The HCL Review Podcast

This episode exposes how organizations mistake visible behaviors and performance metrics for root causes, remaining blind to the slow erosion of readiness—cognitive load, fatigue, psychological safety, technical debt, and social strain—that precedes failure.

Drawing on resilience engineering, sociotechnical theory, and cross-industry examples, it argues for shifting from reactive, outcome-based monitoring to leading readiness indic...

A randomized field experiment with 316 employees across 42 teams shows that grounded GenAI—AI systems customized with firm knowledge—significantly increases employees' centrality in collaboration and knowledge-sharing networks while boosting productivity and satisfaction. Specialists become more sought-after knowledge hubs, whereas generalists gain larger productivity improvements, revealing heterogeneous, role-dependent effects.

T...

This systematic review of 64 studies shows that shift work—especially night shifts—occupational stress, and prolonged working hours reliably impair attention, memory, executive function, and processing speed via circadian disruption, sleep loss, and stress-related neurophysiology.

Evidence for sedentary work is mixed. Practical recommendations include optimizing shift schedules, limiting consecutive nights and long hours, reducing ...

Abstract: The pursuit of meaningful work has become a central concern in organizational psychology and career development scholarship, yet theoretical attention has focused disproportionately on the presence of meaning rather than its absence. This article introduces the concept of the personal meaning penalty—the cumulative psychological, motivational, relational, and developmental costs that individuals incur when engaged in work...

This episode examines the surge of AI-justified layoffs and argues that managerial short-termism—not technology alone—is driving premature workforce cuts that erode demand and organizational capacity.

Drawing on history and economic theory, it proposes a pragmatic policy path: graduated reductions in the standard workweek, income protections, and employer incentives to preserve employment and translate AI gains into broadly shared ...

This episode explores how compassion—recognizing, empathizing with, and responding to suffering—shapes employee wellbeing and organizational performance. It reviews evidence on the costs of compassion deficits (stress, burnout, disengagement) and the benefits of supportive cultures.

Practical, evidence-based responses are presented: leadership development, psychological safety, team practices, flexible policies, and systems to prev...

Human-centric skills—creativity, resilience, empathy, collaboration, and lifelong learning—have shifted from ‘soft’ extras to strategic necessities. Drawing on the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 and global data from employers, educators, and learning platforms, this episode maps demand and supply, highlights regional gaps, and shows how education and hiring systems often fail to recognize these capabilities.

The ...

AI is reshaping work into partnerships between people, agentic AI, and robots — not simply eliminating jobs. Current technologies could technically automate about 57% of US work hours, but more than 70% of today’s skills span both automatable and non-automatable activities and will therefore evolve rather than disappear. Reimagining end-to-end workflows, not just isolated tasks, could unlock roughly $2.9 trillion in US value by 203...

This episode exposes how industrial‑organizational psychology has long sidelined organized labor, narrowing the field's theories and limiting its impact on worker wellbeing.

It traces historical roots, documents practical harms—from incomplete voice mechanisms to inequitable outcomes—and outlines concrete pathways for repair: collaborative research, bargaining support, curriculum reform, and ethical standards that center workers as...

This episode explains polymathic leadership—practical, cross-domain leadership for modern government. It outlines four core capabilities: cross-domain knowledge integration, systems thinking, technology–human integration, and stakeholder translation, and shows why they matter for tackling wicked problems like climate adaptation, inequality, and pandemic preparedness.

It also offers concrete ways to cultivate these skills—recruitmen...

As AI reshapes professional work, this episode examines how algorithmic systems can both empower and erode human agency—operational, epistemic, and developmental—and why maintaining meaningful control matters for quality, trust, and worker wellbeing.

Drawing on research and policy developments, it outlines evidence-based responses: calibrated transparency, co-design and participatory governance, capability-building for hybrid exper...

This episode examines the steady decline of public confidence in institutions and how the rise of AI intensifies both risks and opportunities for trust. Drawing on institutional theory and research on organizational justice, it outlines evidence-based responses—transparent communication, procedural fairness, capability building, governance and accountability, and psychological contract recalibration—that organizations can use to re...

Abstract: Education stands at an inflection point. Emerging technologies, shifting labor markets, and epistemic turbulence challenge the industrial-era model of schooling organized around discrete subjects, rote mastery, and credentialing. This article examines the conceptual and practical shift toward learning environments structured as immersive "cognitive studios"—transdisciplinary spaces where students engage with authentic, un...

Abstract: Organizational change fatigue has evolved from a temporary stress response into a chronic condition affecting workforce performance, innovation capacity, and strategic execution. Drawing on evidence from organizational psychology, change management research, and neuroscience, this article examines how continuous transformation initiatives—accelerated by technological disruption, market volatility, and post-pandemic reorga...

Abstract: The fourth Anthropic Economic Index reveals a striking paradox in artificial intelligence adoption: despite unprecedented accessibility, AI effectiveness remains tightly coupled to user cognitive capital. Analysis of one million Claude conversations shows a near-perfect correlation (r > 0.92) between the educational sophistication of user prompts and AI responses, suggesting that AI systems amplify rather than eliminat...

Abstract: As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across sectors, organizations face mounting pressure to demonstrate immediate returns on AI investments, often through workforce reductions that outpace actual automation capabilities. This pattern reflects longstanding corporate short-termism rather than genuine technological displacement, yet it foreshadows deeper structural challenges as AI systems mature. Drawing on labo...

Abstract: Organizations invest billions annually in capability development—training programs, operational frameworks, digital tools—yet performance remains inconsistent when conditions shift or pressure intensifies. This discrepancy suggests that traditional skill-based interventions address only part of the performance equation. Drawing on cognitive load theory, affective neuroscience, self-determination theory, and organizational...

This article synthesizes emerging evidence on human-centric skills—creativity, resilience, emotional intelligence, and adaptive thinking—within contemporary labor markets shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), demographic shifts, and geoeconomic fragmentation. Drawing on global employer surveys, workforce analytics, and comparative education data, it examines the paradox whereby these skills are increasingly valued yet systematica...