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.

• 2025 HR Technology Marketplace Predictions: New Dynamics for Working with Humans and Technology | Deloitte | Shares six HR tech trends to help make sense of the increasingly complex HR technology landscape and emerging solutions.

• How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise | Harvard Business Review | Explores the impact of generative AI on jobs and required worker skills and how it is redefining career paths and organizational structure.

• Reaching for Stars: What you Need to Know About Exceptional Talent | The Talent Strategy Group | A new article by Marc Effron highlights a special segment of employees called Stars—those somewhere above the intersection of high performers and high potentials.

• Internal Mobility Metrics and Sample Practices Cheat Sheet | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet with 9 examples of internal mobility metrics, why the metric is important, and a sample practice related to the metric.

• Employee Retention: 3 Resources on Different Aspects of Employee Turnover | Curated by Brian Heger | Consolidates various resources on employee retention into a one-page snapshot, serving as a useful reference for managing employee retention.

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

Brian

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

HR TECH

2025 HR Technology Marketplace Predictions: New Dynamics for Working with Humans and Technology | Deloitte

Shares six HR tech trends to help make sense of the increasingly complex HR technology landscape and emerging solutions.

HR technology is an enabler of talent practices and business performance. Yet, Gartner notes that over 50% of HR leaders say their technology falls short of meeting current and future business needs, and 83% of HR software buyers report moderate or high regret post-purchase. Given the significant investment required, ineffective HR tech can have a major negative impact, while well-chosen solutions can accelerate the execution of business priorities. Deloitte's Human Capital Forward team has forecasted six trends to help make sense of the increasingly complex HR tech landscape and emerging solutions. Trend #3 focuses on how AI-enabled skills validation—the process of verifying and assessing workers' skills and competencies—will help combine multiple validation approaches to enhance skills insights. This approach helps overcome challenges associated with traditional skills validation methods, such as one source of skill measurement (e.g., the manager) and one point-in-time assessment (e.g., assessing once and failing to update skills over time). Other topics, such as how agentic AI will transform HR tech by automating complex workflows, are covered. As a bonus, I’m resharing my one-page cheat sheet with key questions to help HR leaders evaluate HR technology solutions across four areas.

Read paper

AI AND TALENT MANAGEMENT

How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise | Harvard Business Review

Explores the impact of generative AI on jobs and required worker skills and how it is redefining career paths and organizational structure.

This new article is based on research and collaboration between the Burning Glass Institute and the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work, exploring the impact of GenAI on jobs and skills. It highlights that GenAI is expected to affect around 50 million jobs in the coming years by automating some tasks while augmenting others. One key insight is that as GenAI automates more generalized skills, company-specific knowledge will become increasingly important in driving worker productivity, leading more organizations to invest in this area. Additionally, GenAI will fundamentally reshape organizational structures as it takes over entry-level tasks. “Many companies currently follow a pyramid model, where multiple entry-level workers support each senior role. However, as GenAI automates these tasks, the ratio could shift significantly—from five entry-level workers per senior role to as low as two-to-one or less.” This shift may also reduce the need for multiple layers of middle management, fostering more direct connections between senior leadership and junior employees. Organizations must also rethink career paths and how they communicate career growth opportunities to workers. I am also resharing my one-page worksheet to help organizations assess the extent to which AI might impact important work tasks.

Read article

TALENT MANAGEMENT

Reaching for Stars: What you Need to Know About Exceptional Talent | The Talent Strategy Group

A new article by Marc Effron highlights a special segment of employees called Stars—those somewhere above the intersection of high performers and high potentials.

An organization’s talent review process helps differentiate employees to improve talent decisions and investments. While most reviews include high performers and high-potential employees, a new article by Marc Effron of the Talent Strategy Group highlights another segment—"Stars." As Marc describes, "somewhere above the intersection of high performers and high potentials exists a rare and exceptionally capable type of talent" known as Stars. They stand out in two ways: 1) Outstanding performance, delivering output 5 to 50 times that of an average performer, and 2) High visibility, as they are widely recognized in their industry through media, articles, speeches, and other platforms. The article shares insights and data on this talent segment and suggests placing them in critical roles to maximize their disproportionate impact. The article offers valuable considerations as organizations refine how they identify and manage talent. As a bonus, I’m resharing Marc’s 2024 High Performer and High Potential Development report, which provides insights from a survey of 300+ companies on ten key questions about high performers and high potentials.

