By Allison Ebner
What to Toss, What to Keep, and How to Step into the Season with Momentum
I’m in the middle of cleaning out my closets at home. Not my favorite job! But there’s something about spring that makes us want to clear things out. Open the windows. Let some air in. Look around and ask: does this still belong here?
The same instinct applies to how we lead people at work.
The workplace has changed in some pretty big ways, not superficially. Some of our oldest HR habits aren’t just outdated. They’re actively working against us. The new rules are already being written. The question is whether your organization is writing them with intention — or holding onto practices that stopped serving you years ago.
Here’s what to throw out, what to keep, and how to use this season as a launchpad for real momentum.
Toss ‘em on the curb!
- The annual performance review as the main event. If the most substantive feedback your managers deliver happens once a year, that’s not a performance culture — it’s a formality. The new rule: build a feedback culture so the review is never a surprise.
- Job requirements that don’t reflect the role. Requiring a specific credential, excessive years of experience or having a wish list of every skill set creates an unnecessary barrier that quietly shrinks your talent pool. Refresh your job postings and hire for what people can do.
- Mandatory fun and catered culture. Pizza parties were never a substitute for genuine connection. You can keep them but know that real belonging is built in how people are treated daily — not in a quarterly team-building event. You can’t cater your way to good engagement.
- The “always on” expectation. Rewarding people who treat exhaustion as a measure of commitment is quietly burning out your best employees. The new rule: results over presence, sustainability over sacrifice.
Keep ‘em in the closet!
- The manager relationship as your #1 retention strategy. The data hasn’t changed in decades: people stay for their manager or leave because of them. Investment in manager development remains the highest leverage and most organizations are still undervaluing this. GAME CHANGER if you get this right!
- Onboarding as a strategic priority. The impressions formed in the first 90 days determine whether someone becomes deeply engaged or quietly checks out. This one stays – and for most organizations, it deserves a serious upgrade.
- The stay interview. Don’t wait for the exit interview to find out why people are leaving. Ask your best people — while they’re still there — what would make them stay. Simple, low-cost, and wildly underused.
- Transparency, even when it’s hard. Employees who feel genuinely informed trust their leaders more and navigate uncertainty better. Honest, regular communication beats managed silence every time.
The Bottom Line
The workplace of 2026 rewards organizations that are honest enough to look at their practices and ask: is this actually working, or are we just used to doing it this way?
The new rules are an invitation, not a threat. The organizations that trade performative culture for genuine belonging, rigid credentialing for skills-based opportunity, and annual rituals for ongoing conversation are the ones building real momentum right now.
The season is changing. Your people practices can too!
Ready to figure out what stays, what goes, and what to build next? Your EANE team is here to help. Visit www.EANE.org or reach out to me for a conversation!