As the unofficial start of summer — Memorial Day — is here and gone, HR wants to balance flexibility and freedom to keep employees safe and operations smooth.  

To help, we address four issues HR pros face most years as the summer months approach and share practical ways to address each.   

1. Summer Dress Code 

The problem: Nearly 45% of offices have no official dress code, according to a Monster survey. Even those that do, many employees have no direction on what’s appropriate and what’s not during the summer months when temps get warm, and people naturally reach for tanks and flip-flops.  

Solution: “It’s a good idea for employers to create a summer dress code by Memorial Day weekend, if not sooner in warmer climates,” says Monster’s Career Expert Vicki Salemi. “In addition to defining what’s appropriate and what’s not, it’s important to communicate it to employees so it’s easily available to them, such as an email blast and indicating where it can be found for reference on the company’s HR portal.”

You can follow that up in meetings. And managers will want to set the standard.

Practical tip: Whatever type of summer dress code policy you implement, ensure that expectations are set for employees and penalties for not abiding by it are includled. Salemi says: “Appropriate attire can vary by industry, especially with safety top of mind, but overall, it should maintain a professional, respectful environment.”

For example, tech startups might be more casual than accounting firms. Then Salemi says be specific for employees:

• “Here are some ideas: lightweight clothing (think linen and cotton), short-sleeve shirts or blouses (no logos, graphics, etc.), knee-length skirts and dresses, tailored shorts, and open-toed shoes (if it’s not a hazardous environment). 
• Inappropriate clothing may include: flip flops, ripped clothing, extremely short clothing, athletic wear, safety-averse attire (like wearing open-toed shoes in a manufacturing plant).
• Within the guidelines, there may be caveats such as more formal summer attire may be expected for client meetings, when leaders from other offices are in the office, etc.”

2. Work Schedules 

The problem: Most employees take advantage of the summer season to spend time outside or go on trips. Employees can get distracted and unproductive, planning or just thinking about that. Plus, employees who don’t have ample time to rest and recharge can be more prone to burnout, leading to disengagement and turnover. 

Solution: To keep employees engaged, many companies do “Summer Fridays” – where employees work half days or not at all on Fridays or every other Friday. This benefit can be especially desirable in the summer months to help employees plan time away to recharge and reset, overall promoting a healthier work-life balance. 

Practical tip: These types of perks aren’t one-size-fits-all, and not every type of flexible scheduling policy can work for every company. There are many ways to approach flexible scheduling. 

For example, some companies may have a policy that requires employees to work their full hours for the week, just with a more flexible schedule, while others may be able to offer employees a full Friday off with no strings attached.  

3. Managing PTO 

The problem: Many workers tend to save their vacation time for summer when kids are out of school and the weather is nicer in much of the country. These trips and vacations can often throw off workers’ schedules and create scheduling conflicts, particularly when many leave requests come in at one time.  

You want to balance well-deserved time off and smooth operations. Plus, you open the door to complaints of preferential treatment if you let one employee take time off and deny another employee’s request.  

The solution: The best way to handle these requests is to put clear language in your employee handbook that requires employees to give ample notice for any time off requests. That way, managers can plan to ensure that teams are still working efficiently. 

You might also want to hire some extra seasonal help or contract workers to allow employees to relax and recharge while keeping operations running smoothly. 

Practical tip: To avoid claims of preferential treatment – or even more severe claims such as retaliation – ensure that you have clear policies in place when it comes to handling time off requests fairly. This can include: 

• Handling and documenting each PTO request on a first-come, first-served basis  
• Tracking previous time off requests, or 
• Allowing team members to trade shifts to allow for more flexibility. 

4. Health and Safety 

The problem: Sometimes the heat can not only be uncomfortable – it can be dangerous. Especially when it comes to warehouse workers or those who are doing manual labor outside, the summer heat can take a real toll on their bodies. 

With stricter dress codes where workers are required to wear specific uniforms or protective gear, the wrong clothing can put employees at risk for heat-related illnesses like heatstroke and heat stress. In fact, there were 36 work-related deaths due to environmental heat exposure in the most recent DOL data. 

The solution: It’s important to take all necessary precautions, even if workers don’t seem overheated or unwell. Heat can creep up quickly, and especially during the hot summer months, it’s always better to be overly cautious than risk injury.  

Although routine reminders to take breaks to cool down and drink water are helpful, HR can take some more actionable steps to keep workers healthy and safe during the summer, like: 

• Creating designated cool-down spaces equipped with water and fans 
• Keep coolers around the worksite stocked with water bottles or electrolyte drinks, and 
• Ensure uniforms are made of lightweight, breathable material.  

Practical tip: If you have an especially at-risk workforce, or simply want to ensure employees are staying on top of their health, you may want to consider incentivizing employees to cool down and stay safe. 

You can encourage employees to stay hydrated by providing company-issued refillable water bottles or setting a company-wide goal for water bottle refills.  

One tool HR pros are using to close the gaps: Learning management systems (LMS) software. 

How LMS Software Helps Overcome Skills Gaps 

HR professionals know that providing professional development opportunities is crucial in retaining talent. In fact, HRMorning’s study found that companies offer various L&D initiatives — from live virtual training (64%) to in-person conferences (55%) to third-party self-paced learning courses (63%). Employers have also tracked the success of those efforts through employee satisfaction surveys (47%) or employee performance metrics (28%). 

