Infographic: Your Employees Are Already Using AI – You Just Don’t Know Which One

This infographic explores the growing reality of “Shadow AI” in the workplace, where employees are already adopting AI tools independently due to unclear organizational guidance and governance. It highlights how the absence of a defined AI strategy creates exposure across privacy, intellectual property, and compliance risks, while contrasting unmanaged AI usage with a governed, purpose-led approach built on transparency, clear boundaries, and collaboration. The piece ultimately positions trusted AI governance not just as a risk mitigation strategy, but as a competitive differentiator for modern organizations.  

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Workforce Management in the Age of Unknowns

Most workforce management strategies are built for predictability. Maybe that’s the problem. In 2026, that thinking may now be a liability as the defining WFM challenges instead seem to be managing what dashboards can’t show you, AI workforce transformation is reshaping headcount decisions, data trust, and risk, as the modern workplace slowly becomes a human-AI hybrid—part judgment, part automation, part AI assistant. These changes will permanently alter the workforce, as a slow, sequenced cut moves through organizations from function to function, quarter by quarter, until organizations look fundamentally different from the way they did 10 years ago. So far, US job losses tied to AI have hit approximately 100,000 in the last 6–12 months, with companies like Amazon shedding 30,000 employees since October 2025, not […]

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Guest Podcast: HR Superstars – How to Create Manager Programs That Stick with Nicole Roberts

Leadership training is one of the most common investments organizations make, but it is also one of the easiest to get wrong. Many companies track attendance, but few measure whether managers actually lead differently afterward. In this episode of HR Superstars, Karina Young sits down with 3Sixty Insights’ Nicole Roberts, to discuss how to design leadership development that managers actually use in their day-to-day work. They explore how HR leaders can identify the right problems before launching training, measure leadership effectiveness in real time, and help managers apply new skills immediately. Nicole also shares practical ways to strengthen leadership development, even with limited resources. Listen to the full podcast here: How to Create Manager Programs That Stick with Nicole Roberts

Infographic: Kansas City Royals + Dayforce – A Payroll Transformation Case Study

This infographic examines how the Kansas City Royals navigated a complex payroll transformation with Dayforce amid seasonal workforce fluctuations, unionization, and multi-state compliance demands. Rather than simply migrating systems, the organization rebuilt payroll and HR workflows from the ground up, resulting in a smooth go-live and measurable operational gains. The case highlights how the right technology strategy can reduce administrative burden, improve compliance visibility, and elevate payroll leadership into a more strategic business role.

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Analyst Insight: Building Cultures of Trust in the Age of AI

There’s a significant connection between attracting and retaining top talent and compliance. The Great Place to Work’s trust model emphasizes that employees experience a “great workplace” when they trust leadership, feel pride in their work, and experience camaraderie with colleagues. Leave, pay accuracy, and policy consistency are crucial at the crossroads of trust, fairness, and respect. When issues such as missed payments, unclear rules, or poor communication arise, employees don’t view them as simple compliance errors. Instead, they perceive them as a breach of trust, leading top talent to leave quietly. Based on these practices, it can be assumed that people choose to stay with or join companies that do things well, and employees gravitate towards companies that pay attention. At the end of the […]

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Analyst Insight: Takeaways From Our State of HR Compliance Survey with Mitratech

Across a recent 3Sixty Insights survey of 500 respondents, sentiment about HR and organizational health looked strong on the surface. While 75% of respondents—with 2 in 5 (38%) employed in HR—said they were satisfied with HR’s performance and their company’s ability to stay on top of compliance, beneath the surface, there’s a growing disconnect between how prepared organizations feel and the true complexity of today’s compliance landscape. Although most respondents were satisfied with their ability to manage HR compliance, 1 in 4 were not, and 71% reported that their compliance needs had increased over the past 2 years. Continue Reading:

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Benchmark Report: State of HR Compliance 2026 – Benchmark Findings on Confidence, Complexity, and the AI Effect

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Across a survey of 500 U.S. professionals involved in HR and HR-related decision-making, organizations report strong confidence in their ability to manage HR compliance. Nearly three-quarters of respondents say they’re satisfied with how well their organization stays on top of compliance requirements, and overall sentiment regarding HR performance and organizational health remains positive. Still, this confidence masks a growing tension. Over the past two years, more than half of respondents (71%) say their HR compliance needs have increased, and nearly one in four report that keeping up with compliance has become harder. This disconnect between perceived readiness and rising complexity reflects a familiar risk management challenge. Organizations are effectively managing the compliance issues they can see, while new risks emerge in less visible […]

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The Growing Gap Between Vendor Messaging and Organizational Reality

