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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.

• 6 Workforce Planning Challenges You Can Start Solving Today | Brian Heger | My template outlining six common SWP challenges, a potential solution, and immediate next step to implement.

• Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks | MIT Sloan Management Review | Explores ‘bottlenecks’ as a major obstacle to achieving organizational goals and provides actionable strategies to address them.

• Return-to-Office Mandates and Brain Drain | University of Pittsburgh | A new research study on how RTO mandates impact turnover and hiring.

• Is the Re-recruitment of Former Employees Part of Your Recruiting Strategy? | Brian Heger | Why recruiting former employees could be a viable talent strategy in some situations. Includes my template to support this effort.

• Talent Philosophy Meets Technology for High Performance at Workday | The Talent Strategy Group | A case study on the importance of a shared talent philosophy in aligning talent practices and HR tech.

📉 Also, check out my job cuts tracker & Chief HR Officer move of the week.

Brian

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

WORKFORCE PLANNING

6 Workforce Planning Challenges You Can Start Solving Today | Brian Heger

My template outlining six common SWP challenges, a potential solution, and immediate next step to implement.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) remains a top priority for many organizations, yet studies consistently reveal gaps in SWP capabilities across industries. A common challenge is that HR practitioners and stakeholders often struggle with where to begin or how to prioritize actions to advance SWP efforts. In such cases, starting small—focusing on one area for improvement—can be the most effective way to gain momentum. To assist, I’ve created a one-page template outlining six common SWP challenges, potential solutions, and immediate next steps to implement them. For example, to address a lack of senior leader buy-in, a potential solution could involve presenting a business case that connects SWP to critical organizational outcomes, such as reducing turnover costs. An immediate next step might include calculating the financial impact of turnover to strengthen the case. This template enables teams to identify challenges, brainstorm solutions, and tailor the content to their organization’s SWP maturity. If you find value in tools like this, stay tuned for my new, exclusive community for internal HR practitioners, Talent Edge Circle, launching in early 2025.

Access template

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks | MIT Sloan Management Review

Explores ‘bottlenecks’ as a major obstacle to achieving organizational goals and provides actionable strategies to address them.

As organizations gear up to execute their 2025 goals, it’s crucial to address ineffective ways of working that could impede the execution of business priorities. Last week, I shared my one-page template to help organizations document ineffective work practices, outline improvement tactics, and track progress. Building on this, a new article highlights ‘bottlenecks’ as another significant barrier to execution. Bottlenecks arise when tasks stall due to dependencies on incomplete tasks (e.g., legal review processes delaying high-value contracts) or insufficient resources. While resource bottlenecks, such as understaffed teams, can often be addressed by adding capacity, task bottlenecks require rethinking workflows, clarifying dependencies, and empowering teams to tackle obstacles proactively. The article offers an in-depth guide to identifying bottlenecks and provides five actionable strategies for managing them. By addressing these barriers early, organizations can create a smoother path to execution and deliver greater impact in 2025. What steps is your organization taking to address inefficiencies and bottlenecks to enable better performance in the coming year?

Read article

RETURN-TO-OFFICE

Return-to-Office Mandates and Brain Drain | Working Paper from University of Pittsburgh

A new research study on how RTO mandates impact turnover and hiring.

Organizations continue to update their return-to-office (RTO) policies, ranging from full mandates to restricting specific days for remote work. As leaders make these decisions, emerging research offers important insights into how RTO impacts key organizational outcomes. A new working paper by Associate Business Professor Mark Ma and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh analyzed S&P 500 companies that imposed RTO mandates between April 2020 and June 2023, using data from three million LinkedIn profiles to assess employee reactions. The findings revealed a 14% increase in employee departures, particularly among female, senior, and skilled employees. Additionally, it took companies 23% longer to fill vacancies compared to pre-RTO recruitment periods, with overall hiring rates dropping by 17%, possibly reflecting reduced interest from candidates in less flexible workplaces. While RTO decisions are influenced by various unique organizational factors and situations, understanding research like this can help leaders make more informed decisions that align with their workforce and business objectives. If you missed it, here are resources from the recent Remote Work Conference hosted by Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Hoover Institution.

