Rising Team, a maker of team development software, announced an $8 million Series A funding round on June 6. The company said the funding will go in part toward incorporating AI technology into the platform, including the launch of an AI-powered leadership coach in the coming months.

The round was led by Zeal Capital Partners, a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm focused on investing in “diverse management teams.” Previous investors including Peterson Ventures, Roble Ventures, and Female Founders Fund also participated. Rising Team’s last funding round, completed in October 2022, drew $3 million worth of investments on a valuation of $11 million.

Rising Team’s origins. Founder and CEO Jennifer Dulski launched the company in 2020 after working at a number of big tech companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Facebook (now Meta), as well as petition platform site Change.org, where she was president and COO. At these companies, Dulski said she noticed engagement was key to team success, but there was a dearth of tools available to managers trying to cultivate it. Rising Team offers leadership kits that focus on areas like “psychological safety,” “appreciation,” and “natural talents.”

Embracing AI. With this new round of funding, Rising Team plans to hire new team members (it currently employs 14 people full-time) and expand its market presence, as well as lean into AI.

Keep reading here.—CV

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Corporate employees are quitting less. The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on June 4, showed that the total number of quits in April was 3.5 million, hardly changed from 3.4 million in March, and the quit rate for all industries remained at 2.2% for the sixth consecutive month.

The professional and business services industry, in particular, saw the biggest monthly decline, down 131,000, or 19%, to 560,000 in April. That’s the industry’s biggest monthly drop in the last year, with the next biggest, 70,000 quits, occurring between October and November 2023.

Corporate employees may be hesitant to quit their jobs in a labor market as tight as it is now, and may be even more reluctant in the lead-up to the presidential election, given the economic uncertainty it may produce, according to Laura Mazzullo, founder of East Side Staffing, who specializes in recruiting and consulting for professional companies.

Advice for HR. While employees may be staying put, Mazzullo recommended that companies use this quiet time to invest in them.

Keep reading here.—MC

New York is the first state to mandate that employers provide paid prenatal leave to their workforces.

The new policy—an amendment to New York’s already existing sick leave provisions in the state’s labor law—was passed as part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s FY 2025 executive budget bill. It requires all New York State employers to give workers 20 hours of paid prenatal leave annually; the leave may be used for services related to an employee’s pregnancy, such as physical exams or medical procedures.

Paid prenatal leave must be offered in addition to New York’s paid “sick and safe” leave, under which employers must grant workers up to 40 or up to 56 hours of time off per year, depending on their size. New York employers must comply with the new requirement by Jan. 1, 2025.

Important details for HR managers. Employees covered by this mandate will be entitled to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave once this provision takes effect, and do not have to accrue the time off.

Keep reading here.—CV

Elevate your workplace potential. 90% of office interaction happens at desks, according to HBR. Wanna stop the office-layout guesswork and start making data-driven decisions instead? Robin has the lowdown on how you can drive productivity. Read their report.