One-on-ones can go from drudgery to delight when you focus on people's challenges, what's giving them energy or draining them and what's affecting their leadership skills, writes Dan Rockwell. "Performance stays the same if all you do is talk about work responsibilities," Rockwell writes.

Many people think creativity is an innate trait that people are just born with -- or not. However, researchers say a new method of teaching creativity called narrative theory can teach people to think like children or artists. The hope is that the new method will drive innovation in new fields and from new kinds of experts.

Negative feedback from a 360-degree review should be seen as useful data on your performance, even if you decide against some of the recommendations, writes Ed Batista. "You need not grant their request or agree with their point of view, but you can empathize with it," Batista writes.

Companies should focus on improving productivity and growth by aligning employees' skills with jobs, setting goals, supporting career advancement and being clear about purpose, writes Josh Bersin. "This is a process of bottom-up 'work design' and building jobs that cluster work tasks in the optimum human way," Bersin writes.

Labor shortages, inflation, rising pay, the lingering pandemic and the war in Ukraine have created another difficult year for employers as they struggle to attract and retain talent, economists say. Trends that will likely continue are low unemployment, increasing wages and unionizing activity.

Employers should be aware of their legal obligations to National Guard and Reserve members who might be deployed, as well as to affected family members. "Many employers do not realize that USERRA applies even if they employ only a few employees," said Elizabeth Voss, an attorney with Dykema in Dallas.

Phased retirement is being offered by twice as many organizations as before the pandemic, according to a Mercer survey of HR leaders. Partial retirements allow employees to reduce hours and workload but keep their benefits while passing on their knowledge.

Technology is starting to play an awesome role in the drive to take surfing to new levels and places. This article spotlights a handful of new SurfTech, including a surf lake and a band surfers can wear that creates an electromagnetic field that protects them from sharks ... but only 65% of the time.