Workplace trends

China is increasing its retirement age for the first time in decades

Starting in 2025 and reaching full effect by 2040, China will be increasing its retirement age from 60 to 63 for men, 50 to 55 for women in blue-collar jobs, and 55 to 58 for women in white-collar jobs. This shift comes as the country confronts an aging workforce, declining birth rates, and potential pension fund shortages. The reform follows a growing trend across countries, including France and the Netherlands, where similar measures have been implemented to address demographic challenges. While the decision aligns China more closely with global norms and addresses pressing demographic challenges, it has sparked significant public backlash. Chinese workers have taken to social media platforms like Weibo to voice their frustrations, despite the risks of criticizing government policies, which highlights the profound impact this change will have on the population.

Toxic positivity is undermining trust at work

A survey of more than 27,000 employees revealed that only 15% believe their employer always openly shares challenges, while a survey conducted by Science of People found that 68% of employees reported experiencing toxic positivity in the last week alone. “Glossing,” or toxic positivity at work, which refers to managers’ tendency to downplay issues during challenging times and foster a false sense of security is actually hindering employee growth. HR experts attribute this tendency to anxiety or fear but warn that it leads to guarded, insecure employees who are less transparent about their struggles. In fact, that same Science of People survey found that 75% of employees surveyed admitted to ignoring their own emotions in favor of seeming positive. Ultimately, this facade of positivity has a negative impact on the entire work environment, undermining trust and open communication.

The AI corner

Be careful what you tell your work apps

Employees venting on workplace chat apps like Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, and Slack should beware because these platforms are often monitored by IT admins, HR personnel, and managers. In fact, the introduction of AI has supercharged employers’ ability to surveil workers, including monitoring audio and video calls and proactively examining content in real-time to assess risk and employee emotions. Startups like AskRadae are leveraging ChatGPT to analyze workforce emotional sentiments across all channels, though it claims to do so anonymously. With AI’s growing presence in workplace monitoring, workplace consultants are emphasizing that face-to-face communication remains the safest way to voice workplace complaints.

AI can come up with more original ideas than humans

An AI-powered idea generator produced more original research concepts than fifty scientists, according to a project by researchers at Cornell University. The project saw blind reviewers rate the AI-generated ideas which, on average, they found to be more exciting than those from human participants. While the researchers emphasize that these findings are only preliminary and have yet to be peer-reviewed, the experiment meaningfully contributes to the ongoing exploration of AI’s capacity to generate novel ideas comparable to human creativity. However, despite the results suggesting large language models could produce more original ideas than existing literature, their ability to surpass groundbreaking human concepts remains uncertain.

The key to healthy pushback

80% of employees who have received meaningful feedback say that they are fully engaged at work, per a 2024 Gallup survey. But as a leader, you don’t always have full visibility into the thought processes or strategy behind a given decision, making it more difficult to provide effective feedback. There may be specific reasoning behind why a certain approach was or wasn’t taken, so it’s important to leave room for that transparency and ensure that feedback conversations are not one-sided. To guarantee the strongest decision-making as you go forward, you need to create space for your team members to push back if they think you’re missing something or the solution you’re proposing is problematic.

The challenge? As an employee, the line for appropriate pushback is not always clear. On the one hand, if they accept your feedback as is, they risk coming off as complacent – or worse, not offering any value. On the other hand, too much pushback might make them appear defensive or uncooperative and even make it seem like they’re overstepping.

So, how can you help your team strike the right balance for pushing back constructively?

Note the line between opinion and logic

When it comes to feedback, people push back for various reasons: sometimes it’s because they are genuinely passionate about doing the best job possible, and sometimes it’s more about ego. As a leader, it’s important to encourage your team to regularly do a gut check to determine why they are pushing back. Is it to create solutions that lead to a better outcome for the team? Or is it simply a personal preference? Make it clear that pushback is always warranted when it serves the project goals but not when it’s an individual motive. When your team understands your expectations about when to push back, they can better identify the right moments to do so.

Encourage clarifying questions

Invite your team to push back by first asking clarifying questions about the feedback they are given or giving. This goes for your one-on-one sessions and in daily interactions as a team. Ideally, these questions would evoke an informative response and not simply a yes or no answer. Some examples might be “Why do you see it that way?” or “Can you walk me through your thought process for this approach?” Explain that asking intentional questions delays the urge to jump to conclusions and also makes us better listeners. By deepening their understanding, their replies and potential pushback can be more thoughtful, accurate, and solution-oriented.

Be aware of cultural differences

42% of workers experience stress trying to form responses in the appropriate tone, according to Forbes. And when working on a cross-cultural team, there’s an added chance that messages will be misinterpreted. Some cultures are more direct, which can lead certain team members to feel more comfortable openly stating that they disagree, whereas people from more passive cultures may be more apprehensive about providing honest critiques. And the danger here is that communication sometimes conforms to the dominant culture, stifling diversity. If these gaps go unaddressed, certain cultural differences may be taken badly by other team members and lead to internal conflict. That’s why it’s important to understand where your team members come from, what they value in a conversation, and where you might need to bridge communication barriers.

Demonstrate constructive pushback

As the manager, you set the tone for your team. So, be sure to demonstrate how to push back appropriately by engaging in open discussions with your direct reports. Before you give them feedback in your one-on-ones, make sure to ask clarifying questions and leave room for them to openly explain their approach. This way, you can demonstrate thoughtful, well-informed feedback. And when you offer your two cents in response, ask them what they think about it and whether they believe there’s something else you should be considering to convey that effective pushback requires dialogue.

Give positive reinforcement

If you want your team to feel comfortable pushing back, you need to nurture a safe environment. A great way to do this is by recognizing when your employees push back the right way. For example, if you suggest that your team member change their strategy for completing a project, but realize through conversations that they tried something similar and it didn’t work for specific reasons, commend their preparedness and approach. By calling out these moments, you send the message to your team that their voices matter, and being consistent in your communication on this subject will help maintain trust and engagement.

Water cooler chatter

In the US, there’s been a drop in drug overdose deaths for the first time in decades. National surveys reveal an unprecedented decline of roughly 10.6%, reflecting a stark reversal from the double-digit increases seen in previous years. While the cause of this decrease is debated, health officials attribute it largely to the increased availability of naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, as well as improved access to affordable medical treatments.

Google paid an ex-employee and AI genius $2.7 billion to come back to the company. Noam Shazeer quit back in 2021 when Google refused to release a chatbot he developed. However, when the startup he later founded faced challenges, the search giant wasted no time in bringing him back by acquiring his company. This acquisition highlights the trend of tech giants spending astronomical sums to purchase AI startups primarily for their talent.

Question of the week

Last week’s answer: 94%

This week’s question: What is the record for the longest career with the same company?

Just for laughs