Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #259

Performance management, internal mobility metrics, HR-based scientific research, GenAI, and microstressors and their impact on employee wellbeing.

Author

Brian Heger
September 15, 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, you can read the full newsletter.

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

✅ And find out how you can get an exclusive offer to the upcoming virtual HR learning event, Elevate, by Future of HR.

Let’s dive in! ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

My infographic with tips for leaders, managers, and employees as they accelerate the achievement of 2024 performance goals.

With only 108 days left until the end of the year, the pressure to meet performance objectives is intensifying, requiring focused efforts from leaders, managers, and employees alike. To help support these efforts and accelerate progress toward meeting year-end goals, here is my one-page infographic featuring practical tips for each stakeholder group to boost organizational, team, and individual performance. For example, leaders can conduct a quick review of current resource allocation—including time, budget, and talent—and redistribute them to areas that will most significantly impact critical year-end goals. Managers can ensure that one-on-one meetings with their direct reports focus on key actions and priorities, driving progress toward year-end objectives. Employees can push back on tasks, requests, or distractions that don’t align with the organization’s key year-end priorities. The tips in the infographic represent starting points to build on, helping your organization create opportunities to finish the year stronger. As many organizations share tools and resources during this time to support year-end performance management, feel free to utilize this infographic if it aligns with your efforts.

INTERNAL MOBILITY

My cheat sheet with 9 examples of internal mobility metrics, why the metric is important, and a sample practice related to the metric.

Organizations increasingly leverage internal mobility as a key component of their talent strategy to drive business goals. As various internal mobility strategies are implemented, measuring their impact is essential to maximize return on investment. My cheat sheet offers nine example metrics to help organizations assess different aspects of internal mobility. Each metric includes a definition, its significance, and a sample practice tied to the metric. For example, the "Time-to-Fill for Internals" metric measures the average time to fill a position with an internal candidate compared to external hiring. This metric is important because it reflects the efficiency of internal hiring, with faster internal processes reducing productivity gaps, minimizing disruption, and showcasing the organization's ability to mobilize talent quickly. A sample practice to improve effectiveness in this area is to streamline the application process for internal candidates by reducing approval requirements and shortening interview stages without sacrificing quality. HR professionals and business leaders can use this list of nine metrics as a starting point, adapting or expanding it to create new metrics that best measure the effectiveness of internal mobility within their organization.

HR EFFECTIVENESS

My one-page cheat sheet with five example resources on how scientific studies can effectively inform HR practices.

As HR practitioners increasingly rely on scientific studies to inform workplace and talent strategies, here’s my one-page cheat sheet featuring five resources that cover various insights. For instance, Michael Luca and Amy C. Edmondson stress the importance of critically assessing research quality, highlighting common pitfalls like confusing correlation with causation and misjudging the relevance of findings. Marc Effron’s examination of emerging scientific research on work-from-home and hybrid work provides fact-based insights into how different work arrangements affect outcomes like performance and collaboration. A study in the Academy of Management Journal shows that rehiring former employees often leads to higher performance, especially in roles requiring relational demands and internal coordination. Research on internal mobility demonstrates that managers who actively support the movement of their direct reports to other internal opportunities tend to attract more high-quality internal applicants. These examples can help HR professionals guide organizations toward data-driven insights and decision-making, minimizing reliance on trends, opinions, and anecdotal evidence. To access any of the five source articles or reports, click the hyperlinks in the PDF.

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

A new article explores the impact of generative AI (GenAI) on knowledge workers, enabling them to broaden the range of tasks workers can perform.

