Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder has implemented several changes to the organization to fix a toxic work culture and improve the team's on-field performance. The changes include appointing his wife, Tanya Snyder, as co-CEO; hiring Jason Wright as the NFL's first Black team president; and hiring Jennifer King as the NFL's first Black female full-time coach.

The global job market has changed irrevocably during the pandemic with structural changes to the economy accounting for high worker demand in some sectors, low demand in others and employees willing to walk away from jobs if flexibility is not on the table. Some of the biggest reasons for worker shortages are people leaving city centers and employees leaving particular industries hit hard by lockdowns, plus working conditions and pay will be key priority areas for employers.

Delayed retirement of staff members is a major problem for employers, writes Marthin De Beer. De Beer notes they should focus instead on providing tools to help team members achieve on-time retirement for their own benefit and to achieve cost savings for the organization.

The Labor Department has awarded City of Refuge in Atlanta a $5.4 million grant for the Tech Transformation Academy, an initiative that will help prepare people for careers in cybersecurity and other technology fields. "Over the next four years, City of Refuge plans to recruit and train 280 individuals from minoritized, unemployed or underemployed demographics across the region," the organization said in a release.

Put yourself in your team members' shoes, ask what kind of information they need and find out what communication style they prefer, writes Scott Eblin. Go on a "listening tour" to understand the "So what?" behind every employee's motivations, so you can focus on clearly answering their questions and meeting their needs, Eblin writes.

Fixing a toxic workplace takes aggressive moves, something that Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder seems invested in, according to our top story today. He made some good hires (making his wife co-CEO was interesting, though), in particular Jennifer King, who became Washington’s running backs coach and the first woman to coach full time in the NFL.

But reform takes time and Snyder isn’t done making changes, I’m sure. Among them, I hope, is a commitment to having a more active presence in the franchise. Twenty-nine days per year is not enough.

What do you think it takes to reform work culture? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.