Hiiii, 

Greetings from a different timezone than i’m usually in! I’m at a conference this week and you better believe I'll be sharing everything I’m hearing. 

Until then I'm cooking up a few cool things for you!!

📺 This month’s HR Therapy is a masterclass in navigating HR tech demos. I’ve been burned by a shiny demo more times than I’m willing to admit so this session will be full of do as I say not as I did. 

📺 Next month’s HR Therapy will be here sooner than you can imagine so I’m getting a jump on sharing all the juicy deets with you now before our inboxes get cluttered with holiday stuff. Is performance management dead? In its current format I’d say many of yes would say YES. So what will emerge from the performance management ashes? Join me and Jamie as we talk about the future of performance management. 

🎧 This week’s episode of the pod features Dave Garcia. We talk through how all the things happening in the world are impacting how people show up to work. From immigration to global conflicts we get into it all. 

Nowwww, today’s topic!! A return to this quarter’s theme: energy drains and energy boosts. 

Today’s drain or boost: pivots. 

And if you hear Ross Geller’s voice throughout this edition, I'm sorryyy.

---

CULTURE

The art of pivoting:Copy anchor linkCopied

You know what has the ability to kill motivation and drain energy AND inspire innovation and can change a business? 

✨ Pivots. ✨

Our first drain energy and energy boost of the quarter!! What a time to be alive. 

I’ve worked at my fair share of early stage startups and have gotten to know really well what a pivot can do to an organization. Some may say that’s where my white hairs came from. 

💭 Imagine with me for a second this scenario playing out: 

Every few months there are new goals, new focus areas, new shinty projects! Little communication on why just “something new!” 

Employees are saying things like:

“Did this just change again?”

“I don’t even know what i’m suppose to be working on.”

“Is my work even relevant?” 

There are meetings happening yet 1 to 2 leaders don't know WTF is going on, and employees are flocking to HR.

Words like agility and chaos are being thrown around. 

HR is somewhere in between why is everyone confused and didn’t anyone do their job correctly.  

AHEM may I introduce you to pivots as a drain. Apologizes for anything that scenario may have triggered in you because I was a tiny bit on edge writing that out as if I was reliving a memory I’d rather not think about. 

💭 Now, imagination cap back on for a different scenario. 

Throughout the last few months something has been brewing. A new business line emerges and it’s starting to do better than anyone imagined. There’s product market fit and there’s excitement. 

It’s clear the org is at an inflection point and a crossroads has been reached. 

A new strategy is devised. Leaders are brought in and given extensive amounts of context and talking points to share with their team. 

It’s not new for the sake of being new, it's new for the sake of the business. 

Town halls are held, questions are answered openly and hesitations are heard. 

Employees are saying: 

“This makes sense.”

“I see where we’re headed and i’m excited.”

“Will I get to work on some of those things?”

HR is hearing from employees that they got clarity not just from the org and leadership but from their managers. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!! 

That is what we in the business like to call an energy boost. 

So in these wildly dramatized fictional scenarios in which I gave you a little bit of detail but not nearly enough, what would you say the BIGGEST difference is? 

Could it be the pace of change, context shared, or maybe the role of leaders. Possibly all 3 on an incredibly bad day/week/month or even year. 

Here’s the thing about pivots, how you handle them is EVERYTHING. 

Pivots take deeep emotional labor to reset context, rebuild trust and even reinvigorate motivation. Don’t listen to that one leader that’s like “it’s not the serious!” Because it is… 

When things are constantly changing employees cannot do their best work and how you handle a potential pivot can make or break a team.

How pivots can drain motivation:Copy anchor linkCopied

Ahhh motivation my old friend, we meet again!!! 

When orgs are constantly pivoting, motivation can take a hit. 

Why?? Well because: 

❌ No stability can feel like no safety. If every quarter there’s a new plan, employees will start to wonder if things will ever be stable or safe. New plans mean maybe their old role isn’t as relevant anymore. And that can zap any motivation. 

❌ Too much “why we’re doing this” and not enough “how we’re doing it.” Most teams understand why change happens but where a lot of leaders and orgs struggle is how it connects to their daily work. If you cannot explain the why and the how employees will be confused and slowly start to disengage.

❌ The middle layer is often missed. My favorite thing is when companies announce a new strategy, then give zero resources to the people actually executing it. I’m kidding, that’s clearly my least favorite thing! But it happens so often that the mark is missed between a pivot and the actual execution of said pivot. 

Pivots and motivation are interesting because depending on the stage your org is at pivots could actually fuel motivation rather than drain it…

The pivot problem: early vs. later stage:Copy anchor linkCopied

Before I get into handling pivots at your org, I want to take a minute and discuss the stage your organization is in because that can completely change things. 

At early-stage startups, pivots are the point. 

You’re testing, iterating, and throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. The energy is chaotic but creative which is why I’ve worked at four!!!! A lot of employees sign up for this rollercoaster because that excites them. Yes chaos is exciting to some! 

Those pivots are about finding something like:

• Product-market fit.
• The ideal customer
• A business model that doesn’t break the company every quarter

At this stage, the motivation is in exploration. Everyone’s chasing possibilities. You can get away with a few “We’re shifting again” moments because it's expected.

