There is trepidation in the learning and development community right now.

With AI shifting the landscape daily, many are asking: What will the role of an L&D professional be in the future? What will the role of the function be??

I sat down with Josh Cardoz, Chief Creative & Learning Officer at Sponge Learning, to get a pulse on 2026. Josh is mostly excited - tempered with a warning for those wishing to go back to the old ways of doing things.

Key Takeaways from our Conversation:

- AI is a double-edged sword: Yes, AI will finally make hyper-personalization a reality. No more single course to solve a problem for 10,000 people.

- A loss of community: Josh warns of a "related loss of community." If everyone is on a perfectly curated, solo AI path, we risk losing the shared standards and human connection that make a culture strong.

- A shift in L&D language: L&D pros need to stop talking about "training" and "learning" and...

- A business mindset: we need to talk about business problems and keep the L&D to ourselves

Josh also shared some consulting tips that are gold for engaging with clients.

*Connect with Josh and Sponge*

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshcardoz/Sponge Learning: https://www.spongelearning.com/

*Connect with Andrea*

Website: https://thehrhub.ca/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

We’ve all seen the 'Brilliant Jerk'—the executive who delivers high-impact results but leaves a trail of cultural destruction and turnover in their wake.In today’s episode, I tackled emotional intelligence (EQ) in organizational behaviour. My guest, Jen Shirkani, has spent 25 years coaching the C-suite on how to bridge the gap between technical brilliance and relational leadership. She breaks EQ down into a high-performance framework: Recognize, Read, and Respond.We dive deep into the specific competencies that will contribute to HR performance, drive workplace trust, and help us improve leadership effectiveness, including: - Cognitive empathy vs. affective empathy: Why you don't need to feel an employee's pain to effectively validate their experience—a crucial skill for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). - The optimism trap: How to balance visionary leadership with reality testing to avoid strategic blind spots. This is one I fall into. - A crisis of emotional expression: Why people are biting their tongues and saying less, eroding psychological safety and killing organizational trust.For HR professionals managing the high emotional demands of the modern workplace, this discussion is invaluable. **About Jen Shirkani** LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenshirkani/Jen's Website: https://penumbra.com/Jen's Podcast: Ego vs EQ & You**About Andrea**LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/My website: https://thehrhub.ca/

~ 30% of your new hires will leave before the 90-day mark.Unless you onboard properly.

You’ve already done a lot: you spent thousands on recruitment, vetting, and interviewing. You will pay for them and their training. But without a solid onboarding process, there is a high chance that your investment will walk out the door.

Onboarding is quite possibly the easiest and most cost-effective retention activity you can do, yet so many businesses treat it as an afterthought. Or a tedious activity they avoid.

So watch the video and make sure you do it! Onboarding isn't just a "nice-to-have" - it's a key bottom-line retention strategy.

I'm an HR Consultant to SMBs. Find me at:

https://thehrhub.ca

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

The lack of connection within workplaces is more than a sad fact —it’s a serious business issue impacting performance. It's dollars left on the table.

In this episode, Ryan Jenkins (WSJ Bestselling Author of Connectable) explains why workplace loneliness is increasing and how HR leaders can build a culture of belonging to combat employee isolation.

Loneliness was a recurring theme on this channel throughout 2025. And Gallup has reinforced over and over that it's a critical piece of engagement. That question: "Do you have a best friend at work?" is important.

But what do you do? This episode has tips.

What You’ll Learn:-

• The Rise of Isolation: Why loneliness is increasing across all demographics in the modern workplace.
• The Science of Connection: How the brain reacts to exclusion and its impact on cognitive performance.
• Critical Stats: Why 8 out of 10 global workers feel disconnected at least once a month.
• HR Strategy: Practical ways to address loneliness

It came up throughout the year in conversations on burnout, engagement, remote and hybrid work, culture... it's something we need to pay attention to.

**Find Ryan Jenkins**

https://www.ryanjenkins.com/https://connectionvault.com/

His book is called: Connectable: How Leaders Can Move Teams from Isolated to All In

**Find Andrea Adams**

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

https://thehrhub.ca/

Most wellness programs weren't built with parents in mind. Gym memberships and meditation apps don't help much when you're managing work deadlines while your kid is home sick. Or when you know your toddler can't wait for you to pick them up from daycare.

Dr. Rosina McAlpine is back to talk about what actually works when organizations want to support working parents—not with token gestures, but with programs that address the real challenges.

We discuss why working parents have the highest burnout and lowest mental health scores across the workforce, what family-friendly workplaces are doing differently, and how to measure whether any of it is making a difference.

We also get into the equity vs equality question. It's not one we think about in this context, but it does work. After all, what we need is a workplace where everyone is able to thrive.

* Dr. Rosina's 5-Point Guide*https://www.winwinparenting.com/closing-the-gap-in-parent-support-guide*Contact Dr. Rosina McAlpine*https://winwinparenting.com/https://drrosina.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrosina/*Contact Andrea Adams*https://thehrhub.cahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Wellness at work is easy to talk about, but the actual data is a disaster. These are the groundbreaking findings from clinical psychologist Dr. Jo Burrell’s 2025 survey into the mental health and wellbeing of HR professionals.

