Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #125

Covers HR operating models, identifying hidden talent, talent hoarding, sourcing talent in a remote world, and how the business case for diversity might be backfiring.

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

  • Time to Transform the “Traditional” HR Operating Model? | Egon Zehnder | Offers examples of HR operating models that are alternatives and/or variations to the three-component model adopted by many HR organizations.

  • Tapping into Fluid Talent | BCG | Provides tactics for how organizations can identify hidden talent as they look to meet their talent needs in today's competitive talent market.

  • Talent Hoarding in Organizations | Working Research Paper by Ingrid Haegele | Provides empirical evidence of talent hoarding via a study in a large manufacturing firm.

  • A Roadmap to Sourcing Talent in the Remote World | Gartner | Helps recruiting leaders to identify opportunities for sourcing talent for different roles from an expanded radius of proximity to the office or one of several offices.

  • The Business Case For Diversity May Be Backfiring, A New Study Shows | Fortune | Highlights a new study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showing how linking diversity initiatives to a "business case" can be a turnoff to the underrepresented groups that organizations are trying to attract.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

HR leaders continue to redesign their HR operating models to deliver agile and employee-centric work that is strategically aligned with the business. As HR leaders evaluate various operating models, this article provides five models to consider. The models are alternatives and/or variations to the three-component model adopted by many HR organizations: HR Business Partnering, Centers of Expertise and HR Operations or Shared Services. The five models are determined by a 2x2 matrix: 1) The horizontal axis represents Agility—the ability to adapt and evolve people and processes in unexpected or fast-changing times. 2) The vertical axis focuses on the level of change or transformation an organization is willing to accept. Two of the five resulting models include Double-Hatting: When more speed is needed for implementing HR processes and innovation, some organizations adopt a model that integrates the HRBPs and CoEs role (e.g., HRBP might double up as the HR Lead and Head of Employee Experience). Super CoEs: Instead of embedding the CoEs into the HRBP role as in the double-hatting model, some companies opt for an HR operating model where the COE is not only accountable for building new HR processes and solutions but also for implementing them. While not mentioned specifically in the article, one critical determinant of HR model selection is “size of organization,” which influences the feasibility of implementing certain models. Other ideas are discussed. 

Many leaders continue to express concern about the impact of “talent shortages” on their ability to execute business strategies and priorities. But as I mentioned in previous posts, organizations often overlook “hidden talent” — internal and external talent that have a desire to take on new opportunities and the skills to perform successfully, but don’t fit traditional selection criteria, such as academic degrees, certifications or aren’t sourced through traditional channels. This article offers tactics for how organizations can gain access to hidden talent. Examples include: Alumni and Workforce Returnee Programs. Return-to-work, or returnship, programs that ease the path back into the workforce for alumni and other experienced workers. Global Talent Sourcing: removing location constraints for job openings and opening hubs near attractive talent pools. Hidden Internal Talent: internal talent mobility programs to better match existing employees with internal project needs and job opportunities, unlocking hidden capacity. Freelancer platforms. And, Corporate Borrowing or Buying—where organizations enter a talent-sharing agreement with each other (something I posted about during the pandemic). The authors discuss three ways companies can identify opportunities for unlocking a “fluid talent advantage.” Figure 3 shows five use cases that represent high-value opportunities for many companies. Where is there an opportunity to integrate some of these tactics into your organization’s talent strategy?

Internal mobility—the movement of employees across different roles and opportunities within an organization — is a core component of a firm’s talent strategy. Yet organizations face several barriers to internal talent movement. Ample research suggests that one long-standing obstacle to internal mobility is talent hoarding—a manager’s tendency to prevent or discourage employees from pursuing internal opportunities. According to a LinkedIn Learning report, 70 percent of talent acquisition leaders cite a manager’s reluctance to give up high-achieving employees as the major obstacle to moving employees to new roles and opportunities. And 46 percent of Deloitte’s Human Capital study respondents say that managers resist internal mobility. While few would dispute that talent hoarding hampers internal mobility, there has been little empirical evidence of the impact of talent hoarding on an employee’s decision to pursue internal opportunities. This research paper provides empirical evidence of talent hoarding via a study in a large manufacturing firm. Results show that when managers temporarily stop hoarding talent, workers’ applications for promotions increase by 123%, suggesting that managers deter a large group of workers from applying for opportunities. Although academically written peer-reviewed research papers are not a preferred consumption format of a segment of HR practitioners, drawing from these studies is essential to informing our critical thinking and the resulting talent practices we help develop for our organizations.

According to a new McKinsey paper, “Americans Are Embracing Flexible Work—and They Want More of It,” 35 percent of sampled job holders report they can work from home full-time, and 23 percent can do so part-time. Job seekers also report that “autonomy over where and when they work” is among the top three reasons they are looking for a new job. As remote work continues to become more common, organizations are presented with opportunities for sourcing talent with fewer limitations and restrictions around a geographic location. This Gartner paper helps recruiting leaders to identify opportunities for sourcing talent for different roles from an expanded radius of proximity to the office or one of several offices. Figure 1 shows a spectrum of expanded location options with varying forms of flexibility, such as 1) One Business Location, 2) Expanded Radius From Location, 3) Choice of Business Location, and 4) Location Unbounded. Since managers are often biased when deciding which roles align with the four options of remote work flexibility, page 3 includes four questions recruiters can ask hiring managers to address their biases in assessing remote work feasibility of roles. 1) What activities does this role focus on? 2)  What are the different activities our team does? 3) Which of these activities can be performed flexibly? 4) What activities require employees to be in person, work specific hours or complete work in a defined manner? While different roles and types of work lend themselves to varying degrees of remote work potential, objectively evaluating remote work feasibility can help unlock access to a deeper talent pool.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are often presented as part of a business case for why organizations should make DEI a priority. As referenced in this article, 404 of the Fortune 500 companies included the business case for diversity on their corporate website by suggesting that diversity was important because it would contribute to their profits or bottom line. And while these efforts are well intended, a new study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows how linking diversity initiatives to a “business case” can be a turnoff to the underrepresented groups that organizations are trying to attract. Researchers asked participants of their study, including women in STEM fields, Black college students and LGBTQ+ individuals, to read diversity messages from a fictional employer’s website. The website excerpt either provided the business case justification for diversity suggesting diversity will improve the bottom line, a fairness justification which suggests moral and fairness reasons for diversity or no justification at all. Compared to the other two groups, those that read the business case for diversity reported that they were less likely to feel belonging to the company, more concerned they would be stereotyped, and more worried that the company would view them as interchangeable with other members of their group. As a result, the underrepresented groups were less likely to say they wanted to join the company which used the business case. The findings suggest that promoting the business case for DEI can hinder organizations’ diversity goals. As a bonus resource, I am including a previously shared Harvard Business Review article, Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case, which argues that leaders need to shift from articulating the business value of DEI initiatives to implementing impactful actions.

CHRO APPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK

This past week, 31 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:

To learn how to gain access to all 31 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

Covers ideas on how a tool's ability to differentiate employee potential is less about the "number of boxes" and more about whether the tool facilitates an accurate conversation about an individual's potential. Three bonus articles are provided.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

You can see several book recommendations by clicking the image below. One book I have been referencing this week from my bookshelf is:

Partial View of Recommendations. Click Image to See All Books

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.

CHROS on the Go is a subscription that provides the easiest and most convenient way to stay informed about Chief Human Resources Officer hires, promotions, and resignations in organizations of all sizes and industries.

​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.