Read article

INTERNAL MOBILITY

Internal Mobility Metrics and Sample Practices Cheat Sheet | Brian Heger 

My cheat sheet with 9 examples of internal mobility metrics, why the metric is important, and a sample practice related to the metric.

Organizations increasingly leverage internal mobility as a key component of their talent strategy. As various internal mobility strategies are implemented, measuring their impact is essential to maximize return on investment. My cheat sheet offers nine example metrics to help organizations assess different aspects of internal mobility. Each metric includes a definition, its significance, and a sample practice tied to the metric. For example, the “Time-to-Fill for Internals” metric measures the average time to fill a position with an internal candidate compared to external hiring. This metric is important because it reflects the efficiency of internal hiring, with faster internal processes reducing productivity gaps, minimizing disruption, and showcasing the organization’s ability to mobilize talent quickly. A sample practice to improve effectiveness in this area is to streamline the application process for internal candidates by reducing approval requirements and shortening interview stages without sacrificing quality. HR professionals and business leaders can use this list of nine metrics as a starting point, adapting or expanding it to create new metrics that best measure the effectiveness of internal mobility within their organization.

Access cheat sheet

EMPLOYEE RETENTION

Employee Retention: 3 Resources on Different Aspects of Employee Turnover | Curated by Brian Heger

Consolidates various resources on employee retention into a one-page snapshot, serving as a useful reference for managing employee retention.

As I continue to get requests for resources on identifying employee retention risks, here is my one-page resource that integrates three resources for managers to leverage. The three resources provide questions and indicators to help managers and leaders gain insights into various aspects of employee retention. They are sourced from HR People+Strategy and Gartner articles: Pre-quitting Behaviors. 13 questions managers can answer about each of their employees to determine the extent to which each employee has exhibited certain retention risk behaviors over the last 2 to 3 months. (HR People+Strategy); Size of Team Retention Risk. Includes six questions managers can ask to gauge the overall retention risk of their team. (Gartner); Work or Life Events Triggers. Provides six events or triggers that prompt an employee to reflect on and reconsider their career. (Gartner). Once managers determine retention risk, they can develop and implement retention strategies in the areas where they want to mitigate undesirable turnover. As a bonus, I am also including one of my additional templates to help managers assess employees on aspects of employee retention and determine where the greatest risks exist.

Access cheat sheet

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

HR EFFECTIVENESS

Six Actions for HR to Create More Stakeholder Value | Dave Ulrich | RBL Group

Provides a framework of six actions and questions that business and HR leaders can answer to create stakeholder value over time.

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:

• Johns Hopkins University. The university is cutting over 2,000 jobs after losing $800 million in USAID funding. The layoffs impact 1,975 international employees across 44 countries and 247 roles in the U.S.

• Puma (ETR: PUM). The German sportswear company is cutting 500 jobs globally as part of a cost-reduction program, with 150 roles affected at its headquarters. 

• SiriusXM (NASDAQ: SIRI). The satellite radio company has made cuts to its staff, but the number of employees affected wasn’t disclosed. The layoffs impact the operations department, primarily the product and technology group.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 8 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:

• The Allstate Corp. (NORTHBROOK, ILLINOIS) [NYSE: ALL]— an American insurance company—announced that Andréa Carter will join the company as Chief Human Resources Officer, effective May 12. Carter joins Allstate from Global Payments Inc., where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer. She has also held HR leadership roles at Habitat for Humanity, Ralph Lauren, Newell Rubbermaid, and The Home Depot. Carter serves on the board of Churchill Downs Inc. ​​

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

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

THE BEST OF FEBRUARY 2025

Did you miss the “Best of February” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #286, which includes 16 of the most popular resources from the month.

Read the Best of February

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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.

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