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 Hiii, I’m off today and if you are as well this edition will give you some inspo! Here are some things to keep you entertained: 🤖 THIS THURSDAY!!! Cassidy Edwards and I are doing a live AI building hour. You can come watch us build and talk through use cases or build alongside us and get yourself set up! The goal of this session is to show folks how to actually do things with AI not just talk about it! 📺 HR Therapy in June is a mid-year check in on the things keeping CHROs up at night. We’re covering fraud, AI and HR tech. You’ll want to be there! Now onto today… The pace of this job has changed, so what now? Sponsored by Metaview Your recruiters and hiring managers think they're aligned. SPECIAL EDITION It's time to take a break: I’m off today and writing this to you in a state of profound denial about how much laundry I have to do. (It’s a lot and I’m embarrassed) But you know what!!!! I’m off today. And I want to talk to you about it. Because here's what I realized: I’ve spent an absurd amount of energy convincing other people to rest. My whole brand is basically "stop setting yourself on fire for your job." And yet the second I try to do it myself, my brain stages a little protest. Sound familiar? You, yes YOU, the person who built the PTO policy, who sends the "don't forget to use your vacation!" Slack message, who lovingly bugs managers about their team's burnout, when was the last time you took a real day off??? And I don't mean "took the day but answered 14 Slacks from the couch." I mean OFF off. Is HR the only department that won’t practice what we preach?? Like, we’re out here preaching work-life balance like a sermon and then logging on at 9pm to handle the latest fire. The irony is so thick you could grill it alongside your hotdogs today. Sooo that inspired today’s edition and its dedication to YOU. I’m serving up three things to do with your day off, and not one of them is "check email real quick." #1: Rest When was the last time you did something completely and utterly unproductive? Checks notes: yup, uh huh, it's been a… minute. I know what you're thinking, because I think it too: I don't have the time, I don't have the days!! But you and I both know, you probably do… You're just not taking them. (Not so) fun fact: The average US employee left about 9.5 PTO days unused, which was 55% of the total PTO their employer granted them. Read that again: more than half. We're sitting on a pile of paid rest and just... not using it. 🚨A 2025 survey found nearly one-quarter (23%) of U.S. workers didn't take a single vacation day over the past year, and 25% said their manager would actively discourage them from taking a full week away. So… I have homework for you. Today, if you are off, do the radical thing: nothing!!!! And schedule your next PTO day. #2: Explore This is a public service announcement: Go do something that has absolutely nothing to do with work. A new hiking trail, a bad (but good) movie, a recipe you'll definitely mess up. ANYTHING!!! The point?? To remember that you're interesting outside of your job title. You are not just HR!! Here's what I've noticed about our line of work: it has a way of becoming your whole personality if you let it. You start measuring your days in HR crises averted and fires put out, and somewhere along the way the version of you that had hobbies just... quietly faded awayyy. So go find yourself. Do ONE thing that serves no purpose except that you like it. That's the whole assignment. #3: Dream It’s time to let your brain wander somewhere that isn't a Slack thread or a work email. I bet the best ideas you've ever had didn't show up during a 1:1 or a project meeting. They possibly showed up in the shower, on a walk, doing absolutely nothing. Your brain does its best work when you stop white-knuckling it. My best, best, best ideas come during shower time. I can finally let my mind wander and think about things. Sometimes we treat thinking time like a luxury we can't afford. But we NEED thinking time. You cannot build a better workplace culture while you're drowning in the day-to-day of the current one!! The big stuff, the ideas that actually move things, need space to show up. And space is exactly what a day off is for. So don't fill every second. Leave some room and see what wanders into your thoughts. And if you feel compelled, write a note to yourself about what it was you dreamed about. You can do this: Thank you for letting me use a day off to inspire you to also take some time to yourself. Next week i’m back to the regularly scheduled programming and talking about how to actually prove the value of People work in a way that lands with your CEO and key stakeholders. 👀 It's the conversation I get asked about more than any other and I have opinions. (HUMAN) RESOURCES
*This one is brought to you by one of my amazing brand partners WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Sponsored by Predictive Index LLC Do you have proof that your engagement strategy is having ANY impact at all? 🧐 It'll take more than a snack budget and Pizza Fridays to drive any cultural change, you know! SONG OF THE WEEK 🎧 i can't believe you're gone, Bleachers Grief is funny and weird and sometimes sneaks up on you at the worst times!! This song hit me hard. The last two lines especially: These hope-filled lies, these unearned traditions Hope you enjoyed this - as always I'm here for thoughts!! Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you. | |||||||||||
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Workweek Newsletter