At 3Sixty Insights, we have a dedicated practice focused on HR, Benefits, and Payroll. Over the past several years, we have seen a clear shift in how organizations in this space position themselves in the market. The messaging has evolved beyond helping companies become more effective and efficient, expanding into themes centered on improving employee experience and building stronger workplace cultures. Conceptually, this evolution makes sense. There is no shortage of research supporting the idea that engaged and satisfied employees are more productive and contribute more meaningfully to organizational success. It is a logical progression in messaging, and one that resonates with buyers. However, over time, I have found myself increasingly questioning whether some of these organizations are truly operating in alignment with what they […]

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Analyst Insight: UKG Report on AI and the Frontline Workforce

I really liked this recent report from UKG, More Perspectives from the Frontline Workforce, which echoed topics CEO Jenn Morgan raised during UKG’s Analyst Day, where she didn’t shy away from the stark challenges facing the US economy and workforce today. UKG’s report surveyed 8,200 frontline employees across 10 countries, covering topics including AI, workplace challenges, and job satisfaction. The report recognized that the needs of frontline workers often differ from those of office-based workers. It’s a valuable reminder that employee experience conversations can skew too heavily toward desk-based work, even though frontline roles make up a substantial share of the global labor force and underpin most essential services. The data on structural burnout presents a familiar yet increasingly urgent issue. In 2024, about 75% […]

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Case Study: Turning Time & Attendance into a Strategic Asset

What You Need to Know Mergers and acquisitions are a powerful growth strategy, particularly from a workforce perspective. Acquiring an established business allows a parent company to inherit an experienced workforce in a new territory rather than building one from scratch. Yet acquisitions also introduce significant complexity. Policies differ. Pay structures vary. Benefits and scheduling practices may conflict. Long-tenured employees who have earned preferred schedules or enhanced vacation accruals can suddenly feel penalized for circumstances outside their control, putting retention and morale at risk during a critical transition period. Many organizations approach this challenge by rapidly standardizing policies across locations. While consistency can support fairness and compliance, moving too quickly can erode trust and disrupt the employee experience. The organization featured in this case study […]

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How Social Media and Behavioral Insights Are Helping Employers Detect Misconduct Before Day One

All business leaders have been there: a candidate looks great on paper, so you invest in hiring them, but once on board, they fail to meet expectations. 50% of today’s workers are digital natives, and with this number expected to increase to 75% over the next five years, most organizations still rely on outdated screening methods—résumés, interviews, and post-offer background checks—that are ill-equipped to capture behavioral red flags that often appear online but not on paper. From disclosing company information to violating safety protocols to harassing others, new hires with less visible issues, such as intolerance, tardiness, or substance abuse problems, can misalign with company policies or culture, jeopardizing your team’s productivity or your brand image. In-person interviews can fall short when you need to […]

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Case Study: The Kansas City Royals’ Case for Dayforce’s Single HCM Platform

Professional sports organizations face workforce complexities that few other industries encounter. The Kansas City Royals are no exception, managing a highly dynamic workforce that includes full-time and seasonal staff who train, travel, and compete in different locations and jurisdictions. To address these operational and compliance challenges, the Royals modernized their human capital management environment by implementing the Dayforce single HCM platform. In 2024, 3Sixty Insights captured the vendor selection and implementation process of the Royals’ new application. Now, in March 2026, 3Sixty Insights connected with Senior Director of Payroll Operations for the Kansas City Royals, Jodi L. Parsons, CPP, to ask: how has Dayforce performed in real-time reporting, with more data, and at an affordable cost? Parsons, who oversaw the organization’s transition to Dayforce, continues […]

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Analyst Insight: From Automation to Orchestration – How Phenom Is Rebuilding the Hiring Stack as Adaptive AI Infrastructure

Phenom Looks Toward Hiring Infrastructure Phenom unveiled a sweeping architectural overhaul at IAMPHENOM 2026 in Philadelphia and showed off results that showcase the true effectiveness of AI in HR workflows. Phenom opened this year’s IAMPHENOM user conference by pitching a philosophy rather than products. The company’s core question, executives said, wasn’t “how do we automate more?” but “what should be automated, and when should we pull back?” AI perceives patterns and relationships at a level people can’t reach, providing an opportunity to meld machine-driven data and analysis with human thought and decision-making. That environment, Phenom believes, leads to better outcomes in recruiting, onboarding and talent management. Judgement is important in this. Organizations need to consider what they should automate before deciding how it should be […]

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Why Some Restaurants Win and Others Struggle

