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Welcome to this special Best of March issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

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THIS MONTH’S CONTENT

This special Best of March issue includes 15 of the most popular resources from the March issues of Talent Edge Weekly.

The resources are organized into two sections:

1.  Workforce Trends and HR Effectiveness. Explores workplace and technology shifts, including global human capital trends, generative AI's impact on critical thinking and expertise, strategic approaches for HR to deliver stakeholder value, and emerging HR technology marketplace predictions.

2. Talent Practices and Tools. Addresses practical talent management applications, including strategic workforce planning, AI-driven recruiting, talent identification, internal mobility metrics, talent hoarding prevention, leadership assessment, situational coaching tactics, retention strategies, flexible work case study, and board engagement in talent topics.

This issue has many bonus resources beyond the 15 featured resources!

You can also view an abridged version, which just includes links.

WORKPLACE TRENDS

2025 Global Human Capital Trends Report | Deloitte Insights

Deloitte’s new 106-page report covers aspects of emerging workforce trends and human capital priorities. I highlight one topic: freeing up worker capacity.

Each year, HR practitioners and business professionals look forward to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report—an in-depth analysis of key trends reshaping work, the workforce, and the workplace. The newly released 2025 report includes eight chapters on critical topics, from how AI is transforming work and the worker-employer value proposition to why reinventing performance management requires more than process redesign. While the full report can’t be summarized here, one chapter that stood out to me—on a topic I’ve written about before—is Reclaiming Organizational Capacity, starting on page 21. Leaders are always looking for ways to expand capacity to execute business priorities more efficiently. Beyond hiring more people, a powerful alternative is unlocking capacity through better ways of working. Excessive meetings, low-value work, and outdated processes are just a few issues that quietly erode capacity and performance. The chapter shares ideas to address this, including how DPG Media schedules only 80% of team capacity to give workers bandwidth to accommodate any unexpected issues. If worker utilization was maximized at 100%, DPG says, unexpected work would lead to excessively long workdays and hours of overtime. To help spark conversations on this topic, I’m resharing my worksheet for identifying opportunities to improve how work gets done.

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AI

The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers | Microsoft Research

A new Microsoft study explores how reliance on generative AI may diminish critical thinking skills.

As AI becomes more integrated into knowledge work, a new Microsoft study examines its impact on critical thinking. The study surveyed 319 knowledge workers who regularly use AI tools and found that those confident in AI’s capabilities were less likely to engage in critical thinking, while those confident in their own abilities scrutinized AI outputs more carefully. This shift suggests AI is reshaping problem-solving—moving workers from active analysis and synthesis (e.g., critically evaluating information, generating insights, and drawing conclusions) to monitoring and verification (e.g., reviewing AI-generated outputs for accuracy and alignment). While not inherently negative, this evolution poses risks if workers become overly dependent on AI, especially where human judgment is critical. One implication for learning and development practitioners is that AI-based training should enhance AI proficiency (e.g., developing effective prompts) while reinforcing critical thinking skills. Without these components, organizations risk developing a passive AI-reliant workforce rather than one that leverages AI strategically.

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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.

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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.

Human resources leaders continue to explore ways for HR to create value for stakeholders, such as employees, customers, investors, communities, and boards. However, determining which HR-related work disproportionately unlocks this value can be challenging. Dave Ulrich shares six key actions to help HR leaders and their teams shift from activities to outcomes and drive stakeholder value. Among the insights, Dave offers three criteria that can help determine which human capability investments can create the greatest value: Impact (how much value an initiative delivers to stakeholders), Weaknesses (how effectively it is currently executed), and Variance (how much opportunity exists for improvement). Together, these three components help identify where HR efforts can drive the most meaningful results, ensuring resources are allocated to the highest-return-on-investment opportunities. As you evaluate your HR priorities for 2025 against these three criteria, where do you see strong alignment, and where are the biggest gaps? This reflection can help you identify opportunities for delivering increased stakeholder value. As a bonus, I’m resharing a 42-page playbook from the RBL Institute, which comprehensively reviews the factors that drive HR effectiveness. Thanks to Dave Ulrich for permission to share.

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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.

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WORKFORCE PLANNING

3 Steps to Initiate a Strategic Workforce Plan | Gartner

Provides a framework for organizing workforce planning efforts and includes case examples of how organizations are implementing it to drive impact. I share my template on scenario planning in the context of SWP.

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) remains a top priority for many organizations, yet annual surveys and research consistently reveal SWP capability gaps across industries. HR practitioners and stakeholders often struggle with where to begin or how to prioritize SWP actions, making simple frameworks useful for organizing efforts and gaining momentum. This article outlines a three-step framework to initiate a workforce plan: 1) Enhance collaboration by defining roles and responsibilities across stakeholder groups, 2) Narrow scope to reduce complexity, and 3) Promote flexibility by ensuring plans remain adaptable. While all three steps offer valuable insights, narrowing the scope (step 2) is particularly critical, as SWP often fails due to overly broad objectives. To address this, the article emphasizes prioritizing business problems that a workforce plan can effectively solve rather than attempting to tackle too many issues at once. Merck KGaA exemplifies this approach by requiring business unit leaders to submit problem statements filtered against strategic relevance and data availability criteria. This method enables the company to focus on high-impact SWP efforts and move swiftly into action. Additional insights and resources are provided, including a roles and responsibilities matrix for workforce planning. As a bonus, here is my one-page worksheet on scenario planning in the context of SWP.

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TALENT ACQUISITION

The Future of Recruiting 2025 Report: How AI Redefines Recruiting Excellence | LinkedIn Report

Explores key AI-driven trends shaping talent acquisition, including quality of hire, skills-based hiring, the evolving role of recruiters, employer branding, and responsible AI use.

AI continues to transform most aspects of the human resources function. I previously shared my one-page infographic highlighting multiple AI use cases within HR, including recruiting, where AI streamlines tasks and allows recruiters to focus more on strategic work. The LinkedIn 2025 Future of Recruiting Report highlights several AI-driven recruiting trends, such as quality of hire (QoH), skills-based hiring, the evolving role of recruiters, and employer branding, to name a few. Among these, QoH stands out, as it is increasingly prioritized to assess a hire’s long-term value, yet many recruiters struggle with effective measurement. AI helps bridge this gap by analyzing employee performance over time and tracking multiple factors indicative of longer-term value (e.g., the employee is on succession plans, possesses in-demand or scarce skills the company values, etc.). With 61% of talent acquisition professionals believing AI can improve QoH measurement, its potential is significant. In my view, a perennial challenge with QoH metrics is their reliance on short-term hiring manager input rather than long-term, multi-source data that better reflects a hire’s sustained impact. AI can help overcome this limitation by integrating broader performance indicators and analytics that provide a more accurate measure of long-term quality of hire. 

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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. And given it’s critical to retain top performers, I am resharing my one-page cheat sheet that integrates three resources on employee retention.

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TALENT SHARING

Manager Talent Hoarding Diagnostic | Brian Heger

My new one-page diagnostic to help managers identify and address behaviors that may unintentionally limit internal mobility within the organization.

Internal mobility—the movement of employees across different roles and opportunities within an organization—is essential for employee development and organizational effectiveness. However, some managers engage in "talent hoarding," restricting the internal movement of high-performing employees on their teams. Managers typically hoard talent for understandable reasons: they rely on top performers to meet team goals, they've invested time in developing these employees, they fear productivity drops if key talent leaves, and they're often evaluated on team performance rather than talent development. Some managers may also have genuine concerns about whether other parts of the organization will properly utilize their team members' skills. To help address this, I’m sharing my new one-page diagnostic to help managers identify unintentional talent hoarding behaviors that may impact both career progression and organizational effectiveness. It includes 10 statements for managers to reflect on so that they can increase self-awareness around talent sharing and promote healthier talent management practices. By recognizing and addressing potential talent hoarding tendencies, managers can develop strategies that balance team performance with broader organizational talent needs. If you find value in my templates and worksheets, you will want to get on the waiting list for my new Talent Edge Circle private community, where 90% of my templates are now exclusively shared with our current members!

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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.

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Unleashing The Power of Assessments for Leaders and Their Organizations | Workforce Solutions Review

Shares three main reasons why standard "out of the box" leadership assessment approaches often fall short and provides tactics for overcoming these challenges.

Few would dispute that an organization’s ability to identify and develop future leaders better and faster than its competitors provides a competitive advantage. Just as speed-to-market with a product helps a company stay ahead, a strong leadership pipeline ensures readiness for future challenges and opportunities. Despite significant investments in leadership assessments and development programs, doubts persist about their return on investment. In this article, Allan Church, James Scrivani, and Markus Graf highlight three key reasons why standard “out-of-the-box” leadership assessment approaches often fall short: 1) Lack of Future Focus and Cultural Relevance – Generic leadership models fail to build the specific capabilities needed for an organization’s future success; 2) Over-Reliance on Specific Methods or Tools – Using a single method or tool limits the depth and applicability of insights; and 3) Under-Leveraging Assessment Data – Organizations often fail to maximize the value of the data collected. The article also shares tactics for overcoming these challenges. To address the first challenge—identifying leadership capabilities beyond generic models—I am resharing my article, Identifying Leadership Capabilities that Drive Business Performance, which helps organizations define leadership capabilities aligned with their strategy and culture.

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MANAGER EFFECTIVENESS

4 Styles of Coaching—and When to Use Them | Harvard Business Review

Shares four distinct coaching styles based on “push” and “pull” concepts borrowed from sports and help managers determine the style that works best for a given situation.

