Work in Progress: Deep Dive

Business
Management
Education

Work in Progress: Deep Dive is your behind-the-scenes look at the evolving workplace through the lens of cutting-edge research and real-world insights. Join two dynamic cohosts as they dive into Dr. Jonathan H. Westover's latest articles and research, unpacking the big ideas shaping HR, leadership, change management, and work redesign today.

Each episode blends thoughtful analysis with lively conversation, breaking down complex workplace trends into practical takeaways you can actually use. Whether you're a leader navigating organizational change, an HR professional reimagining talent strategy, or simply curious about the future of work, you'll find fresh perspectives and plenty of "aha" moments here.

Expect candid discussion, occasional debates, and the kind of banter that makes even the densest research feel accessible. Because the world of work is constantly shifting—and this podcast is your guide to making sense of it all, one conversation at a time.

A Conversation about "The Future of HR: Trends, Skills, and Strategy 2026," by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

This segment provides a discussion of the major forces transforming human resources. They discuss the confluence of technology, talent, and organizational shifts—specifically the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence and automation, evolving workforce demographics, and the shift toward globally distributed, fluid work arrangements. They examine the profound impact these trends have on core HR functions, such as recruitment, performance management, and talent development, noting that legacy HR models are insufficient for the emerging reality. Finally, they prescribe a set of evidence-based organizational responses and capability-building strategies—like fostering technology stewardship, promoting ethical AI integration, and reimagining the employee psychological contract—that HR leaders must adopt to drive competitive advantage.

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A Conversation about "How Public Service Motivation, Red Tape, and Job Satisfaction Shape Innovation in the Public Sector," by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

Public sector organizations face persistent pressure to innovate while navigating bureaucratic constraints that often inhibit creativity and experimentation. This article examines the interplay between public service motivation (PSM), organizational red tape, and job satisfaction in shaping innovation outcomes within government and nonprofit contexts. Drawing on organizational behavior literature, institutional theory, and evidence from diverse public agencies, we demonstrate that high PSM can buffer against the demotivating effects of red tape while simultaneously catalyzing innovative behaviors when coupled with adequate job satisfaction. Conversely, excessive procedural burden systematically erodes both satisfaction and innovation capacity, even among highly mission-driven employees. We present evidence-based organizational responses spanning transparent governance reforms, procedural rationalization, participatory innovation structures, and capability-building initiatives. The synthesis reveals that sustainable public sector innovation requires intentional management of the psychological contract, distributed leadership models, and continuous learning systems that honor both accountability imperatives and creative problem-solving.

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A Conversation about "Managing Emotional Uncertainty: Five Leadership Traits That Drive Decisive Action," by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

Leaders today confront unprecedented levels of uncertainty that trigger simultaneous approach and avoidance emotions, creating decision paralysis that undermines organizational performance. Drawing on neuroscience research and a global study of 17,555 individuals across 12 markets, this article examines five evidence-based traits that distinguish leaders who navigate uncertainty effectively: positive change orientation, opportunity framing, uncertainty tolerance, failure fluency, and grounded optimism. Organizations that cultivate these capabilities experience faster decision cycles, reduced regret-based opportunity costs, and enhanced adaptive capacity. The article synthesizes academic research with practitioner insights to provide actionable frameworks for building decision-making excellence amid complexity. Evidence from healthcare, technology, retail, and financial services sectors demonstrates how leaders translate emotional management into competitive advantage through structured experimentation, psychological safety, and deliberate mindset cultivation.

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A Conversation about Designing a Better Hiring Process

This conversation explores article titled "Designing a Better Hiring Process: Strategies to Identify Top Talent" by Jonathan H. Westover, which synthesizes empirical studies to offer evidence-based recommendations for optimizing recruitment and onboarding processes. The author emphasizes the need for organizations to allocate proper resources and establish structure to support effective hiring. Key strategies discussed include developing an exceptional candidate experience through employer branding and user-friendly applications, implementing holistic evaluation methods to mitigate bias, and ensuring a strategic onboarding process to set new hires up for success. This content appears on a website associated with Human Capital Innovations (HCI) and the Human Capital Leadership Review, featuring extensive navigation links related to research, academic resources, and various other offerings from the organization. The overarching message is to transform the hiring function from a simple task into a strategic growth enabler that yields higher quality hires and lower turnover.

