Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #271

Identifying hidden talent, skills-based talent culture, 2025 work trends, Board of Directors and talent management, and talent reviews.

Author

Brian Heger
November 24, 2024

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Welcome to this issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Below are links and descriptions of the topics covered in this issue. If you're interested in my deep dive, 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 

TALENT MANAGEMENT

My infographic with 8 examples of talent segments that might get overlooked and signs that an organization might miss out on these talent sources.

HR teams are constantly seeking ways to help their organizations gain a talent advantage. One underutilized strategy is tapping into "hidden workers"—individuals with valuable skills who are often overlooked due to hiring practices, policies, and technology. Coined by researchers from Harvard Business School in their report Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent, the term includes talent segments ranging from caregivers to people with disabilities. While many segments fall into the category of hidden workers, my infographic shows eight examples, each with descriptions. In addition to the description, you can hover your mouse pointer over each number to view an example of how organizations might overlook a segment. For instance, the Long-term Unemployed—people out of work for an extended period—might be excluded by algorithms filtering candidates with employment gaps. Another segment is Career Changers—professionals transitioning between industries or occupations. One barrier to recognizing them is a hiring process that prioritizes industry-specific or role-specific experience over transferable skills. Organizations can use this infographic as a starting point to identify and discuss strategies for tapping into overlooked talent pools, unlocking opportunities to gain a talent advantage.

SKILLS-BASED PRACTICES

Shares lessons from companies that have worked to cultivate a culture that supports skills-based talent practices.

As more organizations adopt skills-based talent practices, many focus heavily on technical enablers like skills taxonomies and technology. While important, a critical yet often overlooked element is the supportive culture that enables these practices to thrive. Last week, I shared the first paper in a series from Business Roundtable on skills-based talent practices, which focused on measuring their impact. In this latest second paper, the authors share early lessons from companies cultivating cultures to support these practices. A key takeaway is the need to clarify the “why” behind skills-based practices. Without a clear purpose, initiatives risk being deprioritized or seen as performative rather than integral to business strategy. The paper also notes that adopting skills-based practices doesn’t automatically shift company culture. For example, a study I previously shared analyzed 11,300 roles and the impact of removing degree requirements—a highly touted skills-based practice. On average, fewer than four additional candidates without degrees were hired per 100 job postings, but 37% of Skills-Based Hiring Leaders achieved nearly a 20% increase in hiring workers without degrees. This result shows that skills-based practices require cultural and mindset shifts to succeed. The latest Business Roundtable paper covers several other ideas, including page 10, which provides 10 questions and suggested metrics to help organizations align efforts with their culture.

WORK TRENDS

Highlights 5 worklife trends for 2025 and beyond, including greater access to mental health and well-being benefits.

As we approach the final month of 2024, reports forecasting workforce and workplace trends for the new year are gaining traction. Glassdoor Economic Research recently highlighted five work-life trends for 2025 and beyond, drawn from their extensive data. One notable trend is the growing employer emphasis on holistic well-being, with access to mental health care benefits increasing by 18 percentage points between 2019 and 2024—the second-largest increase among benefits, after work-from-home options. Despite this progress, nearly half (48%) of employees surveyed by Glassdoor report finding it harder to prioritize their mental health at work compared to five years ago. This result highlights the need not only for accessible mental health benefits but also for strategies that encourage their use. For instance, a randomized controlled trial study involving 2,400 Novartis employees across four countries demonstrated that sharing personal mental health stories among colleagues significantly reduced stigma and increased participation in mental health programs by up to 8%. Organizations may benefit from complementing mental health programs with cultural initiatives that normalize discussions and encourage employees to use these resources.

BOARDS AND TALENT

Shares board members' perspectives on improving their understanding and support of human capital initiatives and issues.

Boards of Directors (BofD) are increasingly focused on human capital and capability issues, such as talent strategy. Yet, this new article based on feedback from over 500 board members reveals that only one-third believe their boards are effective in this area. A key reason cited is the overwhelming and context-lacking human capital data the BofDs receive, which hinders meaningful, strategic discussions. Instead of focusing mostly on various human capital metrics, HR leaders can provide narratives that link metrics to business priorities, track progress, reference benchmarks, and align with drivers like performance and productivity. I recommend starting with the key questions you’re trying to answer and then aligning metrics to tell the story and guide actions. To help, I’m resharing my PDF with 24 sample talent questions across eight areas. The categories and questions in this PDF are simply examples. Use them as a starting point for determining what is most relevant to your organization. For additional insights, see The Conference Board’s report Telling the Human Capital Management Story, which offers ideas for tailoring talent narratives to various stakeholder groups while staying aligned to a single source of truth.

TALENT REVIEWS

My template to help practitioners identify opportunities to enhance the impact of their talent review practices. Includes two bonus resources.    

As I continue to receive requests for resources on the organizational talent review process, here is my editable template to assist practitioners in identifying opportunities to enhance their talent reviews. The first column includes a few considerations for practitioners to assess aspects of their talent review, such as defining the purpose of the review, establishing criteria for measuring potential, and ensuring managerial accountability. Subsequent columns allow practitioners to gauge the ‘gap’ between current and desired states, with color-coded checkboxes indicating areas for improvement (clicking the box applies a color code automatically). The final column can be used for documenting possible actions for addressing the areas with the greatest opportunity for improvement. I encourage practitioners to tailor the example statements in column 1 to fit their talent review’s purpose (the first statement in the column). As a bonus, here is the Talent Strategy Group’s 2024 High Performer and High Potential Development Report, which provides various insights relevant to talent reviews. In addition, here is an article by Allan Church and Janine Waclawski on identifying leadership potential.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My worksheet to identify improvement opportunities in 10 areas of succession.

Here’s my one-page diagnostic covering 10 sample areas of succession planning. While not exhaustive, these criteria offer a starting point for identifying potential SP improvements. You can also view my post on LinkedIn about this resource.

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:

  • Bosch (NSE: BOSCHLTD). The German engineering and technology giant plans to lay off 5,000 employees. The planned job cuts come as German auto companies push to reduce costs to stay competitive in the international market. 3,800 of the job cuts are to be made in Germany.

  • HSBC (NYSE: HSBC). One of the world's largest financial institutions will implement a major restructuring plan affecting hundreds of its senior bankers. As part of the restructuring, hundreds of managers will need to reapply for positions in its newly created corporate and institutional banking division.

  • Nissan Motors (OTCMKTS: NSAN). The automobile manufacturer announced that about 6% of employees in the United States have accepted early retirement packages as part of the struggling Japanese carmaker's plan to cut 9,000 jobs worldwide.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 15 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:

  • Gucci (MILAN, ITALY)—a global leader in luxury fashion—announced that Francesco Falai will be promoted to Chief People Officer, effective January 1, 2025. Currently serving as SVP of Global People Retail and Business, Falai has been with Gucci since 2017. Falai will succeed Luca Bozzo, who is departing at the end of December after more than seven years with Gucci and 14 years within parent company Kering Group. ​

Francesco Falai

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

Catch up on what you may have missed 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!

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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.

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Talent Edge Weekly is written by Brian Heger, a human resources practitioner. You can connect with Brian on Linkedin, X, and brianheger.com