As an HR professional, have you ever had an employee overstay their welcome in your office? Maybe they were venting too much about their boss, or telling you more about their personal life than you needed to know?

Apple TV’s Mythic Quest showcases a relatable example of what many HR pros go through when dealing with oversharing employees. The workplace comedy takes place in a video game company, where one character, dubbed “Carol from HR,” is frequently visited by employees who don’t quite know the difference between HR and therapy.

If you know what this feels like IRL, or are looking to avoid this situation in the first place, one communication expert told HR Brew how to let employees know you’re a professional resource, not a personal confidant.

Be a lifeguard. Like Ken in Barbie, your job is beach. Deborah Grayson Riegel, a communication and leadership expert who has taught at Columbia and Wharton Business Schools, told HR Brew that HR pros can approach their role like a lifeguard.

Keep reading here.—MC

Ready to take your HR career to new heights? It all starts with a standout resume. But crafting one that overcomes the ATS and captures recruiters’ attention can be overwhelming. That’s why we created the ultimate resume guide: to help you stand out in today’s competitive job market.

Through expert tips and real-world examples, we’ll help you revamp your resume to impress even the toughest hiring managers. Download our guide today—your dream job is waiting!

The jury is still out on whether remote work is better than in-person. And while there are various factors to consider, a new paper provides a glimpse at the latest insights on remote worker productivity.

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research released a working paper in July that found fully remote employees may be less productive than in-office workers. However, as Monster Career Expert Vicki Salemi told HR Brew, this doesn’t mean that remote work doesn’t work—just that employers may need to get creative to reengage employees.

The data. Stanford found that 40% of US employees currently work from home at least one day a week, and slightly more than one in 10 are fully remote. Those who are fully remote, the institute suggested, are around 10% less productive than those who are fully in-person. The paper also examined the effectiveness of hybrid workers—classified as going into the office at least one day per week—and determined they are equally or slightly more productive than their full-time, in-office counterparts.

What to do. Salemi told HR Brew that employers have options to help remote teams stay motivated and productive. First, HR should think about fun and interesting ways to engage employees. “If it’s sales quotas, make a healthy competition or contest at work with prizes, or award bonuses,” she said.

Keep reading here.—KP

In the battle of the workplace, office workers and their RTO-demanding bosses might not have called for a truce just yet. But if VC funding offers a glimpse of where to place your bets, ours is on the Zoom-friendly sofa.

There’s been a considerable leveling off of funding rounds for HR tech startups, according to Crunchbase. Deals across the HR tech space have fallen to a three-year low, down from a peak in 2021.

Venture funding in 2021 had more than tripled when compared to 2020, according to Crunchbase. Now, with the fewest deals in the works since the Covid-19 pandemic, startups in the sector have only raised a little more than $1.6 billion in the first half of 2023.

But there may be a notable exception: startups helping companies adjust to the reality that some work can (and maybe should) be done from home.

Keep reading here.—AD

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Bad news for commuters: Gas prices the week leading up to Labor Day hit $3.83 per gallon on average, just shy of the all-time high for this week of $3.84 set in 2012. (CNN)

Quote: “It may be less important than anyone thinks because one of the things we have seen is the tightening of the labor market.”—Daniel Bachman, an economist at Deloitte, on the DOL’s proposal to raise salary eligibility for overtime pay to $55,000 for full-time workers (the Wall Street Journal)

Read: Potential rail worker strikes next year might disrupt commutes in the Northeast, and the transportation industry’s post-Covid recovery. (Politico)

Build a Future-Ready Workforce: Politico's HR leaders teamed up with Morning Brew Learning to craft a custom course aimed at honing employees’ communication and leadership skills. Find out more.

The perfect pair: Understand the employee experience like never before. Add AI-powered tools from Qualtrics to your managers’ toolkit, and you’ve got a dream team that’s ready to boost productivity and reduce attrition. See how.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}