Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #268

Chief HR Officer perspectives, succession planning, employee retention, hybrid work, and AI and upskilling,

Author

Brian Heger
November 03, 2024

SPONSORED BY

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 move of the week.

✨ Last, I’m exploring launching The Talent Edge Circle—a digital community for internal HR practitioners with access to exclusive resources, a dedicated discussion space, and more. Indicate your interest here!

Let’s dive in! ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

CHIEF HR OFFICER

Insights into the perspectives of CHROs on their key concerns, challenges, and opportunities.

The Chief HR Officer (CHRO) role is now among the top three fastest-growing C-suite positions, according to LinkedIn’s September 2024 Economic Graph Report. With this growth, CHROs are increasingly tasked with navigating complex workplace challenges, such as AI in the workplace and hybrid work strategies. Based on feedback from 183 global companies across 14 industries, this Mercer report offers perspectives on the key concerns, challenges, and opportunities facing CHROs. Among the insights, CHROs identified building leadership capabilities within their organizations as their top priority, ranking it first among their top three focus areas. Similarly, identifying and developing talent for critical succession roles emerged as a major risk. CHROs who see this as a significant risk also reported more frequent engagement with their Boards of Directors (BoD) compared to previous years, suggesting that this topic is gaining increased scrutiny from BoDs. With this in mind, I'm resharing a 14-page report by EY and Corporate Board Member, How Boards Can Champion a Resilient Talent Strategy, which provides insights into how BoDs are engaging in aspects of talent strategy. Returning to the Mercer report, page 15 outlines six actions that CHROs should consider as they navigate opportunities and challenges ahead.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My new infographic addresses three fundamental challenges in succession planning, such as lack of succession depth.

Over the past few months, I've shared various resources on succession planning (SP), including sample questions and metrics to design and evaluate an organization's SP. While metrics are valuable, their true power lies in generating actionable insights that drive improvement. Here is my new infographic that addresses three fundamental challenges in succession planning: 1) Lack of succession depth, 2) Lack of successor readiness, and 3) Turnover in the successor pool. For each challenge, I've outlined sample metrics that help identify potential issues, along with actionable recommendations. For instance, a lack of succession depth (not enough successors) could be indicated by a low percentage of critical roles with a succession plan, a low average number of successors per role, or a low percentage of critical roles with at least one ready-now successor. One potential action is to reevaluate the role’s success criteria by focusing on core skills and experiences, prioritizing essential qualifications over non-essential ones that may limit the successor pool. Since the infographic provides only a few examples, use it as a starting point to consider the challenges relevant to your organization and explore recommended actions.

HYBRID WORK

Shares findings from a study on hybrid work and its impact on performance, productivity, and employee retention.

This new article by Nick Bloom and his colleagues shares findings from a study conducted at Trip.com, a leading global travel company, analyzing how hybrid work impacts various outcomes. In a six-month A/B test, 1,600 China-based employees in marketing, finance, accounting, and engineering were randomly assigned to either a five-day or three-day office schedule. After the experiment, performance reviews and attrition data were tracked over the next two years. While the study found no significant differences in productivity, performance review ratings, or promotions between the groups, it did show notable improvements in job satisfaction and a 35% reduction in quit rates among hybrid employees—particularly for women, non-managers, and those with long commutes. This reduction saved millions in recruitment and training costs. The article highlights three key components behind Trip.com’s successful hybrid work implementation, including coordinated in-office schedules on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. If you missed it, check out several resources, including academic research presentations on remote and hybrid work from the October 9-11, Implications of Remote Work Conference.

EMPLOYEE TURNOVER

Highlights research on how employee retention tactics fall short and offers suggested practices for improving retention. I share a bonus resource.

