Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #26

August 01, 2020

Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly - the weekly newsletter for strategic human resources practitioners, bringing together talent and HR insights from various sources.

For this week's issue, I cover the following resources:

  • Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All | Wall Street Journal

  • Microsoft Analyzed Data on Its Newly Remote Workforce | Harvard Business Review - The Big Idea

  • Women Hear More White Lies in Performance Evaluations Than Men | Cornell Chronicle

  • Redrawing Your Succession Plans in a World Disrupted by COVID-19 | Gallup 

  • Guide to Scenario Planning for Functional Leaders | Gartner 

  • Workbook: Workforce Strategies for a Post-COVID-19 Recovery | Deloitte

  • Podcast: Future-Proofing Your Strategy with Scenario Planning | HBR IdeaCast

You can also access additional resources and articles at www.brianheger.com

If you find this issue to be of value, please share the newsletter link or any of its articles with your social media networks.

If you enjoy Talent Edge Weekly and aren’t yet a subscriber, please sign-up so that it can be delivered to your email inbox each Saturday afternoon.

Have a nice and safe weekend everyone.

Brian

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Brian Heger is a human resources practitioner with a Fortune 150 organization and has responsibilities for Strategic Talent and Workforce Planning. To connect with Brian on Linkedin, click here.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

A few months have passed since organizations have adopted remote work at scale. And although many people have highlighted the benefits (e.g., reduced commute time) of this work arrangement, many have also underscored the downside. This article highlights how the challenges of remote working are becoming more apparent as the coronavirus pandemic persists. These pitfalls range from 1) projects taking longer to complete,  2) workers appearing less connected, 3) diminished quality of work 4) concerns that younger professionals aren’t developing at the same rate as they would in offices, 5) challenges to collaborating,  6)  obstacles to hiring and onboarding new workers. While technological innovation will help to overcome these challenges, it is essential to recognize that the pro vs. con debate of remote working is heavily influenced by a) a matter of preference - some people simply desire to be in the office, and others don't b) personal home situation - work from home environments may not be conducive to productivity c) culture - some organizational cultures operate in ways that make remote working easier d) work - some jobs are more conducive to this arrangement. These factors should be considered as organizations continue to develop solutions that enable effective remote working.

People analytics (PA) continues to be recognized as a way to provide insights that enable organizations to make better decisions. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, a few organizations are leveraging PA to help shape their choices about workforce practices. This article highlights a study conducted by Microsoft of its workforce. The study intended to understand " how flexible and adaptable [work] might or might not be, how collaboration and networks morph in remote settings, what agility looks like in different spaces, and how to nurture and improve employee well-being during times of crisis." After examining various data points, such as calendars, de-identified emails, instant message metadata, and more, there were several findings, including 1) Workdays are lengthening.  Employees tend to sign in to work earlier and sign off later to accommodate breaks they take throughout the day to care for children, grab some fresh air or exercise, and walk the dog. 2) Meetings are getting shorter. Individual meetings have reduced in duration-- giving rise to the 30-minute over the typical one-hour session. As noted by the authors, this finding has led to more scrutiny of one-hour long meetings and raises the question "is this a good use of everyone's time." This and other learnings are likely to lead to shifts in workforce practices beyond the pandemic. 

Although many organizations continue to invest in programs that reduce different forms of bias, recent research suggests that, when it comes to performance feedback, women may not receive the same quality of feedback as men. Researchers from Cornell University discovered that underperforming women are given less truthful but kinder performance feedback than equally underperforming men. This more considerate feedback is often to preserve relationships and avoid hurting people’s feelings. While the intention behind this phenomenon may appear innocuous, it undermines the transparency that many organizations promote and desire within their culture, and reduces access to fair and accurate feedback. The study builds on existing research by Standford researchers, who compared written performance reviews of men and women. They found that men were given detailed and actionable feedback, whereas the feedback provided to women was vague and less helpful. Both studies reveal an opportunity for organizations to build capabilities in providing more clear, actionable, and objective performance feedback, regardless of a workers' demographic classification.  

