I just returned from the Ohio Safety Conference (OSC), where I spoke about Why Safety Fails Without Culture & Behavior. In addition to my session, we hosted a booth where we handed out some swag, including copies of my book, Navigating a Toxic Workplace For Dummies.
While we had an overall great experience and tons of wonderful conversations, we…

Have you ever noticed how small most HR teams are in comparison to everything they’re expected to do?
In many organizations, HR makes up only about 2% of the workforce. Yet they’re responsible for the business’ most valuable asset – PEOPLE. That means culture and employee experience, hiring, retention, growth and development, managing performance and workforce planning—all while keeping…

You don’t struggle creating and managing a positive culture because you don’t care about it.
You struggle because you don’t have the time.
Between performance issues, leadership coaching, hiring, compliance, and “one more urgent fire,” culture work often gets pushed aside, even though it’s the very thing preventing those fires in the first place.
And now AI is everywhere.
Used…

Employee Appreciation Day is March 6th here in the United States, and with it often come social events, catered lunches, swag bags, and gift cards.
It’s kind of annoying, if you ask me. 
Not because you shouldn’t appreciate your people, but because leaders are fairly willing to put a budget towards these nice but not-useful-to-productivity items while denying your request…

We can tell you that our Upstander Training Toolkit really works in our emails. But the most powerful proof comes from our expert facilitators who deliver this very same training to our own clients.
Dr. Toni Herndon and Dr. Bob Berk have facilitated this program to hundreds of learners across many industries and inside organizations facing real resistance, real hesitation,…

Research shows that more than 70% of employees report experiencing incivility or disrespectful behavior at work, and over half say these behaviors reduce their productivity and morale.
Meanwhile, almost every HR or people leader has heard some version of these conversations when it comes to people who deliver results, close deals, and hit targets while quietly draining the energy, confidence,…

Organizations spend a staggering amount on training, yet the results often fall short. 
In the United States alone, organizations invested $102.8 billion in training in 2025, up from $98 billion in 2024, yet research consistently shows that only 10–20% of training leads to sustained behavior change.
This disconnect rarely happens because training is a bad idea. It happens because training…