Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #252

Return-to-office updates, hybrid work moments that matter, performance management, internal talent marketplace, and talent planning.

Author

Brian Heger
August 04, 2024

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Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Below is a quick overview with links and brief descriptions of the topics covered in this issue. If you're interested in my deep dive, including bonus resources, continue reading the rest of the newsletter.

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

Let’s dive in! ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

RETURN TO OFFICE

My updated summary sheet of a segment of organizations that have announced changes to their RTO guidelines.

Organizations continue to announce updates to their return-to-office (RTO) mandates, including increasing the number of required in-office days, restricting specific days for remote work, and incorporating workers’ compliance with RTO mandates into their performance reviews. A few recent RTO updates include: 1) Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS), which announced that beginning in October, corporate employees must return to the office for at least four days a week (Monday through Thursday). This policy applies to employees who live within 30 miles of the company’s headquarters. Employees returning to the office will also receive two “work from anywhere” weeks each year. 2) Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), where employees in sales, workplace services, data center engineering, and onsite support technicians under the Chief Information Officer must come to the office four to five days a week, effective October 1. Other departments, such as marketing, legal, and product teams, will be designated “office-flex,” requiring at least three days a week in the office. 3) THG (The Hut Group) (LON: THG) has mandated a five-day office return starting August 19, 2024. The new policy could even impact employees with a formal flexible working arrangement agreed upon as part of their employment contract. The link below includes my cheat sheet showing a sample of 17 organizations that have announced RTO updates this year.

HYBRID WORK

Covers how purpose-driven in-person interactions in hybrid work programs can be more effective than broad return-to-office mandates.

As leaders continue to make return-to-office (RTO) decisions in the best interest of their organizations and stakeholders, this new article shares ideas that may be of interest. It argues that blanket RTO mandates—broad, one-size-fits-all policies requiring all employees to return to the office for a set number of days each week without considering individual or team-specific needs and preferences—often face resistance, reduce productivity, and risk losing top talent. At the same time, “free-for-all approaches”—unstructured policies that leave it up to individual employees or managers to decide when and how often to come into the office—lead to a lack of coordination and potentially ineffective use of in-person work time. The article highlights four key moments where in-person interaction can provide an advantage, such as: 1) Team Development: Regular gatherings mixing business and social time to build deeper connections and engagement. 2) Onboarding and Training: Face-to-face interactions during onboarding and training to enhance relationship-building and cross-functional relationships. 3) New-Team Formation and Major-Initiative Kickoffs: In-person meetings for project kickoffs to help align goals, build trust, and establish operating norms. Ultimately, there is no “one size fits all” regarding RTO. Nonetheless, the ideas shared can help leaders consider various options to determine what works best for their organizations. As a bonus, I am resharing a Microsoft WorkLab article on this topic.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Shares aspects of General Motors’ (GM) new performance rating practices, which better align employee performance with business goals and reward top performers.

Despite years of redesigning and modifying performance management (PM), organizations continue to undergo changes to their PM practices. One organization whose PM was highlighted this past week is General Motors (GM), which is changing the way it rates the performance of its 53,000 salaried employees in the U.S. The change aims to better reward high-performers and put pressure on low-performers to improve or exit the organization. Under the new PM program, GM will reward its top 5% of employees with 150% bonuses, which is higher than what was available in the previous PM structure. One impetus for this change is to better attract and retain the talent needed to achieve GM’s business goals, especially as the industry undergoes increased competition and transformation with electric vehicles. The company’s PM will now be based on a five-scale system, from "significantly exceeds expectations" to "does not meet expectations." This new rating system is a shift from the previous one, which only differentiated employees on a three-category rating structure—"partially meets expectations," "achieves expectations," or "exceeds expectations." The new five-rating structure will enable more precise differentiation, and the tie-in to rewards will disproportionately benefit high performers. Employees who do not meet performance expectations would be subject to what the company calls "appropriate action...including being exited from the company." GM’s new PM is a clear example of a defined PM philosophy tied to business performance and supporting practices in line with its philosophy.

INTERNAL TALENT MARKETPLACE

I share two of my slides, including editable PowerPoint versions, on internal talent marketplaces that can be used to socialize the concept in organizations.

