HR and L&D Leaders Predict the Top 5 Challenges for 2026.

Wiley surveyed 1,500 HR and L&D leaders to learn what the 5 most anticipated challenges of 2026 will be, and it’s no surprise that ‘continued change’ topped the list. But we also noticed a glimmer of hope for a new normal and a desire for a return to the caring culture that prioritized both employee wellbeing and the bottom line.

1. Change Isn’t Slowing Down. We found that many people lack confidence in their organization’s ability to adapt to change but nevertheless feel optimistic about their futures with the company. Leaders have an opportunity to harness this momentum and bring their people into their decision making with transparency and trust.

2. Organizational Culture Crisis. This new era has people fighting rush hour again, many balancing multiple jobs without the necessary reskilling. With challenging budget constraints, many organizations moved dollars away from learning and development which has left employees without the tools needed to lead, connect, and learn effectively in this new environment.

3. Communication Still Lacking Despite Being Top Skill to Lead. A lot of what makes change hard to cope with is a lack of transparency, especially when it feels like things are constantly happening without any insight or forewarning. Culture takes a huge hit when it feels like changes (such as strategy pivots, work model updates, reorgs, etc.) keep happening to people, not in collaboration with them. Showing your people that you value, trust, and care about them through transparency can be a big morale booster as you navigate the upcoming year.

4. Technology Education Must be a Priority. Getting clear on how you want your people to use technology tools and training them on how to do that will help you cut through the noise and start seeing results. Striking a balance between using the latest technology strategically while also keeping things human (which is the core of any business) is the key to success.

5. Existing Optimism Can Be Used to Elevate Engagement. There is optimism for the future and concerns about engagement. 73% of our respondents reported feeling optimistic about their organization’s future, but 30% flagged engagement as a top challenge. This year will be critical in re-engaging your workforce and leveraging the optimism that exists and turning it into action.

Wiley’s suite of professional solutions provides a structure and common language to help empower entire organizations with the skills needed to get to the next level. I can provide you with demos to build better teams with The Five Behaviors®, creating engaged, collaborative, and adaptive cultures with Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™, or making confident hiring decisions with PXT Select®. Just DM me and we’ll strategize.

Use the Five Behaviors tool to build teamwork across different backgrounds and cultures!

Use the Five Behaviors tool to build teamwork across different backgrounds and cultures. This will:

* Build trust across leaders from different backgrounds and perspectives. Vulnerability-based trust helps leaders overcome biases and value each other’s perspectives. 

* Manage conflict constructively by embracing diverse opinions. Your leaders learn to engage in healthy debates where differences enhance decision-making. 

* Strengthen commitment to shared values of inclusion and equity. Your leadership teams can co-create commitments that integrate diversity into strategy and culture. 

* Reinforce accountability for inclusive practices at leadership levels. Ensure that your leaders model inclusive behaviors consistently. 

* Focus on results that reflect collective performance and innovation. Your leadership teams will focus on enterprise-wide results where inclusion drives innovation and growth. 

DM me for more info!

Empowerment is easier than you think!

What does empowerment really mean? Wiley Workplace Intelligence has looked at this and come up with some useful findings:

-Empowerment used to simply mean that someone had the skills, and the permission, to act autonomously at work. Often the result of long-term relationships and trust-building, empowerment developed over time.

-Today, empowerment in the workplace looks very different than it did before the pandemic. There is a surprisingly simple tool managers can use to foster it: clarity. Nearly half of employees (48%) ranked clarity as the most important factor in their sense of empowerment. This finding reveals that uncertainty, not only a lack of authority, can be a major barrier to action. Even the most capable and motivated employees may hesitate to take initiative if they’re unclear about expectations, goals, or decision-making boundaries.

-Quality of relationships outweighs tenure in fostering empowerment

-Hybrid environments have necessitated more intentional communication, which may be accelerating trust-building and strengthening relationships faster than in traditional settings.

-Remote Work Boosts Empowerment. Flexibility and autonomy, hallmarks of remote work, shape how empowered individuals feel in their roles. and feel trusted by their organizations.

