Concerns about the rising cost of healthcare seem to be everywhere these days, from the corridors of Capitol Hill to CEOs’ corner offices.

HR leaders are particularly attuned to how this trend is affecting their workforces and overall benefits strategy. Recent surveys show employers expect health costs to rise by upwards of 9% next year, with many respondents pointing to GLP-1 drugs for weight loss as a top culprit. These medications carry a high list price—around $1,000 a month—but hold promise for effectively treating conditions ranging from obesity to heart disease.

A recent poll conducted among clients of the consulting firm Mercer shows organizations are holding off on plans to cover GLP-1s for weight loss in the future, if they aren’t already doing so.

For more on HR leaders’ hesitancy to expand GLP-1 coverage, keep reading here.—CV

As the director of cultural insights for employee engagement platform Reward Gateway | Edenred, Alexandra Powell understands how data can tell stories. She works with her company and its clients to understand insights revealed in the data and implement practices that can improve employee experience.

But for Powell, the data and the stories are only part of the work. Leaders and managers need help seeing and understanding how their behaviors to their direct reports can impact business outcomes, and she’s passionate about showing them how.

“How do we make that data real for you? How do we translate what is a theory into a practice that will actually cause people to sign up and want more and more and more, and so that’s that combination,” she said.

For more from our conversation with Powell, keep reading here.—AD

You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone…especially when it’s an employee who holds all the niche knowledge needed to work the outdated technology that keeps your organization afloat.

The software industry has a big generational turnover problem on its hands, according to Billy Hollis, partner at Nashville, Tennessee-based consulting firm Next Version Systems. During a Nov. 19 panel at Live! 360 Tech Con in Orlando, Hollis said many executives don’t realize the importance of employees with institutional knowledge.

“You can hire and acquire other people in but, man, they’re going to make mistakes,” Hollis said. “There’s stuff that they don’t know, and if you have enough of that, you will make enough customers mad that it seriously risks your business.”

Greg Rivera, VP of product at CAST, recalled experiencing this dilemma firsthand when he worked at a global mailing-technology company.

For more on the software industry’s generational turnover problem, keep reading on IT Brew.—BM

HR Brew’s new show People Person is here to help you through the biggest challenges in the people ops industry, from managing open enrollment to crafting a great workplace culture. Tune in now, wherever you get your podcasts.