Hi, HR Pros! ✨ It’s Women’s Equality Day—and a good day to ask: Is your hiring process playing fair? With the US Open in full swing, make sure great talent isn’t getting eliminated before the first serve.
In this issue:
❤️🔥 Employee engagement [checklist]
🧠 Dementia risks in the workplace
◉ WEEKLY GOODY
Employee Engagement [checklist]
This week’s HR goody — identify practical areas to strengthen the employee experience.
Only available for download to subscribers.
◉ THE HR SPOTLIGHT
When Your Hiring Filters Are Too Good at Saying “No”
Hiring teams are getting more applications—and more help from AI to sort them. But a recent Stanford study of 4 million applications found racial bias and “systemic rejection” in AI screening tools.
The Filter Problem & The Fix — Your ATS may be efficiently rejecting candidates who look “wrong” on paper—but could be exactly right for the job. These false negatives are the qualified candidates your filters reject before a human looks. 88％ of employers admit it happens.
Watch for:
Hard knockout rules based on degrees, location or career gaps
Overly rigid keyword matching that misses transferable skills
AI rankings that recruiters accept without questioning
Job descriptions packed with “must-haves” your actual hires rarely meet
Try this before tweaking another setting: Pull 100 recently rejected applications, remove identifying details, and have a recruiter review them against the real job. How many would make the cut?
That number can reveal what your dashboard misses: the talent that never reached a human.
◉ TOGETHER WITH - iSpring
LMS With AI That Actually Works
Bring course development, learner management, and reporting into a single intelligent, intuitive system. With the AI built into iSpring LMS, your team can produce training content more quickly, get instant tech support, and spend less time on repetitive admin work.
◉ CULTURE CUE
Run a 15-Min "Frustration Audit" 🚀— Ask each team member to share one tiny, annoying process step they hate. Pick the easiest fix and eliminate it by end-of-day.
◉ THE HR PULSE - What’s shaping the workplace
🌎 Foreign Talents Leave U.S. Over Visa Uncertainty — VnExpress
What’s unfolding: Visa changes and uncertainty are pushing more Chinese and Indian professionals to leave the U.S.
Why it matters: HR may need to rethink talent pipelines and workforce plans for visa-dependent roles.
🧩 Employees Want More Personalized Benefits — FT
What’s unfolding: A new Prudential study finds employees want benefits tailored to their real-life needs.
Why it matters: HR can make benefits easier to understand and more personalized during enrollment.
🧠 Workplace Activity & Risks — WashingtonPost
What’s unfolding: Research links leisure-time exercise to lower dementia risk, while heavy physical work showed a different pattern.
Why it matters: HR should consider job demands when designing workplace wellness programs.
◉ FLASH VOTE - The community weigh-in
What’s the biggest manager mistake HR keeps having to fix?
LAST WEEK’S POLL:
◉ WEEKLY GOODY
Employee Engagement: Where Does Your Team Stand?
Engagement can be hard to gauge until the warning signs show up. Use our Employee Engagement Checklist to spot gaps, assess what’s working, and identify practical areas to strengthen the employee experience.
Only available for download to subscribers.
◉ UPCOMING EVENTS - To learn, network & thrive
Aug 30-Sept 2, In-Person (Florida) - SHRM FL
HR Florida Conference & Expo
Convene with HR pros and industry-leading vendors from across the US & around the world.
See details »
Sept 9-11, In-Person (Washington) - NHRMA
NHRMA Annual Conference 2026
Explore the latest trends, innovative practices, and critical insights shaping the future of work.
Learn more »
Sept 15-16, In-Person (Texas) - M-Media
Future of Work USA
Gather ideas, strategies & solutions for the changing world of work.
Attend event »
◉ BREAKROOM - Your virtual watercooler
◉ SMART READS - Worth bookmarking
🏦 HSA & FSA Admin Systems: How to Choose
💔 9 Reasons Employees Quit Their Jobs
🛡️ The Modern HR Compliance Checklist
— Created with care by Vivienne Ravana
P.S. Build and manage employee training in one place. It’s feasible with iSpring LMS.
