Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #303

Unlocking workforce capacity, making 360 feedback more strategic, Chief HR Officer case studies, agentic AI, and a new report on HR priorities.

Author

Brian Heger
June 29, 2025

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

A shout-out to Justin Mass, Director of Global Talent Development at LinkedIn, for referring new subscribers to Talent Edge Weekly. Thank you, Justin, for your support of this newsletter!

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Today’s leaders are drowning in demands—and traditional leadership models are breaking under the weight of distributed work.

i4cp’s new global study, led by renowned thought leader Rob Cross, presents a new way of thinking about leadership— and how to drastically increase productivity and performance in the age of the distributed workforce.

Key insights from the report include:

  • Why leadership burnout is rising—and what to do about it.

  • How distributed work requires a comprehensive, new approach to leadership.

  • Why improving the performance of lower-quartile leaders can drive a 32% productivity jump.

Download the executive brief to see the study’s four key findings—and the six capabilities that drive leadership effectiveness in distributed work.

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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 

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY

My cheat sheet with 10 questions to identify opportunities to unlock workforce capacity—before defaulting to hiring.

Although hiring talent is a crucial part of any talent strategy, managers often default to talent acquisition—hiring more people—as a reactive response to meet work demand. As I’ve tracked thousands of layoffs over the past few years through my layoff tracker, a common theme continues to emerge: many organizations cite “over-hiring” as a reason for workforce reductions, leading to costly cycles of hiring, layoffs, and rehiring. While better workforce planning and talent forecasting can help address this issue, a complementary solution should also be considered: finding ways to unlock capacity within the current workforce. One way to do this is by improving ways of working. Consider a team that spends 30% of its time in low-value meetings, navigating approval delays, or duplicating efforts. By redesigning workflows, clarifying decision rights, and eliminating redundancies, that same team can free up significant capacity. To help identify these opportunities, my editable cheat sheet includes 10 diagnostic questions, such as: Where are teams spending time on low-value or repetitive work that could be eliminated, automated, or streamlined? Where do decisions frequently stall or require excessive approval layers? With AI redefining how work gets done, now is an opportune time to reexamine how capacity can be unlocked to deliver stakeholder value and business performance.

DEVELOPMENT

Allan Church, Ph.D., and Dale Rose, Ph.D., share five principles for delivering more actionable 360 feedback.

360 Feedback—a process in which leaders receive input on their behaviors and effectiveness from multiple sources—is a staple in leadership development across many organizations. Still, many fail to unlock its full strategic value. In a new article by Allan Church, Ph.D., and Dale Rose, Ph.D., they discuss how the way 360 Feedback results are delivered plays a pivotal role in determining whether they drive meaningful individual growth and inform broader talent decisions. Many companies rely on dashboards and AI tools, but these often lead to inconsistent interpretations and “analysis paralysis,” limiting insight. Structured, standardized reports—with clear messaging, relevant content, and transparent governance—offer a consistent view that supports development, comparability, and business alignment. Allan and Dale outline five principles for strategic impact: 1) Clarity of the Message, 2) Time and Timing, 3) Data Governance, 4) Accountability and Motivation to Change, and 5) Relevant and Consistent Content. A particularly compelling point to reinforce: 360 Feedback can’t rely on generic leadership models that simply cover a broad set of behaviors. To be strategic, it must reflect what the CEO and senior team are trying to deliver. With this as the backdrop, I’m resharing my 2016 article, Identifying Leadership Capabilities that Drive Business Performance, which outlines four steps to pinpoint the specific leadership capabilities most critical to an organization.

CHIEF HR OFFICERS

A 20-page report on how five HR leaders are “leading from the front” in AI adoption, performance, well-being, and more.

A few weeks ago, I shared a 26-minute video conversation from LinkedIn’s Conversations with CHROs series, where Teuila Hanson, Chief People Officer at LinkedIn, spoke with Nickle LaMoreaux, CHRO at IBM, about evolving HR priorities and the future of work. As a supplement to that discussion, a recent CHRO report shows how progressive HR leaders are addressing the three T’s—Talent, Technology, and Transformation. At the heart of the report is a clear message: CHROs must be architects of the future workforce—shaping not just people practices but business transformation. The report features case studies from Boston Consulting Group, IBM, Allianz, Wood, and LinkedIn, each illustrating how CHROs are “leading from the front”—stepping outside convention, moving quickly, and embracing the possibility of failure—in areas such as AI adoption, performance management, employee well-being, and career development. One example: LinkedIn made one-on-one coaching a company-wide benefit and supplements it with interactive AI tools. These simulations enable employees to role-play challenging workplace scenarios, receive personalized feedback, and access tailored learning recommendations. This approach combines scalability and personalization with a safe practice environment and data-informed learning. As HR teams evaluate use cases for AI in HR that can add stakeholder value, I’m resharing my one-page cheat sheet that might provide a few ideas.

