Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #227

Mercer's 2024 global talent trends, LinkedIn 2024 workplace learning report, 17 hybrid work examples, microstressors, and 2024 recruiting report.

Author

Brian Heger
March 10, 2024

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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Below is a glance at this week’s content. A deep dive follows. 

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

Let’s dive in. ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

WORK TRENDS

A new 68-page report covering a range of workplace topics, such as worker preferences, productivity, and AI in the workplace.

Mercer recently released its 2024 Global Talent Trends report, sharing insights from over 12,200 C-suite executives, HR leaders, employees, and investors across 17 geographies and 16 industries. This comprehensive 68-page report explores various topics, including worker preferences, productivity, and AI in the workplace. One particularly notable insight is the responses collected from employees when asked about factors hindering their productivity at work. As illustrated in Figure 6, the top two primary concerns were "too much busy work—tasks that lack value" and "too many interruptions/not enough thinking time." To address these challenges, I suggest that leaders and teams pose several questions at their next team meeting: 1) Which work tasks should we stop immediately due to their lack of value relative to organizational priorities? 2) How are our "ways of working," such as excessive decision-making meetings, negatively impacting our performance, productivity, and ability to engage in "deep work?" 3) For crucial tasks supporting our priorities, where can we leverage AI to enhance efficiency and effectiveness? By addressing these initial questions, organizations can begin to identify strategies to mitigate factors detracting from employee productivity and well-being.

RECRUITING

A new report addressing 6 areas impacting recruiting priorities, such as skill-based hiring, AI, and quality of hire.

This new LinkedIn report delves into six predictions shaping recruiting and talent acquisition in 2024 and beyond. Informed by insights from thousands of recruiting professionals, talent leaders, and vast LinkedIn data, these predictions span various themes, including AI in recruitment, skill-based hiring, and the growing focus on quality of hire (QoH)—currently ranking as the top priority objective for recruiting professionals in 2024. However, due to the historical challenge of tracking and measuring QoH, recruiting teams are redefining QoH metrics by considering factors such as job performance, team fit, culture alignment, productivity, and retention. One observation I have regarding these metrics is that a few of them rely heavily on hiring managers' perceptions and assessments, primarily focused on the near-term aspect of an incumbent’s current role. Considering the swiftly changing skills landscape and organizations’ heightened focus on long-term internal mobility and talent movement, I suggest also incorporating longer-term QoH measures. These could include evaluating an employee’s potential for assuming future roles and work opportunities within the organization and developing skills critical to the organization’s future. Embracing this longer-term perspective on QoH will necessitate looking beyond hiring managers' viewpoints and integrating diverse sources of talent data throughout an employee’s tenure. How does your organization plan to measure QoH in 2024 and beyond?

HYBRID WORK

Shares 17 types of hybrid work arrangements, offering insights into their suitability for different situations. I reshare bonus resources on the topic.

Over the past few weeks, I have shared numerous resources on flexible work, remote work, hybrid work, and return-to-office (RTO) mandates. A few of these resources include: 1) A study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh that examined 137 S&P 500 firms publicly announcing RTO mandates, revealing no significant financial or market value changes post-mandates but which resulted in decreased employee satisfaction. 2) A study by researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Southern California found that “on average, a 10% increase in work-from-home is associated with a 0.78 percentage point (or 0.94%) increase in mothers’ employment relative to that of other women. 3) A University of Cambridge study on the 4-day work week showing that a 20% reduction in working time with no loss of pay led to significant drops in workforce stress and sick days, an increase in worker retention, and a much better work-life balance for most employees—all while ‘key business metrics’ were met. 4) My cheat sheet of 11 organizations who’ve recently announced more stringent updates to their RTO guidance. As leaders continue to assess various aspects of work flexibility and hybrid work, this AIHR article outlines 17 types of hybrid work arrangements, offering insights into their suitability for different situations. While 17 options can be overwhelming, they might also spark new ideas for organizations considering various hybrid work arrangements.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

A new 39-page report addressing several workplace learning priorities, ranging from career development to internal mobility.

