skills. Automating repetitive tasks can improve engagement and reduce burnout, keeping the whole team performing at a higher level.

Create a productive culture: Whether they work remotely or in person, employees need a supportive and productive culture to perform well. Their physical work environment and overarching culture must motivate people to get their work done and go the extra mile. Perks such as childcare, fancy coffee machines, comfortable desk chairs, and Spotify or Calm subscriptions make people happier and more motivated.

Build the right processes: Structure guides employees, managers, and leaders to greatness. Clear responsibilities, communication from leadership, alignment across teams, training sessions, and confidential employee feedback channels make it easier to be efficient. By establishing standards, guidelines, and checkpoints, organizations ensure outputs meet high-quality standards and identify opportunities for refinement and optimization, ultimately enhancing performance over time.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces.

That’s the crux of an analysis by the Top Workplaces Research Lab, which found that 87 percent of employees say managers respect work-life boundaries while only 60 percent of employees feel they can take time off without falling behind.

When hiring, the best employers separate themselves from the rest

Work-life balance matters more than ever, particularly with employees who prefer remote work but struggle to keep it from bleeding into their personal lives. A recent analysis by Energage of 36,000 employees shows:

• 88 percent feel comfortable discussing scheduling needs with managers.
• 87 percent say managers respect work-life boundaries.
• 84 percent say managers support work-life balance.
• 68 percent can disconnect during non-work hours.
• 65 percent can complete their work without extra hours.
• 60 percent can take time off from work without falling behind.

Responders said self-imposed expectations and heavy workloads are the biggest obstacles to work-life flexibility. One in three also felt their companies tend to reward employees for coming in early, staying late, and working weekends.

Worth noting, it’s not only front-line workers who struggle. Responders believe leaders and managers have the toughest time with work-life balance. Senior leaders struggle the most, the analysis found.

These best practices can help encourage a workplace environment that supports work-life balance:

Review company policies: Rules around vacation, sick time, scheduling, and other time off can have unnecessary obstacles. Review policies for opportunities to simplify, streamline, and otherwise improve.

Consider what the workplace culture conveys: Messaging the importance of work-life balance is good, but what does your culture reward? If promotions typically go to those burning the midnight oil, your organization might be sending mixed messages about what is valued.

Assess staffing needs: While keeping a low overhead is important, employee well-being must also be a priority. Review staff levels across the organization to ensure one employee’s vacation doesn’t burden employees who are covering for them. If that is happening, it can create an atmosphere of resentment.

Manage meeting times: When folks try to schedule a large meeting, especially at the last minute, doing so might create problems. Lunchtime meetings, early meetings, and late meetings also can interfere with employees’ non-working hours. Avoid them.

For employers looking to go further, here are some other tips on creating a positive culture for work-life balance:

Consider flexible work arrangements: Flexible schedules, remote work options, and hybrid models can accommodate individual needs and preferences.

Offer additional time off: Give workers additional time to recharge their batteries with more paid holidays, half days before long weekends, summer Fridays, or extra days off for birthdays or wellness.

Give mental-health and well-being support: Provide resources for counseling or stress reduction, mental health days, and encourage employees to prioritize self-care.

Implement family-friendly policies: Programs that support childcare and adult care needs, and even ones that allow pets at the office, can support employees and reduce stress.

Communicate and set expectations: Provide clear communication regarding work hours, meetings, and availability. Consider implementing automated reminders for managers to respect time off and encourage employees to unplug during vacations.

Here’s another suggestion that can help employees who struggle: Place transition work blocks on the calendar before and after paid time off. This allows time to prepare to be off and time to catch up upon return.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the Hartford Courant’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to courant.com/nominate

What is an employer all about? Why would people want to get on board?

The difference between a good job opportunity and a bad job opportunity might look similar to an outsider. The key for jobseekers is to make an informed choice. And the key for employers is to find the right people for the right fit.

That’s why an employer brand is so important. It helps differentiate workplaces, so the right people can land in the right place.

“Picking a job matters,” said James Ellis, an expert on employer branding based in Chicago. “It’s a real choice.”

Every employer has a brand, whether it is painstakingly nurtured or grows on its own in the wild, without a strategy. The best companies shape their brand by effectively communicating what they offer and what makes them unique.

