2025 began a bit like a bulldozer. Employees are experiencing burnout and layoff anxiety at all-time highs. Uncertainty causes stress. And we haven’t seen so much of this since the pandemic. Organizations have always experienced challenges keeping employees engaged and productive during the summer months. And this year is no exception. Don’t fret because there are great ways to keep up the momentum of work in the slog of those summer months.

We’re dealing with a time fraught with conflict, and it’s unrealistic to think that the issues the United States and the world face today aren’t affecting your employees. Some may have family members who have lost their jobs. Others might be missing out on key nutrition or special education programs for their children. No matter what the scenario, we’re all facing a difficult time.

If there's one thing to be certain about managing human beings, it's that there will be conflict. We'd also argue that conflict has gotten a bad rap of late. Conflict is essential for growth. Conflict isn't always bad (or always good). And conflict avoidance can be symptomatic of serious problems that might be structural, and/or poor communication.

Oh-those-ever-dreaded-meetings. And how they can suck the life out of your staff and the organization. A easy way to improve employee engagement is by reducing the number of meetings. SHRM reports that over 50% of surveyed workers say that purposeless meetings are the number one cause of fatigue. And we're not surprised. Meeting-itis turned into the corporate world's pandemic. And it crept up on everyone because leaders simply forgot to ask a simple question. "Why?"

We recently read an article in Harvard Business Review that we loved. The author, Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, a Columbia Business School professor, author, and business consultant, writes that during this time when we’re all experiencing angst about geopolitical instability, AI fears, climate stress, layoffs, the looming threat of entering into a recession, and more (Yes. Eggs are still expensive), leaders are “operating in a state of perma-crisis.” Strauss Einhorn asks leaders to take pause and ask these four questions before they make any decisions: