The future workplace will require HR leaders to frequently update their decisions, recruit people who have potential but need training and give employees the freedom to excel, says Kim Seeling Smith, CEO of HR consulting firm Ignite Global. "As senior leaders, we need to figure out how to decrease the importance that we place on skills and experience, and open up our blinkers and look for people that have the foundations, that have those innate abilities, those competencies, those strengths, on which we can build skills," Seeling Smith says.

Leaders can create stronger connections within their companies by recognizing the value of employees and being willing to share their experiences with others, Michael Lee Stallard writes. "By engaging in the simple act of conversation, you will be developing and deepening the unseen root system that will make you and those you connect with smarter, happier, more productive and more resilient," Stallard writes.

As baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z mingle in the workplace, leaders "should work to understand the preferences of their audience, use multiple methods of communication, and unite employees across generations by crafting inclusive messaging," writes Angela Ivey of Insperity. Another suggestion: Follow up a formal presentation with a more casual gathering at which the generations can interact.

Nonlinear workdays, in which employees don't work a typical 9-to-5 schedule but instead work in focused bursts throughout the day or evening, are becoming more popular as remote and hybrid work become mainstream. One advantage is that by working more flexibly, workers deliver greater productivity.

US manufacturers added 22,000 employees last month and are continuing to look for workers as factories increase activity. At almost 13 million workers, US manufacturing has reached its highest employment level since the Great Recession, with jobs sustaining a 4% annual growth rate since April.

Fear over "quiet quitting" is leading to the rise in the number of experts on the issue, consultants in corporate culture who are capitalizing on employers wanting a solution and startups, such as Rising Team, which offers a data-driven software solution to build camaraderie. Younger consultants are pitching their ability to help companies understand what motivates Generation Z and millennial workers, while others are touting their charitable-giving solutions to help employees find meaning at work.

Apple's new iPhone 14 may have a sensitivity problem. One odd, but perhaps unsurprising, example is the device's crash detection and subsequent emergency calls being activated as a result of turbulent roller coaster movements. Users have the ability to correct that error on their phones, but that's not exactly the safest thing to do while you're upside down in a loop-de-loop.