Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly—the weekly newsletter for human resources practitioners, bringing together insights about work, the workplace, and the workforce from various sources.

If you find value in this issue or any of its resources, please share them with your network by using the social media icons at the top of the newsletter.

Have a great week, and I look forward to sharing more ideas in next week’s Edge!

Brian 

Brian Heger is a human resources practitioner with a Fortune 150 organization and has responsibilities for Strategic Talent and Workforce Planning. To connect with Brian on Linkedin, click here.

THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

• Four Resources for Accelerating the Transition to a New CHRO Role | Various Sources | Offers resources for accelerating a CHRO transition into a new role, such as a transition plan, questions the Board asks about talent, and considerations for evaluating the effectiveness of HR team members.

• Using Scenario Planning as Inflation Continues to Rise | Deloitte Reference | Provides a framework of four scenarios that may occur in the context of inflation. Includes responses to each scenario, including human capital responses.

• Employee Retention Risk Assessment Self Audit for Managers | Jo-Ann Garbutt | A template that managers can use to assess their employee retention risk exposure and determine the most effective retention strategies.

• Build a Business Case for Strategic Workforce Planning: Customizable Presentation for HR Leaders | Gartner | A 16-page presentation template that helps HR leaders build a business case for SWP by including tactics ranging from illustrating the benefits of SWP to addressing common stakeholder objections.

• The CHRO’s Guide to The Expanded Role of the Compensation Committee | HR Policy Association | A newly published 16-page paper that provides insights into how the scope of the Compensation Committee continues to expand.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

Four Resources for Accelerating the Transition to a New CHRO Role | Various Sources 

The Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) role continues to be one of the most important in many organizations. Over the last 80 days alone, I have tracked 307 CHRO appointments (hires and promotions) as part of CHROs on the Go. A segment of these appointments is in organizations where the CHRO role is newly created. As CHROs move into their new roles, here are four previously shared resources that can accelerate their transition.  1) Spencer Stuart - New CHRO Playbook: Getting Off to a Strong Start as a New Chief Human Resources Officer. This resource helps CHROs gain momentum through an eight-point transition plan spanning 114-days. 2) Gartner - First 100 Days: A Guide for New-to-role Heads of HR. This reference offers nine steps for accelerating a successful CHRO transition. 3) Deloitte - The Workforce Takes Centerstage: The Board’s Evolving Role, which includes 14 questions that Boards are asking CHROs about the workforce and talent. And given that CHROs effectiveness is significantly impacted by the quality of their team, Jim Shanley's and Marc Effron’s article—4) The CHRO’s Team: What Matters Most—offers five questions CHROs can ask themselves to determine if they have an all-star HR team. Whether you are an aspiring CHRO, new to the role, or an experienced Head of HR transitioning into the position at a new organization, each resource provides helpful insights.

Using Scenario Planning as Inflation Continues to Rise | Deloitte Reference 

As inflation persists, workers’ real wages and buying power continue to decline despite wage growth. In the U.S. alone, consumer inflation is up 8.6% in May 2022 compared to May 2021—its highest level since December 1981. And with little signs of this trend slowing down soon, organizations are increasingly concerned about the impact inflation will have on their ability to attract and retain talent. For one, many organizations have already been struggling to find talent in a tight labor market. Second, while several reports on worker preferences indicate workers place a high value on the non-monetary aspects of an employee value proposition—such as company culture, meaningful work, and flexibility—compensation still ranks high as a driver of the EVP. And in times of economic challenges, compensation is likely to carry even greater weight. A few organizations are implementing various tactics to address this challenge. Lloyds, the biggest bank in the U.K., announced this week that it would give 64,000 of its non-executive employees a one-time bonus of £1,000 (US$1,200) to offset the rising cost of living. As inflation continues, organizations will need to think through other talent responses depending on the scenario that arises. This 17-page deck provides a framework (page 6) of four scenarios that may occur in the context of inflation. The subsequent pages show how organizations might respond to each scenario, including human capital responses. The ideas can also apply to scenario planning in general and not just those driven by inflation.

