The buzz: Emerging brands.

If you think your company brand is the only one your organization needs to worry about, listen up! Two new branding flavors are stealing the business spotlight: employer and personal.

The buzz: HR around the world.

"American companies think they're the keepers of the best management practices. Consequently, they don't try to learn as much as they can from other places," according to Dr. Michael J.

The buzz: Burnout.

In this era of hyper-connectivity and 24/7 global demands on your workforce, employee burnout is a key contributor to the lack of engagement and loss of productivity all too prevalent in the workplace.

The buzz: Leaders.

Employee engagement. Retention. Your employer brand. The leaders you hire or promote from inside will make or break your workforce strategies. The trends are ominous.

The buzz: HR Metrics.

If you’re an HR professional, metrics such as cost per hire, training cost per employee, turnover rate, and lag between posting and filling a position will show the executive team that you’re doing your job, but not much more.

The buzz: Recruiting. Acquiring top talent is tough, with today’s job mobility mindset and competitive employee poaching. Another challenge: your Employer Brand.

The buzz: Turnover? Oh no!

Employee attrition is a fact of life staring your HR leaders in the eye, more often than ever due to escalating job mobility, social recruiting and talent poaching. You know that every employee will leave at some point.

The buzz: Work-life what?

The term ‘work-life balance’ has become a cliché for a frustrating goal that few of us in the workforce ever reach, or reach very often.

The buzz: Startups and HR.

Heads-up, startup founders! If an HR department is the last thing on your mind because you “only” need someone to manage employees’ basic benefits and paychecks, think again.