Good companies create desire, or an opportunity for people to join, Ellis said.

A positive online reputation helps companies stand out against the competition and attract top talent. Social media is a great way to promote an employer brand. Sharing company differentiators, community efforts, employee accomplishments, and well-being initiatives will boost an employer brand.

Job candidates want to know what a company truly stands for regarding the organization’s purpose and values. People want to work for employers that match its values to its vision.

Candidates choose job offers from companies with strong values. Maintaining those core values ensures your employer brand matches goals and company culture.

Many employers are desperate to be liked by the masses, which is the wrong approach, Ellis said. It’s not important to be attractive to everyone. It’s about attracting the right people for the right culture. Companies need to compel people to choose them apart from others.

“The value is in being different,” Ellis said. Which is why generic and uninspiring job descriptions fail to capture the attention of potential candidates. Good ones convey the organization’s unique culture.

Employer brands help people make good, informed choices. Candidates are skeptical. They way to build a strong employer brand, he said, is to be specific, attractive, different and real.

To a jobseeker, Ellis describes the four legs of employer branding as follows:

• What do current employees say about their work experience?
• Where is the company going? What is the future vision of the company?
• What options does a jobseeker have in finding a prospective employer?
• What motivates the employee or prospect?

Some employers might doubt the importance of an employer brand, Ellis said, simply by saying they have more applications than they know what to do with. But are those the right applicants for the right jobs? Are they the right candidates for the workplace culture?

Others might do employer branding wrong. They’re out in the marketplace but don’t say anything interesting in their job posts, and their stated purpose could apply to any organization. They talk about culture but don’t define it.

Employers that do employer branding the right way have interesting career sites and interesting content, Ellis said. The job postings are unique and compelling. They use language that stands out. It’s clear who they want to hire and who they don’t want.

“There has to be a fit,” Ellis said. “It’s the place where our motivations are rewarded inherently. It’s the place where the way we work is how other people like to work. It’s a place where the goal to which the company is aspiring is a goal I can get behind. That’s a fit. That’s what matters.

“There’s no such thing as a dream job. And if there is, it doesn’t last for half a second. But there are lots of good fits out there.”

Ellis asks organizations, are you a strong brand or a weak brand? “Strong brands are crystal clear. They make you feel something.”

Employers need to tell their story about why people should choose them. How a company presents itself tells people who should be interested.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the Hartford Courant’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to courant.com/nominate.

As simple as all of that sounds, organizations struggle at getting stuff done.

Inefficiency is a huge cause of poor performance for people and for teams — and the organization as a whole. Inefficient processes and procedures are a source of frustration for employees, especially when they feel there is no way to address them.

An efficient organization makes good use of its investments, increasing revenue with less expense. And when people feel like part of a winning team, they feel empowered to do what needs to be done to support the company’s mission.

When things run efficiently and well, it is usually because of successful practices across all levels of the organization.

Senior leaders should encourage the organization to be adaptable and execute effectively amid change. They should empower teams to shift direction and adjust priorities.

Managers should work with teams to set goals and prioritize what’s important. This might include pausing some initiatives or dropping them entirely.

Employees need to understand what they are expected to achieve and what happens if they miss those objectives.

If execution is a challenge in your organization, here are some starting points to consider.

Give employees the resources they need. That includes training and tools as well as people. Identify gaps, and work to ensure employees have a way to call out when they don’t have, as well as what they need, to work effectively.

Track goals and discuss progress. Establish what success looks like, and measure progress regularly. Adjust as needed, and do so early in the process. That can be the difference between success and failure.

Learn from successes and failures. Successes serve as a template for improvement and are worth repeating. Failures provide valuable learning opportunities to understand what went wrong and what to avoid.

Once an organization establishes some success in getting things done, take it to the next level:

Dedicate time to process improvement: Ensure safe communication channels allow for healthy conversations about ways to improve efficiency and quality.

Learn from the past: Evaluate when people miss major deadlines or when output is below standard. A comprehensive retrospective will determine whether the cause was an isolated issue or a broader issue that must be addressed.
Identify obstacles early: Work to identify issues before they become significant problems. Be proactive instead of reactive, and think beyond the near-term.