Employee retention, especially in critical areas, is vital to talent management. While many organizations implement retention tactics to keep their talent, this new article highlights a significant shortcoming: these efforts often fail to create meaningful work experiences that drive lasting engagement and satisfaction. The authors argue that employees’ decisions to leave are shaped by “push” factors—negative workplace experiences—and “pull” factors, such as appealing opportunities elsewhere. Regardless of which factors prompt an employee to consider leaving, identifying retention risks early is essential to prevent unwanted turnover. To build on the tactics from this article and help managers proactively address retention risks, I’m resharing my one-page template. This tool encourages managers to assess key questions about their team members: Are they high performers? High potentials? Do they hold critical positions? Are they a retention risk? How would their departure impact the organization? Managers can then prioritize conversations and actions based on these evaluations. While a template isn’t necessary, it can foster critical thinking about retention risks and guide actions.

AI AND UPSKILLING

Shares tactics for implementing AI upskilling efforts that drive meaningful business impact, including outcome measurement and practical examples.

As AI continues to reshape work, many organizations are evaluating the need to upskill their workforce. Yet, as noted in the 2024 LinkedIn Learning Report, large-scale upskilling programs often remain in the planning stages. To support organizations moving from planning to implementation, this BCG article emphasizes five key actions for effective AI upskilling: 1) Assess needs and measure outcomes, 2) Prepare people for change, 3) Build in incentives, 4) Position the C-suite as leaders, and 5) Use AI for AI-related upskilling. In terms of measuring outcomes, the article provides an example of a retailer that used A/B testing as part of its upskilling initiative, making its chain of over 500 stores more customer-centric. By focusing on business outcomes, underlying metrics (such as increased sales per square foot and improved customer feedback), and testing different upskilling methods, the company was able to identify the most impactful upskilling practices, resulting in a 150 basis point sales increase, doubled employee engagement, improved customer feedback, and increased sales per square foot. To further support measuring business outcomes and the impact of upskilling efforts, I’m also resharing another BCG article with specific metrics for assessing learning program effectiveness (see Exhibit 1).

NEW COMMUNITY FOR HR?

Due to many requests, I’m considering launching The Talent Edge Circle—an exclusive, vetted, invitation-only digital community for internal HR practitioners.

If you’re interested in becoming part of this exclusive community of internal HR practitioners, please take 90 seconds to indicate your interest. If there is enough demand, I will share more details soon!

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

TALENT TRENDS

A new 24-page report covering five talent trends poised to shape 2025 talent strategies.

Themes include 1) AI’s Growing Pains: Reality Kicks In, 2) Razor-Sharp Focus on Critical Skills, 3) Learning & Development’s (L&D) Wake-Up Call, 4) Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is Finally a VIP, and 5) Beyond the Office: Hybrid 360.

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:

  • Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX). The company is laying off 20 percent of its global workforce, the equivalent of 528 roles. Dropbox will be making cuts to the parts of its business where the company is “over-invested or underperforming” while working toward a “flatter, more efficient” team structure.

  • Kraken. Kraken, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, announced the layoff of 15 percent of its workers, a corporate restructuring, and the appointment of a new co-chief executive. The cuts amounted to about 400 of the company’s roughly 2,600 employees.

  • Visa (NYSE: V). The company will reportedly lay off 1,400 employees and contractors, including about 1,000 in technology positions, by the end of the year as it streamlines its international business.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 10 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:

  • Equinox (NEW YORK, NEW YORK)—a leader in high-performance luxury living—announced the appointment of Gretchen Koback Pursel as Chief People Officer. Koback Pursel most recently served as Global Chief People Officer at The Wella Company, overseeing a portfolio of brands including Wella, GHD, OPI Nails, and Clairol. Prior to that, Koback Pursel held multiple HR leadership roles at Tiffany & Co. ​

Gretchen Koback Pursel

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

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THE BEST OF OCTOBER 2024

Did you miss the “Best of October ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #267, which includes 17 of the most popular resources from the month. Thank you to Perceptyx for sponsoring this Best of October issue!

If you are not already signed up to receive Talent Edge Weekly,  subscribe here to receive future issues. It’s FREE!

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