Read paper

TALENT ACQUISITION

Is the Re-recruitment of Former Employees Part of Your Recruiting Strategy?

Why recruiting former employees could be a viable talent strategy in some situations. Includes my template to support this effort.

With 2025 on the horizon, many workers will be reflecting on their careers and determining if now is the time to make a change. For organizations, this presents a unique opportunity to evaluate untapped talent pools to gain a talent advantage. One talent segment often overlooked is former employees—sometimes referred to as 'boomerang employees.' A study in the Academy of Management Journal found that former employees who are rehired tend to outperform new hires, especially in roles with higher relational demands and internal coordination needs. Regarding the optimal time to target former employees for rehire, a Visier analysis of 3 million employee records across 120 organizations revealed that the average time away for employees who resign and return is 13 months. Notably, the likelihood of a former employee returning drops sharply after 16 months, making this 13-16-month window critical for re-recruitment efforts. Does your organization have a strategy for identifying and re-recruiting former employees? With workers evaluating their options, now might be the perfect time to explore this talent pool. Use my template to begin identifying employees you may want to target for re-recruitment.

Access template

TALENT MANAGEMENT

Talent Philosophy Meets Technology for High Performance at Workday | The Talent Strategy Group

A case study on the importance of a shared talent philosophy in aligning talent practices and HR tech.

This case study highlights the importance of establishing a talent philosophy—an agreement on how a company grows and manages talent to achieve its business strategy—as a foundation for aligning talent practices, processes, and HR technology. With many HR leaders making tech purchasing decisions to support talent strategies, a shared talent philosophy significantly increases the likelihood of successful implementations that drive business goals. Notably, the study outlines five components of a talent philosophy with guiding questions, such as: Performance: How do we define and measure success? What are the expectations for high performers? Accountability: What are the roles and responsibilities of managers and employees in driving performance and development? Figure 1 illustrates how Workday redesigned its talent philosophy, providing HR leaders with a practical example for identifying opportunities to realign or recalibrate organizational leadership around a shared philosophy. If you asked your leaders about your company’s talent philosophy, would their answers align? If not, this may be an opportunity to build alignment on this critical foundation.

Read article

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

HR EFFECTIVENESS

Less is More | People + Strategy

Shares perspectives from three veteran Chief HR Officers on the power of eliminating HR concepts that are no longer purpose-built for this era.

Includes perspectives from three veteran CHROs—Kevin Cox (25-year CHRO at Pepsi Bottling Group, American Express, and GE), Susan Podlogar (MetLife CHRO, 2017–2024), and Katie Burke (former Chief People Officer at HubSpot)—on how HR leaders can focus on the vital few priorities.

Read article

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.

A few job cuts announced this past week:

• Edelman. The communications firm disclosed plans to lay off 330 employees, over 5% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring to streamline operations and integrate client services.

• Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT). The biotech company will lay off 180 employees, which is about two-thirds of its workforce, after ending its sickle cell therapy program due to lack of a commercial partner.

• General Motors (NYSE: GM). The automaker disclosed plans to lay off 1,965 workers at its Kansas plant in two phases by the end of 2024 due to production shutdowns.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 14 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:

• Vanguard (VALLEY FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA)—one of the world's leading investment management companies—announced the appointment of Jon Couture as Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer, succeeding Lauren Valente, who has been named Head of the Institutional Investor Group. Couture joins Vanguard from Principal Financial Group, where he served as EVP and CHRO. ​

Never miss another Chief HR Officer announcement. Subscribe to CHROs on the Go with a monthly or yearly subscription and gain immediate access to +4000 (and growing) CHRO announcements.

If you are already a subscriber to CHROs on the Go, log in here.

FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

THE BEST OF NOVEMBER 2024

Did you miss the “Best of November ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #273, which includes 19 of the most popular resources from the month.

Thank you to Gloat for sponsoring this Best of November issue! You can download Gloat’s comprehensive 25-page guide, The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Skills-Based Organization.

Read the Best of November

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RESOURCE LINEUP

​brianheger.com provides free access to +1,500 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 Circle. A new, exclusive, vetted, invitation-only digital community for internal HR practitioners to be launched in early 2025. If you are an internal HR practitioner interested in this paid community, indicate your interest here.