As many organizations continue to invest in learning and development (L&D) initiatives, LinkedIn’s newly released 2024 Workplace Learning report provides several insights to consider. The 39-page report, based on survey feedback from 1,636 L&D and HR professionals with L&D responsibilities who influence budget decisions, covers topics such as AI’s impact on L&D and skills development, to name a few. One highlight is the rise of helping employees develop their careers from the ninth to the fourth position on the list of L&D's top priorities. One way organizations are supporting career development is by enabling greater internal mobility (IM). However, only 1 in 5 employees report having confidence in their ability to make an internal move in their organization. As I have shared many times previously, I believe technology (e.g., internal talent marketplace platforms) is an impactful way to drive IM at scale. However, it is critical for organizations to also address non-tech barriers to IM, such as policies that restrict internal movement (e.g., the employee must be in a role for a certain amount of time before moving to another internal role or opportunity) and talent hoarding (e.g., where managers want to keep their top performers and limit their ability to move anywhere else in the company). With this in mind, I am resharing my one-page editable template of six non-technological IM barriers that exist in organizations. While there are other non-tech barriers to IM, this template can help jumpstart an organization’s thinking on this topic.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

A new article on how microstressors—individual stressors that seem manageable at the moment, can have an impact on employee wellbeing.

Employee wellbeing (EWB) remains a top priority for many organizations. However, Deloitte’s Wellbeing at Work survey reveals that many employees struggle with low levels of wellbeing, encountering exhaustion (52%), stress (49%), and a sense of being overwhelmed (43%). Despite the existence of EWB support initiatives like wellness programs, organizations often overlook the impact of various aspects of the work environment on EWB. In this new article by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon (authors of the book, The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems–and What to Do About It) and Kevin Martin of i4cp, they delve into the concept of microstressors—manageable stressors that seem manageable at the moment, but accumulate and compound, causing ripple effects that impact EWB. The authors identified 14 sources of microstress categorized into three groups 1) microstresses that drain your capacity to get things done (e.g., a surge in responsibilities), 2) microstresses that deplete your emotional reserves (e.g., managing others), and 3) microstresses that challenge your identity (e.g., pressure to pursue goals out of sync with personal values). The article outlines five steps to help organizations and teams identify where (and from whom) their stress is coming from and how they can proactively reduce it. As a bonus, here is a diagnostic from one of Rob and Karen's previous articles on the topic, which can help individuals identify sources of microstress in their lives.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVEMENT?

Do you want to stay informed about who is moving in and out of the Chief HR Officer role? Access +3600 (and growing) CHRO announcements. Join my CHROs on the Go subscription today!

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK 

WORKFORCE PLANNING

This paper offers tactics for how workforce planning and talent acquisition professionals can partner to drive more effective workforce planning. You can also view this post on LinkedIn and join the discussion!

JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Check out my tracker of announcements from a segment of organizations that have conducted job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023.

Partial view of tracker on brianheger.com

A few job cuts announced this past week:

  • Fidelity International. The asset management firm is planning to lay off around 1,000 employees in an effort to streamline costs. The job cuts will affect about 9% of the U.K.-based firm’s workforce.

  • Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI). Has initiated the first round of layoffs at its San Francisco headquarters as part of a larger plan to cut its global corporate workforce by 10% to 15% in the first half of this year. The job eliminations include vice presidents, senior managers, directors, and designers, among others.

  • Meta. (NASDAQ: META).  Has announced another round of layoffs that will impact over 50 jobs in the Meta-owned Facebook Messenger team. Positions related to technical program management (TPM) have been impacted.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

​​​​Prothena Corporation (DUBLIN) [NASDAQ: PRTA]—a late-stage clinical biotechnology company—announced that it has named David Ford to the newly created position of Chief People Officer. Ford will report to Prothena President and Chief Executive Officer Gene Kinney, Ph.D. Most recently, Mr. Ford served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Intercept Pharmaceuticals from May 2017 to December 2023. Before that, he spent nearly 15 years at Sanofi in various HR leadership roles. ​

David Ford

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FROM X

NEW ROLE TRANSITIONS

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

EMPLOYEE RETENTION

This article includes a Cues of Turnover Scale (CoTS) reference–a 13-item survey where managers indicate the extent to which they have observed certain retention risk behaviors of an employee during the last 2 to 3 months.

THE BEST OF FEBRUARY 2024

Did you miss the “Best of February” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #225, which includes 18 of the most popular resources from the month.

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OUR RESOURCE LINEUP

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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 6 PM EST.

Talent Edge Weekly is written by Brian Heger, an internal human resources practitioner. You can connect with Brian on Linkedin, X, and brianheger.com