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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Here’s a glance at this week’s content. A deep dive is in the section that follows.

• 2023 Women in the Workplace Report | LeanIn.Org and McKinsey | This new annual report shares data-based insights on the state of women in the workplace. It represents the largest study of women at work in America.

• A New Approach to Writing Job Descriptions | Harvard Business Review | Shares three emerging flexible approaches to job descriptions in response to the rapidly changing nature of work.

• Rethinking Work and the Workplace: Fall 2023 | People + Strategy | This 70-page Fall issue has several articles on reimagining work and the workplace. I highlight 2 articles that have implications for workforce planning.

• How HR Operations Can Drive Business Value in the Automation Age | Gartner | Shares three ways that HR shared services can continue to provide value in light of AI being able to assume various shared services tasks.

• The Role of Culture in Enabling Change | MIT Sloan Management Review | Identifies three change contexts in which organizational change takes place and shares the cultural enablers of each.

Also, check out the 2023 job cuts tracker & Chief HR Officer hire of the week.

Let’s dive in.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

Note: When using the summaries below on social media, blog posts, newsletters, etc., please provide attribution to Talent Edge Weekly and link to this issue whenever possible. Thank you!

2023 Women in the Workplace Report | LeanIn.Org and McKinsey

LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company just published their ninth annual Women in the Workplace report— the most extensive study on women in corporate America. Drawing data from over 270 companies and 27,000 employees, a few findings from this 52-page report include: 1) Women's representation in the C-suite has grown from 17% in 2015 to an all-time high of 28% in 2023, with the most progress seen at the VP and SVP levels. However, progress remains slow, especially for women at the manager and director levels, creating a pipeline bottleneck. 2) Women of Color are consistently underrepresented across the corporate hierarchy, constituting only 6% of the C-suite. 3) Women demonstrate heightened ambition post-pandemic, fueled by flexible work arrangements such as hybrid and remote work; 90% of women under 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and 75% aspire to senior leadership roles. 4) Flexibility is particularly vital for working mothers, with 57% stating they would leave or reduce work hours without it. Considering the increase in organizations enforcing return-to-office mandates, this data point suggests that more working mothers could drop out of the workforce. The report holds a wealth of other insights to explore. As a bonus, here is the IBM Institute for Business Value report, Women in Leadership: Why Perception Outpaces the Pipeline—and What to Do About It. It has more insights on women in leadership.

A New Approach to Writing Job Descriptions | Harvard Business Review

Job descriptions are a foundational component of many talent practices, such as workforce planning, recruitment, hiring, performance management, compensation, and career development. However, as work continues to evolve quickly and becomes less predictable, there is a growing realization that traditional job descriptions present limitations for organizations’ talent management. This article shares three emerging and flexible approaches to job descriptions: 1) Outcome-Focused Role Descriptions, focusing on desired outcomes for a role rather than specific tasks or duties. 2) Skills-Focused Role Descriptions, emphasizing an employee's skills and capabilities, allowing for dynamic application of those skills within various company projects. 3) Team-Based Role Descriptions, wherein employees are grouped into teams with collective goals, outcomes, and deliverables. The article also addresses challenges in implementing these flexible approaches, including unclear expectations, legal compliance, recruitment, and performance evaluation. While traditional job descriptions are unlikely to go away any time soon, practitioners can begin to think of ways to evolve job descriptions in response to the changing nature of work. For additional ideas on organizing work beyond jobs, check out Deloitte's 101-page report, Building Tomorrow's Skills-Based Organization: Jobs Aren't Working Anymore. Page 32 discusses how firms can organize work by creating broad commitments to problems to be solved, outcomes to be achieved, or new sources of value to be created.

Rethinking Work and the Workplace: Fall 2023 | People + Strategy

The 70-page Fall 2023 issue of People + Strategy includes articles on workplace topics like performance management, generations in the workplace, leadership transitions, and return-to-office. Two articles have implications for strategic workforce planning (SWP): 1) The Pixelated Workforce Has Arrived…Are We Ready? (starts on p. 22). This article by Josh Bersin discusses the transformation of the workforce into the "Pixelated Workforce," marked by increased mobility and a shift away from long-term employment to contingent and gig-based work arrangements. Bersin presents a framework to help organizations strategically determine employment types (full-time, part-time, contract-based, or outsourced) for various types of work. 2) Fractional Work & Your Talent Strategy (starts on p. 34) by RJ Milnor covers how more organizations are relying on fractional work—where individuals provide specialized skills or services to multiple organizations on a part-time or project basis, or a fraction of the 40-hour work week. It also includes four questions to assess how fractional work may alter an organization's talent strategy: 1) What is your independent worker strategy? 2) Which roles should be “gig-ified”? 3) How does this change how you manage your FTEs? 4) How are you taking care of your independent workers? Both articles reinforce the need for organizations to consider a range of employment arrangements as part of their SWP As a bonus, here are three articles from Gartner on talent risks, data sources for SWP, and breaking roles into tasks to inform SWP.