LMS software allows companies to create and track their L&D programs, and it also has features to help identify skills gaps and recommend personalized learning plans.

Plus, many LMS platforms include access to content libraries on leadership development and soft skills. 

Top 6 LMS Software That Help Build Skills 

We’ve found six key LMS solutions that can help organizations improve their skills gaps.

1. 360 Learning

360Learning is an AI-driven enterprise LMS used by more than 2,500 organizations – including global brands like Cisco and Michelin – to identify and close skills gaps across the organization.

360Learning’s Skills solution automatically tags all learning content with competencies at creation and tracks skills gaps at both the individual and organizational levels. The result: Upskilling campaigns tied directly to business goals rather than general training calendars.

Collaborative learning allows internal subject matter experts to build relevant training directly in the platform using a multimodal AI Content Builder – a tool that turns existing documents and compliance videos into structured courses.

The AI Companion autonomously handles time-consuming platform tasks through a conversational interface, including:

• Bulk catalog management
• Archiving
• Data hygiene

This frees L&D teams to focus on scaling leadership, soft skills, and operational training. 

The platform integrates with more than 50 enterprise systems, including Workday and SAP SuccessFactors. eLearning Industry ranked it the #1 AI LMS in 2024 and 2025. 

2. BizLibrary 

BizLibrary is an online learning platform that helps companies efficiently implement their L&D programs. In addition to its LMS software, it has two other solutions: BizSkills and BizAcademy. 

Companies can provide upskilling opportunities (e.g., employees looking to move into management) with the BizSkills platform. The software comes with a library of over 500 prebuilt job roles, a skills library with over 1,500 skills and a content library that carries over 5,000 prebuilt lessons. HR pros (or a designated L&D manager at their company) can set up the employee’s learning path by combining their job role with their current or new skills and the courses they’ll need to take. 

BizAcademy is a leadership training program that provides both live and on-demand training sessions. It has a four-week certificate program that covers remote leadership, executive leadership or inclusive leadership, as well as a 16-week certificate program for both new and current managers. Future leaders can listen in on presentations by subject matter experts, network with their peers, complete practice materials and receive feedback with coaching sessions. 

BizLibrary has its own content library covering topics such as:

• Business skills
• Leadership skills, and
• Soft skills, including workplace communication, empathy and conflict resolution.

3. Brainier 

Brainier is a customizable LMS software that uses machine learning to recommend learning paths and ongoing content to employees. In addition to its LMS features, Brainier has curated content bundles to address a company’s L&D needs. While the bundles include four topics, two relevant to HR are HR basics and leadership development.  

In addition, Brainier partners with many content providers, so companies can choose relevant topics. For example, MindScaling provides interactive business leadership content on things like leading a multigenerational workforce. There’s also Management Coach, a series of five-minute videos on tips for managers on having difficult conversations with their employees. 

4. Cornerstone 

Cornerstone’s LMS software lets companies plan, deploy and track their learning initiatives. Its features include personalized learning paths, social collaboration and analytics.  

Cornerstone also has a content subscription, Content Anytime, that groups microlearning content in various topics, such as professional skills and management/leadership skills. Some of its professional skills courses include proactive communications, managing emotions in the workplace and active listening. Cornerstone’s leadership topics range from managing a remote workforce to future leadership skills to a course for first-time managers on influencing people. 

Another solution to note: Cornerstone’s Skills Graph helps organizations address skills gaps and provide career development tools to their employees. With only an employee’s current job title and their job history, Skills Graph automatically develops a skills profile with recommended learning plans. In addition, managers can see ratings on an employee’s various skills, so they can identify any skills gaps and offer coaching or other professional development opportunities. 

5. Skillsoft 

The Skillsoft Percipio learning experience platform (LXP) uses curated learning paths and machine learning to provide employees with recommended courses. However, we want to point out its custom leadership programs that provide leaders with the necessary skills. It’s aimed at all employees to help them succeed in their careers, and it provides a mix of formal training, personalized coaching and practice with skill-based learning paths.  The leadership program has four components:  

• Skillsoft Leadership Development Program (curated leadership skills content from subject matter experts) 
• Skillsoft’s business skills content library 
• A coaching program that pairs managers/leaders with an executive coach, and  
• Skillsoft’s role-based and skill-based learning paths 

Skillsoft has a separate solution for evaluating skills gaps called Skill Benchmarks. Employees simply fill out an assessment that asks questions regarding their skills in their current job, and based on the assessment’s results, they’ll get a personalized recommendation on courses or content that helps them develop or improve their skills. Companies can opt to have employees retake the assessment every 30 days or at a frequency they choose. 

6. TalentLMS 

TalentLMS is an LMS software for smaller businesses and includes features such as content creation, an assessments engine, reporting and social learning. It also has a built-in content library, TalentLibrary, that organizations can purchase as an option.

TalentLibrary includes a collection of over 700 ready-made courses on many skills. For example, it has a Leadership Training Essentials collection of 10 courses on topics like delegation, leadership types, decision-making and accountability. In addition, TalentLibrary provides courses on specific soft skills (e.g., collaboration, critical listening, resolving conflict). 