Many HR practitioners continue to help their organizations rebuild and prepare for a return to regular business. As part of this work, HR functions have been evaluating and making changes to their talent processes, systems, and technologies. One such process is succession planning (SP). Despite SP's importance to an organization's long term success, a few organizations are presently (and understandably) focusing their SP efforts exclusively or heavily on short-term and emergency SP. Also, a segment of organizations is placing their talent review process (another critical talent practice) on hold until there is a return to "normal." This article underscores the importance of conducting longer-term SP and talent reviews despite the uncertainty of the pandemic. As stated in the article, "talent reviews don't have to be a gathering of executives in a wearying two-day meeting. Discussions of rising talents, progression, and succession decisions can be done virtually and in shorter sessions." For some organizations, this may be an opportune time to reevaluate talent and successors based on how they "stepped-up" or demonstrated leadership during the crisis.  

Organizations continue to adjust their business strategies and strategic plans amidst the COVID-19 crisis. To support these efforts, many organizations are turning to strategic scenario planning (SSP)--an approach that helps envision, describe, and plan for possible--but alternative-- futures an organization may face. While these plans are often developed at the enterprise/corporate level, functional leaders are increasingly asked to plan for a range of potential outcomes for their functions, particularly in light of the pandemic. However, many functional leaders have little experience in SSP and will need to expand there capability in this area. This eBook helps functional leaders understand the fundamentals of SSP, assess the implications of the scenarios for a function, and translate scenarios into function-based action plans. In essence, functional SSP converts high-level enterprise plans into functional implications (e.g. "at the corporate level, responding to a market turn might translate into efforts to attract new customers. But for a function, it might mean renegotiating with suppliers or increasing support for ad hoc workload surges." This resource will enable functional leaders to build their capability in SSP well beyond the pandemic.

As HR practitioners continue to lead their organizations through the recovery phase of the pandemic and beyond, this workbook provides a useful tool for organizing and capturing strategies and tactics. Three phases of the crisis provide the foundation for this editable PDF. 1) Respond - dealing with the present situation and managing continuity, 2) Recover - learning and emerging stronger, and 3) Thrive - preparing for and shaping the “new normal.” For each of the three phases, the workbook enables practitioners to document actions across three dimensions. Work - Are we returning to the way we worked before or adopting new ways of working? Workforce - How do capacity, capability, and affordability affect workforce design after the crisis? Workplace- What did we learn about working in the flow of life? How did it impact work when the boundaries between work and life are blurred? There are several other questions for practitioners to consider. Since organizations are in different phases of the recovery, not all of the questions will apply to every organization. However, the tool provides a useful framework for developing and coordinating several strategic actions. 

THE SOUND OF INSIGHT

In this 25-minute podcast, Peter Scoblic provides ideas on scenario planning (SP) through lessons from the U.S. Coast Guard. Peter mentioned that too many companies are short-sighted in their strategy-making and don’t adequately plan for different potential futures. Rather than use SP in times of crisis or as a one-off exercise, he argues that firms should use SP in a more iterative fashion where they "imagine the future and act in the present." The discussion provides useful insights into how thoughtful SP can help organizations determine which investments will allow them to thrive in varying circumstances and navigate many types of situations and scenarios. 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Tools I use for my personal learning and productivity.

Book Recommendations on HR and business books.

COVID-19 Resources for HR. These resources were gathered from March through May and contain 150+ references that can be leveraged as HR practitioners continue to lead their organizations through the recovery phase and beyond

WHO IS IN THE HR JOB MARKET?

If you are a subscriber to this newsletter and searching for an HR-related role, I am more than happy to list your name, a link to your Linked In Profile, and a sentence or two that describes what you are looking for, in a future issue of this newsletter. If interested, please send me an email from the email address that you used when signing-up for this newsletter.

  • Nora Kinsela - is currently seeking a mid/senior level Talent Management/Development role in the Greater Boston area. The ideal company is one that looks to create an engaged workforce by providing career development opportunities needed for them to thrive and be their best selves.

  • Serguei Zaychenko - is looking for an Executive Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Recruiter role in the metro New York City area. Serguei worked both for large, Fortune 500, as well as small, entrepreneurial companies and thrives in hyper-growth environments.

FINAL COMMENTS

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If you enjoy this content and would like to access all issues of Talent Edge Weekly, you can do so by clicking here. You can also access content at www.brianheger.com

If you found this issue to be of value, please share the link above with your social media networks.

I look forward to sharing more ideas in next week’s Edge!

Have a nice and safe weekend everyone.

Brian