Human Resources
Talent, pay, policy and culture, chosen for the HR leader who has to answer for them on Monday.
Human Resources at The First Click is written for the people who own the workforce question: talent and hiring, compensation and benefits, workplace policy, and culture and engagement. Three stories a weekday at 11, each summarised in our own words and linked to the publisher. We favour the story that changes a decision over the story that confirms one: a survey with a number a compensation head will be asked about, a policy experiment that will be copied badly, a departure that says something about retention at the top. Artificial intelligence runs through most of them now, as a tool the workforce already uses whether or not the policy has caught up. The editor’s note under the day’s lead says why we chose it, and the Friday Funny lane keeps the stories that prove the point by making you laugh.
Every story we have kept in Human Resources, newest first. Headlines link to the publisher; the tags below narrow the list.
What Too Much Screen Time Is Doing to Your Peace of Mind
Constant digital stimulation and notifications increase hyper-vigilance, fracture attention and disrupt sleep, the piece argues, recommending screen-free zones, micro-detoxes and tracking tools to protect employee wellbeing.
Editor's noteWellbeing coverage tends to arrive as advice. This one is worth leading on because it names a mechanism rather than a mood: constant notification keeps people in a vigilance state that costs attention during the day and sleep at night, which makes it an operational problem, not a perk.
Should we all be taking low doses of lithium to prevent Alzheimer’s?
New research is exploring whether low-dose lithium, particularly lithium orotate, could help prevent or slow Alzheimer’s disease. Promising animal studies have led to an upcoming human clinical trial, but effectiveness remains unproven.
I turned to AI when my doctor couldn’t fix my back pain. It actually helped
A Fast Company columnist used Google Gemini to supplement treatment for persistent back pain, finding value in personalized guidance and symptom management. The article explores the promise and limitations of AI as a healthcare companion.
Editor's noteA columnist’s back pain and a chatbot that helped between appointments is an anecdote, and it led Human Resources anyway, because your employees are already doing this: symptom tracking, questions at two in the morning. The question for HR is whether benefits design knows, and whether the health plan has a view before an employee acts on one.
The four-day week myth: Why AI won’t reduce workloads
AI-driven efficiency is unlikely to automatically shorten working weeks, as organizations typically reinvest productivity gains into additional output, raising expectations and workloads unless leaders deliberately redesign how work capacity is used.
Editor's noteAI will not deliver a four-day week; it will deliver a five-day week with more in it, because every efficiency gain before this one was reinvested in output, not returned as time. Adeline Segaux says it before the pitch decks catch up, which is why it led Human Resources. Hours come down only when a leader decides they will.