This article presents findings from a field experiment conducted by the BCG Henderson Institute, Boston University, and OpenAI's Economic Impacts team, exploring how GenAI can assist workers in completing tasks beyond their current capabilities. Over 480 BCG consultants participated, completing three tasks requiring data science skills they typically lacked: writing Python code to merge and clean datasets, building a predictive model for sports investing, and validating and correcting statistical outputs from ChatGPT. While GenAI couldn’t fully automate these tasks, it provided assistance. Only half of the participants had access to GenAI tools, and their performance was compared to a control group of 44 data scientists who completed the same tasks without GenAI. A key finding showed that GenAI significantly expanded participants' coding and statistical abilities, with those using it achieving 86% of the data scientists' benchmark, compared to just 29% for those without it. Despite the limitations of the research, such as a small sample size, the study provides insights into the tasks GenAI can assist with. With this as the backdrop, I am resharing two resources: A Deloitte AI Institute report, which includes a framework for determining which work tasks are best performed by a) AI, b) humans with the help of AI, and c) humans by themselves. An Accenture report, which includes a framework for categorizing four types of impacts that AI can have on jobs and work tasks.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

Shares how microstressors—individual stressors that seem manageable at the moment—can have an impact on employee wellbeing. Bonus resources included.

As I continue to receive requests for resources on employee wellbeing (EWB), I am resharing this 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, on the topic of microstressors. Microsressors are 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. Here is also a diagnostic from one of Rob and Karen’s previous articles on the topic that can help individuals identify sources of micro-stress in their lives. I am also resharing an article by Jeremy Legg, Chief Technology Officer for AT&T, which highlights how the company identified small, seemingly harmless factors (known as raindrops) that, when combined, drain energy, resources, and well-being. The case study offers valuable insights into improving ways of working and boosting organizational outcomes, including employee well-being.

LEARN FROM 21 TOP HR THOUGHT LEADERS

As HR professionals, we’re always looking for ways to enhance our skills and stay ahead of industry trends. That’s why I’m excited to share an exceptional learning opportunity: Elevate by Future of HR, led by JP Elliott.

  • Brings together 21 top HR and management thought leaders, offering a unique chance to gain insights from the brightest minds in our industry—featuring speakers like Marc Effron and Allan Church.

  • A virtual, flexible, and interactive session with live Q&A across October 8-10, 15-17, and 22-24, so you can easily fit it into your busy schedule. Sessions will also be recorded and available to participants.

As a special limited-time offer only to Talent Edge Weekly subscribers, save $225 off the ticket price using the code “TALENTEDGE” at checkout.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

AI IN HR

My one-page cheat sheet with examples of AI applications in HR, barriers to implementation, and suggestions for overcoming the barrier.

Here's my one-page cheat sheet to help HR teams generate ideas using 12 examples of AI in HR use cases. Before using the cheat sheet, identify the business problems you’re trying to solve, then use it to explore how AI in HR can address those issues. Each use case includes a brief description, an example of a potential risk, and a recommendation for mitigating that risk. You can also view my post on LinkedIn related to this resource 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:

  • Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). The tech giant announced it is cutting 650 jobs in its Xbox gaming division as part of a broader restructuring plan following its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

  • PwC US. The consulting firm will lay off about 1,800 workers, marking its first formal job cuts since 2009 as part of a restructuring of its technology group.

  • Samsung Electronics. The world’s top maker of smartphones, TVs, and memory chips is cutting up to 30% of its overseas staff at some divisions as part of a “global mandate” aimed at improving efficiency.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 18 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:

  • Woodward (FORT COLLINS, COLORADO) [NASDAQ: WWD]—a leader in aerospace and industrial energy control solutions—announced the appointment of Ron Charles as EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer. He will report directly to CEO Chip Blankenship as a member of the Woodward Executive Leadership Team. Charles most recently served as CHRO at Chemours, where he held the Chief HR role for the past year during his seven-year tenure with the company. ​

Ron Charles

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

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TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

HR TECHNOLOGY

33 questions that can help increase the likelihood of successfully implementing HR technology.

Implementing new HR technology is a challenging initiative for HR teams, involving significant investment in people, time, and money. These high-stakes implementations often face complexities despite the 'plug and play' narrative often portrayed. In this context, Michael Kannisto, Ph.D., has developed a cheat sheet with 33 questions to complement an organization’s current RFP and implementation plans for HR tech.

THE BEST OF AUGUST 2024

Did you miss the “Best of August ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #257, which includes 16 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, a human resources practitioner. You can connect with Brian on Linkedin, X, and brianheger.com