Last week, I mentioned that I authored a chapter titled, “Enabling Strategic Workforce Planning Through Skills, Artificial Intelligence, and Internal Talent Marketplace,” in the recently published Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Professional Practice Series book, Strategic Workforce Planning: Best Practices and Emerging Directions, edited by Marc Sokol and Beverly Tarulli, which was published on March 29, 2024. In that post, I shared one excerpt from that chapter on the importance of piloting a technology platform before making significant investment decisions. Due to continued requests for slides used in that chapter, I am sharing two of my slides on aspects of internal talent marketplaces (ITM) that you can modify for your purposes. 1) The first slide outlines four capabilities an ITM can provide, one of which is “unlocking workforce capacity.” This slide can be part of a business case (there is more to a business case than this slide) for adopting an ITM. 2) The second slide is a visual of how an ITM works, which is useful for explaining the concept to organizational stakeholders. Here is also my PowerPoint version, which you can modify as a starting point. Since I openly share my resources for you to use, I only ask that you credit Talent Edge Weekly when sharing the slides (e.g., social media, online communities, etc.). It is even better when you support Talent Edge Weekly by recommending it to others. Here is your personal referral link you can use when sharing! https://talentedgeweekly.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER  

TALENT STRATEGY

Includes 3 of my worksheets for creating a narrative that connects business strategy, talent needs, and talent actions.

In my article, Linking Talent Strategy with Business Strategy, I wrote about the critical importance of creating a talent strategy that aligns with and enables an organization’s business strategy. While the concept of linking the two may seem straightforward, the execution is often challenging. However, engaging in meaningful discussions with key stakeholders and asking pertinent questions can facilitate this connection. To assist in this process, I am sharing three worksheets designed to guide teams in thinking through various aspects of their organization’s business and talent strategy. These worksheets cover: 1) Business Strategy, which sets the business context by addressing the overall vision, business objectives, and potential scenarios, to name a few. 2) Talent Needs, exploring required capabilities and the roles and skills essential for executing the business strategy, etc. 3) Talent Actions, establishing diverse tactics (e.g., build, buy, borrow, bot, etc.) to address talent gaps. Resources like this (templates, worksheets, etc.) are never about the mechanics of completing templates; they are intended to spark conversations that can lead to better talent decisions and strategies that deliver value to organizational stakeholders. Use this resource if you feel it can support your efforts.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My one-page infographic containing 5 resources on various aspects of succession planning.

As I continue to receive several requests for resources on succession planning (SP), here is a one-page infographic containing links to five different resources on SP. Resources range from SP metrics, questions to ask about an organization’s SP, and SP practices.

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:

  • Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC). The chipmaker announced that it will cut over 15,000 jobs to reduce costs and fund a turnaround. The company also said it’s “suspending dividend payments to shareholders starting in the fourth quarter, and will continue that until "cash flows improve to sustainably higher levels."

  • Sony (NYSE: SONY). The PlayStation parent company is cutting 220 jobs at the video game development studio Bungie, the original developer of the Halo series. The reasons cited for the cuts include rising development costs, industry changes, and economic conditions.

  • Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE). The airline announced that it is furloughing 260 of its pilots starting on Sept. 1. The company is also temporarily suspending the hiring of pilots and flight attendants and downgrading roughly 100 captains.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 13 new Chief HR Officer announcements were posted on CHROs on the Go, my subscription-based platform, where I track movement in and out of the CHRO role. This week’s CHRO hire of the week is:

  • Stanley Black & Decker (NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT) [NYSE: SWK]—a worldwide manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware and a provider of security products—announced the promotion of Deborah K. Wintner to Chief Human Resources Officer, effective August 1, 2024. Wintner previously served as the company's SVP of Human Resource Operations and CHRO for Tools and Outdoor. Wintner succeeds John T. Lucas, who served as the company’s CHRO for almost two years. ​

Deborah K. Wintner

If you want access to +3800 (and growing) detailed announcements of CHROs hired, promoted, and resigning, join CHROs on the Go.

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FROM X

CHANGE CAPABILITIES

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

SKILLS-BASED PRACTICES

A 56-page playbook covering various aspects of skills-based talent practices, from the initial planning steps to opportunities and challenges related to technology.

As more organizations shift towards skill-based talent practices, this 56-page playbook offers valuable insights. Based on input from VP and C-suite HR leaders, it articulates the benefits of a skills-based approach to talent management. Chapter 2, starting on page 16, covers the process and considerations for skills validation—assessing and confirming workers’ existing skills.

THE BEST OF JULY 2024

Did you miss the “Best of July ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #251, which includes 14 of the most popular resources from the month.

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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