Nine To Thrive HR

After surveying over 1,000 HR leaders, AbsenceSoft's 2026 State of Leave and Accommodations report revealed that the nature of leave and accommodations requests has fundamentally shifted in ways most compliance professionals aren't prepared for. For the third year running, caseloads continue climbing, but it's not just the volume that's changed. The types of requests employees are making, the tools HR teams are using to manage them, and the compliance risks lurking in seemingly helpful shortcuts are creating a perfect storm. If you're still managing your programs the way you did three years ago, or if you think AI is just a future concern, this conversation will change how you think about risk, resources, and what it takes to stay compliant in 2026.

Host Cindi Koetzle welcomes David Ly, CEO and Founder of Iveda, for a practical conversation on how AI is moving from buzzword to business-critical tool in HR, learning, and operations. Drawing on more than two decades in AI-powered video and vision technology, David explains why AI is suddenly “everywhere” now—affordable computing power, accessible interfaces, and off-the-shelf solutions—despite having been in the background of our lives for years in tools like streaming recommendations and automated data organization. He and Cindi explore how AI can transform onboarding and training by using video, computer vision, and augmented reality to capture best practices from tenured employees, provide real-time guidance to new hires, and act as a “force multiplier” for coaches and trainers. They also tackle employee concerns about job loss, reframing AI as a shift in roles rather than a replacement for humans, and discuss how better training, fewer errors, and faster support ultimately improve customer experience and ROI.

Host Cindi Koetzle welcomes Robert Hargrove—author and founder of the Harvard Leadership Research Project, Masterful Coaching. Hargrove offers a window into his current experiences of HR practitioners existing in organizations' pre strategic business partner model. A bold reminder to continue the work of capability building to prepare, partner and perform alongside the business to elevate strategic HR roles into trusted, collaborative and valuable players. After Hargrove shares his observations of underutilized HR professionals, they talk change management, crafting a shared vision and building alignment—the latter demanding far more time, intention, and relationship-building. If you are interested in learning more about the Strategic Human Resource Business Partner model certification course, check us out at hci.org

On this episode of Nine to Thrive HR, host Cindi Koetzle chats with Kerry Hecht, Founder and CEO of 10K Humans, to explore the powerful intersection of market research and HR. Drawing on decades in an empathy-driven research field and her experience as a small-business owner, Kerry explains how customer insights translate into people strategies: attracting the right candidates, strengthening engagement, and retaining talent. The conversation unpacks why validated feedback loops matter, how employee engagement correlates with customer satisfaction, and what to do about common pitfalls—stakeholder bias, “respondent fatigue,” and the gap between stated values and lived experience. Kerry highlights the rise of personalization at scale through data and technology, and offers practical ways HR can borrow from research playbooks—continuous listening, iterative refinement, and persona development (including AI-assisted personas) to bring workforce data to life. Whether you’re designing programs, influencing senior stakeholders, or steering change one “toothpick turn” at a time, this episode delivers actionable ideas to make organizations more human-centric and competitive.

What can HR learn from a company with 350,000 independent agents and 8,000 employees spread across 100+ countries? In this episode of Nine to Thrive HR, host Cindi Koetzle sits down with Tanya Reu-Narvaez, Chief People Officer at Anywhere Real Estate—the umbrella behind brands including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby’s International Realty. Tanya shares how the organization moved from 92% in-office to a remote-first model and, counterintuitively, became more connected. She unpacks the practices that broke down brand silos—enterprise learning, cross-company teaming, ERGs with 20% active participation, “Focus Fridays,” and a common culture codified as The Anywhere Way—and how those choices drove retention to a five-year high. The conversation also explores reimagined onboarding via the new People Hub and practical wins with GenAI (think job descriptions in minutes), plus what’s next: “Next-Level HR,” a shift to People Enablement, human-centric leadership, and skills-based talent strategies. It’s a field guide to building connection at scale—remote, hybrid, or otherwise.