AI IN THE WORKPLACE

An MIT study explores how AI agents influence human productivity and collaboration.

AI agents are rapidly evolving from passive tools into active collaborators—changing not just what work is done, but how it's done, who does it, and how teams function. To explore this shift, researchers at MIT conducted a study to understand how AI agents influence productivity and collaboration. Over 2,300 participants were randomly assigned to human-human or human-AI teams to co-create ads for a real organization. Pairing humans with AI agents resulted in a 60% increase in individual productivity, more task-focused communication, and higher-quality ad copy. The study also examined how personality traits—measured using the Big Five personality test—influenced outcomes. For instance, conscientious humans paired with open AI agents improved image quality, while extroverted humans paired with conscientious AI agents saw declines in ad quality. While there’s a lot to unpack in this 50+ page research paper, it offers another data point on AI’s impact on key business outcomes. As a bonus, I’m resharing McKinsey’s report Sizing the Agentic AI Advantage, which examines where agentic AI may drive the most value across business functions.

HR STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP

A new report exploring trends in HR priorities, learning & development ROI, and leadership pipeline challenges.

DDI just released its HR Insights Report 2025—a global study of 2,185 HR professionals and 10,796 leaders. The 19-page report includes seven sections: HR’s evolving strategic role, the impact of assessments, succession planning, retention, Gen Z trends, development measurement, and AI leadership readiness. One section that stood out is succession planning. While many CHROs rank internal talent development as their top priority and 75% prioritize internal promotion, only 20% of HR leaders have successors ready for critical roles—and just 49% of key roles could be filled internally today. In my experience, these gaps often stem from two challenges: 1) lack of accountability for follow-through, where development plans are created but not executed, and 2) development that’s too broad, defaulting to low-impact activities rather than targeting the most critical skills or experiences. To identify higher-impact development actions for successors, ask: Which actions accelerate readiness for multiple roles? (e.g., experiences that benefit more than one succession path). Which build multiple capabilities at once (e.g., leading a cross-functional initiative that develops strategic thinking, influence, and change leadership)? Which expose successors to the complexity of the targeted role (e.g., managing across boundaries)? Can these activities be built into the successor’s current responsibilities/role? If not, are there short-term assignments that provide similar stretch? Accountability and prioritization are what drive progress in accelerating successor readiness.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

My one-page cheat sheet with 9 questions and tips to help identify development moves that accelerate successor readiness.

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:

  • BET. The subsidiary of Paramount Global is implementing layoffs across multiple departments as part of a broader 3.5% reduction in its U.S. workforce. The exact number of affected BET employees was not disclosed. The cuts are part of efforts to streamline operations and focus on core areas, including content production, marketing, social impact, and digital strategy.

  • Bumble (NASDAQ: BMBL). The dating app company announced that it’s laying off 30% of its workforce, impacting around 240 positions. The cuts are part of its plans to realign its “operating structure to optimize execution on its strategic priorities.” The company’s last round of layoffs was back in February 2024, when it cut 30% its workforce, impacting around 350 employees.

  • Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). The tech giant is planning another round of layoffs next week, targeting its Xbox gaming division and sales organization as part of a broader restructuring. The cuts follow over 6,000 layoffs in May and add to prior reductions.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER MOVE OF THE WEEK

This past week, 10 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:

  • TransUnion (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) [NYSE: TRU]— a global information and insights company with over 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries —has appointed Alicia Zuiker Chief Human Resources Officer, effective June 23, 2025. Most recently, Zuiker served as Chief People Officer for Lyft, a role she held for the last two years. Before that, she served as Chief People Officer for Visby Medical.​​

🔓️ 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!

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

Catch up on what you may have missed from me on LinkedIn:

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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. 

***The Best of June will come out this week! Be on the lookout!

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