🤩 Zero-Dollar Perks, Training Feedback Template, Microsoft's AI Manager - Nov 19, 2025

On today’s agenda:

🤩 No-cost work perks

🧑‍🏫 Training feedback template

⚙️ Microsoft launches AI manager

🏛 Union rights bill pushed forward

QUICK POLL

THE HR SPOTLIGHT

🤩 Zero-Dollar Perks, Million Dollar Impact

Talent Builders, let's talk about the secret sauce: perks that cost nothing but feel priceless. Because sometimes it’s not the budget-line that wins hearts — it’s the gesture.

🧐 The scene: “We’ve got perks, but are they working?” - According to SHRM’s 2025 Employee Benefits Survey, 68％ of employers rate flexible working benefits as “very important” or “extremely important” — yet only a fraction fully lean into zero-cost versions of that. With healthcare & benefit-costs on the rise HR teams are squeezed: how do you offer something meaningful when budgets are tight?

💡 What HR can do: “Big feel, no spend”

• Grant micro-autonomy: Let folks pick their “no meeting hour” once a week. No budget needed, just your permission.

• Offer “skill swap hours”: Employees teach each other — e.g., Jane teaches Excel hacks, Mark teaches mindfulness. Time-investment only.

• Promote flexible workspace rules: Remote day, later start, early finish. These cost nothing but score high on well-being.

• Run “idea jam” sessions: Ask teams: what perk would cost $0 and mean something to you? Then implement the best one.

• Track & share results: Show how a no-cost perk improved engagement or cut turnover — helps argue for more of them.

These tweaks will help you deliver “feel-rich” perks even when the budget says “zero”. Your people will notice — and your retention metrics will thank you.

🧑‍🏫 Training Feedback: A Ready-Made Survey Template 

🧩 Inclusion Gains, But Not There Yet — The HR Director

• What’s unfolding: Inclusivity is improving in many organizations, but big gaps remain — according to The HR Director, real inclusion must start at the team level, not just from the top.

• Why it matters: For HR leaders, this signals that DE&I work isn’t “done” — you need to embed inclusive habits into everyday team rituals, model behaviours, and recognize inclusion in real time to drive lasting change.

• What’s unfolding: The global HR Analytics & Workforce Intelligence market is projected to grow at a 10.8％ CAGR between 2025–2032, per a new OpenPR report.

• Why it matters: For HR pros, that means data-driven insights are becoming even more accessible — which can help you make smarter decisions on hiring, engagement, and retention with strategic analytics.

• What’s unfolding: Ford CEO Jim Farley says the U.S. has 5,000 unfilled high-paying mechanic jobs, blaming a lack of vocational training and skilled labor.

• Why it matters: This is a wake-up call for HR: the talent shortage isn’t just “unwilling workers” — it’s a skills pipeline issue. Investing in training programs, apprenticeships, or partnerships with trade schools could help your org fill critical roles.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

• What’s unfolding: McCormick is facing a lawsuit alleging it failed to pay more than 1,000 U.S. factory workers for up to 40 minutes of required daily tasks

• HR implications:  HR leaders should audit start‑and‑end shift routines and ensure preprocessing/cleanup time is compensated; overlooking this could lead to wage‑and‑hour violations and reputational risk.

• What’s unfolding: A discharge petition for the Protect America’s Workforce Act reached the required 218 signatures in the U.S. House, forcing the bill to be considered.

• HR implications: If passed, federal worker collective bargaining rights could be restored—private sector HR teams should monitor ripple effects in contract‑negotiation expectations and revisiting union‑related readiness.

• What’s unfolding: Starting January 1, 2026, California’s AB 692 bars most “stay‑or‑pay” clauses requiring employees to repay sign‑on bonuses, tuition assistance, or other costs if they leave their job.

• HR implications: HR teams in California must review and revise their sign‑on, retention, and training‑loan repayment agreements now. Contracts signed from 2026 onward will need separate repayment terms, prorated payback, no interest, and a capped two‑year period.

BREAKROOM

📬 Missed Monday’s issue ‘Employee Data Fundamentals’? Read it »