Build a culture of improvement: Empower employees to share feedback on regular processes. Celebrate when people find inefficiencies or offer ideas for improvement.

Along the way, look for these minefields:

Assuming only one way is best: Remember, doing things well also requires quality output, new ideas and motivated employees.

Failing to document efficient processes: Communicating what works can help reduce duplicate efforts. Staying open-minded will encourage improvement.

Single points of failure: If only one employee can execute a specific process, the organization is in trouble when that employee takes time off or leaves the organization.

Bottlenecks: Overloaded teams and delays on projects point to resource allocation issues. Find the source, and work with teams to resolve issues.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the Hartford Courant’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to courant.com/nominate

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The best companies to work for know that creating a high-quality workplace culture takes intentional effort. Over time, it becomes self-sustaining, and it attracts like-minded people who are more likely to be engaged and thrive.

Some people believe you can improve employee engagement with fancy perks, but research by Energage has consistently shown that’s not what matters to most workers, who want a positive workplace experience. Consider these 20 factors:

Company values: They are the glue that keeps your workplace together. Strong values propel your company forward.

Meaningfulness: Workers seek purpose in what they do and the people they serve. They become charged with productivity, commitment, happiness, and engagement.

Direction: Senior leadership sets the direction of the organization. It requires a smart strategy and regular communication. When done right, employees will invest more of themselves in their work because they know it will make a difference.

Employee appreciation: Who and what you celebrate says volumes about the type of culture you have and the culture you want to cultivate.

Concerns: When managers genuinely care about their employees, they cultivate trust and mutual respect, creating a safe haven where employees feel encouraged to innovate and take ownership of their work.

Inclusion: Diverse, inclusive organizations outperform the competition in profits, cash flow, and revenue. Teams at these companies exhibit better (and faster) decision-making, increased collaboration, and stronger commitment.

Innovation: People closest to the problems — and the customers — are closest to the best solutions. When employees are empowered, they feel safe to take the calculated risks needed to chase continuous improvement.

Open-mindedness: Open-mindedness is the difference between employees that follow orders and a culture that actively encourages debate and fresh perspectives. Great cultures welcome input from all sources.

Training: Employees desire growth and may seek it elsewhere if the organization fails to provide it. Training ensures strong organizational execution and minimizes the risk of errors.

Potential: Employees who can’t work at their full potential may feel stuck or unrecognized, making them more likely to start a job search. When people can reach their full potential, so will the organization.

Development: Continuous learning and professional development make employees feel supported and encouraged. Opportunities for learning and growth make people feel valued and appreciated.

Clued-in employees: Communicating important decisions effectively throughout the organization lays the groundwork for successful change and growth.

Clued-in leaders: When senior leaders genuinely understand what’s going on, they’re better equipped to make decisions. Great leaders gain valuable insights from those closest to customers.

Execution: Efficient organizations make good use of investments, increasing revenue with less expense. Workers want to feel empowered to support the company’s mission.

Cooperation: When teams work well together, employees feel a sense of belonging.

Meetings: It’s essential to include the right people, cover the right topics, and address them correctly.

Good benefits: A well-rounded benefits package conveys a commitment to the well-being of employees, beyond the workplace.

Expectations: Setting realistic expectations with new hires is critical to ensuring a positive experience. Expectations can strongly influence employee turnover.

Fair pay: Fair compensation contributes to a sense of value and self-worth. It also establishes a foundation of mutual trust.

Work-life flexibility: A flexible workplace leads to engaged employees who work harder, increasing productivity, profitability and retention.

How many of these 20 factors do you see in your workplace?

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the Hartford Courant’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to courant.com/nominate

A recent Top Workplaces Research Lab study revealed that employers and job seekers alike are struggling with the recruiting and hiring process.

What ticks off job seekers the most? The frustration with the amount of time it takes to find a job, along with the added stress and spotty communication.

“The labor market has changed,” said Kinsey Smith, senior people scientist at Energage, which conducted the research. “Jobseekers are no longer as patient. And there’s a dwindling pool of people who are willing to jump through all of those hoops to work for an organization that they are not sure is even the right fit for them.”

