Measurably Improving Culture: It Takes a Shared Language, Culture Skills and Analytics
BY Paul Kersey December 31, 2025As a former HR attorney, Janine Yancey says that she hasn’t actually run into that many truly bad people. There are a handful of “bad eggs,” as she puts it, but most of the cases she handled involved decent folks who were struggling to manage workplace demands and the many different personality types they have on their teams.“It’s just people being people. They have different perspectives on situations. They’re optimizing for different outcomes. They’re thinking about different things. They have different communication styles, which leads to conflict,” she said. “It’s just hard sometimes to interact.”Her background led her to think of corporate culture a little differently; it's not just the history and values and mission, it’s the shared language and people skills that a company promotes. A healthy corporate culture can head off many workplace issues, and companies can instill that healthy culture intentionally. Now, the founder and CEO of Emtrain, an online compliance and culture training company, Yancey shared insights on measurably improving culture during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s LA conference.Focusing on Actions, Not PeopleLeaders often assume good intent, Yancey says. But they also need to recognize how employees’ moods and pressures shape performance and interactions. Even strong managers are affected by stress and tight deadlines, and conflicts can arise between coworkers who are simply trying to do their best.Janine Yancey, the founder & CEO of Emtrain, led the thought leadership spotlight With that in mind, Yancey says HR professionals should avoid categorizing people as bad actors. It’s more constructive to focus on specific actions or habits that cause problems. When you do that, you can be more clinical and less judgmental. Interventions can take the form of teaching skills rather than correcting character faults. “You’re not judging somebody and calling them a toxic person or toxic manager, you’re saying, hey, you’ve got an area of opportunity, and we can help develop this skill a little bit.” Yancey describes a color scale for workplace interactions: green for those handled well, yellow for moments shaped by stress or bad habits. As an attorney and compliance specialist, she distinguishes yellow from orange, which involves legally protected groups and potential litigation. Red marks situations that are clearly illegal.New Issues Create Workplace StressEmtrain has been gathering employee feedback through its training program, and Yancey notes trends HR should watch for. One key trend is generational differences: younger workers prioritize work-life balance more than older employees.For example, Yancey describes a hypothetical law firm meeting where a senior attorney scolds a younger associate for being unavailable after hours on a time-sensitive project. Younger workers are more likely to view this as out of line, valuing work-life balance, which can heighten conflicts over after-hours availability and task flexibility.Another potential conflict arises with AI implementation. While AI can save time, such as generating programs previously done by junior tech staff, it can also disrupt job roles and interdepartmental relations. IT workers may find themselves verifying AI-generated code rather than creating it.With AI, departments will work together in different ways, says Yancey. And some workers will inevitably begin to question their value to the company—what is the computer coder’s role now when AI can write programs itself based on specifications it gets from executives? This confusion and insecurity will place new stress on employees, and HR professionals will need to be ready to deal with the fallout, she says. Building a Culture With Soft SkillsProactive leadership can help a company build a culture with a shared language, a common set of values, and soft skills, all of which minimize conflicts and make it easier for workers to resolve them on their own. As a litigator, Yancey’s own experience was that much of the time she was coaching employees about people skills. She suggests that companies start by creating their own matrix of social habits that best serve their employees. Emtrain’s own skills matrix is based on four central values: ethics, respect, inclusion, and belonging. “If you have a really strong culture of soft skills, compliance becomes a non-issue,” she said.Yancey suggests embedding these skills in regular compliance training. Additionally, tailored programs, especially online, can both reinforce culture and gather anonymous employee feedback, giving leaders insights to prevent conflicts and spot potential issues.“We’re all works in progress, trying to do better,” Yancey said. “As we practice with intentionality, then our actions start developing into skills.” A well-designed training program can help employees develop the skills they need to excel, and help your company develop the positive culture it needs to adapt and grow.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Emtrain, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Paul Kersey is a former attorney and freelance writer based in Chicago, IL.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)
A CHRO’s Playbook for Overcoming Tensions Lurking in the Workplace
BY Paul Kersey November 19, 2025An employee cries in the car on the way home, overwhelmed by the fear of losing their job. Another worries about bringing workplace stress into family life. Across organizations, HR professionals and managers are noticing a clear drop in morale—one that is taking a tangible toll on their teams.“Employees and employers alike are disengaging, retreating into what researchers call Cold Work, a culture of quiet tension, mistrust and emotional fatigue,” said Steve Koepp, co-founder of From Day One and moderator of a webinar titled, “A CHRO’s Playbook for Overcoming Tensions Lurking in the Workplace.”There are many issues that are tied up in the trend, among them conflicts between flexibility and accountability, complications from the Covid lockdowns as workers return to the office, and concerns about the use of artificial intelligence. But the overarching themes are distrust and alienation.As Matt Dietly, employee experience lead at WongDoody, describes it, subtle, hidden tensions are driving managers and employees apart. They rarely break out into open confrontation, but “it feels like employees and employers are freezing each other out, clinging to survival, sort of waiting for the other side to blink, and it’s giving us so many Cold War vibes that we’ve christened the moment Cold Work,” he said. Employers and employees have always had conflicting interests, Gunny Scarfo, co-founder of Nonfiction Research, observes. Those conflicts have emerged in many different ways: unionization in the early 20th century, stagflation and wages in the 1970s, and outsourcing 20 to 30 years ago. But this time the conflict is less connected to a specific grievance. It’s more general: “they don’t care, so I don’t care,” Scarfo said. Leaders spoke about "A CHRO’s Playbook for Overcoming Tensions Lurking in the Workplace" (photo by From Day One)This mindset is pretty widespread: a Nonfiction Research poll of workers and managers