Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #301

Using developmental roles strategically, blind spots in the workplace, the impact of AI on managerial roles, using AI agents, and critical role identification.

Author

Brian Heger
June 15, 2025

SPONSORED BY

Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly!

A shout-out to Debbie Koziel, HR Business Partner at NOVONIX, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Debbie, for your support of this newsletter!

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PRESENTED BY TechWolf

In the latest episode of The TechWolf Podcast, former CLO Marc Ramos (Google, Novartis, Cornerstone) and TechWolf CTO Jeroen Van Hautte unpack why tasks—not just skills—are the real engine of workforce transformation. 

From redefining proficiency to enabling scalable reskilling with AI, this conversation is a must-listen for HR leaders rethinking work.

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 

TALENT MANAGEMENT

My slide to help evaluate if key development roles are used effectively to support talent growth and leadership pipeline flow.

In every organization, certain roles act as accelerators of development—positions where the nature of the work and its challenges enable individuals to build critical skills and gain meaningful experiences faster than in other roles. But when someone remains in one of these high-impact roles too long—without the interest or potential to move into larger, more complex roles—it can hinder both individual growth and organizational performance. Signs of stagnation often include disengagement, delayed succession readiness, and the departure of high-potential talent seeking development elsewhere. To keep development and leadership pipelines flowing, it’s essential to regularly assess whether these roles—often limited in number—are being used to unlock opportunities for others. To jumpstart your thinking, here’s my one-page slide with guiding questions for managers: Has the person been in the same development role for an extended period without progression? Are they open to new responsibilities or stretch opportunities? Is their continued presence in the role limiting access to valuable experiences for successors? While there are other ways to accelerate development—such as short-term assignments—roles remain a meaningful and powerful source of growth. This topic can be woven into talent review discussions to support more informed and strategic talent decisions that strengthen organizational performance.

DEVELOPMENT & PERFORMANCE

My cheat sheet includes examples of workplace ‘blind spot’ scenarios and tactics to identify and mitigate them.

Yesterday, while backing my car out of a tight spot in a mall parking garage, I checked my mirrors and thought I had a clear view. But just as I began to move, someone walked behind my car. Fortunately, my vehicle’s safety system alerted me in time. It was a reminder of how easily we can overlook something nearby, often very close, simply because we’re unaware it’s there, even when we think we’re paying attention. The same thing happens in organizations, where we can miss critical issues or behaviors that are right in front of us because they fall outside our awareness. In the workplace, blind spots are gaps in self-awareness that can undermine performance, relationships, or career growth if not recognized and addressed early. These blind spots vary by context, such as being a first-time manager, shifting from an operational to a strategic role, or returning to a role after a career break. To help, I’ve created a one-page cheat sheet with nine example scenarios where blind spots often emerge, early warning signs they may be present, and a sample tactic to help address each. As you review the cheat sheet, consider asking a colleague, a boss, or a direct report: “What’s one thing you think I’m unaware of in how I work or lead that, if improved, could significantly impact my own performance as well as that of the team and people with whom I work?” The answer may uncover a hidden opportunity to accelerate your growth, fuel team performance, and create stakeholder value.

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

A new article on how AI is reshaping work activities long handled by middle management, such as project coordination and operational decisions.

As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, it’s reshaping roles, responsibilities, and the overall design of work. Middle management is one area feeling this shift acutely, as tasks that once defined these roles—such as status updates, performance tracking, project coordination, and operational decisions—are now increasingly handled by AI-powered dashboards, copilots, and workflow assistants. A new Harvard Business School study, referenced in this HBR article, analyzed over 50,000 developers using GitHub Copilot and found that generative AI is accelerating a shift in task distribution, with individual contributors spending more time on core work (coding) and less on project management—once the domain of their managers. Specifically, coding activity as a share of total work rose by 5%, while project management fell by 10%. As AI enables employees to work more independently, it reduces the need for constant managerial oversight. This shift can help flatten hierarchies and allow middle managers to focus on higher-value work. To realize these benefits, organizations can begin by examining how work actually gets done—evaluating workflows, recognizing how AI is already in use, and having candid conversations with managers about how it can elevate their roles. While the article offers helpful ideas, I’m also resharing my one-page cheat sheet to help organizations think through AI’s implications for work task execution.

