Hello HR Pros,

Hope your Labor Day weekend was all R&R—because this Tuesday, we’re jumping back in with a crisp batch of insights to reboot your leadership brain.

From the unexpected power of stay interviews to AI’s surprising edge in hiring, from fixing broken meetings to finally appreciating the older (and wiser) generation in the workforce—this edition is about rethinking what really drives teams forward.

Let’s dive in ✨

📰 Upcoming in This Issue

• 🎤 Why Smart HR Leaders Are Betting Big on Stay Interviews

• 🤝 Better Together: Quantifying the Benefits of AI-Assisted Recruitment

• 📅 Our Favorite Management Tips on Leading Effective Meetings

• 👵 Gray Matters: Why Older Workers Are Essential for Talent Success

✨ Helpful Links

• 🎁 Top HR tools & offers curated for 60,124 The HR Takeaways readers

• ⚙️ Free guide: Best resource management solutions every HR should explore in 2025

📣 Trending HR News

• Musk's xAI sues engineer for allegedly taking secrets to OpenAI (Reuters)

• 1 in 3 hiring managers won’t hire workers who don’t have AI skills (Fast Company)

• US restaurant chain removes Pride, DEI pages after online backlash (CNN)

• 57% candidates have quit an application before finishing (LiveCareer)

🎤 Why Smart HR Leaders Are Betting Big on Stay Interviews

Exit interviews are like smoke alarms after the fire—too little, too late.

This intriguing and insightful article explores why forward-thinking leaders are shifting their focus to stay interviews: candid, trust-building conversations that surface issues before talent walks out the door.

At Peer AI, these check-ins happen every six months, zero prep required, and start with a simple opener: “You’re incredible. How can we support you better?”

With 42% of employees saying their company could’ve done something to make them stay—and over 50% actively looking for new jobs—stay interviews aren’t just helpful, they’re essential leadership tools.

Key Takeaways:

• 🛑 Exit Interviews = Missed Moments: 72% of companies wait until it’s too late—feedback after departure is nearly useless.

• 🎯 Retention ROI: Turnover costs 30–200% of annual salary per employee—stay interviews are a low-cost, high-impact fix.

• 🧠 Peer AI’s Playbook: No-prep, trust-first stay interviews surfaced issues like unclear job titles and mission visibility—then fixed them.

• 📊 A Trend Leaders Can’t Ignore: Adoption of stay interviews jumped 13% in one year, signaling a fast-growing shift in retention strategy.

Read the full 1,832-word article here from Signal Fire

🤝 Better Together: Quantifying the Benefits of AI-Assisted Recruitment

AI isn't just saving time in recruiting—it’s reshaping who gets hired and how.

This intriguing and insightful study by Stanford University put 37,000 real job applicants into a controlled experiment: traditional resume screening vs. AI-powered interviews.

The result? AI-assisted candidates were 60% more likely to pass final interviews and 6% more likely to land a job five months later.

Even better? AI flagged skill exaggerations on resumes—21% of candidates claimed expertise in tech they couldn’t demonstrate in conversation. Turns out, chatbots might be better judges than bullet points.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧠 Quality Over Claims: AI flagged 1 in 5 candidates for inflating skills like React, JavaScript, and CSS on their resumes.

• 🚀 Fast-Track to Hires: AI-selected candidates had a 20 percentage point higher success rate in human-led final interviews.

• 💼 Job Offers, Faster: 40% of AI-track interviewees found new jobs, compared to just 23% from the traditional track.

• 📊 Better Interviews, Period: AI-led interviews scored 2.4 points higher in conversation quality than human ones—and with more consistency.

Read the full 7,736-word article here from Stanford University

📅 Our Favorite Management Tips on Leading Effective Meetings

Let’s face it—most meetings could’ve been emails... or at least, better run.

This intriguing and actionable article curates the sharpest tips from HBR’s Management Tip of the Day archive and delivers exactly what every team leader needs: clarity, strategy, and a whole lot less “this-could-have-been-an-email” energy.

From avoiding meeting hangovers to using curiosity as your secret weapon, it’s a masterclass in making meetings not just bearable—but productive, inclusive, and actually worth the time on your calendar.

And yes, that includes hybrid ones, too.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧠 Curiosity = Focus Hack: Let participants define the meeting’s purpose in one sentence—it increases engagement and keeps sidebars in check.

• ⏳ Bad Meeting = Long Hangover: Low-quality meetings hurt morale and productivity after they end—structure and prep can stop the drain.

• 🪑 Hybrid? Fix the Culture First: 54% of meetings are hosted by just 10% of employees—train them well and the ripple effects are real.

• 📈 One-on-Ones Are Overused: For execs, move ops updates to “capability meetings”—free up time for strategy and alignment.

Read the full 1,230-word article here from Harvard Business Review

Can payroll be both affordable and reliable?

Q&A:

Q: Is it expensive to run payroll here every month?
A: No—Patriot Payroll’s base plan starts at just $17/month, with a small per-person rate that keeps your costs predictable and low.

Q: Will handling taxes give me headaches?
A: Patriot automates federal, state, and local tax withholding and forms, reducing your compliance burden and risk of penalties.

Q: Do employees still bother HR for pay details?
A: Unlikely—their self-service portal gives instant access to pay stubs, tax docs, and deductions.

See how stress-free payroll can be—try Patriot Payroll for free.

👵 Gray Matters: Why Older Workers Are Essential for Talent Success

AI might be the buzziest thing in business—but it’s not the biggest workforce disruptor.

This intriguing and insightful article spotlights a quieter crisis: a looming global talent shortage fueled by the underutilization of older workers.

By 2030, we could be short 85 million skilled workers—and nearly one-third of the gap stems from people aged 55–74 leaving the workforce.

The kicker? 90% of these workers still want to work—but employers aren’t ready for them.

Key Takeaways:

• 👥 Perception Gap: 70% of older workers feel passed over for promotions and projects—while 80% of leaders think they’re valued.

• 📉 Hiring Blind Spot: Only 29% of companies have recruiting strategies aimed at Baby Boomers—despite many being ready to rejoin the workforce.

• 🧠 Expertise Ignored: Employers undervalue older workers' institutional knowledge by 4x—and their subject matter expertise by 8x.

• 🕰️ What They Really Want: Flex hours (49%), remote work (41%), and predictability (33%) matter far more than promotions or leadership tracks.

Read the full 1,720-word article here by Lorrie Lykins

The bottomline

If the long weekend left you refreshed, let this week’s reads leave you recharged.

Whether it’s plugging talent gaps, redesigning recruitment, or simply making meetings not suck—every article here offers a shift in thinking.

Because sometimes, leveling up leadership starts with asking different questions.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to check the curated HR tools & offers 🎁 specially for The HR Takeaways readers!

Until next time 👋