Identifying the right LMS is only part of the equation. You’ll also need a strong business case. Here’s how to persuade your CFO to approve the investment.

50%? 25%? 10%?

Nope.

Just 1%, says one researcher. Then you can become a top-notch leader in your org – the manager whose name is synonymous with “engaging,” “awesome,” “epic” and “phenomenal.”

Top-Notch Leader in the Making

“There are no ‘irrefutable laws’ of leadership or power; there is no single secret,” says Andy Ellis, CEO of Duha and author of 1% Leadership: Master the Small, Daily Improvements that Set Great Leaders Apart. “{But} anyone, at any stage of their career, can continuously make tiny ‘1% at a time’ improvements.”

And that’s enough to get ahead and be the boss everyone wants to work for or wants to become.

Here are six areas of development where good leaders want to focus on 1% improvements, according to Ellis:

1. Keep the Future in Check

Great leaders are present with employees, listening, sharing and engaging in the moment. But you want to have an eye on the future.

“Worrying about failure will make success even more unlikely,” says Ellis. “Only by engaging in the present, with that worry set aside, can we find the path to success.”

1% better: If a negative outcome – essentially worry – enters your mind when planning for the future, turn it on its head and counter with another potential positive outcome.

2. Become More Self-Aware

Own your wrongs. Leaders need to be right about many things – such as following policies and procedures or training employees to do the job well. But you can grow and learn when you consider that you might be wrong – and accept that something or someone else is right.

“Accepting the possibility of being wrong also helps build relationships within teams,” says Ellis.

1% better: Add this phrase to your regular vocabulary, and use it when you encounter a difference of opinions: “I might be wrong, but …. What do you think about that?”

3. Stay Committed

One percent better is absolutely doable for a day, a week or a month. But sustained success at being a top-notch leader depends on a commitment that goes well beyond that.

“Strong leaders demonstrate that long-term wellness matters,” says Ellis.

1% better: Schedule 10 minutes each week to spend more time scheduling! Use the time to review tomorrow and next week’s goals and to-dos. Then add anything you’ll need to follow up on, improve or finalize for those items in three or four months.

4. Become More Perceptive

Top-notch leaders are seldom at odds with others. They recognize that their careers and success as a leader isn’t about a competition with winners (them) and losers (colleagues).

“It perpetuates negative energy that carries over into future engagements,” says Ellis. “Instead, flip the hero v. villain trope by looking at the situation from the perspective of the other person.”

1% better: Collaborate more. Ask one colleague or employee each week for insight or help on something you’d normally attack alone. And then offer to do the same for them.

5. Take Calculated Risks

We might think top-notch leaders are crazy risk-takers. In actuality, they’re more like conscientious MacGyvers. They set big goals, but they expect the unexpected. They often rely on a set of resources, processes and protocols that can be adapted to handle almost anything.

“Whether you jump out of an airplane or get pushed out, you still need a parachute,” Ellis jokes.

1% better: Look closer at an informal process that works well now. Document it and try using it in other situations so you have an adaptable process available to take on more calculated risks.

6. Empower Employees

Top-notch leaders develop their employees. They do more than teach employees to do a job. They encourage employees to approach their work as problem-solvers, and invite them to share perspectives on how to get the work done.

“Take valuable team members from irreplaceable to unclonable,” says Ellis. “This ensures that work remains ongoing and stimulates each team member to proactively solve problems.”

1% better: Stop when your immediate reaction to a question is to do the task for an employee or give instructions. Instead, ask employees if they think there’s a different or better way to accomplish something. If there is, give them the resources to make the changes.

Harassment Continued After Internal Complaint, EEOC Says

Sofidel America Corp. is an international manufacturer of paper products.

According to the EEOC, a male employee sexually harassed a female co-worker for more than six months. The alleged harassment included lewd sexual comments and a forcible attempt to kiss her.

The woman complained to Sofidel on June 6, 2023. Even so, the harassment continued, she said.

Employee Seeks Protective Order

After the alleged harassment continued, the woman obtained an Emergency Protective Order against the alleged harasser from an Oklahoma court on July 7, 2023.

She provided a copy of the order to Sofidel on July 10.

The next day – July 11 – Sofidel fired her. The EEOC says the alleged harasser kept his job.

EEOC Files Lawsuit

In the EEOC’s view, the alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. After attempts to reach a pre-litigation settlement failed, the agency filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Sofidel agreed to pay $80,000 to settle the case.

“Federal law protects workers who oppose sexual harassment and who participate in legal processes to make the harassment stop,” said Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office. “Employers must take prompt and effective action to stop and remedy sexual harassment and must never retaliate against workers who try to protect themselves or others from such misconduct.”

Red Flags for Retaliation

Retaliation claims often develop through a series of missed escalation points rather than a single decision – moments where additional review was warranted and the situation moved forward anyway.

In this case, the court-issued protective order stands out. By the time an employee seeks outside legal protection, the situation has often moved well past an internal complaint and into high-risk territory. That shift should prompt a reassessment of both the underlying complaint and any pending employment decisions. An adverse action taken at that stage is foreseeable as a retaliation claim, and that foreseeability is where defensibility breaks down.

External actions by an employee – a protective order, an EEOC charge, involvement of outside counsel – indicate that liability exposure has changed. That’s the point where HR leadership and legal should be consulted before any employment decision is finalized.