-42% of employees report feeling empowered but don’t act on it. These individuals, what we call “latent leaders,” possess the mindset and potential to lead, innovate, and drive change, yet remain on the sidelines. This gap suggests that empowerment alone isn’t enough; without the right conditions and encouragement, even confident employees may hesitate to step forward.

Wiley’s suite of professional solutions provides a structure and common language to help empower entire organizations with the skills needed to get to the next level. From building better teams with The Five Behaviors® and improving understanding to create engaged, collaborative, and adaptive cultures with Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ or helping you make confident hiring decisions with PXT Select®, Wiley has innovative solutions that help make the workplace a better place.

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Build individual and organizational capacity to make the most of teamwork in your organization

Get certified to create a lasting impact on your team members’ and organizational performance by adding The Five Behaviors® Certification to your portfolio!

In this two-week course combining live, instructor-led sessions with self-guided online learning, you will build your confidence and expertise in delivering impactful Five Behaviors® learning experiences that help build a culture of teamwork. Upon successful completion of the course work (including a score of 80% or above on the final Certification exam), you will earn the credential of The Five Behaviors Certified Practitioner— signaling proven competence in shaping engaged, cohesive, and high-performing teams—and knowledgeable in the language of The Five Behaviors.

Let me know you’re interested and find upcoming dates here: https://www.karengeiger.com/the-five-behaviors-facilitator-certificationkg.

Build your culture's teamwork one team member at a time

In the modern workplace, team members must navigate an environment that is in constant flux. That’s no easy task, and employees must be flexible, socially adept, and relationship-savvy in order to navigate interpersonal challenges and achieve collective gains within and across their teams. But solid teamwork doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s not necessarily an innate skill. Teamwork must be developed and practiced—and it requires the right framework in order to thrive. The Five Behaviors® Personal Development can be your solution for building a culture of teamwork. Call me for more info or a demo assessment!

Introducing The combined Five Behaviors® Facilitation Kit!

If you want to build a culture of teamwork in your organization, you can get certified in The Five Behaviors content, and The combined Five Behaviors® Facilitation Kit is now live! Bringing together both Personal and Team Development in a single kit, it will give you the flexibility to deliver the right solution for any organizational need.

What’s in the new kit?

 1. Team Development for building cohesive intact teams:

-1- and 3-day facilitation guide with videos and activities

-Customizable PowerPower® Point Slides

-Annotated Facilitator Reports

 2. Personal Development for building a culture of teamwork:

-Half-day facilitation guide with videos and activities

-Customizable PowerPoint® Slides

This combined Kit only costs $1,495 (previously $2,990) and you'll have what you need to lead sessions to build a common language around teamwork. It comes in downloadable or usb formats - DM me today to get one in your 2023 budget!

Build a culture of cohesive teamwork throughout your organization!

You can build a culture of cohesive teamwork in your organization and here's how! You can get certified to deliver engaging and impactful Five Behaviors learning experiences in your organization. The certification is a 2-week immersive experience that combines live, instructor-led sessions with self-guoded online learning and you will leave with:

- a deep understanding of The Five Behaviors model and key principles,

- the full Five Behaviors solution portfolio: Team Development and Personal Development

- confidence from practice with facilitation techniques with feedback from your peers

- access to Wiley's Online Training Center which you can continue to access after the course ends.

- once you pass the exam, you will earn the title of Five Behaviors Certified Practitioner which you can take with you to any organization.

The cost is $2,495 with no continuing annual fee. Message me to register for a session in 2023 or 2024!

The Five Behaviors® Personal and Team Development Solutions Together For the First Time!

We are excited to share that The Five Behaviors® Personal Development and Team Development solutions are available together in one facilitation kit for the first time ever. This incredible value provides everything you need to bring The Five Behaviors to everyone in your organization to build a culture of teamwork that drives results.

