Episode Details

In episode 258, Coffey talks with Blair Doran about the “Great Flattening” of middle management, AI adoption in HR, and the thawing job market's impact on employee retention. 

They discuss the Great Flattening and the causes of middle management cuts; the risk of losing institutional culture and coaching capacity when middle managers are eliminated; poor selection criteria for promoting individual contributors into management roles without leadership training; AI adoption shifting employee self-service away from managers and freeing them for strategic work; HR's evolving role in understanding business operations rather than acting purely as a compliance gatekeeper; state-level AI employment law developments in Colorado, Illinois, and New York amid federal disparate impact uncertainty; confidentiality and trade secret risks when employees use AI for brainstorming and content creation; a recent study comparing passive AI cut-and-paste use versus active AI collaboration on employee engagement and output quality; job security concerns and the thawing job market's effect on long-tenured employee retention; and proactive employee engagement strategies to prevent turnover before it becomes a retention crisis. 

For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we've created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP258 

Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.  

If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.  

About our Guest: 

Blair Doran is the founder of Good HR, a consulting firm that helps small and mid-sized businesses build practical, people-focused HR programs that support growth while staying compliant. With more than 15 years of HR experience, Blair partners with leadership teams across a variety of industries on everything from employee relations, compliance, benefits, compensation, and leave management to recruiting, manager development, and organizational strategy.

What sets Blair apart is her ability to make HR approachable. She believes HR shouldn't just be about policies and paperwork—it should help businesses make better decisions, build stronger teams, and create workplaces where employees can do their best work.

As a trusted advisor to business owners and executives, Blair is known for bringing a practical, real-world perspective to today's workplace challenges, helping organizations navigate everything from complex compliance issues to evolving workforce trends.

When she's not supporting clients, Blair enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and toy poodle, Teddy, on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Blair Doran can be reached at:

https://goodhumanresource.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairdoran

https://www.instagram.com/goodhrllc/

About Mike Coffey: 

Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher. 

In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business. 

Imperative delivers in-depth employment background inv