If we look at the state of HR as a whole, we are facing a crisis. The research reveals staggering rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout across the profession. Perhaps the most shocking result? 42% of HR professionals are considering leaving the profession entirely.

Dr. Burrell was shocked by these results, and frankly, I am too. We need to shine a light on this because it’s impossible for us to deliver results for our organizations if we are struggling this much. We cannot tend to the wellness of employees and clients if we aren’t caring for our own first.

The 2026 HR Wellbeing Survey is underway now (as of late January). Whether you are thriving or just trying to survive, take a moment to help us see how the profession is doing in 2026.

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TVY7HDS

**Find Dr. Jo Burrell**LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jo-burrell-04901a96/Ultimate Resilience: https://www.ultimateresilience.co.uk/**Find Andrea Adams (me!)**LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/My company: https://thehrhub.ca/

HR probably deals with more emotional situations than any other department. Angry employees storming into your office sure about what we are supposed to do, leaders who are frustrated, workplace conflicts that we are supposed to solve. And then we also need to read any room we are in.Emotions. A lot of emotions.

Dina Denham Smith is an executive coach who works with senior leaders at companies like Adobe, Netflix, and Google. She's written over 60 articles for Harvard Business Review, and her book Emotionally Charged: How to Lead in the New World of Work (co-authored with Penn State psychology professor Alicia Grandey) digs into the science of emotions at work.We covered:🧠 The difference between emotional savvy and emotional intelligence (and why the distinction matters).🎭 The authenticity paradox: leaders are expected to be authentic but penalized for being too authentic.😢 Why crying at work is still risky. There's a few that are humanized by it but the rest of us are penalized/criticized.🔥 What to do when someone storms into your office in a heightened emotional stateAnd so much more. There was a LOT of usefulness in this episode. Frameworks. The importance of helping someone name their emotions. Viewing emotions as data and far more. ***About Dina***🔗 Website: https://dinadsmith.com🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dina-denham-smith/📖 Book: Emotionally Charged: How to Lead in the New World of Work***About Andrea***🔗 Website: https://thehrhub.ca🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

How many meetings have you sat through where someone blamed "those gen z's" or "okay boomer'd" their way out of a real conversation?

Generational researcher Cam Marston is back to talk about what actually works when you're trying to build teams across four generations. We discussed the real differences (not the lazy stereotypes), why Gen X leaders might need to rethink their "figure it out" leadership style, and a suprising way to build teams that is effective! Regardless of any generational gaps.

Cam broke down what each generation brings to the table right now: boomers has wisdom, Gen X are mostly the leaders, millennials are taking over leadership - democratically, and Gen Z is still figuring out their place.

But when considering generational differences, the person who needs to change is probably you and me. Our own generational preferences is typically what gets in the way of team success, and Cam explains how to actually see it.

We covered:

• What "figure it out" leadership costs with younger employees and why
• Why millennial managers might need to stop asking for input (so much)
• How to honestly assess our own generational biases

There are lots of tips in here for organizations that are wrestling with big generation gaps and some related frustrations.

**Connect with Cam Marston**

Website: https:/CamMarston.com

Podcast: What's Working with Cam Marston

**Connect with Andrea Adams**

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Website: https://thehrhub.ca/

Jennifer McClure founded DisruptHR 12 years ago. Since then, over 10,000 people have taken the stage at events worldwide to share ideas about work and the workplace.

In this conversation, we dig into what disruption actually looks like for mid-level HR professionals who aren't always in the room where decisions get made. Jennifer shares how she went rogue to pilot new technology, why she was once told nobody wanted her in meetings, and what she learned about saying something other than "no."

We also talk about AI implementation, why companies aren't seeing the efficiency gains they expected, and how HR can lead the conversation before it becomes a cleanup job.

**Find Jennifer**https://jennifermcclure.net/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure/https://disrupthr.co/**Find Andrea**https://thehrhub.ca/https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/

Podcast Description:

It's the end of 2025 and Angela Nguyen from The Leader Within Podcast and I are compared notes. What themes kept showing up in our conversations this year that we think will endure?

We dug into systems thinking - HR has always been interconnected but we haven't always used that perspective to solve recurring problems.

Angela spoke about what she's seeing with AI adoption: organizations unclear on what they're actually solving for, fear around job loss, and the gap in change management practices.

Then we got into the entry-level pipeline problem. Companies are cutting entry-level and mid-layer positions, which creates a group of employees disconnected from leadership. That'll be a problem.

And workplace loneliness. This has come up in many interviews I did this year. Gallup has been saying for years that having a best friend at work is one of their top 12 engagement factors.

We also shared our biggest lessons from the year. Just so you know we aren't AI.

***Connect with Angela Nguyen***The Leader Within Podcast: https://www.angelanguyen.ca/podcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelanguyenkhaan/***Connect with Andrea Adams***LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-adams1/HR consulting inquiries: andrea@thehrhhub