Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #284

Strategic workforce planning, evaluating AI's potential to assume specific work tasks, 2025 LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, AI-enabled succession planning, and return-to-office.

Author

Brian Heger
February 16, 2025

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Welcome to this issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

A shout-out to Hilary Eigelshoven, Director, Human Resources at Canada Guaranty, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Hilary, 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 

STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING

I share four of my templates designed to support different aspects of SWP.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) remains the most requested topic among Talent Edge Weekly subscribers. To support practitioners, I’ve compiled four of my SWP templates to help drive more integrated actions. While I’ve shared these individually before, having them in one place may help practitioners determine which resource—or combination of resources—is most relevant to their needs. 1) Six common SWP challenges, potential solutions, and immediate next steps to implement them. 2) 22 questions to better align SWP with business strategy. 3) A 10-statement diagnostic to evaluate SWP effectiveness. 4) A one-page worksheet to assess the SWP implications of different business scenarios. If you find this content valuable and want more direct interaction (both synchronous and asynchronous) with me and a select group of hand-picked internal HR practitioners focused on accelerating talent practices with greater impact, I’m excited to share that in just a few weeks, I’ll be launching the Founding Members cohort of Talent Edge Circle—my new, invitation-only paid community for internal HR practitioners. This special launch will include a small, select group of founding members. If you’re an internal HR practitioner in talent, you can express interest by joining the waitlist here. I’ll contact you as we gradually open up new, limited spots!

AI AND WORKTASK PLANNING

My one-page worksheet helps you assess how AI could reshape specific critical work tasks and the extent of the required change.

As AI continues to transform work and task execution, organizations are increasingly focused on understanding its impact on talent and workforce planning. While sophisticated tools and methodologies exist, a valuable first step can be simply taking the time to thoughtfully review critical tasks—those vital to delivering key organizational outcomes—and jot down ideas. To help teams navigate this process and assess AI’s potential impact, I’ve created a simple yet effective template. This tool provides space to 1) identify the task (e.g., answering customer service inquiries), 2) indicate how the task is currently executed (e.g., human agents respond via phone/chat), 3) assess future AI-driven execution (e.g., AI chatbots handle common questions while human agents address complex issues), and 4) gauge the extent of change between current and future states (e.g., significant change). The template includes text fields and drop-down menus for easy input. While this is just a starting point to a very complex topic, it can help organizations begin thinking through AI’s implications on work task execution.

LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

A new 37-page report on how organizations are implementing career development and internal mobility practices.

Internal mobility and career development are vital to an organization's talent strategy. Against this backdrop, LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report explores how organizations are prioritizing employee development and internal mobility. While the report offers many insights, real-world examples provide the most practical takeaways. For example, Walmart has implemented "pipeline programs," which help frontline associates transition into truck driver and technician roles—two roles facing talent shortages. This initiative promotes employee career growth while enabling Walmart to fill critical roles more efficiently. Visa, which has over 200 products, has been rolling out AI-powered training and coaching for its sales teams. This allows sales professionals to practice sales pitches in a judgment-free environment with automated feedback, boosting seller confidence by 78%. The report also highlights generative AI’s growing role in career development. As practitioners continue translating ideas for internal mobility into tangible actions and practices, I am resharing this 56-page playbook by the Business Roundtable Multiple Pathways Initiative.

AI AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic explores four ways AI can support human decision-making in succession planning.

Organizations are exploring new ways to enhance the effectiveness and impact of their succession planning (SP) practices. Like other talent strategies, AI shows promise in complementing both the science and human judgment involved in SP decisions. In a recent article, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic outlines four ways AI can add rigor and objectivity while enhancing its human aspects: 1) Evaluating Past Performance Beyond Politics – AI analyzes large datasets to identify real contributions and reduce bias from subjective evaluations. 2) Expanding the Talent Pool – AI-driven assessments help uncover high-potential leaders from diverse backgrounds rather than relying solely on traditional insider candidates. 3) Using Passive Data to Predict Leadership Success – AI analyzes communication patterns and behavioral insights to assess leadership potential more holistically. 4) Debiasing Leadership Selection – AI flags biases in promotion and hiring decisions, ensuring selections align with data rather than stereotypes. I believe AI is especially impactful in expanding succession talent pools by identifying “hidden talent”—employees with the skills to take on new opportunities but who may be overlooked in traditional SP practices. Organizations that integrate AI wisely into SP can make more informed decisions by combining AI-driven insights with human expertise, strengthening both the science and art of SP.

RETURN-TO-OFFICE

A new article examines return-to-office data and its implications. I also share Nick Bloom’s LinkedIn response, which highlights gaps in the data presented.

As leaders continue making return-to-office (RTO) decisions, they often turn to external data that provide helpful insights. This past week, McKinsey published an article sharing RTO survey data, sparking debate on LinkedIn after Nick Bloom (a Stanford Economist who has been studying remote work for over two decades) questioned its findings due to recall and sample bias. Bloom explains: “The McKinsey survey has recall bias. It was run once, using recall to generate historic data rather than collecting data each month. When folks report their ‘WFH last year,’ many likely recall 2020 to 2022 when WFH was much higher.” On sampling bias, he adds: “They sampled 75% in-office employees. It’s like running a political survey and sampling 75% Republican voters—guess who would win that poll?” I am sharing both pieces so you can review them critically. One key takeaway is the importance of assessing survey and research data to understand their strengths and limitations. As leaders continue to evaluate their RTO decisions, I am resharing this web page of resources from the October 2024 Remote Work Conference, hosted by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Hoover Institution. It includes recorded presentations and slides from the conference, made available by organizers Nick Bloom and Steven Davis.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My new cheat sheet consolidates previous templates into one, offering SP metrics, questions, and trigger events for succession reevaluation.

Partial view of cheat sheet

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:

  • Chevron (NYSE: CVX). The oil company plans to cut up to 20% of its workforce—potentially affecting 8,000 employees—as part of a cost-cutting effort to save up to $3 billion by the end of 2026.

  • Kroger (NYSE: KR). The supermarket giant is laying off as many as 200 corporate employees as part of a restructuring effort to improve efficiency.

  • Sophos. The cybersecurity company is laying off 6% of its workforce following its $859 million acquisition of Secureworks. The cuts will eliminate duplicative roles resulting from the acquisition and reduce positions that are no longer needed since Atlanta-based Secureworks was delisted as a public company.

 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:

  • Prudential Financial, Inc.​ (NEWARK, NEW JERSEY) [NYSE: PRU]—a global financial services leader—announced that​ Vicki Walia​ has been promoted to Chief People Officer, effective March 31, 2025. Currently leading HR for Prudential's U.S. Businesses and PGIM, she succeeds​ Lucien Alziari​, who will retire after serving as CHRO for eight years. Prior to joining Prudential as Chief Talent and Capability Officer in November 2018, Walia held leadership roles at Moody's Analytics and AllianceBernstein.​ ​

Vicki Walia​

CHROs on the Go has over 4,000 archived announcements in its database, with new announcements added each day!

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:

✂️ ‘Read Online’  if email cuts off

THE BEST OF JANUARY 2025

Did you miss the “Best of January” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #282, which includes 20 of the most popular resources from the month.

Thank you to Produgie for sponsoring this Best of January issue! ***Check out Produgie’s upcoming Growth Leader Team Discovery Virtual Certification Program to help empower team effectiveness and leadership. Feb 27-28, 1:00-5:00PM CST.

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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