One example: There are big gaps in perceptions centered on clear communication of company culture. While 80% of employers believe they effectively convey their company culture to job seekers, only 30% of candidates share the same perception.

Furthermore, while 60% of employers said they felt they were regularly communicating, only 28% of job seekers said they felt the communication was sufficient.

Both hiring organizations and job seekers agree that hiring, recruiting, and finding a job are more difficult than in past years. Post-pandemic, companies have been battling challenges around inflation, the great resignation, and issues around remote work, among others.

Workplace revolution: Remote and hybrid trends shown in employee survey

The Top Workplaces Research Lab recently conducted a comprehensive survey, gathering insights from both hiring organizations (246 responders) and jobseekers (302 responders) to shed light on the hiring process. While there were some commonalities in their views, there were also significant disparities. Here are some other key findings.

Challenging times: Both employers and job seekers report an increased level of difficulty in the hiring and job-hunting processes compared with the pre-pandemic era.

Perception gap: Job seeker responses indicated a more negative interview process than what hiring organizations believed candidates at their own organizations would experience.

Culture fit discrepancy: While 95% of hiring organizations considered culture fit highly important when selecting a candidate, only 45% of job seekers shared this perspective.

Dissatisfaction with time-to-fill positions: Nearly half of hiring organizations (47%) expressed dissatisfaction with the time it takes to fill vacant positions within their organizations.

Effective recruitment channels: Hiring organizations reported that they find most candidates through employee referrals and job boards.

Effectiveness of hiring efforts: Surprisingly, only 56% of hiring organizations rated their hiring and recruiting efforts as highly effective.

Where are employers finding workers? Of those employers surveyed, 78% said they find talent through referrals. Some 61% use job boards. Another 38% use word of mouth, and about a third rely on direct advertising. Another third said they used promotions and transfers to fill positions.

When asked what obstacles are hurting the hiring and recruiting process, 62% of employers said there was a limited talent pool. About half said candidate expectations for pay was a barrier. Another third cited candidates unexpectedly dropping out of process as well as a limited number of applicants. And 29% cited candidate expectations for remote work.

Not surprising, employees valued pay, work-life flexibility and benefits (in that order) when looking for a job.

When asked what would improve the process, job seekers said better communication, transparency about pay, a shorter process and clearer expectations around the job itself.

Recommended best practices for employers around hiring:

• Communicate more, from start to finish, at every phase of the process.
• Streamline the hiring process.
• Be transparent about pay from the beginning.
• Design the process to be more inclusive of diverse candidates.
• Collect data on the most important aspects of the hiring process, and use it to improve.

For employers that are struggling to fill spots, Smith said “it might be time to look internally and see what they could be doing differently to try to shift things.” She said companies would be wise to assess their hiring process by talking not only with new hires but with jobseekers who did not join the organization.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the Hartford Courant’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to courant.com/nominate.

Workplaces are bringing human resources technology and AI onboard. While organizations are embracing HR tech solutions, Top Workplaces research reveals that AI adoption remains relatively low. That said, AI holds immense potential, from streamlining operations to enabling data-driven decision-making and unlocking valuable insights.

In the big picture, AI is the use of computing to perform tasks normally carried out by people. It most often refers to projects that capture information and deliver it in a way that simulates actions, purpose, reasoning, meaning, or learning. AI is used in manufacturing (think robots), self-driving cars, healthcare management, financial investing, booking travel, social media monitoring, and chatbots.

In human resources, AI can be used for things such as scanning resumes, social listening, data aggregation, background checks, measuring employee satisfaction, optimizing benefit offerings, and a host of other uses.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to use AI to make people’s jobs easier or better, so they can concentrate more of their time and efforts on higher-level tasks, or things they just enjoy doing more,” said Kinsey Smith, senior people scientist at Energage.

Energage recently surveyed more than 15,000 employees to get their feedback on HR technology and AI. The survey revealed 1 in 6 employees are concerned about AI impacting their work, especially those who work in advertising and marketing; hospitality, entertainment, recreation, and travel; and financial services and insurance.

Furthermore, 1 in 9 employees believe AI may replace their job in the next five years, particularly in utilities and communications; hospitality, entertainment, recreation, and travel; and financial services and insurance.

