Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #235

Internal talent marketplace, talent sharing, 10 CHROs hired and promoted in 2024, Novartis study on mental health program usage, and women at work.

Author

Brian Heger
April 28, 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 

INTERNAL TALENT MARKETPLACE

My one-page slide to help articulate how an ITM works. Both PDF and PowerPoint versions are included.

Many organizations increasingly prioritize internal mobility as a key aspect of their talent strategy. To facilitate this talent practice, a segment of organizations are adopting internal talent marketplaces (ITMs). An ITM is a technology-driven platform that employs AI to match employees, along with their skills, to various opportunities, including jobs and projects. As internal practitioners work to introduce the concept of an ITM to organizational stakeholders and garner support, I am sharing my one-page editable PowerPoint slide from my book chapter in the recently published Strategic Workforce Planning: Best Practices and Emerging Directions (released on 3/29/24). The slide can be used to articulate how an ITM works, such as: 1) Identifying and integrating relevant data inputs into the platform, including employee data (e.g., resumes) and opportunity data (e.g., jobs, projects); 2) AI processing the data and generating employee skills profiles and an internal opportunity repository, using a common skills language; 3) The AI engine recommending relevant opportunities to employees (e.g., job A, C, project F, J); and 4) ITM enabling various use cases and outcomes, such as workforce planning and internal mobility. You can modify my slide (PowerPoint version below) as you see fit as you socialize the notion of ITM in your organization.

INTERNAL MOBILITY

Explores how managers hinder their direct reports' advancement and offers strategies to foster internal mobility.

This new article delves into internal talent hoarding among managers, who obstruct their direct reports' growth within the organization by withholding support for promotions or discouraging their direct reports from seeking other internal roles. Despite offering short-term benefits, talent hoarding risks long-term gains. Recent research in the Academy of Management Journal shows that supporting direct reports' career development helps attract high-quality and functionally diverse internal applicants while hoarding talent leads to recruitment challenges and higher turnover. The article examines the motivations behind talent hoarding, such as incentives linked to team performance and the fear of losing valuable employees. It describes talent-hoarding behaviors, such as reducing the visibility of standout employees and downplaying direct reports’ performance and/or desire to move into other roles during performance calibration sessions, internal talent reviews, and succession planning conversations. The article emphasizes the importance of fostering internal mobility through transparent talent markets and shares ways to incentivize managers to support employee development and internal mobility. As a bonus, I am resharing my post, Five Indicators of Manager Talent Hoarding, which provides a simple way to assess one’s tendency to hoard talent.

CHIEF HR OFFICERS

My 14-page PDF that includes information on a sample of CHROs that have moved into a new Chief HR role this year.

The Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) role continues to gain prominence in many organizations. Over the past 90 days alone, I have posted hundreds of CHRO appointments on CHROs on the Go —a subscription-based digital platform that provides insights into hires, promotions, and resignations in the CHRO role. These appointments range from first-time CHROs to seasoned heads of HR transitioning to a new CHRO role. This 14-page PDF includes information on a sample of CHROs who have moved into a new Chief HR role this year. The summary includes a brief description of the announcement and links to the CHRO’s LinkedIn profile, the organization’s web page, and the detailed source announcement. The 10 featured CHRO appointments are from the following organizations: Boeing, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exelon, Gap Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Petco, PG&E Corporation, Nielsen, ​​​THOR Industries, Inc., and Walgreens Boots Alliance. The resource is useful for those who want to understand the movement occurring in the CHRO role. If you are already a member of CHROs on the Go, you can log in to access +3500 (and growing) CHRO announcements. And if you aren’t a subscriber to CHROs on the Go, you can join by clicking here.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

Shares findings from a Novartis study on increasing employees’ willingness to use mental health support programs despite the perceived stigma.

Employee well-being remains a priority for several organizations, yet progress in improving it has been slower than desired. This article explores the mounting challenge of mental health in the workplace, citing statistics showing a significant increase in anxiety and depression among employees. Despite various mental health initiatives implemented by organizations, employees often hesitate to utilize these resources due to the stigma attached to mental health issues. In an effort to understand this topic further, a team of researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 2,400 Novartis employees across the UK, Ireland, India, and Malaysia. It aimed to understand how framing and storytelling could impact employees' willingness to engage with mental health support programs. Results show that simply hearing about colleagues' struggles, regardless of severity, normalized access to mental health support at work and increased uptake of existing peer-to-peer support programs by up to 8 percent. Conversely, emphasizing the anonymity of these programs did not significantly boost usage, suggesting that highlighting privacy and confidentiality is insufficient by itself to encourage program usage. As practitioners strive to use research-based studies to inform employee well-being practices, the insights in this article can provide ideas. I am also resharing my playlist of five resources on the topic of employee wellbeing, covering topics such as burnout, microstressors, and more.