In this case, the termination came the day after the company received the protective order. That sequence is difficult to defend.

Here’s a month-by-month reminder of what to stay on top of this summer.

June: Flex Schedules, Interns & a Packed Summer Calendar

June arrives with a full plate. If your organization offers summer Fridays or adjusted hours, get those policies communicated early – nonexempt employees and overtime exposure should be on your radar before the schedule changes take effect.

Intern season is underway. The classification question for interns isn’t employee vs. independent contractor – it’s whether interns must be paid at all. For-profit employers must pay interns unless the arrangement meets the DOL’s seven-factor primary beneficiary test. When in doubt, pay them. As part of onboarding, make sure I-9s are completed and interns are properly set up in payroll before their first day.

June is also National Safety Month, a key time to reinforce heat-illness prevention protocols, especially for outdoor, warehouse or field-based workers. OSHA has increased its focus on heat-related hazards under the General Duty Clause, making prevention planning increasingly important for employers operating in high-heat environments.

On the cultural calendar: June is Pride Month, and June 19 is Juneteenth, a federal holiday. For payroll, confirm Juneteenth is reflected correctly in your holiday schedule and that employees know what to expect.

July: Holidays, Travel & a Few Compliance Checkpoints

This year, July 4 marks the nation’s 250th anniversary; expect heavier-than-usual travel and extended vacations around that week. PTO requests will likely cluster, so make sure coverage plans are in place and that holiday pay policies are clearly communicated for both exempt and nonexempt employees.

Two observances on the cultural calendar: Disability Pride Month and BIPOC Mental Health Month. Both are good reminders to check in on whether your employee assistance program (EAP) and mental health benefits are visible and accessible to employees who may need them.

As for mid-year compliance checks, confirm payroll withholding is on track and review any active garnishment orders for accuracy. If headcount is approaching 50 full-time equivalents, check your ACA tracking. Errors spotted in July are easier to fix than those caught in November.

One often-overlooked summer issue is remote work during travel. When employees work from a vacation spot – even for a week or two – they can create state tax nexus, trigger state income tax withholding, or create wage and hour obligations in another state. It’s crucial to have a clear policy on out-of-state remote work before someone asks from a beach house in Maine.

August: Back to School, Back on Track

Back-to-school season means employees with school-age children are managing new schedules, childcare transitions and the occasional first-day obligation. Several states have school activity leave laws that entitle parents to time off for school-related events – and if yours is one of them, make sure managers know about employees’ right to that time.

Intern offboarding deserves the same attention as onboarding. Confirm final pay timing complies with your state’s requirements, document rehire eligibility and collect any company equipment or access credentials before the last day.

August is also National Wellness Month. Remind employees about EAP resources, mental health benefits and any wellness programs your organization offers. Use tends to drop in summer; a simple reminder can help.

Open enrollment prep should start in the background soon if it isn’t already. Benefits renewal decisions, vendor communications and employee communication plans all take longer than expected. August is the time to get organized before the fall crunch hits.

Finally, start communicating the return to regular schedules. If summer Fridays or flex hours are ending, employees need enough notice to adjust, especially those with childcare arrangements tied to the summer schedule.

September: Time to Shift Gears

Labor Day falls on Sept. 7 this year. Before the long weekend, confirm holiday pay policies are communicated and schedules are set.

National Payroll Week runs Sept. 7–11 this year. In many SMBs, payroll falls under HR’s umbrella, so make a note to recognize the team that makes sure everyone gets paid accurately and on time.

World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10. It’s another opportunity to remind employees that EAP resources and mental health support are available. A straightforward reminder that help is available goes a long way.

Sept. 15 marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs through Oct. 15. It’s one of the few cultural observances that straddles two months – a good reason to plan acknowledgment early rather than rushing mid-month.

For HR, September is a natural reset point. What feels like a slow season has a way of ending abruptly – September is the runway before Q4 planning, open enrollment and performance cycles all converge.

Case in point: This year’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 – and the original movie from 20 years ago. 

What’s obvious is that Meryl Streep’s boss character, Miranda Priestly, has always been vicious, condescending and glamorous.

What’s less obvious, but good news for curing toxic culture is this time around, those qualities make her seem out of touch and style.

Toxicity Still Exists

That change on the big screen reflects real-world workplaces. But don’t be mistaken: Toxicity still exists.

When the first Prada was released, there were many organizations that had “a Transactional culture – often referred to as a toxic culture – which is characterized by high accountability, but low care,” says Bill Benjamin, Partner and Keynote Speaker at IHHP. “It’s the kind of culture where short-term results matter over relationships. Bad behavior of employees is tolerated because those individuals get results.

“We have seen a shift in organizations recognizing that kind of culture is not sustainable. People get burnt out and disengaged and ultimately leave, costing companies tens of millions of dollars,” says Benjamin.

In fact, employees see or experience 208 million acts of incivility at American workplaces every day, according to data from SHRM.

That’s why fixing a toxic culture can be a daunting task. Where would you start? What should you focus on fixing? What steps do you even take? And how do you know it’ll actually work?

We can help here with guidance on understanding what creates, drives and fixes a toxic culture.