The survey feedback revealed:

• People are both excited and worried about the potential impact of AI.
• Few organizations currently use AI for HR tasks or issues.
• Most organizations have human resources information systems, onboarding, and performance management solutions.
• More than 1 in 3 organizations do not have tools for employee listening or employee selection.
• Responders were most satisfied with their employee appreciation and onboarding tools.
• Human resources information systems and recruiting technologies were considered most valuable.
• Common obstacles hindering the value of these tools included integration and set-up effort.
• Senior managers expressed little concern about AI in the workplace, whereas team members showed more concern.
• Organizations were most likely to lean on third-party tools for human resources information systems. They used homegrown solutions most often for employee appreciation and performance management.

While the majority have not yet adopted AI technology, responders said talent acquisition was the task they most hoped the technology could assist in the future.

Smith says the best use of AI should be seen as a resource that supplements work, not something that supplants workers. AI can be a springboard for more thoughtful strategies and conversations, for example.

“It’s just a tool,” Smith said, and it’s up to organizations to figure out the best uses, and the wrong uses, of that tool.

There are safeguard considerations, she said. Organizations need to consider how AI interacts with data, from a privacy and legal standpoint, as well as whether it creates security concerns.

Also, is the information it creates fully accurate or truthful? Humans will still need to verify the outcome of the work. AI does not necessarily operate with a level of morality, she said.

“Trying to understand how all of those pieces fit together is interesting,” she said.

“It’s something we will have to grapple with as a society. Technology will move us forward, and new jobs will also be created. We will have to be thoughtful about what tasks we want to be taken on.”

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces.

Workers and human resources leaders need to have their eyes wide open when it comes to reuniting.

Perhaps your organization felt the impact of the Great Resignation. For many, the pandemic was exhausting, anxiety-provoking, and many employees just needed a psychological reset. This prompted a wave of people leaving their jobs starting in the last half of 2021.

“A new employment opportunity represented a chance for a fresh start where they could shed the burnout conditions they were feeling at their current employer,” said Greg Barnett, chief people scientist at Energage. “But the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. As the honeymoon period ended, employees found themselves with an entirely new set of stress, pressure, and challenges.”

When people change jobs, they are forced to adapt to new stressors without the comforts or safety nets they had grown accustomed to at their old organizations, such as friendships and good manager relationships, Barnett said.

Additionally, many employees feel regret because they changed jobs to make more money. But as Energage research has shown for years, pay and benefits are typically among the lowest-ranking factors when employees are asked what matters the most to them in terms of their engagement in their work. Direction, leadership, a sense of purpose and a feeling of appreciation all factor higher when it comes to giving extra discretionary effort on the job.

The ego boost from earning a bigger paycheck can become part of the regret, too. Employees can find themselves wearing “golden handcuffs,” Barnett said.

“They were making more money but doing something that they didn’t enjoy,” he said. “And escaping the situation meant risking the new compensation levels they’d become accustomed to. While the extra pay can help with some of the bad feelings, over the long haul, being stuck in a bad situation takes a bigger toll.”

The Great Resignation had a silver lining. Companies severely impacted by talent shortages became more aggressive about retaining employees. That meant changes in compensation, a focus on internal promotions, and other moves intended to keep the very best talent.

When it comes to rehiring former employees, human resources leaders should consider some benefits of boomerang employees:

They can get back up to speed much faster than new employees. On day one, these employees already understand the business, the culture, and the people. They know how things get done and whom they should talk with.

They’ve had an opportunity to experience another culture. In coming back, they know what they are getting into. Rarely will an employee return somewhere in a bad culture fit. They might even value certain nuances of the culture more than they did before.

Organizations know who they are getting; they know boomerang employees’ strengths and weaknesses on day one. This creates less risk while affording the opportunity to better deploy their talents.

Barnett said It’s especially important for HR leaders to understand the real reasons a person left their company and to address those before rehiring. While compensation is often the most obvious issue, other reasons may have contributed to disengagement.

Be straightforward with employees about how their return could be different and better. Find a way to make their return better, whether it be different work, more growth and development, or career advancement opportunities.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is the survey partner for Top Workplaces.