Talent Edge Weekly - Issue 280

Skills report, internal mobility, talent philosophy, succession planning trigger events, and employee health and wellbeing.

Author

Brian Heger
January 19, 2025

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Welcome to this issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

A shout-out to Lynn Johnson, Chief People Officer at Consensus Cloud Solutions, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Lynn, 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 

SKILLS

A new 47-page report with a roadmap for implementing skills-based practices.

As organizations implement skills-based talent practices, this new 47-page report outlines a three-step roadmap: 1) identify strategic priorities and talent challenges a skills-based approach can address, 2) assess and define the skills needed, and 3) sustain a skills-first culture with effective governance. Page 12 highlights the importance of securing buy-in from key stakeholders, such as business leaders, by linking a skills-first culture to business goals and demonstrating its value. This point reinforces the need to align skills-based efforts with business priorities and track return on investments—an aspect often overlooked in the rush to adopt skills-based practices. Page 17 covers skills-based hiring, including assessments, proficiency standards, and job description integration. While prioritizing skills over traditional credentials, such as academic degrees, is gaining traction, research shows its impact remains limited. A study of 11,300 roles at large firms found that removing degree requirements from job postings led to just a 3.5 percentage point increase in hiring workers without a four-year degree after one year. However, leading organizations achieved nearly a 20 percent improvement by fostering a culture that actively supports skills-based hiring. These findings underscore that effective skills-based practices require more than rhetoric and technology; they demand cultural and mindset shifts to drive meaningful impact.

INTERNAL MOBILITY

My PDF with sample metrics to measure progress in internal mobility. Includes a worksheet to identify metrics.

Internal mobility—the movement of employees across different roles and career opportunities within an organization—is a key talent strategy component. Measuring its impact is essential to maximizing return on investment. My PDF includes nine example metrics to help organizations assess different aspects of internal mobility, each featuring a definition, its significance, and a supporting practice. For example, the “Time-to-Fill for Internals” metric tracks the average time to fill a position with an internal candidate compared to external hiring. This is important because faster internal hiring processes reduce productivity gaps, minimize disruption, and showcase the organization’s ability to mobilize talent quickly. A sample practice to enhance effectiveness is streamlining the internal application process by reducing approval requirements and shortening interview stages without sacrificing quality. The final page of the PDF includes a worksheet for identifying key metrics—whether from this list or new ones—to track as part of your strategy. As a bonus, I am resharing my one-page diagnostic to help practitioners identify opportunities to strengthen internal mobility. If you find these resources valuable, you will want to join the waiting list for Talent Edge Circle, my upcoming invitation-only community for internal HR practitioners.

TALENT MANAGEMENT

A newly refreshed version of the groundbreaking article on developing an organization’s talent philosophy.

In my 2016 article Linking Talent Strategy with Business Strategy, I noted that HR practitioners spend significant time creating and implementing talent practices and processes (supported by technology) to enable business strategy. However, before this work begins, it’s critical to articulate the organization's talent philosophy—a set of guiding principles that define how it manages talent to achieve its strategy. As Marc Effron emphasizes in his newly updated article, it is the executive leadership team—not HR—that should create and agree on the talent philosophy. His article provides guidance on helping the executive team align on key elements such as Performance—What are the consequences of higher or lower employee performance over time? Behaviors—How much do behaviors matter, and at what thresholds do we start to care? Differentiation—How should we allocate our company’s resources and rewards across varying levels of performance and potential? Transparency—How open should we be with employees about their performance, behaviors and potential to advance? Accountability—To what extent should managers be responsible for increasing the quality and depth of their teams? As an HR leader, how confident are you that your executive team has a clearly defined and aligned talent philosophy? How many of these five questions would they answer the same way? Understanding this is critical, as the talent practices, processes, and technology we implement in 2025 and beyond must align with this philosophy to achieve the intended talent outcomes.

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My one-page cheat sheet with nine sample trigger events that may necessitate a more immediate review and adjustment to succession plans.

I recently shared my template to help leaders and practitioners evaluate when to update succession plans to keep them relevant and effective. While reviewing plans at least annually is a good practice, certain trigger events may necessitate a more immediate reassessment. These reviews ensure succession plans stay aligned with evolving business needs and future challenges. To support proactive succession planning, I’ve identified nine sample triggers that might prompt a reevaluation. A few include: Shift in business strategy—a new strategic direction may require different leadership capabilities; Cultural or organizational transformation—changes in culture, mission, or ways of working may necessitate new leadership skills; Successor turnover—departures create gaps that require reassessing readiness and pipeline strength. This list is not exhaustive and can be used as a starting point. Since every business is unique, some triggers may be more relevant than others, and I encourage organizations to tailor the list to their needs. To support this, I’ve included an editable text box in the PDF so you can document notes on how specific triggers might signal a need to review your current succession plans.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

A new report on employee wellbeing, including key metrics to help build a strong business case for well-being investments.

Last week, I shared the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, a 290-page analysis of how shifts in jobs, the labor market, and skills require adjustments in workforce strategies. A new report by the McKinsey Health Institute offers additional insights, including key drivers organizations can use to calculate their investment in well-being and its returns. These include employee output (higher productivity, reduced absenteeism, and lower presenteeism), talent management optimization (improved retention, stronger attraction, and reduced attrition), and healthcare cost savings (lower expenses tied to a healthier workforce). As organizations build the business case for well-being investments, Exhibit 11 provides sample metrics, definitions, and key performance indicators to support decision-making. The report also includes case studies showcasing how organizations are implementing various well-being strategies. As a bonus, I am resharing my playlist of five resources for enabling employee wellbeing.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My editable template with 11 questions for thinking through an organization’s succession practices.

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.  

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:

  • BP (NYSE: BP). The British oil and gas giant announced it will cut 5% of its global workforce, eliminating nearly 4,700 employee roles and 3,000 contractor positions as part of a cost-cutting initiative to restore investor confidence.

  • Meta (NASDAQ: META). The social media company announced it will cut approximately 5% of its workforce by letting go of low performers as part of efforts to "raise the bar" on performance management.

  • Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA). The gene-editing company is cutting over 25% of its workforce and ending its NTLA-3001 program for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency to focus on its two late-stage therapies, NTLA-2002 and nex-z.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 11 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:

  • HP Inc. (PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA) [NYSE: HPQ]—a global technology leader—announced the appointment of Carol Surface as Chief People Officer, effective March 24. Surface joins HP from Apple, where she served as Chief People Officer for under two years. She brings over 20 years of experience leading HR functions at companies, including Medtronic and Best Buy. Surface succeeds Kristen Ludgate, who is retiring after four impactful years as HP's Chief People Officer. ​

Carol Surface

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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