Live 2025: Chicago

Recognizing workers for their accomplishments–as well as who they are–is essential to boosting motivation and building a strong corporate culture. How do some employers miss the opportunities to recognize workers in a timely way? What can technology do to help scale recognition across an enterprise by empowering managers at every level? From the worker’s point of view, what kinds of recognition are most meaningful? Do younger workers respond differently that older ones?

Technologies like AI have given TA leaders powerful tools to cast a wide net while screening for the right skills and aptitudes. How have innovative employers made the best use of technology by managing bias in the system, improving the candidate experience, and managing expectations for flexible work arrangements? How can TA leaders respond to use of AI by applicants? What can technology do to help TA leaders take a rigorous and objective approach to judging candidates, while still bringing human connection to the role?

As the cost of health care keeps rising stubbornly, benefits leaders need to be ever-more innovative in finding ways to keep spending under control while serving an increasingly diverse set of employee needs. How are benefits leaders using new tools and approaches toward evaluating their prospective and current providers? What kinds of surveys and feedback methods are they using to evaluate both employee needs and employee experience? What kinds of benefits are increasingly meaningful to workers, including financial wellness, and which ones have proven to be less impactful?

Managers face more responsibilities than ever, thanks to the hybrid work, tight budgets, and shifting organizational needs. How can L&D leaders make the most effective investments to identify where managers need help and then responding with initiatives that work at scale as well as for individual managers? What are the most innovative approaches to supporting young and first-time managers? How is AI taking a role in training managers and helping them solve everyday problems?

While local initiatives to improve childcare gained traction in November elections, the crisis over the cost and quality of childcare calls for a multifaceted approach. What can companies do with limited resources to help ease the crisis, which is swallowing worker paychecks and disproportionately affecting women employees, who take responsibility for caregiving of many kinds? How are some employers trying innovative approaches to on-site care, emergency back-up care, care subsidies, and help in searching their communities for suitable and affordable care?

Digital transformation and evolving business strategies can leave some employees baffled, overwhelmed, or resistant. How can HR executives and talent managers take an employee-centered role in planning changes, defining new roles and responsibilities, communicating change to workers, and measuring the outcomes? How can HR leaders work with C-suite colleagues to ward off unnecessary or counterproductive changes, as well as encouraging feedback and warding off change fatigue?

While putting AI to work has its challenges, the technology can help shift the nature of the HR work from administrative tasks toward greater human connection, innovation, and problem-solving. How have HR leaders successfully launched AI in fields ranging from talent acquisition to total rewards? How does it change the nature of their jobs? Is it likely to fully replace certain roles? What are the pitfalls and how can companies set up guidelines to avoid them? What are the risks, on the other hand, of going too slowly in embracing AI? 

At a time of rising labor costs, HR leaders and their C-suite colleagues need to make sure they’re finding the right combination of productivity-boosters for their workers. What is proving most effective in approaches to new technology, organizational development, as well as improved communication between managers and workers? How can HR leaders build surge capacity into their workforces to avoid see-saw hiring and employee burnout? How can HR and TA leaders become more adept in workforce planning to match the right workers with future organizational needs?

Women hold just 28% of C-suite roles, according to a 2023 Women in the Workplace Report. This is a record high, yet still far from equal representation. So why aren’t there more? How can companies foster a culture that supports women in leadership roles and ensures equal opportunities for growth? What are the most innovative well-being solutions that support the unique needs of women in the workplace? What are the best practices for empowering these leaders and supporting their long-term success?

Corporate leaders talk about the importance of strong culture in setting expectations of performance and team cohesion, but according to research by Gartner, 57% of HR leaders believe managers don’t enforce the company’s culture, while 53% say leaders don’t feel accountable for demonstrating cultural values. How can employers do a better job of spelling out core values that fit the company’s mission, articulating how managers can put them into practice, and be attentive to gaps between the ideal behaviors and the realities in practice?

In widely reported surveys, workers say they’re lonely and anxious–and that their employers don’t care about their well-being nearly as much as they did during the pandemic era. How can employers build more community opportunities for their workers to make connections, offer mutual support, and share insights? What cultural initiatives can companies pursue, as well as technological support to foster new and abiding connections? What new approaches can employers take to support and grow their employee resource groups (ERGs)? 

As Gen Z makes its mark on the workforce, many companies report higher-than-expected turnover and disengagement among their potential rising talent. How can employers connect better with the singular needs of this generation, while taking care not to lump them all in one basket? What can managers do to respond to Gen Z’s desire for rapid advancement? How can employers create stronger programs for training new managers, some of whom need to supervise workers of multiple generations? How can multiple generations in the workforce, including older workers, benefit from connecting with one another?