Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #279

10 AI-based HR trends, future of jobs report, updates on return to office mandates, connecting learning programs to business strategy, and succession planning questions.

Author

Brian Heger
January 12, 2025

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Welcome to this issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

A shout-out to Susan Page, VP, Global Talent Partner at Ameriprise Financial Services, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Susan, for your support of this newsletter!

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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 

AI IN HR

A new article by Jeanne Meister on how AI is changing the workplace, including its impact on reskilling.

In Jeanne Meister’s new Forbes article, she outlines 10 HR trends reshaping the workplace as generative AI becomes a cornerstone of business operations. The trends range from the impact of AI on entry-level positions to how it can be used to upskill employees and create new opportunities. Regarding the latter, Trend 3, Generative AI as an Opportunity to Upskill and Reskill Workers, highlights IKEA’s approach to solving the business problem of managing customer inquiries efficiently by utilizing AI. By deploying an AI bot to handle 47% of inquiries, IKEA freed up 8,500 customer service agents to be reskilled into virtual interior design consultants, unlocking a $1.4 billion revenue stream. This example underscores the importance of first identifying the business problem to solve or the opportunity to create organizational stakeholder value rather than starting with AI in HR use cases. With this as the backdrop, I’m resharing my editable template to help you think through AI in HR areas to pursue. As a bonus, I’m also sharing a People + Strategy article by IBM’s Chief HR Officer, Nickle LaMoreaux, where she shares how IBM began its AI in HR journey and achieved quick wins, including the introduction of AskHR, a digital assistant that now answers 94% of HR FAQs globally, reducing task completion time by over 75%.

FUTURE OF WORK

A new 290-page report examining how shifts in jobs and skills require changes in workforce strategies.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Future of Jobs Report 2025 earlier this week, offering insights from nearly 300 pages. Based on feedback from over 1,000 of the largest employers worldwide, representing 22 industry clusters and more than 14 million workers, the report highlights: 1) Job Growth and Losses: Global macro trends are expected to create 170 million new jobs this decade while displacing 92 million, resulting in a net gain of 78 million jobs (p.18). 2) Fastest Growing and Declining Jobs by 2030: Big Data Specialists, FinTech Engineers, and AI/Machine Learning Specialists lead growth, while Postal Services Clerks, Bank Tellers, and Data Entry Clerks have the greatest decline. 3) Skills Outlook: By 2030, 39% of key skills will change. While this represents significant disruption, it is down from 44% in 2023, possibly reflecting the impact of upskilling and reskilling initiatives. Page 41 highlights which skills are expected to rise in importance. 4) Talent Availability: Supporting employee health and well-being has become the top strategy for attracting talent, rising from 9th place in 2023. Another core strategy is tapping into diverse talent pools, emphasizing the value of a skills-first approach over traditional credentials. With this in mind, I’m sharing my one-page infographic featuring eight often-overlooked talent pools for sourcing talent.

RETURN-TO-OFFICE

My one-page cheat sheet summarizing a segment of organizations who’ve made recent RTO updates.

Here is my cheat sheet featuring 12 examples of organizations that announced return-to-office (RTO) updates between October 2024 and January 2025. Among the most recent updates: 1) JPMorganChase, the largest U.S. bank with 316,000 employees globally, will require hybrid workers to return to the office five days a week starting in March. 2) WPP, the global advertising and communications company, will implement a four-day office workweek beginning in April for its 100,000+ employees worldwide, emphasizing the importance of in-person collaboration to creativity. 3) Sullivan & Cromwell, the prominent law firm, updated its guidance to express a preference for attorneys to work on-site Monday through Friday during business hours, underscoring the firm's belief in the value of in-person collaboration, though not as a formal mandate. As organizations continue to think through their RTO decisions, I am resharing this web page of resources from the October 2024 Remote Work Conference hosted by Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Hoover Institution. It includes the recorded presentations and slides used during the conference and has been made available by conference organizers Nick Bloom and Steven Davis.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Highlights five tactics for aligning learning and development initiatives with organizational strategic priorities.

Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) and their teams understand the importance of aligning learning and development (L&D) programs with organizational strategic priorities to drive measurable business impact. Yet, making this connection is often challenging. This new article highlights five L&D practices from interviews with CLOs who’ve made meaningful progress in achieving this alignment. The article features examples from companies like Standard Chartered, PwC, Nestlé, Novo Nordisk, and L’Oréal. One practice involves designing workplace learning around strategic priorities rather than individual roles. Novo Nordisk exemplifies this by focusing on enterprise-wide initiatives, such as digitalization. Previously, such training would have been developed for individual functions, but the current program covers organizational-wide topics like digital enablers, patient profiles, digital marketing, and automation in production. This approach has improved digital acumen by 46% and increased digital experiments by 85%, which the company views as proxies for business impact. Another practice is shifting from participation-based to outcome-based KPIs. For example, Nestlé measures the impact of its leadership program on performance, promotions, and turnover, with results showing that participants often move into more complex roles within two to three years, and their teams achieve higher promotion rates. As a bonus, I’m resharing this BCG article, which includes a section on metrics for assessing the impact of learning programs.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Provides an editable template with 11 questions for thinking through an organization’s succession practices. Includes bonus template.

According to Gartner’s 2025 Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders Report, only 23% of HR leaders are confident that their organizations have rising leaders capable of meeting future needs. In my view, succession planning (SP) is a key factor contributing to this gap. As the start of the year is an opportune time to reevaluate key talent practices, including SP, here is my one-page worksheet with 11 sample SP questions designed to help organizations assess various aspects of their SP practices. While not exhaustive, these questions provide a strong foundation to build upon. Sample questions include: Scope. Based on our SP purpose, what is the scope of our SP? Do we focus on roles at certain levels, critical roles regardless of level, or something else? Role vs. Pool. Are there areas where SP will be based on ‘successor pools’ —where similar roles are grouped together and share a talent pool of potential successors? If so, what are they? Development. If a successor is on multiple succession plans, how do we determine what plan takes priority in terms of successor development?  For each question, there is an editable comment box where you can track notes. As a bonus, I am resharing another one of my SP diagnostic templates that helps identify improvement opportunities in 10 SP areas. If you find value in resources like this and are an internal HR practitioner, you will want to get on the waiting list for my new invitation-only community for internal HR practitioners launching soon—Talent Edge Circle.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

My template to help teams establish goals and track metrics, with sections for both what will be accomplished and what won’t be prioritized.

This template is divided into two sections: 1) HR Goals and Objectives—focusing on what will be achieved, and 2) What HR Won't Do—outlining work that may have been a priority in the previous year(s) but is no longer relevant for 2025. The section on "what won't be done" can be helpful, as lingering tasks, outdated priorities, or ineffective ways of working can unintentionally carry over into the new year, diverting teams from focusing on what truly matters. You can also view my post on LinkedIn about this resource and join the discussion!

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:

  • Ally Financial (NYSE: ALLY). The digital-only bank is cutting hundreds of jobs, less than 5% of its 11,000 employees, as it exits mortgage origination and explores options for its credit card business.

  • Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The tech giant announced performance-based job cuts affecting about 2,280 employees, less than 1% of its 228,000-strong workforce.

  • Wayfair (NYSE: W). The online retailer is exiting operations in Germany, affecting 730 employees, with half expected to relocate.

 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:

  • Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (TORONTO, CANADA)—the world's leading luxury hospitality company—has appointed Keisha Smith as EVP and Chief People and Culture Officer, effective January 6, 2025. Smith was most recently the Chief People Officer at Tory Burch, a role she held from August 2018 to June 2024. Smith also serves as an Independent Director on the Human Capital Committee for Unity Software. ​

Keisha Smith

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

FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

Catch up on what you may have missed from me on LinkedIn:

THE BEST OF DECEMBER 2024

Did you miss the “Best of December ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #277, which includes 17 of the most popular resources from the month.

And make sure you check out my announcement about my new invitation-only community for internal HR practitioners launching soon —Talent Edge Circle!

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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.

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