Some employers are considering increasing health insurance for unvaccinated employees by up to $50 per paycheck because of potential cost risks. "[I]t feels a little better from the employer's perspective to be able to say, 'We're not mandating it, but we want to nudge you along the road to getting vaccinated,'" says Mercer Health's Wade Symons.

Companies such as Shamrck and TheSoul Publishing are embracing asynchronous communication as a way to cut down on meetings, discourage micromanagement and tackle burnout. "Employees should be able to engage in heads-down work at a time that's ideal for them, and answer colleagues' questions on their schedule rather than when interrupted," says TheSoul Publishing's Arthur Mamedov.

Some employers are introducing workplace benefits aimed at helping female staff members through life changes and health challenges. The benefits include pregnancy loss leave, breastfeeding support and child literacy tutoring.

Brainstorming sessions are often too stiff and formal to generate the ideas hoped for, but casual conversations need structure, too. PeopleResults CEO Patti Johnson offers a four-step process for turning informal conversations into ongoing innovation.

NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis had a dance -- called the Squirrel Dance -- that he did before home games during player introductions. The signature dance, which whips his team and the crowd into a screaming frenzy, ends with Lewis throwing his head back in a roar and punching his fist into the air.

That dance -- in particular, the end -- is my reaction to stories about companies successfully tackling meeting overload. As we see in today’s Recruitment & Retention story, organizations like TheSoul Publishing and Shamrck have created ways to end productivity-sapping meetings without compromising communication and collaboration. I’m all for it.

Are you making changes to your meeting culture? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.