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A Conversation about AI as Collaborative Workplace Partner

This conversation explores the article, "The Evolution of AI as Workplace Partner: From Chatbot Novelty to Strategic Collaborator," by Jonathan H. Westover, PhD, which examines the rapid transformation of artificial intelligence from simple conversational tools to strategic collaborators capable of autonomous planning and complex knowledge work. The article discusses "Agentic AI" systems like Google's Gemini 3, contrasting their multi-step planning and self-correction with traditional reactive AI, and explores the profound organizational and individual consequences of this shift. It stresses that organizations must develop new governance, quality assurance, and human-AI collaboration frameworks to integrate these systems effectively, moving from "human fixing AI mistakes" to "human directing AI work." The extensive references and the context of the Human Capital Leadership Review indicate a focus on the ethical, developmental, and strategic changes necessary for managing human capital in an increasingly AI-augmented work environment.

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A Conversation about the AI Ethics Gap in K–12 Education

This conversation explores the article by Jonathan H. Westover, titled "The AI Ethics Gap in K–12 Education: Why Technical Training Alone Fails Our Teachers and Students" which explores the urgent need for comprehensive AI ethics training for educators. The author argues that while artificial intelligence is rapidly being adopted in classrooms, the majority of teachers lack formal preparation, especially in ethical considerations, which leaves students vulnerable to documented harms like psychological distress and algorithmic bias. The article proposes evidence-based organizational responses to close this training deficit, including governance frameworks, comprehensive professional development, and curriculum integration to ensure sustainable and human-centered AI ecosystems in schools. Surrounding the text are typical website elements like navigation menus for research, academy, and podcast sections, indicating the article is published through a Human Capital Leadership Review affiliated with a larger professional organization.

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A Conversation About "Designing a Better Hiring Process: Strategies to Identify Top Talent," by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

Designing an effective hiring process is crucial for organizations to identify and attract top talent. However, many companies' hiring practices are inadequate and result in suboptimal outcomes. This discussion provides a synthesis of empirical studies and offers evidence-based recommendations for how to design a better hiring process. It discusses the importance of allocating proper resources and establishing structure, goals and accountabilities for the hiring function. Guidance is provided for developing an exceptional candidate experience through employer branding, user-friendly applications and personalized communication. Recommendations are made for holistic candidate evaluation methods and providing constructive feedback. The discussion also reviews the significance of onboarding and implementing a strategic process to set new hires up for success. By systematically applying the discussed strategies grounded in talent acquisition science, organizations can optimize their hiring and onboarding to gain competitive advantages through higher quality hires and lower turnover. The overarching goal is to transform recruitment into a strategic growth enabler.

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A Conversation about AI Reshaping Labor: Myth of the Workless Future

This conversation is about the article titled "The Myth of the Workless Future: Why AI Will Reshape—Not Replace—Human Labor" by Jonathan H. Westover, PhD, likely published in the Human Capital Leadership Review. The article argues against the idea of a fully automated future, asserting that AI will polarize the job market by displacing middle-skill routine jobs while augmenting high-skill work and preserving demand for essential human services. The discussion covers the organizational and individual consequences of AI adoption, including psychological stress and labor market "hollowing." Furthermore, the text evaluates evidence-based responses organizations and society can implement, such as strategic augmentation, proactive reskilling, and social safety net innovations like Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiments, to manage the transition and prevent a bifurcated "stipend society."

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A Conversation about Resilience to Thriving: Building Workplace Agency

This conversation explores an article that argues corporate America's traditional focus on employee resilience has created unsustainable "survival mode" workplaces, leading to chronic stress and burnout. The authors propose shifting organizational efforts toward fostering genuine thriving, defined as the simultaneous experience of vitality and learning. Central to this transformation is cultivating employee agency—the capacity for intentional choice and belief in one's efficacy—which the article supports with evidence-based interventions across several domains. These interventions include strategies for resource stewardship, developing cognitive flexibility through methods like the AIR model, improving procedural justice and communication transparency, and strategically investing in social connection infrastructure and material security. Ultimately, the article contends that transitioning from survival to thriving is not merely an ethical choice but a strategic imperative that enhances performance, talent retention, and long-term competitive advantage.

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A Conversation about the CITO Mandate in the Age of AI

This conversation explores article titled "The Case for a Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer in the Age of AI," authored by Jonathan H. Westover, PhD, and published in the Human Capital Leadership Review. The article argues that organizations often fail to capture value from AI investments because they treat adoption as a technical implementation challenge rather than a holistic organizational transformation. This executive summary and detailed analysis suggest that traditional C-suite roles create a "structural hole" because AI transformation requires dedicated leadership focused on culture change, workforce reskilling, and cross-functional collaboration, which falls outside conventional domains. The author proposes establishing a Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer (CITO) role to bridge the gap between technical AI capability and organizational readiness, citing numerous corporate examples and organizational change literature to support this structural shift. The surrounding elements of the source material indicate it originates from an academic and professional resource focused on human capital and leadership.

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