Management teams need to learn more about depression and move beyond the current provisional approach to managing employees with the diagnosis, a panel of experts say. Allowing a flexible schedule, simplifying an employee's scope of work and concentrating on positive outcomes are among the strategies for effectively managing employees with depression, the group suggests.

A 2019 report shows that the Department of Homeland Security ranked last among large government agencies regarding workforce engagement, but DHS Chief Human Capital Officer Angela Bailey says the agency is working diligently to improve morale. Bailey discusses strategies the agency has implemented, including the Employee Family Readiness Council, which offers training and resources for mental health, financial wellness and child care, among others.

The KFC Foundation's Kentucky Fried Wishes Program, which launched in the spring, allows employees to be nominated for help with everything from dental work to debt relief. The program allows the organization to "recognize employees who were working hard and who have overcome incredible circumstances and hardships in their lives and are showing persistence and grit," says Emma Horn of the KFC Foundation.

HR departments must change their culture "from stability, harmony and internal line of site to dynamic, tolerance for dissonance and external line of sight" before they can be more agile and business-focused with other stakeholders, writes Wayne Brockbank of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Agility not only requires internal understanding but also having a feel for "underlying social, political and economic trends," he argues.

Away's Steph Korey will remain at the startup after some employees accused her of creating a toxic work culture. Korey, who will lead the company with Stuart Haselden as co-CEO, says stepping aside was best for the company in the moment, but the board ultimately felt it wasn't the right decision.