The new combined kit includes:
· Team Development for building more cohesive intact teams
    § One- and three-day facilitation guides with videos and activities
    § Customizable PowerPoint® slides with updated branding
    § Annotated Facilitator Reports
  · Personal Development for building a culture of teamwork starting at the individual level
    § Half-day facilitation guide with videos and activities
    § Customizable PowerPoint® slides with updated branding

Contact me to purchase the new combined kit.

Existing kit holders – we have great news! If you are already a Team Development or Personal Development kit holder, you can access both solutions, with the updated content, via the product registration site. Make sure you have registered your kit to gain access to the combined kit.

Make Teamwork your Strategic Focus

Many people see team building as a touchy-feely activity away from work. Actually, it is a critical strategy to achieve results. The Five Behaviors Suite of tools helps your organization introduce Patrick Lencioni’s model and relate it to their work, their personalities and their teams. You will see results almost immediately.

We are now on multiple teams, we are working differently due to advances in technology and globalization, and we need to create cohesive teams quickly to enable results. This tool uses Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions model and applies it to each individual, who can then disperse the key takeaways throughout their organization.

The Five Behaviors Personal Development profile was designed specifically to work for individuals; participants do not all need to be part of the same team. Rather, participants can carry the takeaways of this program from one team to the next, enabling a culture of teamwork. Learners at all levels of an organization can benefit from this program and adopt its powerful principles, shape behaviors, and create a common language that empowers people to rewrite what it means to work together.

It can be delivered virtually or in person and each person's profile is personalized to them and how they show up on any team they are on. Call me for a demo or for more information.

Build your Impact Portfolio in 2023!

Build your professional portfolio in 2023 - earn your certification in The Five Behaviors®.  This prepares you to deliver engaging and impactful Five Behaviors® learning experiences that help build cohesive teams. In this two-week immersive experience that combines live, instructor-led sessions with self-guided online learning, you will: 

  -Deepen your understanding of The Five Behaviors model and key principles.

-Familiarize yourself with the full Five Behaviors® solution portfolio: Team Development and Personal Development.

-Explore how to build, customize, and deliver impactful Five Behaviors learning experiences to address unique team development training needs.

-Practice facilitation techniques while receiving feedback from peers in a supportive environment.

-Gain access to Wiley’s online training center, connecting you to course content that you can continue to access as a resource after the course concludes.

Upon successful completion of the exam, you will earn the credential of The Five Behaviors Certified Practitioner, signaling proven competence in shaping engaged, cohesive, and high-performing teams—and knowledgeable in the language of The Five Behaviors.

Courses begin in February and here are the first few:

1. Opens February 23, 2023. Live sessions 2/27, 3/1, 3/6 and 3/8 from 3 to 5pm EST.

2. Opens March 10, 2023. Live sessions 3/14, 3/16, 3/21 and 3/26 from 10am to 12pm EST.

3. Opens April 7, 2023. Live sessions 4/11, 4/13, 4/18 and 4/20 from 2 to 4pm EST.

#certification #teamwork

Register now at The Five Behaviors® Certification — Karen Geiger & Associates, inc.!

The Five Behaviors model as a tool to develop your organization's teamwork

What Is The Five Behaviors®? Developed in Partnership with Patrick Lencioni, based on his international bestseller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Five Behaviors® transforms teams through a powerful and approachable model that drive team effectiveness and productivity. 89% of The Five Behaviors learners say it improved their team’s effectiveness.

Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is the definitive guide for building healthy teams. The Five Behaviors model focuses on building skills and understanding in the areas of Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results which provides a common language for your teams as they navigate the ever-changing world of work. Simple, sound, and straightforward— this model challenges teams to rethink their approach when working together.

The Five Behaviors® solutions can help you activate your team’s ability to drive results through cohesive teamwork, whether it is with our Personal Development solution which helps individuals learn the skills they need to “team” effectively on any team and build a culture of teamwork, or our Team Development solution which helps intact teams gain the know-how to work better together.

The Virtual Culture Imperative

Given this pandemic, most of us have shifted to virtual work: creating comfort, boundaries, and functionality in our home spaces, choosing the ways we will communicate and meet, and figuring out what’s most important to communicate while doing our best to manage informal and formal messages.