shows that 44% agree that “both are more focused on trying to survive individually than trying to aspire,” said Scarfo. Cold Work manifests itself in many ways. From the financial tech employee who says, ‘I’ve hardly spoken with my boss in the last year,’ to the manager who told his team ‘good news, no layoffs this year’ only to cut staff later on. But they all speak to the absence of camaraderie between managers and employees. In many instances, work has become transactional, we’re not necessarily on the same team anymore.Root Causes and Presenting IssuesIn this atmosphere of mutual distrust, there are a few presenting issues, the speakers shared. From frequent changes in technology and tools to ongoing debates over where work gets done, the workplace is experiencing heightened stress, uncertainty, and a growing disconnect between employees and management.Companies can mandate a return to the office, but if they do “the workplace must deliver value, and that office experience must be seamless, so the return to work should be intuitive, frictionless, motivating. And that’s the responsibility of the employer,” said Joe Duffy, senior business development manager, EMEA at WongDoody.Further, there is a tension between flexibility and accountability. Workers want the freedom to work in a way that makes sense for them, while employers prefer predictability and consistency, says Duffy. But micromanagement leads workers to believe that they are not valued or trusted. Employers often “tend to think of a request for flexibility as some sort of directive to do less work, to be less productive,” said Tarik West, SVP of people at Blue Acorn iCi.An End to Cold WorkRigid, inflexible work drains productivity and eats into profits. Focus groups and anonymous feedback systems can help pinpoint problem areas. It’s worth exploring creative ways to balance flexibility with accountability—they don’t have to be at odds. Even small gestures, like allowing an afternoon off during the week in exchange for making up time at home over the weekend, can build goodwill.But attitude is more important than any particular program. The key is to restore trust and confidence, and the only way to do that is with transparency. Dealing with things head-on is best over the long run, even if nothing can be done to address a worker's objections. “There will always be fixed points in the business, things that we can’t do, and you can’t be afraid to share bad news,” said West. After all, the issue is really trust above all else, and the best way to regain it is to be honest and open. With frank communication and a little flexibility distrust should abate, putting workers and managers back on the same side.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, WongDoody, for sponsoring this webinar. Paul Kersey is a former attorney and freelance writer based in Chicago, IL.(Photo by Prostock-Studio/iStock)
HR’s Role in the Shift From Performance Evaluation to Performance Enablement
BY Paul Kersey October 15, 2025“At the beginning of the year you get a goal, you meet with your manager, maybe, if you’re lucky, in June, you have a conversation about your own development or personal growth. And at the end of the year, on an employee's favorite day of the year, they get to sit in intense anticipation, anxiously waiting to hear from a manager where they score on a scale,” said Jamie Aitken, VP of HR transformation at Betterworks. Aitken was describing a process that often doesn’t inspire workers, employers, and managers alike–performance evaluations. It’s no wonder companies are looking for alternatives. During a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Austin conference, Aitken shared an alternative approach, called performance enablement. She believes that a continuing process of feedback and coaching serves employees and companies better. This steady process encourages mentoring, produces fairer assessments, and opens up opportunities for employee growth.The annual performance meetings can be nerve-racking. These sessions determine the prospects of so many employees. And yet the whole process is rushed, with evaluators tempted to just go through the motions.“Managers didn’t like doing it. [They] felt it was burdensome. Employees certainly didn’t enjoy the experience at all. Leaders don’t feel like it actually moves the needle, but rather, it’s a bit of a check in the box,” said Aitken. A Shift to Performance EnablementJamie Aitken of Betterworks led the session about "The Big Shift to Performance Enablement: HR’s Role in the Age of AI" (photo by Josh Larson for From Day One)Performance enablement is a distinct approach to enhancing worker performance, says Aitken. The focus is less on critiquing and more on coaching. Feedback is more regular and incorporated into everyday office interactions, and credit for progress is more immediate. Making work more meaningful is key. “Frankly, all of us still strive and yearn for meaningful work. We still want the connection to the values and what the organization is trying to achieve. That becomes very important for us to see how we’re contributing to that,” said Aitken. When done right, performance enablement brings that desire for meaning in work to the fore, she says. Overcoming Obstacles to Performance EnablementBut to make performance enablement work, attitudes and habits need to shift throughout the company. HR leaders need to think of the process differently. They no longer own or control the system. Their job is to design a process for goal setting and coaching, but then they should let employees and managers create their own goals and open up spaces for coaching, says Aitken. Instead of chasing managers for evaluation forms, HR works to make the experience work smoothly, so it becomes easy to incorporate goals, tracking, and coaching into the working day. Meanwhile, employees need to become more active–they are no longer passive listeners as their managers offer critiques and kudos. Their role is to contribute ideas for goals and set their own paths for development. The Importance of LeadershipManagers, for their part, cannot simply fill out an evaluation form and be done with it for the rest of the year; they need to give feedback on a more regular basis. They need to think of themselves as coaches, teaching skills and reinforcing high performance in real time. This can be tricky because managers are frequently chosen for technical skills. They want to solve problems quickly, but performance enablement requires more patience and people skills. Coaching may involve letting a team work through a problem rather than stepping in to diagnose and fix it oneself, which takes patience. These are traits that managers can’t always learn overnight, says Aitken. Lasting change starts at the top. C-suite leaders need to model a culture of regular feedback and coaching, setting the tone for performance empowerment rather than handing off employee development to middle managers or HR.Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Betterworks, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. Paul Kersey is a former attorney and freelance writer based in Chicago, IL. His articles on labor and employment issues have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit News, and other Midwest newspapers.(Photos by Shutter2U/iStock)