Welcome to Talent Edge Weekly! 

A special shout-out to Alan Susi, Global Head of Organizational Analytics and People Insights, S&P Global, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Alan, for your support of this newsletter!

Have a great week and I hope you find value in this issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

Brian 

Brian Heger is an internal human resources practitioner with a Fortune 150 organization and has responsibilities for Strategic Talent and Workforce Planning. You can connect with Brian on Linkedin, Twitter, and brianheger.com

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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Here is a glance at this week’s content.

• How to Build Candidate Trust During the Hiring Process | Gartner | Covers the critical role that hiring managers, recruiters, and employees play in building trust with candidates throughout the hiring process.

• How To Build a Skills-Based Organization: 10 Steps for HR | Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR) | Outlines 10 steps for building a skills-based organization through three focus areas, including deconstructing work into tasks and skills.

• Learning and Development Playlist | Multiple Resources | Presents five resources for enabling learning and development in an organization.

• Investing in Middle Managers Pays Off—Literally | McKinsey | Shares research on how organizations with high-performing middle managers achieve significantly better total shareholder return. Points to 11 key manager behaviors that are positively correlated with financial performance.

• Podcast: How Generative AI Changes Organizational Culture | HBR IdeaCast Episode 913 | A 37-minute podcast where Amy Bernstein speaks to two experts, Nitin Mittal and Tsedal Neeley, about how to adopt generative AI effectively and ethically within an organization. I share three bonus resources.

And don't forget to check out the 2023 Job Cuts and Layoff Tracker, the Chief HR Officer Hire of the Week, and other resources from this issue.

Let’s dive in!

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

Note: If copying and pasting any of this content for your own purposes (e.g., social media, website, etc.), please provide proper attribution to Talent Edge Weekly and link to this issue.

How to Build Candidate Trust During the Hiring Process | Gartner

As organizations compete to attract and hire top talent, one key factor in securing the best hires is the candidate experience. The candidate experience refers to the perception and feelings of a job seeker regarding an employer and their job application process. While the candidate experience has various touch points, many involve interactions with recruiters, hiring managers, and employees. This article summarizes how these three segments of organizational representatives play a critical role in building trust with candidates throughout the candidate experience. And since only 54 percent of candidates state they trust organizations to be honest with them during the hiring process—particularly regarding role requirements and company culture—organizations who can establish trust with candidates may gain a talent advantage. However, the article emphasizes it is crucial to consider not only the information candidates receive but also who delivers it and how it is delivered. For example, 1) Hiring managers are the most trusted source of information for candidates, so they should be equipped to send personalized messages, focus interviews on aspects of the role where their trust is valuable, and connect with new hires before their start date. 2) Current employees are trusted by candidates, especially at the entry-level, for information about company culture and team dynamics. They should be involved in interactions with candidates to provide authentic perspectives. 3) Recruiters can play a role by actively listening to candidates, aligning their goals with company values, and providing honest and relevant feedback. The article provides specific actions that hiring managers, employees, and recruiters can take to foster trust with candidates throughout the hiring process.

How To Build a Skills-Based Organization: 10 Steps for HR | Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR)

Many organizations are shifting towards skills-based talent practices. However, research by Deloitte reveals that fewer than one in five organizations have fully embraced these practices. To aid HR practitioners in transitioning their organizations to a more skills-based approach, this article outlines 10 steps for building a skills-based organization. These steps are divided into three categories: 1) Building the business case for skills, 2) Deconstructing work into tasks and skills and determining organizational needs, and 3) Managing the transition and change by incorporating skills into HR practices. While each category is crucial and comes with its own challenges, deconstructing work into tasks and skills (#2) remains an area where many practitioners are still seeking guidance. With this as the backdrop, the article includes an image illustrating the process: start with the work to be done, break it down into tasks, translate those tasks into required skills, automate tasks that can be automated, and assign remaining tasks to employees who possess the necessary skills. As many organizations still use jobs as a framework for organizing work, I am resharing a template I created and which helps practitioners begin the process of analyzing jobs and breaking them down into tasks. The template consists of sections to list roles under consideration, the meaningful tasks associated with those roles, the skills required to carry out those tasks, and employees who likely possess the skills to perform them effectively. Although this worksheet has scalability limitations, it serves as an initial step towards developing task-based work planning and skills-based talent practices.

Learning and Development Playlist | Multiple Resources

This one-page PDF includes a playlist of five resources for enabling learning and development (L&D) in an organization. These resources include: 1) 2023 LinkedIn Learning Report. This 52-page report dives into various L&D topics, including internal mobility, upskilling/reskilling, and career development, to name a few. 2) The New Learning Environment by Gartner HR. This 42-page issue includes six articles dedicated to the opportunities and challenges facing the L&D function. And while this issue is focused primarily on L&D, all HR practitioners can benefit from the content as it covers areas related to the entire talent ecosystem. 3) Intentional Learning in Practice: A 3x3x3 Approach by McKinsey. This article provides a “3x3x3 framework” that fosters intentional learning by encouraging learners to 1) define three development goals, 2) over a three-month period, 3) while engaging three other people to support them in those goals. 4) Executing the CEO’s Agenda Through Targeted Learning by MIT Sloan Management Review. This article offers four actions for driving targeted learning, including measuring the impact of learning initiatives. 5) Template for Auditing 6 Non-technological Barriers to Internal Mobility in an Organization | Brian Heger. I share a one-page editable template that provides talent practitioners with a simple way to identify if six non-technological barriers to internal mobility exist in their organizations. The playlist has clickable links to all the source documents and a brief description of its contents. As a bonus recommendation, you should also check out one of the classic books on development published by the Center for Creative Leadership, Eighty-eight Assignments for Development in Place by Michael M. Lombardo and Robert W. Eichinger. This book is packed with developmental suggestions that are still very relevant today.