Pivots can build the energy. 

But later-stage pivots are a bit different. They’re usually about fixing something.

You’ve already built systems, hired teams, and have established some stability. Now, leadership wants to reinvent the plane while it’s mid-flight. Suddenly, “pivot”  can mean things like layoffs, budget cuts, reorgs, and changing goals without warning.

The stakes can feel higher and the cost of changing things compounds.

And what used to feel like innovation starts to feel more like instability…

At early-stage, pivots can be the strategy vs at later stage orgs pivots can feel like a symptom of a deeper problem. 

It doesn’t matter the stage you’re at, the core of pivots is how you manage and keep the employees in mind while things are changing.

HR & pivots:Copy anchor linkCopied

HR doesn’t get to decide when the company pivots (could be fun??)  but we do shape how it lands.

Because here’s what happens when change hits: bad leaders will move on to the next strategy slide thinking everyone gets it while the rest of the org is still trying to figure out if their project is dead or just “paused.”

That’s where we step in!!

Think of our role not as the messenger, but as the translator. 

We’re the team that turns business decisions into something employees can actually absorb and act on. Basically we’re superheroes. 

When a pivot is on the horizon think of the 3 C’s:

• Clarity
• Context
• Connection. 

Every pivot that fails traces back to one of those breaking. 

Here’s your pivot playbook: The 4 steps to take to navigate any sort of pivot in your org. 

1️⃣ Comms Planning: Create Clarity

Before the announcement, map the “who, what, when, and why” not just for leadership, but for every layer of the org.

• Clarify what’s changing and what’s not. People need to know where to aim their energy.
• Identify the telephone tree like who tells who, in what order, and with what message.
• Draft messaging that passes the “plain language test.” If a manager can’t explain it in a 1:1 without notes, it’s not clear enough. No filler or junk words!!!! Count how many times alignment appears. :)

You’re not just writing comms, you're scripting this movie aka the pivot.

2️⃣ Training the Messengers: Add Context

Managers carry the emotional weight of every pivot. Train them early and equip them with the why behind the what.

• Hold a manager-only session before any org-wide announcement.
• Give them talk tracks, FAQs, and space to ask questions they’d never ask in public.
• Coach them on tone and how to deliver the message with real empathy. 

When managers understand the story, they can help their teams stay motivated through the rewrite.

3️⃣ Double Down on Follow-Up Comms: Build Connection

One message won’t land it. Honestly, 7 might not even. Change needs repetition and evidence that leaders mean it.

• Use multiple channels (town halls, Slack, 1:1s, team meetings) to reinforce the message.
• Spotlight small wins that show the pivot in motion.
• Let teams ask questions again. And again and again. 

4️⃣ Check In + Measure the Pulse: Close the Loop

Once the dust settles, don’t assume it’s over. IT’S NEVER OVER. JK but go back to your 3 C’s:

• Clarity: Do people understand what success looks like now?
• Context: Do they know why the pivot happened and how it affects their work?
• Connection: Do they still feel part of something, or did the change fracture belonging?

You can pulse survey it, but you’ll learn more from listening sessions and manager check-ins. 

The energy tends to tell the story before the data does.

The bottom line: pivots don’t always kill motivation BUT poorly managed ones do.

What’s next:Copy anchor linkCopied

Next week I’m coming in HOT with a major energy boost: recognition. 

Not only am I at a conference this week where that is the MAIN topic but I'm also moderating a panel about it! 

So you’ll get the fresh scoop on the best ideas for innovative recognition.

---

(HUMAN) RESOURCES

• Supreme Court denies request to revisit same sex marriage decision 
• Tentative Gov’t shutdown deal discuss
• Job scams on Linkedin and other sites 
• Mitratech just made I-9 audits way less terrifying with this toolkit

---

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

• 📚 What I’m reading: Alchemised by SenLinYu. This was my most looked forward to release this year. And yes, I mentioned it a few newsletters ago. But I'm here to mention it again. Because over the last few weeks I have been savoring this masterpiece. I HAD TO come back here and tell you, nay demand from you, that you immediately read this. The worldbuilding, A++, the plot A++, the underlying themes, A++, EVERYTHING about this novel screams 10/5 stars and tell all your friends their life is incomplete without reading. I think this might be one of the best dang books I’ve ever read. 
• 📺 What I’m watching: Jurassic Park. I like to use flights as the reason why I watch movies I might not otherwise. The newest installment of Jurassic Park was my latest plane watch. I think I’ve seen EVERY Jurassic Park movie ever made and fun fact i’ve even read the book! This movie was a fun watch so do it if you love the dinosaurs!
• 🎧 What I’m obsessing over: COLD WEATHER PANTS. I’m such a baby that when it drops below 40 I'm not well. Last year I got amazing joggers from Costco so i’m back to ask for any more recs people have to keep my body warm this winter. 

---

SONG OF THE WEEK

🎧 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, RAYECopy anchor linkCopied

Um so so so so sorry for the person I become when this song is on. 

I love Raye, I love this song and she is def slept on.

---

That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you.