Your rising star expects a promotion. It feels inevitable: the rightful reward for their effort. The problem is you can’t deliver it. Managing the gap between their expectations and reality is one of the hardest parts of leadership, and it’s becoming more common. There are six strategies to try to ensure your star employee feels like their career is still moving forward: 1) Be upfront; 2) Listen; 3) Ask questions; 4) Make a plan; 5) Advocate where you can; and 6) be vigilant.
HR and Employment Law News, Notes an Headlines
Why AI Boosts Creativity for Some Employees but Not Others
Generative AI is transforming workflows, yet its impact on employee creativity remains uneven. New research reveals one explanation: AI boosts creativity primarily for employees with strong metacognition—the ability to plan, monitor, and refine thinking. These individuals strategically use AI to expand knowledge, free cognitive capacity, and break fixed mindsets, thereby fueling creative ideas. Leaders should pair AI adoption with metacognitive training and design workflows that encourage strategic and iterative engagement. Organizations that cultivate metacognitive skills will turn AI from a productivity tool into a sustained source of creative advantage.
What CFO pay packages reveal about long-term strategy
Pay plans tie bigger rewards to long-term results, strategic pivots, and AI-driven growth.
Why Constant Availability At Work Affects Your Brain Like New Parenthood
Constant availability at work keeps attention on constant alert, much like new parent vigilance, draining judgment, focus, and recovery in ways people underestimate.
DHS Adds 35,000 H-2B Visas for FY 2026, Fewer Than Recent Years
The Trump administration will release 35,000 supplemental H-2B visas for FY 2026 — far fewer than in recent years — leaving employers facing continued labor shortages.
Millions Of Americans Start 2026 With A Wage Bump
Plus, how to find the missing skills in your field, some student loan borrowers could see a pay cut and the most notable career crashes and comebacks of 2025 in this week’s Careers newsletter.
Employers Are Turning to This 2.5-Pound Device to Save Millions on Manual Labor
The costs of workplace injuries and accidents may be rising. This startup’s hardware could cut those dramatically.
New California laws for the workplace target bonuses and job postings
More than 20 new California workplace laws take effect this year, including one that could rewrite the rules on bonuses, relocation expenses and work-related training programs.
An AI tsunami is coming — U.S. workers need to prepare, because we can’t dodge it
4 steps to strengthen training and skills so employees can meet AI head-on.
The college-to-office path is dead: CEO of the world’s biggest recruiter says Gen Z grads need to consider trade jobs that didn’t even require degrees
Struggling Gen Z and millennial grads should consider turning their back on their degrees and retraining to become hospitality and trade workers, Randstad’s CEO warns.
The Outlook On H-1B Visas And Immigration In 2026
The Trump administration will reduce legal immigration, increase deportations and limit the hiring of H-1B visa holders in 2026.
10 HR Trends That Matter Most As AI Transforms Organizations
As we move into 2026, AI is no longer the next wave of technology, it is a strategic imperative with the power to reshape how companies compete, operate, and innovate.
Kentucky Fried Chicken to Pay $200,000 for EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Charge
MIAMI – Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation (KFC) agreed to conciliate a sexual hostile work environment and retaliation charge involving two employees at an Orlando KFC location with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
How To Answer These 5 Job Interview Questions For Executive Roles
Prepping for a senior leadership or management role this year? Here are five job interview questions for executive roles, and how to answer them, in 2026.
Experts are divided on how workers should spend their 5-9: Structure is key for productivity, but can lead to burnout
Influencers have racked up millions of views showing off their outside-of-work schedules.