A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser
extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your
connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser.

“Quiet quitting.” “Coffee badging.” “Workcations.” We’ve all heard workplace buzzwords like these (and maybe recognized the behaviors they describe). These terms for burnout and disillusionment have spread like wildfire on TikTok and other social media platforms since the pandemic upended workplace norms.

But HR leaders often don’t give these concepts much credence. A new survey found that nearly 40% of HR professionals said they felt uninterested in buzzwords, and 52% felt curious, but cautious.

Should companies pay more attention to this language that satirizes the very structures they rely upon? The study, from research and advisory firm McLean & Company, says yes—with some caveats.

Nobody wants their company to undergo a “Great Resignation” or their workforce to be plagued by “resenteeism.” So when new buzzwords surface, senior leaders often turn to HR for guidance, while employees might want to see their experiences validated and addressed, said Grace Ewles, a director at McLean’s HR Research and Advisory Services. The first step is to investigate, she said.

“When we’re buying a car, we want to do our research,” Ewles said. “It’s the same thing when we’re hearing about buzzwords.” When a new one pops up, HR leaders should “take that opportunity to step back and really understand what’s driving that buzzword,” she said. 

Ewles advises leaders to ask themselves: What does the buzzword mean in the context of our organization? Leaders should review internal data—such as employee engagement surveys or focus groups—to validate or disprove the phenomena described by the buzzwords. Often, the behaviors referenced can be a signal of larger problems.

If the data shows some validity, such as high levels of burnout or a desire for stronger work-life balance, it’s a signal that there’s something to learn from the buzzwords, she said. 

The big question is, what can be done about it? “I think it really comes back to having employee listening strategies,” Ewles said. “Making sure that we have a pulse, that we have that two-way communication with employees.”

Once the research and listening is done, it’s time for concrete action.

Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media
kristin.stoller@fortune.com

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

Goodbye fat salaries and luxurious office perks: In the “hard tech” era, work life has changed drastically at Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies—and employees aren’t happy about it. New York Times

Want a higher salary and access to more jobs? Avoid these 10 U.S. cities. CNBC

Watch what you say on that Zoom meeting: AI notetakers are listening in (and causing headaches for some workers). Wall Street Journal

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

Safety first. Gen Z is ditching college for “more secure” trade jobs, even though white collar office jobs—and these others—are less deadly. —Orianna Rosa Royle

Strategic shift. Doomsayers predicted that AI would kill the consulting business. But Accenture CEO Julie Sweet has positioned the company to cash in. —Lila Maclellan

Degree dodgers. Gen Zers without a college degree are leading the side gig economy—and may someday become your boss. —Orianna Rosa Royle

This is the web version of Fortune CHRO, a newsletter focusing on helping HR executives navigate the needs of the workplace. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.

A US district court judge has approved Drake’s motion to subpoena a man his lawyers claim “possesses knowledge” in his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group.

Judge Jeannette Vargas of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Drake‘s “motion for alternative service” on Kojo Menne Asamoah, allowing the rapper’s legal team to serve legal papers to Asamoah and his business ventures.

The rapper’s attorneys claimed they have spent $75,000 trying to track down the witness. According to the latest court document, which you can read in full here, the rapper’s team made 11 attempts to serve Asamoah at various addresses, hiring both process servers and a private investigation firm.

Despite weeks of surveillance across multiple locations, investigators could not locate Asamoah in person, prompting Drake’s request for alternative service methods, according to the court document filed August 6.

The approved service methods include mailing copies of the subpoena to five physical addresses connected to Asamoah, his family members, and business ventures. Drake’s team can also email the subpoena to three addresses linked Asamoah, which attorneys confirmed remain active.

“Plaintiff alleges that Mr. Asamoah ‘possesses knowledge relating to UMG’s use of covert tactics to promote the Defamatory Material.’”

Jeannette Vargas, US District Court Judge

Judge Vargas wrote: “Plaintiff alleges that Mr. Asamoah ‘possesses knowledge relating to UMG’s use of covert tactics to promote the Defamatory Material, including because Plaintiff believes that Mr. Asamoah was involved in directing payments and/or financial incentives from UMG to third parties involved in online botting for the purpose of artificially inflating the streaming numbers of the Recording.’”

The ruling is part of Drake’s high-profile defamation case against UMG, filed in January, over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us, arguing that UMG “decided to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”

Lamar’s music is distributed by UMG’s Interscope label, while Drake is signed to UMG’s Republic Records.

In April, Drake amended his lawsuit with new claims targeting Lamar’s Not Like Us performance during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. The 107-page filing now references the NFL’s decision to censor the words “certified pedophile” from the performance in February. Drake’s legal team argued that while the televised performance censored the word “pedophile,” no other modifications were made.

“Plaintiff believes that Mr. Asamoah was involved in directing payments and/or financial incentives from UMG to third parties involved in online botting for the purpose of artificially inflating the streaming numbers of the Recording.”

Jeannette Vargas, US District Court Judge

The halftime performance, broadcast by Fox, was the most-watched of all time, with 133.5 million views, according to Billboard.

UMG described Drake’s defamation suit “one absurd legal step after another.” The music giant pointed to a pattern of legal actions by Drake’s team, noting that proceedings initiated “with much fanfare and bluster” in Texas last November were “quietly dropped” in April.

UMG also highlighted that Drake has withdrawn certain allegations from his original January filing, potentially to avoid court sanctions for “asserting false allegations.”

The music company filed a motion to dismiss the amended lawsuit in May, arguing that the lyrics are “nonactionable opinion and rhetorical hyperbole” rather than assertions of fact.

In a statement issued to MBW in May, a UMG spokesperson slammed “the hundred-plus page ‘legal’ blather written by Drake’s lawyers”.

They added, however, that UMG “remain[s] committed to propelling Drake’s career while maintaining our unwavering support of all our artists’ creative expression. Drake’s included.”

About a week later, a group of academics urged the court to dismiss the case against UMG, arguing that taking rap lyrics as factual threatens freedom of speech and risks a miscarriage of justice.

Four scholars, all linked to the University of California–Irvine, warned of “the harms that arise when courts treat rap lyrics confessions or factual representations,” according to a proposed amicus brief on May 14.

Music Business Worldwide