What Creates a Toxic Workplace Culture

Every toxic workplace has a unique environment. Some are full of backstabbing and cutthroat behavior. Others are hotbeds for gossip and exclusivity. 

None of that’s good.

But researchers at iHire asked employees what the most common behaviors they see that create a toxic culture are. The biggest:

• Poor leadership practices, seen as being unethical, unaccountable and unsupportive (79%)
• Poor communication, seen as a lack of transparency or conflicting messages (70%)
• Unfair treatment of employees, seen as favoritism, discrimination and inequities (68%)
• High stress levels and stress created through unrealistic deadlines, unmanageable workloads and poor work/life balance (65%)
• Negativity, seen as culture compromised due to gossip, fear or blame (60%)
• Conflict and hostility, witnessed or experienced through bullying, harassment and poor resolution mechanisms (59%)

All of this affects employees’ mental and physical well-being and takes a toll on company performance.

Know the Main Drivers of Toxic Cultures

Unfortunately, toxicity is more widespread than we’d like to think. About 10% of employees work in a toxic culture, according to research in the MIT Sloan Management Review. And even good places to work have pockets of toxicity, the researchers found.

Through an analysis of hundreds of studies, the MIT researchers found evidence of three key drivers of toxic culture:

• Leadership: Leaders — from the CEO to front-line managers — set the tone. If they’re toxic, it will trickle down. Consider Miranda Priestly: Most of the young wannabes were prickly like her, at least at first. 
• Social norms: They’re defined by what behavior is expected and acceptable in day-to-day social interactions. However, written guidelines for respect, for example, don’t always reflect what really happens in the workplace. At the Vogue-like fashion magazine, fashion norms changed from Prada 1 to Prada 2, but the new regime – B.J. Novak’s Jay Ravitz – is still condescending in his own right.
• Work design: There are a handful of elements to work design, such as workload and job demands, organizational protocols and team dynamics. All assistants – including Ann Hathaway’s Andy Sachs in the original movie – were expected to be “on” 24/7, interfering with life and relationships.

We have strategies to address each of these drivers of culture.

Leadership: Time to Take the Lead

“Start at the top, with the CEO and the senior team, or whoever the senior leaders are,” says Benjamin. “What they model, reward, ignore and reprimand sends a signal to the rest of the organization about what behaviors are accepted and ‘how things are done around here.’ It’s very difficult to get behavior to change lower down in an organization when those people see the leaders at the top of the organization not modeling it.”

• Quantify culture. If leaders are serious about a cultural detox, they’ll want to put their money where their mouths are. First, they’ll need to admit there’s a toxic culture. Then, MIT researchers suggest they link cultural improvements to bottom-line benefits such as lower attrition and healthcare costs.
• Report progress. Transparency — first in admitting there’s an issue, then in publicly pursuing solutions — is key to success. From there, leaders will want to monitor and report progress on their cultural aspirations. While it can be hard to quantify, consider turnover rates, diversity initiative successes and brand image.
• Model behavior. Researchers say, “When leaders act consistently with core values … it is one of the most powerful predictors of how positively employees rate their corporate culture.” Most companies have integrity, respect and diversity as core values. Employees need to see their leaders follow those.
• Coach front-line leaders. They have the biggest impact on employee engagement and behavior. But many don’t understand how to identify toxic behavior — especially if they’re the culprit — and its impact on their teams. Coaching can help improve their attitudes, goal achievement and resilience. Bottom line, most front-line managers need soft-skill training.
• Raise the expectations. When people are promoted into leadership positions, and during all training and coaching, you’ll want to be clear about the behavior that is expected of them. Lean into core values such as integrity, respect and diversity, and explain the consequences — up to and including termination — for failing to uphold them.
• Know when to part ways. Sometimes you get what Benjamin calls fixer-uppers. “These are smart and high-performing individuals who are demonstrating toxic behaviors. They get results, but leave bodies in their wake. The organization doesn’t want to lose them, but the bad behaviors cannot continue.”
  • First, give them feedback on their toxic behaviors.
  • Ask if they want to work toward changing. 
  • “If the answer is no, then we don’t suggest spending time or resources trying to change them, and it’s time to move on,” says Benjamin. “If the answer is yes, the good news is that anyone can learn to change if they want to.” 

Social Norms: Establish Healthy Norms

You’ve heard the adage, “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” That can’t be more true than in a toxic work environment. Researchers found that toxic social norms increase the odds that even good people will behave badly. To right the ship:

• Let work groups define their social norms. Turns out, they know what’s best for them. Rather than implement a one-size-fits-all methodology for respect, have each group brainstorm, practice and review behaviors that create a positive culture.
• Train front-line managers to lead discussions on social norms. To facilitate those work group norms, ask leaders to explicitly discuss social norms and ways to reduce toxic behaviors.
• Root out toxic leadership. You’ll need to look at existing data on turnover, engagement and voice of the employee to identify abusive leaders. It’s not always pretty, and employees may not be able to find exact words to explain what’s going on. But when you listen to employee feedback — formal and informal — and mine your data for productivity, morale and engagement issues, you can find the root of toxicity.
• Stay balanced. Benjamin’s research at IHHP found that toxic cultures are decreasing because “organizations have focused on becoming a more caring place to work.” But, “in the past 10 years, we have encountered many organizations who over-indexed on care, and became a high-care but low-accountability culture – what we call a Family culture. There is connection, trust and psychological safety, but the hard conversations and hard decisions are not happening, leading to performance issues.” So you have to ensure that in fixing a toxic culture, you don’t lose sight of performance and quality expectations.

