In this week's episode, Jenni and Chuck unpack the uncomfortable truth behind repeated workplace policies, the widening AI proficiency gap, and why simple acts of appreciation remain the most overlooked retention strategy.

Home Depot's Groundhog Day RTO Announcement Home Depot just announced corporate employees need to return to office five days a week starting April 6th - except they already announced this exact policy in January 2025. Stanford's Nick Bloom reports 17% of companies are on their third RTO policy. When you have to announce the same thing twice, is it a communication problem or a compliance problem? We explore why employees called leadership's bluff and what this says about credibility and culture.

The AI Proficiency Crisis After three years and hundreds of millions in AI investment, Section's survey of 5,000 knowledge workers reveals: 90% of the workforce doesn't know how to use AI effectively, yet 50% think they're proficient. The gap between perception and reality is the real problem. Meanwhile, 25% don't know what to use AI for, and manager support for AI dropped 11% since May 2025. We discuss the shadow use of AI and whether companies are really this naive.

Chief Communication Officers Hit $1M+ Salaries CCO compensation now reaches $900K-$1M, with nearly half earning seven figures. More than half command $5M+ budgets, and 70% increase in direct CEO reporting lines since 2023. But here's the catch: one-third still haven't defined their AI-driven communications approach. Internal comms is the second most desired trait when hiring, yet it still takes second fiddle to corp comms and media relations in actual focus.

The Retention Crisis Is Here Only 1 in 4 employees feel appreciated at work. 34% are actively job hunting. The talent retention crisis everyone predicted after the pandemic is here—and worse than forecast. The fixes aren't complicated: recognition, appreciation, connection. These cost almost nothing, yet companies aren't doing them. We explore why organizations penny-pinch on what matters while CEOs collect seven-figure packages.

• Repeating announcements signals policy failure, not employee non-compliance
• The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well in AI adoption
• High salaries don't automatically translate to strategic leadership
• Simple recognition programs outperform complex retention strategies

Why Home Depot Keeps Announcing RTO https://flexindex.substack.com/p/why-co-working-is-booming-again

The AI Proficiency Report https://www.sectionai.com/ai/the-ai-proficiency-report

Korn Ferry Survey Reveals Chief Communications Officers' Rising Influence and Compensation in 2025 https://www.kornferry.com/about-us/press/korn-ferry-survey-reveals-chief-communications-officers-rising-influence-and-compensation-in-2025

2026 Engagement and Retention Report https://www.achievers.com/resources/white-papers/2026-engagement-retention-awi-report/

Substack CEO bombs Decoder interview https://youtube.com/shorts/RCdJGq_VXTo?si=26VDsqyRIsof-839

In this episode of Frequency, Jenni Field and Chuck Gose start with a deceptively simple question: where are all the good industry events? That conversation quickly opens up a wider reflection on whether the internal comms and employee experience space has hit a point of stagnation — and what it would take to bring the right people together for deeper, more meaningful conversations.

The episode moves into weightier territory with a discussion sparked by Shel Holtz’s open letter to PRSA, calling on the organisation to take a stand on ICE operations in Minneapolis. Jenni and Chuck explore the ethics of neutrality, the idea that silence is itself a decision, and the responsibility professional bodies have to model the values they expect communicators to uphold.

From there, Jenni brings in a Harvard Business Review article urging leaders to get off the “transformation treadmill.” Together, they unpack why constant transformation often signals deeper systemic problems, and why addressing root causes, rather than reacting to symptoms, is the real work leaders tend to avoid.

Trust takes centre stage with a frank critique of the Edelman Trust Barometer. While the data highlights growing insularity, grievance and distrust, Jenni and Chuck question whether the proposed solutions offer anything genuinely new, and whether organisations are willing to do the uncomfortable, personal work that trust actually requires.

The episode closes with a look at Gartner’s predicted workplace trends for 2026, including AI, systems thinking and the growing role of HR in risk and readiness. They debate whether these are true trends or hopeful predictions, and why process expertise, not tech obsession, is likely to matter most.

As always, they end with their Freak Outs of the week, covering everything from wills and “death wishes” to wellness retreats, rebranding Vegas as self-care, and the importance of stepping back to reflect.

Thoughtful, challenging and quietly provocative — this episode asks leaders to slow down, look harder, and stop pretending the answers are new.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• An Open Letter to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) from Shel Holtz on LinkedIn
• Get off the transformation treadmill
• The danger of insular trust mindset
• 9 Trends Shaping Work in 2026 and Beyond
• Resist & Unsubscribe

In this episode of Frequency, Jenni Field and Chuck Gose kick things off with a surprisingly revealing conversation about bread — and quickly land on a much bigger question: when recognition misses the point, what does it say about how organisations really value people?

That idea becomes a thread running through the episode, as they move into a frank discussion about performative communication. Using recent ICE-related events in the US as a backdrop, they explore the growing pressure employees are putting on leaders to take meaningful, visible stands, and why cautious, logo-signed “de-escalation” statements often feel more like corporate self-protection than leadership. Jenni and Chuck question what employees are actually asking for, and whether silence, symbolism or collective action carries the most weight.

From there, the conversation turns to meetings — why they continue to frustrate people, and what role AI realistically has in fixing them. While tools like AI note-takers and summaries can help with accountability, they argue the real issue is capability, not technology. Poorly run meetings, unclear purpose and a lack of facilitation skills won’t be solved by automation alone. Better meetings still matter — especially for trust, debate and decision-making — and cutting them entirely is not the answer.

This leads into a wider challenge around AI adoption and productivity. As leaders increasingly point to AI’s potential impact on GDP as justification for rapid rollout, Jenni questions whether economic upside is the right — or sufficient — argument. They unpack research showing many organisations are using AI without investing in training or redesigning how work actually gets done. The risk, they argue, is treating AI as a cost-saving shortcut rather than a capability shift. Without strong foundations, clear processes and proper enablement, AI won’t fix broken systems — it will simply amplify them.

The episode then tackles Amazon’s latest round of layoffs and the way employees discovered the news through internal errors. Jenni and Chuck reflect on what moments like this signal about leadership control, humanity and trust — and why how information is shared matters just as much as what is shared.

Finally, they react to reports that AI company Anthropic destroyed large quantities of books to train its models, raising uncomfortable questions about ethics, ownership and optics — especially when legality, public perception and values collide.

They close with their Freq Out of the week, sharing candid reflections on conference speaker rejections, feedback that stings, and why rejection isn’t always a signal that your work isn’t needed — sometimes it’s just redirection.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

• Tech workers push CEOs to condemn ICE as Minnesota CEOs issue a “de-escalation” letter https://www.axios.com/2026/01/26/tech-workers-ceos-ice https://www.axios.com/2026/01/25/minneapolis-shooting-ice-target-3m-ceos-letter
• The LinkedIn post that inspired the bread conversation
• Dropbox bets on AI to fix meetings and protect time
• HR Dive: AI could boost GDP, but only if employees are trained
• BBC: Amazon layoffs confirmed after an internal email error
• Ars Technica: Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to train AI
• Remote Work by Chris Dyer and Kim Shepherd (not Scott)