Resources

Why PTO matters, how to share it, and how to leverage “bridge days” By Cecilia Machuca Executive HR Consultant Date: 11/12/ 2025 Executive Summary Paid Time Off (PTO) is increasingly recognized as a strategic non-monetary benefit: it signals trust, supports well-being, and can improve retention, engagement, and productivity. In 2025, data show that nearly all employers offer vacation, holiday and sick leave, and many combine them into a PTO bank. Benchmarks now place average

When it comes to growing a team, especially in distributed startups or global organizations, the way we handle feedback can make or break our culture. I’ve seen firsthand how a well-executed performance review can boost morale, clarify goals, and drive real progress. But let’s be honest - many of us dread these conversations. They often feel like a checkbox exercise or a stressful interrogation. That’s why I want to share some effective performance review strategies that tran

The Human Trust Layer™ Diagnostic Tool helps organizations assess how transparency, fairness, and accountability flow through their people systems and technology.It’s a structured way to turn “trust” — often seen as intangible — into actionable, data-driven insight.

Executive Summary Distributed teams—remote-first, hybrid, globally dispersed—are now a structural reality rather than an experiment. But many organizations struggle with genuine engagement: collaboration, belonging, shared purpose, psychological safety, and sustained motivation. This white paper explores the current science of engagement in distributed settings, presents up-to-date data, discusses how AI can both enable and hinder engagement, and offers strategic guidance for

The Paradox of Progress Artificial Intelligence has quietly become the operating system of modern life — filtering resumes, approving loans, writing code, and diagnosing patients. Yet as AI grows smarter, human trust is shrinking . According to a 2025 KPMG global survey, 61% of people worldwide are wary of trusting AI systems , and only 41% of Americans  say they’re comfortable relying on them — well below the global average.¹ This paradox reveals a widening gap between AI’s