☕ The Coffice Revolution + Why Europe's AI Adoption Lags Behind

Inside This Issue:

Bonjour from UNLEASH World in Paris!

We're on the ground this week catching the latest in HR innovation, and if there's one thing that's crystal clear from the conversations here, it's that the employee experience landscape is splitting in fascinating ways.

On one side, we're watching remote workers quietly revolutionize where they work best (hint: it's not always home). On the other, we're seeing a widening Atlantic divide in how organizations are tackling AI adoption. Both trends underscore the same truth: employees are telling us exactly what they need, and the organizations that listen first will win.

We've also got updates on human intelligence making a comeback, the surge in CSR-driven team building, and an urgent wellness wake-up call from the UK.

If you're here in Paris and want to connect, drop us an email, we'd love to grab a coffee (or set up shop at a nearby coffice).

Featured Insights:

Beyond the Commute: Why the ‘Coffice’ is the Remote Worker’s New Sanctuary for Focus and Flow

The data is in, and it's official: your remote employees aren't working from home, they're working from the local café. New research reveals why the "coffice" has become more than a trendy portmanteau; it's a strategic third place solving the isolation, distraction, and motivation challenges that home offices can't. F

rom the science of ambient noise (50-70 decibels is the sweet spot for creative cognition) to the psychological power of routine and low-stakes social accountability, cafés are quietly fueling productivity in ways traditional offices and spare bedrooms simply can't match.

Read the full article.

AI Readiness Gap: European Employees Trail North America in Adoption, Trust, and Manager Support

Europe has an AI problem, and it's not technological, it's cultural. Fresh research from Perceptyx shows European employees are lagging significantly behind their North American counterparts in AI adoption, trust, and manager enablement.

Only eight percent of European workers say their organizations are fully leveraging AI (compared to 17 percent in North America), and nearly one in five Europeans want to use AI but haven't been given the tools or training.

The issue? Organizational silence. European employees don't trust AI-driven decisions are fair, and managers aren't equipped to guide teams through the transition.

For EX leaders on this side of the Atlantic, this is your wake-up call to prioritize transparency, manager enablement, and equity before the divide widens further.

Read the full article.

Fresh off the Press

Stay current with key headlines and announcements from across the industry.

• Workhuman at UNLEASH World: The Next Frontier of HR Is Human Intelligence

• Bridging Purpose and Productivity: Why CSR Team Building is the New Mandate for Employee Engagement

• Urgent Wake-Up Call: HR on the Brink as UK Wellbeing Crisis Eclipses Employee Engagement

From Our Vault

Vision without execution is just noise. This piece explores why every organization needs a "prophet"—an internal champion who translates big-picture strategy into teachable, actionable processes. When employees are trained by leaders who connect daily work to broader company goals, engagement soars and turnover drops. Worth revisiting if you're rethinking how you develop and retain internal talent.

Read the full article.

The Extra Point

Here's a pattern we're seeing across multiple stories this week: managers are being asked to lead transformational change, whether it's AI adoption, hybrid work policies, or wellbeing initiatives, without the playbook, training, or support to do it effectively.

Only 57 percent of European employees feel their managers are helping them navigate AI changes. That's not a manager problem; it's a systems problem.

If you're rolling out any major EX initiative right now, ask yourself: have we actually equipped our frontline leaders to execute this, or are we just hoping they'll figure it out?