Despite ranking consistently as a top leadership quality, true coaching remains elusive for many managers who mistake giving directions for coaching. Ruchira Chaudhary's research reveals a practical framework built on "push" and "pull" concepts borrowed from sports coaching. The framework identifies four distinct coaching styles: 1) Telling (high push, low pull) works best for standardized tasks or urgent situations but risks micromanagement; 2) Hands-off (low push, low pull) suits experienced team members who thrive with autonomy; 3) Asking/listening (high pull, low push) develops critical thinking through thoughtful questions; and 4) Collaborating (high push, high pull) represents the ideal balance of guidance and empowerment. Studies show well-coached employees tackle challenges more assertively, solve problems creatively, recognize their strengths, enjoy improved morale, and achieve goals more effectively. The key insight? Exceptional coaching isn't about having all the answers but helping others discover solutions themselves. Leaders must discern when to provide direct instruction versus when to step back and let employees own decisions—a skill that, like any muscle, strengthens with deliberate practice. Other ideas are discussed.

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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.

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RETURN-TO-OFFICE

How to Get Real About Measuring to Outcomes | MIT Sloan Management Review

Explores how Neiman Marcus Group’s results-focused flexible work model improved retention, reduced time-to-hire, and enhanced business performance.

A few weeks ago, I shared a Harvard Business Review article on basing return-to-office (RTO) strategies on an organization’s unique business needs rather than following trends. The article outlined a five-component framework for RTO decisions. In a new piece, Brian Elliot highlights how Neiman Marcus Group (NMG) aligned its workplace flexibility guidelines with a simple but effective premise: Give people more flexibility—with accountability for results. Under former Chief People Officer Eric Severson, NMG implemented the Way of Working (WOW) model, granting corporate staff and store associates greater flexibility in exchange for performance accountability. This approach drove retention rates above 75% in stores and 78% in supply chain roles, reduced time-to-hire, and virtually eliminated unwanted director-level attrition. NMG also expanded its talent pool by embracing remote work. A shift from traditional performance reviews to structured quarterly goal tracking reinforced accountability, while front-line workers benefited from flexible scheduling and career growth. The outcome? Higher engagement, improved productivity, and a premium acquisition valuation—showcasing how a well-executed flexible work strategy can drive both business and workforce success.

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BOARDS AND TALENT

Three Areas Where Boards Spend Their Time But Don’t See Results | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Explores how boards can enhance their impact on critical areas such as succession planning and corporate culture.

As Chief HR Officers continue engaging with boards on critical issues such as succession and culture, it is essential to recognize where board efforts in these areas may fall. According to Russell Reynolds Associates’ 2025 Board Culture and Director Behaviors survey—which gathered insights from over 1,000 board directors across 45 countries—43% report that their company lacks a formal CEO succession plan, despite this being a top priority. While best practices suggest boards should begin succession planning at least five years, only 29% have a plan covering the next three to five years, and just 8% extend beyond that timeframe. Similarly, while 51% of boards now discuss corporate culture in at least half of their meetings (up from 37% three years ago), only 53% feel they have access to meaningful data to assess it. To bridge this gap, this article suggests that boards can engage more directly with employees through initiatives like employee resource groups, community partnerships, and structured feedback mechanisms. Leveraging data from exit surveys, external reviews, and workforce insights can help boards make more informed decisions and strengthen organizational culture. This article provides actionable recommendations for how boards can enhance their impact on critical talent and culture issues. As a bonus, I am resharing E&Y’s and Corporate Board Member’s paper on how boards can champion an organization’s talent strategy.

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Want to go deeper with me and other internal HR practitioners on topics like these? If you are an internal HR practitioner, you will want to learn more about my new Talent Edge Circle community!

JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Here is my tracker, which includes announcements from a segment of organizations that have announced job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023.

A few firms that announced job cuts in March include:

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE). The technology company announced plans to cut 3,000 jobs—about 5% of its workforce—following a quarter impacted by excessive server discounting and mixed execution, which hurt profit margins.

• IBM (NYSE: IBM). The technology company is reportedly laying off thousands of employees across various U.S. locations, including Raleigh, New York, Dallas, and California, as part of a formal restructuring in its Cloud Classic division.

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). The Wall Street giant plans to cut approximately 2,000 jobs later this month, representing 2-3% of its 80,000-person workforce, but excluding financial advisers. The layoffs are reportedly tied to employee performance reviews and changes in worker locations.

• 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. 

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CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVEMENT

73 Chief HR Officers were hired, promoted, and/or resigned in March. A few headlines include:

• 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.

• Microsoft Corporation (REDMOND, WASHINGTON) [NASDAQ: MSFT]—a global technology leader—announced that company veteran Amy Coleman will become its new EVP and Chief People Officer, succeeding Kathleen Hogan, who has held the position for the past decade. Coleman has worked at Microsoft for more than 25 years over two stints, most recently serving as Corporate VP HR. Hogan will remain an EVP in a newly established Office of Strategy and Transformation.

• Spotify (STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN) [NYSE: SPOT]—a streaming and media service provider—announced that CHRO, Katarina Berg, is set to step down from her role later this month, concluding an impactful 12-year tenure. Anna Ludström—who has been with Spotify for 9 years and currently serves as the company’s VP, HR—has been named Berg’s successor. ​

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