Employee Retention Risk Assessment Self Audit for Managers | Jo-Ann Garbutt 

As employee retention continues to be a top concern of many leaders, I am reminded of an important quote from Leigh Branham’s book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: “employee turnover is not an event — it is a process of disengagement that can take days, weeks, months or even years until the actual decision to leave occurs.” This quote reflects the often complex deliberation process that workers go through between the time they first think of quitting and the actual decision to leave. This process occurs over time and is informed by various events or “triggers”, such as a change in manager, being passed over for a promotion, and even return-to-office policies, to name a few. And with the employer-employee power dynamic tilted in favor of employees, many workers feel more empowered to make these decisions in a shortened timeframe. As managers proactively identify and act on the retention risks that affect their organizations most, this template by Jo-Ann Garbutt provides criteria to guide these decisions. It includes 18 questions across 5 categories (e.g., employee career interests, work-life satisfaction, etc.) influencing retention risk. The questions represent a self-audit where managers can reflect on their own experience with each employee and focus on those factors in managers' control. A few sample questions include: 1) Do I invite and encourage contrary views to my ideas from this person? 2) Do I understand why this employee has chosen to work here and not at another company? 3) Do I understand if the working environment fits well with this employee's personal and career needs? Managers can use these questions and create opportunities for better understanding aspects of their employees--particularly those that disproportionately influence their employees ' decision to leave or stay with an organization. 

Build a Business Case for Strategic Workforce Planning: Customizable Presentation for HR Leaders | Gartner 

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) is a top priority for many organizations. Yet, many practitioners struggle to implement SWP in their firms. According to research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of 32 HR practices, SWP is among the top three talent practices with the most significant gaps between the importance organizations place on the capability and their ability to deliver it effectively. And while there are many reasons practitioners face challenges when implementing SWP in their organizations, one fundamental reason is difficulty in articulating the business case for SWP. This 16-page presentation template helps HR leaders build a business case for SWP by including tactics ranging from illustrating the benefits of SWP to addressing common stakeholder objections. A few slides to point out include 1) Slide 5 - shows a continuum of workforce planning ranging from talent forecasting (narrow, short-term) to strategic workforce planning (broad, long-term). 2) Slide 11 shows solutions for addressing potential concerns and objections to SWP (e.g., Concern: workforce planning is too static for a changing world. Solution: conduct scenario planning to assess changing talent needs.) Slide 13 includes an illustration of scenario planning. Leaders can leverage this template as they create opportunities to strengthen SWP in their organizations. As a secondary format, here is the PDF version.

The CHRO’s Guide to The Expanded Role of the Compensation Committee | HR Policy Association 

This newly published 16-page paper provides insights into how the role of the Compensation Committee continues to expand beyond its traditional charter. The ideas and learnings are based on interviews with 24 Compensation Chairs, CHROs, and Compensation Consultants across multiple sectors. The paper begins by outlining various factors driving the evolution of the Compensation Committee’s charter, such as institutional investors placing greater emphasis on talent strategy, ESG, and diversity and inclusion, to name a few. A few insights from the report include: 1) New Topics. One of the most common new practices of the Committee is talent management and succession planning for key leadership positions below the C-suite. 2) Meeting Duration and Agenda. Most companies have increased to at least five Compensation Committee meetings per year. Using a mix of in-person and virtual meetings, the average duration of these meetings is approximately 90 minutes, with many companies devoting 20-30 minutes of every meeting to talent; a segment of firms dedicate one or more full meeting sessions a year to talent. 3) Member expansion. While the core members of management taking part in meetings continue to be the CEO, CHRO, Head of Rewards or Executive Compensation, and Corporate Secretary, guests often include the Chief Diversity Officer and Head of Talent, and occasionally the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility. Other ideas are discussed and there is a collection of sample expanded charters/ calendars in the appendix. The guide is helpful to both new and experienced CHROs and those whose work informs the expanded agenda of the Compensation Committee.

CHRO APPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK

This past week, 23 Chief Human Resources Officer announcements were posted on CHROs on the Go – a subscription that provides the easiest way to stay informed about CHRO hires, promotions, and resignations. This week's CHRO highlight is:

• Indeed Names Priscilla Koranteng as New Chief People Officer 

To learn how to gain access to all 23 detailed Chief Human Resources Officer announcements from this past week and +1600 archived announcements, visit CHROs on the Go .

If you are already a member of CHROs on the Go, you can log in to access all announcements and site functionality.

MOST SHARED RESOURCE FROM LAST WEEK

39 Questions Managers Can Use in Their Mid-Year Check-In Discussion with Direct Reports| INSEAD and AIHR 

Includes two previously shared resources (totaling 39 questions) that managers can leverage as they conduct mid-year performance check-in discussions.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

You can see several book recommendations by clicking the image below.

OUR RESOURCE LINEUP

​​brianheger.com provides free access to +1,000 curated articles, research reports, podcasts, etc. that help practitioners drive better business results through strategic human resources and talent management.

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​Talent Edge Weekly is a free weekly newsletter that brings together the best talent and strategic human resources insights from various sources. It is published every Sunday at 6PM EST.