In episode 215, Coffey talks with Gabriela Norton about employee engagement challenges, performance management approaches, and hiring process improvements based on current workplace trends and research.

They discuss Gallup's mid-year survey showing low engagement and high turnover intent; psychological safety and mental health support strategies; individualized management approaches vs one-size-fits-all policies; problems with forced ranking performance systems; ongoing feedback versus annual reviews; the costs of poor management training; rebuilding disengaged teams through bias awareness and peer input; and streamlining hiring processes that currently involve excessive interview rounds.

Links to stuff they talked about are on our website at https://goodmorninghr.com/EP215 and include the following topics:

Gallup: Anemic Employee Engagement Points to Leadership Challenges.

• Web Pro News: Big Tech Mandates Low Performer Quotas, Eroding Morale and Innovation
• Harvard Business Review: 6 Steps to Reset a Demotivated Team
• Reddit: What is up with 3+ Rounds of Interviews for jobs paying less than $100K? : r/interviews
• HR Reporter: Are employees building emotional connections with ChatGPT?
• Reddit: ChatGPT is my best friend : r/ChatGPT
• Reddit: My Boyfriend Is AI
• Reddit: AI Soulmates HR Reporter: With IBM laying off 100s of HR people, is automation replacing HR? | Canadian HR Reporter
• The Wall Street Journal: IBM CEO Says AI Has Replaced Hundreds of Workers but Created New Programming, Sales Jobs
• Harvard Business Review: Research: Executives Who Used Gen AI Made Worse Predictions
• Topgrading, 3rd Edition: The Proven Hiring and Promoting Method That Turbocharges Company Performance by Bradford D. Smart, PhD https://a.co/d/9N2pJXl

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If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for three-quarters of a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.

About our Guest:

Gabriela established People Performance Resources (PPR), a full-service Human Capital consulting firm, in 2010. Since then, Gabriela and her team have continued to expand their reach in providing strategic and best practice expertise with a proven track record of enhancing operational excellence.

Gabriela is a highly regarded and sought-after trusted advisor to many local, national, and international organizations and their decisionmakers. Here are a few of Gabriela’s areas of focus: bilingual/bicultural expertise, organizational analysis and development, C-level business continuity planning, executive coaching, executive compensation, change management, strategic planning, employment compliance, board governance guidance, and more.

Gabriela serves as board of directors for Out Teach, Catch Up & Read, and The Dallas Summit. In addition, she supports several local and national causes that empower education, social justice, women’s causes, children at risk, and conservation efforts. When not enjoying her professional adventures, Gabriela is a foodie who loves traveling, running, hiking, snorkeling, and spending time with her friends, family, and rescue dog, Harley.

Gabriela Norton can be reached at: https://www.pprhr.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielanorton https://www.facebook.com/pprhr https://www.instagram.com/ppr_hr

About Mike Coffey:

Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.

Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies. Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community.

Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year. Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee. Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.

Mike and his very patient wife of 28 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.

Learning Objectives:

1. Create psychological safety environments where employees can openly discuss workload concerns and receive supportive responses rather than punitive reactions to mental health needs.

2. Implement ongoing performance feedback systems with specific behavioral expectations and regular check-ins instead of relying on annual reviews with subjective rating scales.

3. Design efficient hiring processes with clear competency rubrics and bias acknowledgment techniques while limiting interviews to three meaningful rounds focused on skills and cultural fit.