How HR Operations Can Drive Business Value in the Automation Age | Gartner

HR leaders continue to reevaluate and evolve their HR operating models to enhance functional efficiency, effectiveness, and stakeholder value. One component of an HR operating model is HR Shared Services (HRSS)—a part of HR traditionally responsible for managing transactional HR tasks, allowing the rest of the function to concentrate on strategic work. However, as highlighted in this article, only 32% of HRSS leaders perceive business leaders as recognizing the value of HRSS. And with AI offering new capabilities that can handle many routine and high-volume tasks performed by HRSS, a crucial question arises: what will be the purpose of HRSS going forward? The article suggests three ways that HRSS can provide value. Given AI’s impact on HRSS, one recommendation offered is to redefine and broaden the roles within HRSS—focusing on upskilling employees to take on diverse tasks beyond traditional transactional work. The article highlights a case study from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) that showcases successful strategic skills-building initiatives within HRSS, resulting in unlocked capacity in HR and career opportunities for HRSS employees. As an additional resource, I am resharing my curated list of 5 Resources on HR Operating Models.

The Role of Culture in Enabling Change | MIT Sloan Management Review

As leaders continue to manage various change initiatives, organizational culture—shorthand for describing 'how we do things in our organization'—is a critical enabler (or inhibitor) of these changes. However, as highlighted in this new article, the enablers of cultural change vary based on the specific type of change the organization aims to achieve. To effectively use culture as an enabler of change efforts, organizations should first identify their change priority and analyze the factors within their culture that facilitate or inhibit the change. The authors offer three types of changes as a framework: 1) Reinforcing Magnitude—refining and deepening the actions contributing to high levels of relevance for key stakeholders and distinctiveness from the competition; 2) Reimagining Activity—refreshing the approaches, channels, and tools being used to pursue the current strategy; 3) Rethink Direction—reinvent the business model to deliver the levels of relevance and distinctiveness necessary for an economically viable business. Company examples are provided for each type of change context, and the article's table illustrates the specific cultural actions that can be taken in response. As you evaluate various changes within your organization, consider which of the three categories they fall under and determine what aspects of the corporate culture are enabling and detracting from its ability to effectively implement change initiatives.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

3 Talent Templates: Critical Role Risk, Employee Retention Risk, and Non-Tech Barriers to Internal Mobility | Brian Heger

Here are three of my templates to help you evaluate aspects of talent management: critical role risk, employee retention risk, and the presence of six non-technological barriers to internal mobility. Although these templates aren't sophisticated, simple tools like these can prompt the right discussions leading to the right actions in critical areas of talent management. You can also check out a related post on LinkedIn and join the conversation!

2023 JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Here is my tracker, which includes announcements 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:

• Juniper Networks. (NYSE: JNPR). The optical routing and networking giant will lay off 440 employees, the majority of which will occur by the end of Q1 2024. The layoffs are part of a restructuring plan Juniper announced earlier this year.

• Meta. (NASDAQ: META). Facebook parent Meta is slashing 10,000 jobs, about as many as the social media company announced late last year in its first round of cuts, as uncertainly about the global economy hits the technology sector particularly hard.

• Qualtrics. Is cutting about 780 jobs or 14% of its workforce to reduce costs and restructure its organization, citing a need to address the internal complexity created by its past hiring and growth.

Click here or the image below to access all listed announcements from 2023.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

​​​Mozilla (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA)—a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation—has appointed Dani Chehak as Chief People Officer on a permanent basis. Less than a year ago, Chehak took on the role of Mozilla’s interim Chief People Officer. She will continue to oversee all areas of HR and organizational development at the global Mozilla Corporation, and along with the people team, will carry on supporting the organization in building a culture that is inclusive and collaborative, as operations continue to grow and modernize.

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FROM TWITTER (AKA X)

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Playlist | Curated by Brian Heger

As many organizations continue to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, this one-page playlist includes five articles and resources to consider. The link in the first column will take you directly to the complete resource. The second column summarizes the article’s focus.

THE BEST OF SEPTEMBER

Did you miss the “Best of September” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? Check out issue #195, which includes 15 of the most popular resources from September. 

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