Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #260

Performance management, identifying critical roles, transitioning into a new leadership role, women in the workplace report, and deploying GenAI in HR.

Author

Brian Heger
September 22, 2024

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

A special shout-out to Monica Patel, Head of North America HR and Global HR Business Partners at Invesco, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Monica, for your support of this newsletter!

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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 new cheat sheet to help managers and leaders proactively identify if 6 factors may detract from year-end performance.

Last week, I shared my infographic on how leaders, managers, and employees can accelerate the execution of their performance goals during the final stretch of the year. This week, I’m sharing another infographic to help managers and leaders identify whether six risk factors may jeopardize those goals. By recognizing these risks, leaders and managers can make faster course adjustments and help set their teams up for success. For each risk, I’ve included two questions managers can ask and two indicators that suggest the presence of risks. For example, for goal misalignment, managers can ask: Are team members frequently asking for clarification on priorities or objectives? Are there inconsistencies between individual actions and stated organizational priorities? Two risk indicators: employees working on tasks unrelated to key objectives, and confusion or disagreement about project priorities. If any risk factors exist for your team, you can click the box on the PDF to insert a checkmark. This tool can serve as a diagnostic for identifying opportunities to mitigate performance risks. Even if you’re not a manager or leader, the six factors can help individual contributors identify opportunities to influence change.

CRITICAL ROLES

My cheat sheet with 6 barriers to identifying critical roles; my bonus template for critical role identification.

An organization’s ability to identify and plan for its critical roles is a key aspect of workforce planning and talent management. However, common pitfalls often arise in this process. In this new infographic, I highlight six barriers to identifying critical roles and provide a template to assist with this task. A few barriers include: 1) Hierarchical-Driven—basing a role's criticality solely on its level and overlooking non-executive roles, when in reality, role criticality is determined by its impact on stakeholder value, regardless of level. 2) Recruitment Difficulty—assuming that the difficulty of filling a role reflects its criticality when, in fact, not all hard-to-fill roles are critical. 3) Near-term View—basing criticality only on current needs without considering future organizational requirements, when the criticality of roles can shift as business strategies evolve. HR practitioners can use this tool to develop greater awareness of these barriers by regularly reviewing how critical roles are defined and assessed within their organizations. To support this, I am resharing my editable template to help organizations identify critical roles and estimate related risks. 

LEADERSHIP TRANSITIONS

Highlights 4 common challenges executives face in their first 90 days of taking on a new role and provides practical strategies for avoiding these traps.

The frequent struggles of newly hired and promoted executives within 12-18 months in their roles are well-documented. According to a report by DDI, nearly 50% of externally hired executives and 35% of internally promoted leaders fall short of performance expectations. This new HBR article provides tactics for avoiding four common traps that can hinder success in the first 90 days and beyond. 1) Lingering Trap (staying too involved in your current role and not fully transitioning), 2) Adrenaline Trap (failing to replenish energy during the transition), 3) Judgment Trap (forming premature conclusions without enough information), and 4) Dogma Trap (rigidly applying past practices without adapting to the new organization). One suggestion for avoiding the Lingering Trap is to clearly define responsibilities and timelines: work with your boss to agree on how you’ll hand over responsibilities, contribute to successor recruitment, and mentor the new hire. Be explicit about your last day of availability and who will take over your tasks. As HR practitioners support executives and other employees onboarding into new roles, they can incorporate some of these tips. For transitions into a new Chief HR Officer role, I am resharing this bonus article by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, which outlines critical questions newly appointed CHROs should ask and answer during their first 90 days.

WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

A new report on the largest and most comprehensive study on the state of women in corporate America and Canada.

The 2024 Women in the Workplace report, marking a decade of research, highlights both progress and persistent challenges in achieving gender parity in corporate America. It is the largest and most comprehensive study on the state of women in corporate America and Canada. While there are too many insights to cover in this summary, a few key points from the report are: 1) Women have made gains, especially in senior leadership roles (29% of C-suite positions in 2024 compared to 17% in 2015). However, this progress is at risk of stalling or declining, especially for women of color, who remain significantly underrepresented at the highest levels. Of the 29% of C-suite positions held by women, women of color represent only 7%. 2) Women still face the barrier of the "broken rung," where entry-level men are promoted to manager at much higher rates than women. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women are promoted. This phenomenon is even worse for women of color: for every 100 men promoted, just 54 Black women (down to 2020 levels) and 65 Latinas (the lowest since the research began) get the same opportunity. 3) The report also reveals a decline in corporate commitment to gender diversity, with only 78% of companies now considering it a high priority, down from 88% in 2017. As a bonus to this report, I am including my Women in the Workplace playlist with five more resources.

AI

Outlines 5 primary approaches to deploying GenAI in HR and shares 7 questions to evaluate vendor capabilities.

This article outlines five primary approaches to deploying GenAI in HR, each with its own advantages and considerations, spanning from simplicity to customization. Regardless of the approach, all require HR to collaborate with IT teams on topics related to compliance, security, and alignment with organizational requirements. Further, as HR leaders and their teams engage with HR tech vendors to understand vendor capabilities and limitations, it’s important to ask the right questions to avoid overpromising and misunderstanding vendor capabilities. The article includes seven questions HR teams can ask vendors, including: 1) What mechanisms will ensure the accuracy of the generated output, and how can we actively monitor and verify its correctness? 2) How does the tool access and interact with our HR data and knowledge bases? What security measures safeguard this sensitive information? 3) How can we jointly engage in corrective actions if a generative AI tool provides false information? 4) How does the system manage highly sensitive HR data? Are certain use cases restricted to ensure data protection? As a bonus, I am resharing this 33-page toolkit developed by the World Economic Forum in partnership with GEP. It offers a framework to help internal practitioners navigate the AI procurement landscape and ask relevant questions during the evaluation process.

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 an exclusive 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

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

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

Here is my one-page infographic featuring practical tips for each stakeholder group to boost organizational, team, and individual performance. 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.

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:

  • Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO). The technology leader disclosed it is cutting approximately 5,600 jobs, about 7% of its global workforce, as part of a cost-management strategy aimed at shifting focus towards high-growth areas like AI and cybersecurity. This follows an earlier round of layoffs in February, where 4,000 employees were impacted.

  • Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). The chipmaker announced it is cutting 226 jobs at its San Diego facilities as part of a "normal course of business" to align investments, resources, and talent. This follows a previous round of layoffs in 2023, where over 1,250 jobs were cut.

  • Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). The US-based telecom giant announced plans to cut nearly 5,000 jobs, half of which will be cut by the end of September. The remainder of the layoffs will be completed by March 2025.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 14 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:

  • CarGurus, Inc. (CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS) [NASDAQ: CARG]—the No. 1 visited digital auto platform—announced that Jennifer Hanson has been appointed as Chief People Officer, effective September 30, 2024. Most recently, Hanson served as Chief HR Officer at Accolade, where she transformed the HR function and addressed critical talent acquisition and retention priorities. ​

Jennifer Hanson

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

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CHIEF HR OFFICER

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

AI IN HR

My template to help HR teams identify and prioritize potential AI in HR use cases.

Here is my editable one-page template that can be used to help HR teams generate ideas on this topic. Before using the template, identify the business problem(s) you are trying to solve. Then, use the template to think through how AI in HR can address those issues.

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