While the full version of the Best of January issue provides much greater value and contains various insights and supplemental resources, this abridged version is for those who just want easy access to the 16 resources.

I. Work Trends

2024 work trends, CEO outlook, AI in the workplace, remote and hybrid work, and return-to-office mandates study.

• 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | Gartner | Covers 9 work trends and predictions across four themes. Includes a bonus podcast.

• 2024 CEO Outlook Reports | The Conference Board and PwC | Select insights from two CEO 2024 outlook reports, shedding light on talent implications.

• Work, Workforce, Workers: Reinvented in The Age of Generative AI | Accenture | A report, coauthored by Accenture’s Chief Leadership & HR Officer, Ellyn Shook, on how GenAI is impacting the workforce and how leaders can respond.

• Jobs of Tomorrow: Large Language Models and Jobs – A Business Toolkit | The World Economic Forum | A 17-page offering guidance on strategies to help employees adapt and develop alongside AI technologies.

• The Growing Inequality of Who Gets to Work from Home | Harvard Business Review | Shares research on how remote work opportunities are prevalent for certain work segments.

• Return-to-Office (RTO) Mandates | University of Pittsburgh | Explores how return-to-office mandates in a segment of S&P 500 firms impact financial performance and employee sentiment.

II. Talent Practices

Performance management, talent reviews, succession planning, critical roles, the Board’s role in talent management, talent planning, and organizational transformation.

• How Calibration Meetings Introduce Bias into Performance Reviews | Harvard Business Review | Shares ideas for mitigating bias during performance review calibrations. Bonus article provided.

• 4 Secrets to Better Talent Reviews: A People Manager’s Guide | The Talent Strategy Group | Tips to help organizations get better results from their talent reviews. Bonus resource on high-potential identification criteria.

• 11 Succession Planning Questions Template | Brian Heger | An editable template with 11 questions for thinking through aspects of an organization’s succession practices.

• A Template for Identifying Critical Roles Based on Strategic Capabilities | Brian Heger | My new one-page template for identifying critical roles based on the extent to which they enable strategic capabilities.

• Talent Management: An Evolving Board Imperative | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance | Covers talent and workplace topics of interest to the Board. Includes 38 questions.

• Strategic Talent Planning Worksheets | Brian Heger | Includes 3 worksheets for creating a narrative that connects business strategy, talent needs, and talent actions.

• How to Create a Transformation That Lasts | BCG | A new article that offers ideas on enabling both the "what" (strategy and outcomes) and “how” (behavior and mindset) of transformation initiatives.

III. Skills

Becoming a skills-based organization, examples of skills-based practices, and shifting to skills-based hiring.

• The Long but Rewarding Journey to Becoming a Skills-Driven Organization (SDO) | The Conference Board | Provides insights into determining if becoming an SDO is right for an organization.

• Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets | The World Economic Forum | A new report that shares real examples of how organizations are implementing skills-based talent practices.

• Competence Over Credentials: The Rise of Skills-Based Hiring | BCG and Lightcast | Highlights the shift towards skills-based hiring over traditional academic degree-focused recruitment.