Work Design: Redesign to Cut Stress

This is a chicken-or-egg question: Does a toxic workplace cause stress, or does stress cause the toxic workplace?

High-stress workplaces contribute to negative outcomes such as employee attrition, mental health issues and burnout. Lesser known, according to the MIT researchers, is that stressful jobs are a breeding ground for toxic behavior.

So you want to curb stress and the factors that contribute to it.

• Reduce nuisance work. You don’t need to just reduce employees’ workloads. In fact, positive work challenges might cause temporary stress, but they increase engagement and job ownership. What you want to reduce is red tape, unclear responsibilities, insufficient resources and meaningless tasks.
• Clarify responsibilities. Similarly, employees perform best when they understand their duties, how to balance those with the people they work with most and the expected outcomes. Have managers meet regularly with employees to make sure goals and expectations are aligned.
• Increase autonomy. Two key points here: 1) MIT researchers found that giving employees more autonomy over their work was almost as powerful at reducing toxic behaviors as reducing their workload. 2) When you give employees more control over their work, you can mitigate the impact of unclear responsibilities.

But sometimes a lawsuit doesn’t even get that far.

A recent federal court decision involving Blake Lively is a good reminder that before any of those questions are answered in the courtroom, there’s a threshold issue that can shut a claim down entirely: whether the individual is actually an “employee.”

In this case, the answer was no, and that ended Lively’s Title VII claims before the court ever evaluated the alleged misconduct.

A Quick Look at the Blake Lively Lawsuit

Blake Lively sued the production entities behind the film It Ends with Us, alleging sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation involving her co-star and others tied to the project.

She brought multiple claims, including claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. But the court never reached the merits of those allegations. Instead, it focused on a threshold question: Was Lively even an employee so that the law applied to her?

Title VII applies only to employees, not independent contractors. That distinction can make all the difference as it did here.

To determine Lively’s status, the court applied a multifactor test that looks at the working relationship in its totality. Even though she played a central role in the film, the court found she was an independent contractor, not an employee.

Several factors drove that conclusion: She had significant control over her performance and creative input, her work required a high level of specialized skill, and her role was a limited, short-term project. Her compensation structure, directly tied to the project rather than a traditional salary, also weighed in favor of independent contractor status.

Because Lively wasn’t an employee, the court dismissed her federal discrimination and retaliation claims before it ever addressed the alleged misconduct that occurred on set.

Why This Matters for HR

This case is a reminder that worker classification isn’t just a payroll or tax issue.

Whether someone is classified as an employee or an independent contractor can determine whether federal antidiscrimination laws even apply at all. And as more organizations rely on freelancers, consultants and other nontraditional workers, that distinction is becoming increasingly important.

This case also pushes back on a common assumption: that someone who is central to the business must be an employee. Here, Lively’s role as the lead actress was obviously central to making the film, but that didn’t outweigh the other factors pointing to her independent contractor status.

For HR, the takeaway is simple: Classification depends on the full working relationship, not job importance or titles.

Even when companies intend to use contractors, the way the relationship is structured and managed can create risk of liability.

Two of the most common issues employers may face are treating contractors like employees in day-to-day operations and overlooking how compensation is structured. Exercising too much control over schedules, methods of work or performance can start to look less like a contractor relationship and more like employment. And compensation that resembles a traditional salary or hourly wages can raise similar questions.

But those aren’t the only areas where employers can run into trouble. Risk can also arise when expectations aren’t clearly defined at the outset, the scope of work expands beyond the original agreement or the working relationship becomes ongoing rather than project-based.

The key is consistency. The contract, the working relationship, the day-to-day operation all matter. When those factors don’t align, contractor classification becomes much harder to defend.

Not in the Clear Quite Yet

One important caveat: Just because Title VII doesn’t apply didn’t mean the case was over.

While 10 of Lively’s claims – including her Title VII claims – were dismissed, others, including retaliation claims under state law, were allowed to proceed. Ultimately, the parties agreed to settle the case before those claims went to trial.

Even so, that’s a critical point for HR teams. Independent contractors may still have legal avenues through state anti-discrimination or anti-retaliation laws or other statutory or common law theories, like breach of contract.

In other words, classification may limit exposure, but that does not mean it eliminates it.

The Bottom Line

This case is a good reminder that sometimes the most important question isn’t what happened; it’s simply who is covered.

For HR professionals, that means taking a closer look at how contractor relationships are structured, documented and managed. It also means recognizing that while federal laws like Title VII have limits, workplace risk doesn’t disappear just because someone isn’t classified as an employee.

As this case shows, that one distinction can determine whether a claim gets heard at all.

Financial costs associated with replacing a customer-facing contact center employee—including recruiting, interviewing, hiring and training—can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. But institutional knowledge, which can only be earned through time on the job, also walks out the door with departing employees. The impact of that loss shows up as poorer collective performance and less consistent service, which can cut into customer satisfaction.