For the better part of the last decade, Wednesdays have followed a simple pattern in my household. Somewhere between the workday winding down and the week feeling just long enough, my family and I head out to dinner. It is not a special occasion, not a celebration, just a routine. And over time, that routine has turned into something more valuable than I expected. It has become a lens into the restaurant industry at its most honest point. Wednesday is not a peak night. There are no built-in excuses. No surge of weekend traffic to mask operational issues. What you see on a Wednesday evening is, more often than not, the reality of a restaurant’s performance. What stands out is how stark the contrast has […]

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Research Agenda: Bridging Leadership and Labor – 3Sixty Insights’ 2026 Combined Workforce Agenda

The future of work is no longer a theoretical concept touching artificial intelligence, remote work or skills transformation. Instead, it has become an operational reality at a time when managers are stretched beyond capacity, employee engagement is declining, compliance complexity is growing, labor markets are leaning toward employers even as companies struggle to find talent, and technology systems are expanding faster than organizations can implement governance. Across industries, leaders recognize that their primary challenge is not adopting new tools, but learning how to operate differently. The next phase of workforce transformation is defined less by innovation itself than by execution—how organizations translate technology, strategy and people practices into measurable outcomes. Research emerging from 3Sixty Insights, informed by the work of analysts Nicole Roberts and Dylan […]

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Analyst Insight: California Labor Laws and Compliance: Burden, Benchmark, or Competitive Advantage?

In more than one phone call with customers, vendors, or other analysts in the HR technology industry, I’ve heard the claim that it’s hard to do business in the state of California. According to these conversations, the state is riddled with unnecessary compliance requirements, too many hoops to jump through, a mountain of litigation risk, and constant rule changes. Business groups frequently cite labor and wage compliance requirements as part of a broader, burdensome business environment. So I decided to take a look. Is the situation in California really as out of control as people claim? Fact vs. Fiction To start, there is a significant kernel of truth behind these claims, especially when compared to the rest of the United States. California’s 2026 statewide minimum […]

#HRTechChat: David Edwards on the “Last Mile” from Data to Decisions

In this episode of #HRTechChat, Nicole Roberts (Senior Analyst & Advisor, 3Sixty Insights) is joined by David Edwards—strategic workforce planning practitioner, advisor, and author of The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook—for a candid conversation about the gap between SWP theory and the messy reality of execution. David explains why strategic workforce planning still suffers from an identity crisis (too many definitions, too many expectations), and why organizations keep getting trapped in short-term thinking that freezes out long-term capability building. Together, they unpack why chasing “perfect data” can be just as risky as oversimplifying, and why the real skill leaders need—especially as AI accelerates planning inputs—is judgment: knowing what’s decision-grade, what matters most, and what to do next. The conversation also tackles the evolving role of managers, […]

#HRTechChat: Aman Kaur-Shaik on Why AI Adoption in HR Starts with Knowledge, Data, and Culture

In this episode of #HRTechChat, Dylan Teggart speaks with Aman Kaur-Shaik—HR Director at Nutrien, member of the 3SixtyInsights Global Executive Advisory Council, and a 2024 Global Top 100 HR Executive—about what it really takes for organizations to adopt AI successfully. Aman explains why the biggest barrier to AI adoption isn’t the technology itself, but the environment organizations have built around it. From fragmented knowledge bases and outdated policies to inconsistent data and unclear guardrails, many HR teams are trying to layer advanced AI tools on top of systems that were never designed for them. Together, they explore why the hype around AI is beginning to settle, how HR leaders can move from experimentation to practical adoption, and why starting with strong knowledge management and data […]

Infographic: California Compliance – What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

California is increasingly operating under labor structures that require employers to manage compliance with far greater precision than federal standards alone. Higher minimum wages, daily overtime thresholds, and strict meal and rest break requirements mean compliance is no longer just a policy exercise, it is a direct payroll and operational consideration. Missed breaks and improperly tracked time can create immediate financial exposure, while daily overtime rules require more intentional workforce scheduling. For organizations expanding into or operating within California, compliance readiness now depends on accurate timekeeping, disciplined payroll execution, and HR infrastructure capable of supporting these elevated regulatory expectations.  

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Market Alert: The EU’s New Pay Transparency Directive

The EU Pay Transparency Directive is a new set of rules that says companies operating in the European Union must be more transparent and consistent about pay, particularly to reduce unfair pay gaps, most notably gender pay gaps. Instead of pay being a bit of a “black box” where people only find out if they’re underpaid by accident, or after years, the directive pushes pay into the open in a few practical ways: Job seekers get pay info earlier: When you apply for a role, the employer has to tell you the pay range or starting pay early in the process, likely in the job posting, or at least before interviews. The idea is to reduce wasted time and end the guessing games in which […]