Investing in Middle Managers Pays Off—Literally | McKinsey

The article emphasizes the importance of middle managers in organizations and their direct impact on financial outcomes. Research conducted by McKinsey reveals that organizations with high-performing middle managers achieve significantly better total shareholder returns (TSR) than those with average or below-average managers. The article identifies 11 key manager behaviors that are positively correlated with financial performance. These behaviors include being creative, entrepreneurial, open, trusting, operationally disciplined, authoritative, challenging, consultative, supportive, inspirational, and focused on talent development. To promote the development of these behaviors among middle managers, the article suggests five recommended actions for organizations, such as: a) Optimizing the organization’s structure and role design: This ensures that managers have sufficient time and capacity to focus on strategic thinking and leadership. b) Resetting manager roles: By eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic tasks and utilizing emerging technologies like AI to automate repetitive tasks, managers can devote more attention to important responsibilities. c) Establishing accountability mechanisms: This tactic involves implementing performance management systems that align with desired manager behaviors. Setting goals linked to these behaviors, providing continuous feedback and reviews, and implementing consequences tied to performance can help drive the desired outcomes. Several other ideas are discussed. Organizations can reference this research as they identify opportunities for building manager capabilities that drive business performance and other important outcomes.

Podcast: How Generative AI Changes Organizational Culture | HBR IdeaCast Episode 913

In this 37-minute podcast episode, host Amy Bernstein speaks to two experts, Nitin Mittal and Tsedal Neeley about how to adopt generative AI effectively and ethically within an organization. Nitin leads Deloitte’s global AI business and cowrote the book All-in On AI: How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial Intelligence. Tsedal is a professor at Harvard Business School and wrote the HBR article “8 Questions About Using AI Responsibly, Answered.” A few points mentioned during the discussion include: 1) Nitin discusses the potential impact of generative AI on organizations and their employees. He mentions a client's concern about job losses for employees from disadvantaged backgrounds due to the implementation of generative AI in a call center. Mittal suggests that reskilling and vocational training can help employees transition to new roles that involve working with AI technology. 2) Tsedal emphasizes the need for organizations to develop fluency in generative AI and engage in careful experimentation. She mentions the importance of digital leaders guiding the implementation of AI technologies and setting boundaries to protect company data. The podcast episode also mentions other ideas and perspectives on the topic. As a supplement to this resource, I am resharing three resources: 1) Generative AI: Questions CHROs Should Ask | The Conference Board. A 10-page paper with 35 questions that Chief HR Officers and their teams can consider while helping to establish guidelines for utilizing generative AI in their organizations. 2) ChatGPT in HR Examples | Brian Heger. This PDF includes 4 ChatGPT HR prompts and screenshots of the output. You can access 6 additional prompts through the provided link. 3) The Role of Generative AI and Large Language Models | Josh Bersin. Covers seven use cases for how generative AI tools have the potential to revolutionize HR and various talent practices.

MOST VIEWED FROM LAST WEEK

Succession Planning Playlist | Multiple Resources

Here are five resources that can help organizations strengthen aspects of an organization’s succession planning practices. Topics cover succession metrics, succession planning in an environment of change, accurately defining requirements of executive roles, how succession practices are evolving, and the CHRO’s role in CEO succession planning.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

As part of CHROs on the Go— a digital platform subscription that provides the easiest, fastest, and most convenient way to stay informed about hires, promotions, and resignations in the Chief Human Resources Officer role—17 new CHRO announcements were posted on the platform last week.

This week’s CHRO highlight is:

• ​Ansys (PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA) [NASDAQ: ANSS]—which develops and markets CAE/multiphysics engineering simulation software—has named Kathleen Weslock as Vice President, Human Resources. Prior to joining Ansys, Ms. Weslock served as the Chief People and Culture Officer at Pep Boys during the American automotive aftermarket service chain's transformation to increase technology adoption in its legacy business. She also led human resources for such companies as Livent Corporation, Frontier Communications Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., and SunGard Data Systems. READ MORE

Do you want to join hundreds of others getting the EDGE each week in knowing which CHROs are being hired, promoted, and resigning? If so:

Currently, there are +2500 CHROs announcements on CHROs on the Go, with an average of 20 new announcements added each week!

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

2023 Layoff Tracker of Organizations Announcing Job Cuts | Brian Heger

You can click the link or table below to see the latest updates from a segment of organizations that have announced job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023. A few firms that announced job cuts this past week include Robinhood and UBS.  

TWEET OF THE WEEK

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

Highlights a previously shared Talent Edge Weekly resource that received many views and engagement!

10 Use Cases for AI in HR and One Risk and Recommendation for Each | Brian Heger

In a previous Twitter thread, I wrote about AI in HR, highlighting 10 use cases. I’ve compiled the tweets into this PDF. In it, you’ll find a brief statement of each use case, an associated risk, and a practical recommendation for mitigating that risk. Each use case page has an editable text box you can use to document your ideas. The purpose of the PDF is not to provide an exhaustive examination of all use cases of AI in HR. Instead, it aims to spark your thinking and ideas on how your organization might explore a few of these use cases.

DID YOU MISS "THE BEST OF JUNE" OF TALENT EDGE WEEKLY?

If so, you can check out issue #184, which includes 15 of the most popular resources from June. The resources are broken into 3 major themes—HR Effectiveness, Technology & AI, and Talent Trends and Practices.

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