Complement Formal Onboarding with Informal Mentoring

Onboarding programs provide a critical foundation for new employees, but they can’t replicate the confidence that comes from having witnessed dozens or even hundreds of real-world scenarios.

Early in my career as a contact center agent, I learned that the job required more than memorizing the playbook; I needed to be ready to navigate unexpected situations. That might mean calming a frustrated customer, escalating a call to a supervisor, or bending a minor rule to solve a tricky challenge. The ability to make the right decisions in these moments could only be acquired through exposure, repetition, and experience. It took time.

Employee turnover also disrupts on-the-job learning from more experienced colleagues. Formal training is essential, but informal mentoring is too. New recruits can observe how experienced colleagues handle difficult conversations. They can ask questions in the moment. They can absorb sound judgment through proximity.

When experienced employees leave, that informal support layer disappears. In high-turnover environments, the workforce may always be technically trained but never fully equipped to deliver consistent, high-quality service.

Pay Attention to Visible Warning Signs

Sometimes employees quit abruptly, but more often, attrition is preceded by accumulated burnout. That builds over time, but warning signs are usually discernible. Unfortunately, many organizations focus on metrics that aren’t designed to capture or process the significance of early warning signs.

Leaders can get ahead of burnout by paying more attention to things like: Which employees spend most of their time on complex or emotionally intense interactions? Which are losing control of their time due to constant interruptions or shifting priorities? How long are employees spending in sustained, high-stress interactions without recovery?

These operational signals are more powerful when paired with customer experience data. For example, if employees take longer to resolve customers’ challenges or escalate calls more frequently, that may be due to stress and strain rather than a process issue. When leaders can identify and connect these dots, they can intervene before burnout leads to disengagement, and before disengagement leads to attrition.

Take Practical Steps to Protect Institutional Knowledge

Prioritizing the following actions can help service organizations strengthen their performance:

• Treat knowledge retention as a CX priority: If your most critical interactions depend on a shrinking pool of experienced employees, your CX offering will be inherently unstable.
• Identify where experience matters most: Focus on situations that demand strong judgment and position your most experienced employees to handle them.
• Build responsiveness into your operating model: Leverage real-time automation to improve your ability to adjust to shifting circumstances.
• Make learning continuous, not a one-off: Reinforce onboarding learnings with short, frequent touchpoints such as coaching, peer learning, etc.
• Reduce reliance on “hero” employees: Distribute critical skills and cross-trained workers broadly across your teams to avoid risky overreliance on a few individuals.
• Align productivity with quality: Don’t reward speed at the expense of clarity, empathy, or thoroughness—the very traits that build strong customer relationships.

Retaining Knowledge Protects the Experience

It’s easy to think of turnover as primarily a cost problem, because it absolutely is. But it’s also a consistency problem. When institutional knowledge disappears faster than it’s created, organizations are more reactive, and therefore less consistent.

In an environment where employees regularly witness colleagues leaving and never returning, they may be less likely to form relationships at work and less likely to benefit from the accumulated wisdom of their more experienced peers. Inevitably, customers feel the impact, and the organization pays a price, whether in terms of lost revenue, weakened brand reputation, or fewer job applicants.

It’s possible to avoid this scenario. Organizations can step back, look at how work flows day-to-day, and make changes to help employees handle spikes and disruptions as they happen. When leaders pay attention to and act on real workforce signals, they’re more likely to maintain organizational knowledge and deliver steady service, all while reducing burnout.

In practice, this means using AI and other technologies to know how to spot issues early and respond appropriately. Just as importantly, leaders should treat employee well-being as the foundation to performance and business success. Because it is.

In its second year, Traliant’s State of Harassment report assesses progress and persistent gaps organizations face today. Both years’ data show harassment as an ongoing challenge, driven by employees’ experiences with inappropriate behavior, retaliation and dissatisfaction with complaint handling. The most recent report reveals a striking paradox: companies state that harassment prevention is a top priority, yet many employees — particularly younger ones — do not feel protected.

This gap between intention and experience signals that while commitment exists, prevention strategies must evolve. Otherwise, organizations face increased turnover, suppressed reporting, risk and declining employee trust, further widening the gap between corporate messaging and employee experience.

The Backslide After #MeToo

#MeToo forced long-overdue conversations into the open, exposing systemic misconduct that had been normalized for generations. While the movement catalyzed progress, many structural inequalities remain.

Google Trends data shows interest in the #MeToo movement peaked between 2017 and 2019 before declining sharply and remaining relatively stagnant. This suggests public momentum has slowed, even as underlying challenges persist.

Broader workforce data further illustrates uneven progress. At the beginning of 2025, 455,000 women left the U.S. workforce, while 100,000 men entered it. Women of color are disproportionately affected, facing a 7.5% unemployment rate — more than double the rate of white employees. Economists caution that these trends could erode some of the workforce gains women have made and create broader implications for economic growth.

The Silent Risk of Suppressed Reporting

Harassment trends are not only shaped by policy, but by everyday workplace culture. Traliant’s data shows retaliation is the most significant barrier to prevention. Among employees who do not feel protected, 71% cite fear of retaliation as their primary concern. One in three employees would only report harassment if they could remain anonymous, and more than a third of those who reported misconduct were dissatisfied with how their employer handled the situation.

