SHRM26 Sneak Peek: Helping Employees Tame Their ‘Inner Critic’

Self-doubt and imposter feelings can quietly undermine confidence, engagement, and performance at work.

Tina Schust Robinson, founder and CEO of WorkJoy and author of the new book, Developing Your Business Leaders: A Guide to Investing at All Levels (ATD Press, 2026), will share on June 16 how HR leaders can help managers and employees recognize and manage their “inner critic.” She will also present strategies for redesigning onboarding conversations to strengthen engagement on June 17.

The sessions are open to both registered in-person SHRM26 attendees in Orlando and to registered virtual attendees.

Robinson briefly discussed her upcoming sessions with SHRM.

SHRM: How can HR leaders help managers and employees recognize and manage the “inner critic” that undermines confidence and resilience?

Robinson: HR leaders can help managers and employees navigate the inner critic by normalizing it and providing simple tools to recognize and redirect it.

First, normalize the experience. Self-doubt is not a personal flaw. It is a common workplace phenomenon. People begin to feel like imposters when they listen to and believe negative internal narratives about their abilities, even when evidence shows they are capable and successful. When leaders talk openly about their own moments of doubt, it reduces stigma and creates psychological safety for others to do the same.

Second, teach employees to “frame” the inner critic. Encourage people to step back and observe the voice rather than accept it as truth. Managers can ask reflective questions such as: When does this voice get loud? What situations trigger it? Awareness helps people prepare for those moments rather than be controlled by them.

Third, encourage people to “name” the voice. Giving the inner critic a name or character separates it from personal identity and makes it easier to challenge. Language creates distance and restores a sense of control.

Finally, help employees “tame” it through small wins and reframing. Leaders can redirect attention to preparation, learning, and progress rather than perfection. The goal is not to eliminate the inner critic. It is to remind it who is actually in charge.

When HR equips managers with these practices, they strengthen confidence, resilience, and healthy risk-taking across the organization.

SHRM: How can HR leaders redesign onboarding conversations so they sustain the excitement created during recruiting?

Robinson: HR leaders can redesign onboarding by helping hiring managers continue the alignment dialogue begun during recruiting.

Engagement is personal. It requires human-to-human connection, and it grows when leaders talk openly about what the organization offers and what the new employee hopes to contribute and gain.

When onboarding includes intentional conversations about strengths and motivations, expectations and priorities, leaders can align individual needs with organizational goals and sustain the excitement that brought those team members in the door.

HR plays a critical role in guiding leaders through those discussions, building their toolkits, developing their skills, measuring engagement through the employee life cycle, and identifying gaps leaders can close.

Specialty Credential: Talent Acquisition

SHRM: What will attendees take away from your sessions?

Robinson: Attendees will leave my sessions with practical, field-tested tools they can immediately apply, including:

• A normalizing of feelings of “not enough-ness,” that imposter syndrome that affects us all.
• My “frame-name-tame” framework for managing those inner-critic gremlins in ourselves and our team members.
• A reimagined model for engagement that aligns individual and organizational needs and offers four “engagement is personal” onboarding questions to help leaders maintain the momentum from recruiting.