WOMEN AT WORK

A 49-page report on critical workplace and societal factors profoundly impacting women’s careers. Bonus resource on psychological safety.

This 49-page report presents findings from Deloitte’s fourth annual survey on women in the workplace, gathering feedback from approximately 5,000 women across 10 countries. It examines critical workplace and societal factors impacting women’s careers. Key highlights include insights on mental health, revealing that two-thirds of women feel uncomfortable discussing mental health at work or disclosing it as the reason for time off. Many women surveyed express concerns about discrimination or layoffs, with one in 10 reporting negative experiences discussing mental health at work. On flexibility and work/life balance, only one in 10 feel they can openly discuss the need for greater work flexibility. Additionally, nearly all women surveyed (95%) believe that requesting or utilizing flexible working opportunities affects their promotion prospects. These findings underscore the importance of leaders fostering cultures of psychological safety in which individuals don’t feel penalized for requesting or participating in flexible work arrangements. Regarding psychological safety, this bonus HBR article includes Amy Edmondson’s 7-item questionnaire to assess the perception of psychological safety within teams and organizations. One of the statements is: “Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.” The questions give leaders a practical tool for assessing and enhancing psychological safety in their teams. Could this be a potential topic of discussion at your next team meeting?

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK 

CHIEF HR OFFICER

Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood share insights on how new Heads of HR can accelerate their transition during their first 90 days. The framework is also applicable to non-CHRO transitions.

Includes questions (and sub-questions) that Chief HR Officers should ask and answer during their first 90 days. 1) Do I walk the talk about our business? 2) Do I have a broad map of the HR activities being done? 3) Do I have a sense of the key HR priorities? 4) Do I have the right team in place? 5) Do I clearly demonstrate my priorities and values through the transition? Several other ideas are discussed, including actionable suggestions to accelerate a CHRO transition.

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:

  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). The biopharmaceutical company announced it will reduce its workforce by 6%, or roughly 2,200 employees, in 2024.

  • UBS (NYSE: UBS). The Swiss banking giant is planning to roll out layoffs in five distinct waves beginning in June. It is estimated that the layoffs could affect between 30,000 - 35,000 worldwide.

  • Whirlpool Corp (NYSE: WHR). The home appliance maker announced it will lay off about 1,000 salaried employees globally. The job cuts come as U.S. home purchases continue to fall this year, hurting the company’s sales of its large appliances. The company had about 59,000 employees globally as of last year.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

Verra Mobility Corporation (MESA, ARIZONA) [NASDAQ: VRRM]— a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions— announced the appointment of Cate Prescott as the company's Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer. Ms. Prescott joins Verra Mobility from National Instruments (NASDAQ: NATI), a leading provider of software-connected automated test and measurement solutions, where she served as Chief People Officer. ​

Cate Prescott

If you want access to +3500 (and growing) detailed announcements of CHROs hired, promoted, and resigning, join CHROs on the Go—a one-stop-shop for knowing who is moving in and out of the Chief HR Officer role.

If you are already a subscriber to CHROs on the Go, log in here.

FROM X

NONCOMPETE AGREEMENTS

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

SKILL-BASED HIRING

This report, based on a study of 11,300 roles at large firms, spanning at least one year before and after the removal of degree requirements, revealed that, on average, firms only saw a 3.5 percentage point increase in the hiring of workers without a BA. In essence, the promised expansion of opportunities through skills-based hiring materialized in less than 1 in 700 hires last year. However, 37% of the analyzed firms, classified as Skills-Based Hiring Leaders, managed a nearly 20% increase in hiring workers without BAs.

THE BEST OF MARCH 2024

Did you miss the “Best of March” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #230, which includes 15 of the most popular resources from the month.

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OUR RESOURCE LINEUP

​brianheger.com provides free access to +1,300 curated articles, research reports, podcasts, and more 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 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