Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #237

Talent review process audit template, ROI of talent, impact of remote work on women in the workplace, digital jobs, and CHRO trends report.

Author

Brian Heger
May 05, 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 

TALENT MANAGEMENT

My one-page editable worksheet to help practitioners evaluate opportunities for improving the impact of talent reviews.

As organizations prepare for talent reviews, I've created this editable worksheet to assist practitioners in identifying opportunities to enhance the impact of their talent review practices. The first column includes a few considerations for practitioners to assess aspects of their talent review, such as defining the purpose of the review, establishing criteria for measuring potential, and ensuring managerial accountability. Subsequent columns allow practitioners to gauge the 'gap' between current and desired states, with color-coded checkboxes indicating areas for improvement (clicking the box applies a color code automatically). The final column can be used for documenting possible actions for addressing the areas with the greatest opportunity for improvement. I encourage practitioners to tailor the example statements in column 1 to fit their talent review’s purpose (the first statement in the column). This resource aims to foster discussions that generate actionable insights for improving talent review practices, stressing that even addressing one opportunity can yield significant benefits.

ROI ON TALENT

Shares five key actions and metrics to help maximize return on talent investment.

The article emphasizes the significance of prioritizing return on talent investment as much as other forms of return on investment (ROI) in businesses. It outlines five key actions to maximize return on talent: 1) build a skills-based strategic workforce planning capability, 2) create a hiring engine that brings in the right talent to fill critical roles, 3) invest in learning and development, 4) establish a stellar performance-oriented culture, and 5) elevate HR’s operating model to become a true talent steward. While the article gives more examples for each of the five areas, including how certain organizations implement each, one point to emphasize is #4— establishing a stellar performance-oriented culture. The article points to research on how high-performance cultures also remove barriers to change and peel away layers of bureaucracy. “These barriers include inefficiency factors that increase disengagement and attrition, such as slow decision-making, pointless meetings, and other impediments to getting things done.” With this as the backdrop, I am resharing this recent article by Jeremy Legg, Chief Technology Officer for AT&T, which outlines how changing certain ways of working has saved AT&T 3.6 million hours over the past three and a half years and helped the company avoid more than $230 million in costs.

REMOTE WORK

Provides insights on the impact of remote work on working women, including a study on how it affects the frequency of feedback women receive.

Last week, I shared Deloitte’s 2024 Women@Work report, summarizing key findings from its survey of approximately 5,000 women across 10 countries regarding various aspects of the workplace. One notable finding is that just 1 in 10 women feel comfortable openly discussing the need for increased work flexibility, and a staggering 95% believe that seeking or using flexible work options impacts their chances of promotion. This new Financial Times article highlights a study (working paper, The Power of Proximity to Coworkers) showing that remote work disproportionately diminishes the amount of feedback women receive compared to men. This data point suggests that one trade-off of increased remote work, particularly for women, is less frequent feedback, potentially impeding career development and advancement. While the study focuses only on software engineers at a Fortune 500 company, it offers an empirical data point to consider. As HR and talent practitioners increasingly turn to evidence-based research to inform talent management and workplace practices, I am resharing my one-page cheat sheet with four studies on different aspects of the workplace, such as return-to-office mandates.

TALENT ACQUISITION

A new 35-page white paper on how the rise of digital jobs—those that can be done fully or mostly remotely— can help organizations fill talent shortages.

Figure 2 on p.9 - Global Digital Jobs Framework

This new 35-page report explores how the rise of digital jobs—those that can be done fully or mostly remotely— can help organizations fill talent shortages by connecting skilled workers from regions with a talent surplus to those with labor shortages. To help organizations tap the potential of this opportunity, the paper identifies 1) key barriers, 2) risks, 3) solutions, and 4) mitigation actions to develop sustainable global digital workforces. For example, one of the highlighted risks of a digital workforce is that "geographically scattered teams can often lead to ineffective micromanagement or a lack of support for employees working from home. Managing a global digital team requires different management techniques than managing people face-to-face." The report notes that two key issues that managers need to be aware of when managing a digital workforce are 1) Cultural differences. Varying norms and values can impede communication and alignment of goals; managing different time zones adds complexity to collaboration. 2) Employee engagement. Limited face-to-face interaction can lead to decreased engagement and increased turnover. The paper shares different tactics for managing these risks and offers a few case studies on how organizations overcome barriers to managing a digital workforce.  

CHIEF HR OFFICER

10 trends in the Fortune 200 Chief HR and Chief People Officer roles.

This 2024 CHRO Trends report presents 10 trends in the roles of Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) and Chief People Officers (CPOs) in Fortune 200 companies. A few trends include: CHRO/CPO turnover declines: 2023 had the fewest Fortune 200 CHROs/CPOs appointments since this report’s 2017 inception, with 22 new CHROs/CPOs appointed in 2023. 32% of these appointments were within the Fortune 25 companies, including ExxonMobil, Apple, Cigna Group, Phillips 66, General Motors, Elevance Health, and Centene. A rapid increase of internal successors to the CHRO role. 73% of 2023 appointed CHROs/CPOs came to the role via internal succession, a rate of internal succession not seen since 2017. On average, internally promoted CHROs/CPOs had a tenure of 15 years with the company prior to their appointment. The HR business partner (HRBP) role is a stepping stone to the CHRO/CPO role. The vast majority of the 2023 CHRO/CPO appointments consisted of individuals who served in an HRBP role prior to their CHRO/CPO appointment. Other topics are covered, such as CHRO diversity. In case you missed it, here is my PDF highlighting 10 CHROs who were hired or promoted into the role since the start of 2024.

CHIEF HR OFFICER

Do you want to stay in the know about who is moving in and out of the Chief HR Officer role? Join CHROs on the Go now!

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK 

INTERNAL TALENT MARKETPLACE

As HR practitioners work to introduce the concept of an internal talent marketplace (ITM) to organizational stakeholders and garner support, here is one of the images from my book chapter in the recently published Strategic Workforce Planning: Best Practices and Emerging Directions (released on 3/29/24). The image can be used to articulate how an ITM works. You can also access my PowerPoint version below and modify it as you see fit. Again, if you want to learn how to win a free copy of the book, click here!

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:

  • Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS). The life sciences company is preparing to cut jobs and close certain facilities. Layoffs will affect 300 employees, and the company will also close 85 vacant positions.

  • Luminar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: LAZR). The technology company that develops vision-based lidar and machine perception technologies, primarily for self-driving cars, announced it is cutting 20% of its workforce, impacting roughly 140 employees. The company will also discontinue using contract workers.

  • Peloton. (NASDAQ: PTON). Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is stepping down after announcing yet another round of layoffs, this time affecting about 15% of its remaining workforce or roughly 400 global team members.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

AIG (NEW YORK) [NYSE: AIG]—a leading global insurance organization— has announced the appointment of Kelly Lafnitzegger as its EVP and Chief Human Resources & Diversity Officer, effective June 1, 2024. Kelly’s experience includes 30 years with General Electric, where she most recently worked at GE Vernova, where, since 2022, she led the separation management office to support the company’s spin-off from GE.​

Kelly Lafnitzegger

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.

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FROM X

RETURN-TO-OFFICE

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

AI IN HR

Provides a framework for evaluating and prioritizing AI use cases in HR. Use cases are ranked based on two factors: 1) Business value (e.g., operational efficiency) and 2) Feasibility (e.g., organizational readiness). The strategic ranking of each use case provides an additional viewpoint to consider as decisions are made for prioritizing different use cases.

THE BEST OF APRIL 2024

Did you miss the “Best of April ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #236, which includes 16 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.

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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