Creating a virtual workplace where we find ways to bring out the best in each other is now a priority, and it’s not an intuitive skill. It takes guidance, practice, and then more guidance and practice. And with the right leadership, it’s definitely achievable.

In September 2020, Wiley surveyed 2,500 business professionals to better understand the impact of the pandemic on organizations and culture. They ranked skills by importance for virtual work, with these as the top 3:

1. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

2. Social and Emotional Skills

3. Basic Cognitive Skills

And, while 98% of leaders agreed it’s worth their team’s time to develop their social and emotional akills, only 9% strongly agreed that they know how to make that happen.

That’s where we come in. I have a suite of products you can use either with or without my facilitation to develop your virtual teamwork using these principles:

• Everyone is different, so soft skills development must be personalized.

• The learning must take place in a social context.

• The learning must include reinforcement.

I have scripts and content for virtual delivery that will cause your team to bring out the best in each other and have a personalized learning experience. Call me and we can talk specifics!

How to Keep your Top Talent

A 2010 HBR article by Jean Martin and Conrad Schmidt lists 6 mistakes organizations make in focusing on their top talent which has the most impact on results:

1. Assuming that high potentials are highly engaged. The Corporate Executive Board's research revealed that 1 in 4 intends to leave their organization within a year, 1 in 3 admits to not putting all their effort into their job, 1 in 5 believes their personal aspirations are quite different from what the organization has planned for them, and 4 out of 10 have little confidence in their coworkers and even less confidence in the senior team.

2. Equating current high performance with future potential. The "high potential" designation is often used as a reward for an associate's contribution in a current role, but most people on the leadership track will be asked to deliver future results in much bigger jobs. Knowing their aspirations is critical.

3. Delegating down the management of top talent. High potential employees are a long-term corporate asset and should be managed accordingly, not hidden in functional areas managed by line managers.

4. Shielding rising stars from early derailment. The very best programs place emerging leaders in "live fire" roles where new capabilities can and must be acquired.

5. Expecting star employees to share the plan. Under normal circumstances, higher potentials put in 20% more effort than other employees in the same role. Sweetening the bonus pool or differentiating compensation for them makes their rewards in line with their contributions.

6. Failing to link your starts to your corporate strategy. Confidence in their managers and in their firms' strategic capabilities is one of the strongest factors in top employees' engagement. Develop ways to share your future strategies on a privileged basis with your high potential leers and emphasize their role in making that future real.

Tools to engage your stars

Everything DiSC® solutions provide rich, versatile learning programs that offer personal insight for learners at every level of an organization, using a consistent language of DiSC®. Using a research-validated learning model, each solution provides in-depth information including tips, strategies, and action plans to help learners become more effective in the workplace. All Everything DiSC solutions include unlimited access to complimentary follow-up reports and MyEverythingDiSC®, the interactive learning portal exclusive to Everything DiSC.

Tools to discuss future potential

Use the PXT Select assessment for selection, onboarding, development and future potential assessment.

*Get a clear picture of candidate’s thinking style, behaviors, and interests, giving you a meaningful edge in making the right hiring decision.

*Start the selection process on the right foot. Explore an expanding library of job functions to which you can compare candidates.

*Interview with confidence by asking tailored questions and keeping an open ear for “what to listen for” based on a candidate’s assessment results.

*Identify ways to enhance performance and maximize an individual’s contribution to an organization.

*Match people with positions in which they’ll perform well and enjoy what they do.

*Reduce critical turnover and boost employee engagement. 

Tools to engage high potentials with their teams

The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team is an assessment-based learning experience that helps individuals and organizations reveal what it takes to build a truly cohesive and effective team in the most approachable, competent, and effective way possible.Powered by Everything DiSC®, the profiles help participants understand their own DiSC® styles. Bringing together everyone’s personalities and preferences to form a cohesive, productive team takes work, but the payoff can be huge—for individuals, the team, and the organization.