Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #265

2025 HR priorities, 10 ways to develop in place, 20 leadership challenges, 2024 CHRO compensation study, and ethical AI in the workplace.

Author

Brian Heger
October 20, 2024

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Welcome to this 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 move of the week.

Let’s dive in! ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

HR EFFECTIVENESS

Explores priorities HR leaders will face in 2025, offering actionable ideas for each.

It's that time of year when reports on HR leaders' priorities for the coming year are released. In this context, Gartner has identified five key HR areas for 2025 based on feedback from over 1,400 HR leaders across 60 countries. Among the priorities is strategic workforce planning (SWP), which remains a recurring challenge for many organizations. Sixty-six percent of respondents admit their SWP efforts are limited to headcount planning and 61% state their plans cover only a one-year horizon. A common barrier to SWP is the belief that it must be a large-scale, organization-wide initiative to have an impact, often leading to inaction due to its complexity. The report suggests a gradual "crawl, walk, run" approach, where organizations start small and expand over time. Four key questions are provided to guide a phased implementation. Another approach Merck uses to simplify SWP is having leaders submit workforce-related problem statements and evaluate their strategic importance and feasibility based on available data, skills, and tools. By focusing on one problem at a time, Merck streamlines the process and avoids the "perfectionism" barrier of SWP. To complement this part of the paper, I'm resharing a 2019 article I co-authored in People+Strategy, which addresses phased SWP and common SWP barriers.

DEVELOPMENT

My infographic with 10 challenges that help individuals and managers create meaningful development opportunities without changing roles.

Internal job moves—where employees transition into new roles within the same organization—are a key source of development. While effective, these moves are limited in supply, making it essential to complement them with other strategies. One often-underutilized approach is "development in place," which involves adding challenges to a person’s current role to broaden their portfolio of development and leadership experiences. To help identify these opportunities, I’ve created a one-page cheat sheet based on Cynthia McCauley’s work at the Center for Creative Leadership. It outlines 10 key challenges that accelerate high-impact development. For example, taking on unfamiliar responsibilities—such as handling new tasks—can be achieved by asking a manager to delegate one of their responsibilities. Another challenge is managing work with broader scope, such as leading projects across multiple functions or locations. By working with their managers to select the right development challenges, employees can enhance personal growth and contribute to achieving business goals and objectives.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Identifies the top leadership challenges at various management levels based on research from over 48,000 leaders across 7,000 global organizations.

Organizations continue to invest in management and leadership development to drive performance and enhance leadership capabilities. However, identifying development activities that address real business needs can be challenging. Based on input from over 48,000 leaders across 7,000 global organizations, this recent research by the Center for Creative Leadership highlights the top challenges at different management levels—frontline, mid-level, senior leaders, and executives. Despite distinct challenges at each level, the research categorizes them into three overarching areas: personal growth, managing people and tasks, and navigating larger organizational systems. For example, regarding personal growth, frontline managers often struggle with developing confidence, managing former peers, or overcoming "imposter syndrome." Mid-level managers may experience self-doubt in strategic decisions or influencing senior leaders, while senior leaders often need greater self-awareness to understand how their leadership style impacts others, especially when delivering tough messages. As a bonus, I am resharing my 2016 article, Identifying Leadership Capabilities that Drive Business Performance, to help organizations think through the specific leadership capabilities most relevant to their success and distinct strategy and culture.

CHIEF HR OFFICER

A new study examining CHRO compensation in Fortune 1000 organizations.

This newly published fourth annual CHRO compensation study provides insights into various aspects of Chief HR Officer compensation. For the analysis, 1) publicly available data on the Fortune 1000 were used, including CHRO compensation data on 177 senior HR executives from those companies, a valid sample of 17.7%; 2) data were further segmented into Fortune 50, Fortune 100, Fortune 200, and Fortune 500 subcategories for analysis, 3) correlations between the senior HR executive compensation and company performance metrics (e.g., earnings per share) were analyzed, 4) findings were segmented by the respondents location of North America or EMEA. Among the key findings, in the Fortune 1000, CHROs earn an average of $2,761,253 in total annual compensation, rising to $4,438,450 in the Fortune 50. In the Fortune 1000, women earn more on average than men—$2,855,020 vs. $2,623,282, respectively. However, in the Fortune 500 and above, men earn more, with the largest gap in the Fortune 50, where men earn $5,192,584 compared to $3,684,315 for women, a difference of 34%. Notably, three of the four highest-paid CHROs were women, but their data were excluded from calculations as outliers. Additional insights are discussed.

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

Shares insights for deploying ethical AI in organizations. I share a bonus resource on using AI ethically in employment decisions.

As organizations continue to explore ways to implement AI ethically in the workplace, this new article provides valuable insights. While focused on the telecommunications industry, it offers takeaways for all organizations. Two key parts to highlight: 1) Table 1 lists six major governments worldwide that have enacted or proposed legislation to regulate the safe and transparent use of AI, detailing how different regions address ethical, transparent, and secure AI use across sectors. 2) A section on developing an AI strategy and long-term roadmap, including definitions for governance, risk management, data quality, and ethics, with best practices for advancing policies at each stage of AI maturity. As a bonus, I’m resharing this 18-page report by the Future of Privacy Forum, which outlines best practices for developing, implementing, or expanding AI tools in employment decisions. One recommendation emphasizes transparency, including disclosing details to individuals affected by AI tools, such as the tool's purpose, how it’s used, what it isn’t used for, how it learns, and assessments for potential bias.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

HR EFFECTIVENESS

My one-page editable template for reevaluating HR priorities and initiatives as we approach the final stretch of the year. It can also be used for non-HR functions.

This editable template, designed for the HR function but adaptable for non-HR teams, allows users to list initiatives, evaluate their impact on stakeholder value, and assess the complexity and investment required. Teams can then decide whether to stay the course or deprioritize, using the resulting information to ensure that resources are allocated toward the most critical areas.

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 (NASDAQ: INTC). The technology giant has reportedly begun implementing layoffs, starting with 1,300 employees at its Gordon Moore Park facility in Oregon, as part of a broader plan to reduce 15,000 jobs by year-end. The move affects over 5% of its Oregon workforce, marking one of the largest layoffs in the state’s history.

  • McKinsey & Co. The global consulting firm has cut hundreds of jobs in its China business. The layoffs are reportedly aimed at adjusting the company’s resources in response to changing market conditions in the region.

  • Meta (NASDAQ: META). The tech conglomerate has started laying off employees across departments, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, as part of ongoing team reorganizations. The changes are aimed at aligning resources with long-term strategic goals and location strategies.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 12 new Chief HR Officer announcements were posted on CHROs on the Go, my subscription-based platform tracking movement in and out of the CHRO role. This week’s CHRO move of the week is:

  • Apple Inc. (CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA) [NASDAQ: AAPL] has announced the departure of Carol Surface as Chief People Officer. Surface, who joined Apple in early 2023, previously held the role of Chief People Officer at Medtronic Plc. With her departure, Deirdre O’Brien, SVP of Retail at Apple Inc., will resume responsibility for both People and Retail functions.​

Carol Surface

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TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

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.

THE BEST OF SEPTEMBER 2024

Did you miss the “Best of September ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #262, which includes 20 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