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

A new report on how organizations can unlock AI’s transformative potential by shifting from just general AI-purpose tools to agentic AI embedded in core workflows.

This new 28-page report explores how organizations can break free from the “gen AI paradox”—where widespread use of generative AI has yet to produce measurable business results. At the core of this paradox is a mismatch between horizontal tools like enterprise-wide copilots and chatbots—which are easy to scale but deliver diffuse, hard-to-track gains—and vertical use cases embedded in specific business functions, which offer more transformative potential but are rarely deployed beyond pilot phases. To unlock real value, the authors argue that organizations must shift to agentic AI: proactive agents that autonomously execute workflows and drive outcomes. But success requires more than layering agents onto old processes—it demands rethinking how work gets done and designing workflows with agents at the core. While the report contains numerous insights, one visual that stands out is Figure 4, which illustrates how a retail bank reimagined the creation of credit-risk memos. Relationship managers (RMs) had been spending weeks manually drafting memos using data from ten sources. In the agentic model, AI agents now extract data, draft sections, generate confidence scores, and propose follow-up questions—shifting the RM’s role to strategic oversight. The result: a potential 20–60% boost in productivity, including a 30% faster credit turnaround. As organizations envision the potential impact of AI agents on core workflows, the visual is a useful framework for presenting the before-and-after picture. As a bonus, here is Stanford University’s 2025 Artificial Intelligence Index Report, which includes 457 pages on various aspects of AI.

CRITICAL ROLES

I reshare two of my resources that continue to be requested on critical roles.

An organization’s ability to identify and plan for its critical roles is essential to effective workforce planning and talent management. Although I’ve previously shared many of my resources on this topic, I continue to receive requests for them, so I’m resharing two here to make them easier to access. 1) My infographic highlighting five barriers to identifying critical roles. For example: Hierarchical-Driven—basing a role’s criticality solely on its level and overlooking non-executive roles, when in fact, criticality is determined by a role’s impact on stakeholder value, regardless of level; Recruitment Difficulty—assuming that hard-to-fill roles are always critical, which is not necessarily the case; and Near-term View—focusing only on current needs without considering how criticality may shift as business strategies evolve. HR practitioners can use this infographic to build greater awareness of these barriers by regularly evaluating how critical roles are defined and assessed. 2) My editable template helps organizations identify critical roles and estimate related risks. Users can enter roles and simply check boxes to indicate when specific indicators apply. Even discussing these indicators—without completing the template—can reveal opportunities for more effective talent planning. If you’re a member of my new private Talent Edge Circle community (we’ll be opening a few new spots soon for new members to join), you can access additional resources on this topic in the resource library.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

HR EFFECTIVENESS

My one-page cheat sheet with questions to help HR leaders think through their business case for building new HR functions or teams.

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:

  • Barclays PLC (LSE: BARC). The British bank is cutting over 200 roles—about 3% of its investment banking workforce—in a move to enhance profitability and reinvest in strategic areas.

  • Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC). The semiconductor giant is set to begin laying off factory workers at its Silicon Forest campus in Oregon starting mid-July. While the number of affected employees has not been disclosed, Intel warned that additional cuts may follow.

  • Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA). The media company is cutting 3.5% of its U.S. workforce amid ongoing shifts away from traditional pay-TV and broader economic uncertainty.

 Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 12 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 Chemours Company (WILMINGTON, DELAWARE) [NYSE: CC]—a global chemistry company with leading market positions in Thermal & Specialized Solutions, Titanium Technologies, and Advanced Performance Materials—announced the appointment of Matthew Conti as Chief Human Resources Officer. Conti joins from Vantage Specialty Chemicals, where he served as the company’s CHRO since 2022.​​

Matthew Conti

🔓️ Never miss another Chief HR Officer announcement!

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

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 MAY 2025

Did you miss the “Best of May ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #299, which includes 18 of the most popular resources from the month.

Thank you to our sponsor, Draup, who sponsored the Best of May.

Download Draup’s report, AI-Driven Skills-Based Talent Architecture, and learn how organizations are unlocking the potential of their skills-based practices. 

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💡 WANT MORE?

Want to explore talent management practices in-depth with me and other internal HR practitioners? Learn about my new Talent Edge Circle community! Please note that this is a paid community. A few more spots will open up soon for new members. Already a member? Login here 

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