This is critical insight for leaders, as fewer reports do not necessarily signal a healthier culture. In many cases, they signal fear, mistrust or lack of confidence in reporting channels. Suppressed reporting creates a silent organizational risk, reducing visibility into workplace issues and allowing harmful behaviors to persist.

The consequences are measurable: Turnover rises, productivity declines, cultural cohesion weakens and organizations become more vulnerable to legal and reputational risk. Silence should not be mistaken for stability.

Closing the Trust Gap

Several forces continue to widen the gap between corporate intent and employee experience.

First, many organizations still rely on outdated prevention approaches, including generic training modules that fail to reflect modern workplaces. As Gen Z becomes a larger share of the workforce, expectations around learning have shifted. Employees increasingly respond to short-form, scenario-based content that reflects real workplace interactions. Modern formats like video-driven learning and microlearning experiences help transform training from a compliance exercise into practical skill-building.

Second, inadequate reporting channels discourage employees from speaking up. There is no single reporting pathway that works for everyone. Organizations must offer multiple confidential and trusted options, including HR, managers, online systems and anonymous tools. Clear communication about what happens after a report is filed is equally important in building confidence.

Finally, employees closely observe how leaders respond to allegations. When investigations lack transparency or consequences appear uneven, confidence in organizational values erodes quickly. Leaders must demonstrate commitment through consistent action.

Closing the gap between corporate rhetoric and employee reality requires more than policy updates. It requires intentional cultural design grounded in trust, transparency and accountability. In a workforce shaped by generational change, social awareness and digital influence, organizations that prioritize trust will build more resilient and engaged teams.

The message from the data is clear: Harassment prevention requires continued focus and evolution. It is no longer solely an HR function — it is an organization-wide responsibility to ensure employees feel safe, heard and supported in every aspect of the workplace.

For many growth-stage businesses, layoffs are a painful but necessary decision. Maybe revenue dipped, costs rose or priorities shifted. But once the notices are delivered, a new challenge begins: helping your remaining team move forward without creating legal risk or losing more people.

Employees who stay often feel anxious, overworked or unsure about their future. At the same time, leaders must navigate compliance issues around workload changes, role reassignments and communication. Small missteps can turn into big problems, including retaliation claims, discrimination allegations or unexpected turnover that undermine the original goal of the layoff.

The post-layoff phase is where leadership really matters. How you communicate, restructure work and support your team can either rebuild trust or deepen uncertainty. Getting this phase right protects your business and helps your team regain focus.

What Changes After a Layoff and Why It Matters

Layoffs don’t just reduce headcount. They change how work gets done and how employees feel about their jobs.

After a layoff, you may see:

• Remaining employees absorbing unfamiliar or expanded duties
• Managers informally reassigning responsibilities without documentation
• Tension, guilt or fear among team members, and
• Questions about job security, fairness or leadership transparency.

From a compliance standpoint, these changes can create risk if they aren’t handled carefully. For example, reassigning duties without updating job descriptions can blur exempt vs. non-exempt roles. Inconsistent treatment of employees can look discriminatory, even if that wasn’t the intent. And poorly worded explanations about layoffs can trigger retaliation or wrongful termination claims later.

Hidden Risks You Might Be Overlooking

Even well-intentioned leaders can run into trouble after layoffs. Common post-layoff risks include:

• Retaliation claims if employees feel punished for speaking up, taking leave, or reporting issues
• Discrimination concerns if layoffs or workload changes disproportionately affect protected groups
• Burnout and turnover when remaining employees are stretched too thin, and
• Unclear expectations that lead to performance problems or disputes.

Morale and compliance are closely linked. When employees don’t trust leadership or understand what’s expected, problems escalate faster and documentation gaps make them harder to resolve.

Questions SMBs Should Ask After Layoffs

Before you push ahead with “business as usual,” pause and ask a few key questions. These can help you spot risks early and plan more intentionally.

• Do remaining employees clearly understand their new roles? Have job duties, priorities, and reporting lines been updated, or are people guessing?
• Are workload changes applied consistently and fairly? Would your decisions look reasonable if reviewed by a legal pro or investigator?
• Could recent decisions be seen as retaliation or bias? Are employees who raised concerns, took leave, or requested accommodations being treated differently?
• How are we addressing morale and trust—not just productivity? Are leaders communicating openly, or avoiding tough conversations?

These questions aren’t about blame; they’re about prevention.

What to Do Next

You don’t need a perfect plan, but you do need a thoughtful one. Focus on a few practical steps to stabilize your team and reduce risk.

1. Clarify roles and expectations in writing. Update job descriptions, priorities and performance expectations so employees know what success looks like now—not before the layoff.
2. Train managers on post-layoff communication. Make sure supervisors understand what they can (and can’t) say about the layoffs, workload changes and future plans.
3. Document decisions and check consistency. Keep records of role changes, workload assignments, and performance conversations to protect against future disputes.
4. Create space for feedback and support. Regular check-ins help employees feel heard and can surface issues before they become legal or retention problems.

If you’re unsure where risk may be hiding, tools like Rocket Copilot can help flag compliance concerns or connect you with a legal pro when you need a second set of eyes.

Layoffs are never easy, but what you do afterward shapes your culture and your risk profile. Clear communication, fair treatment and proactive planning help your team — and your business — move forward with stability and trust.