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Welcome to this week’s 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.

• Jobs of Tomorrow: Technology and the Future of the World’s Largest Workforces | World Economic Forum | A new 17-page white paper that explores how AI and other emerging technologies will reshape 80% of the global workforce—far beyond knowledge-worker jobs.

• The Gen AI Playbook for Organizations | Harvard Business Review | A new article offers a framework for deciding which tasks are best automated, handled with AI–human collaboration, or kept human-led—and how to turn those choices into real ROI.

• The Agentic Organization: Contours of The Next Paradigm for The AI Era | McKinsey | Presents the case for how the true AI advantage comes from redesigning the enterprise into an “agentic organization,” where humans and AI agents work together—reshaping roles, skills, and core talent practices.

• Performance Calibration Discussions: 10 Questions to Help Managers Reflect on Employees’ Year-End Performance | Brian Heger | My cheat with questions to help managers prepare for performance calibration discussions and drive more objective, consistent evaluations.

• Talent Reviews: Key Questions, HiPo Metrics, and Regrettable Loss Segments | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet consolidates three elements from my past posts on talent reviews: key discussion questions, talent segments to retain, and sample HiPo metrics.

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

Brian

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

AI AND WORKFORCE PLANNING

Jobs of Tomorrow: Technology and the Future of the World’s Largest Workforces | World Economic Forum

A new 17-page white paper that explores how AI and other emerging technologies will reshape 80% of the global workforce—far beyond knowledge-worker jobs.

Discussions about AI have largely focused on its impact on white-collar and knowledge-worker jobs. But a new World Economic Forum paper shows how its influence extends far beyond office roles. It explores how four technologies—AI, robotics, energy tech, and network and sensing technologies—will reshape seven job families that make up 80% of global employment: agriculture, manufacturing, construction, retail and wholesale trade, transport and logistics, business and management, and healthcare. The scale of opportunity, disruption, and workforce challenges varies widely across these sectors, reinforcing the need for tailored strategies. Agriculture—the world’s largest workforce, employing one-quarter of all workers—shows both promise and complexity. In South America, drones now transport harvested banana bunches from steep plantations, improving productivity and safety. Precision agriculture—powered by sensors, drones, and AI-driven analytics—enables real-time monitoring of soil, crops, and water use, reducing manual labor and creating roles such as drone operators, agritech technicians, and data analysts. In higher-income regions, autonomous tractors, robotic harvesters, and automated irrigation help address labor shortages. At the same time, most agricultural workers are smallholder farmers in low-income countries, where limited access to capital and digital infrastructure can constrain adoption. Without intentional efforts to expand access, technology could widen inequality and displace vulnerable workers. The paper provides many insights that are useful for informing workforce plans and technology investments.

Read paper

AI AND WORK TASKS

The Gen AI Playbook for Organizations | Harvard Business Review

A new article offers a framework for deciding which tasks are best automated, handled with AI–human collaboration, or kept human-led—and how to turn those choices into real ROI.

To unlock the value of AI in the workplace, a critical step is determining which work tasks should be automated, supported through AI–human collaboration, or remain human-led. Given the scale and complexity of this effort, frameworks can help leaders prioritize where AI creates value without introducing unacceptable risk. A new article offers a practical framework that evaluates tasks across two dimensions: 1) cost of errors—ranging from low impact (e.g., a missed nuance in a draft) to high impact (e.g., legal liability, reputational damage, or flawed medical guidance), and 2) type of knowledge required—whether the task relies on explicit, structured data or tacit knowledge such as empathy, ethical reasoning, intuition, or contextual judgment. These dimensions form a 2×2 matrix that groups tasks into four categories: Creative Catalyst (AI generates options, humans refine), Human-First (humans lead and AI assists due to higher risk and judgment), Quality Control (AI drafts and humans verify), and No Regrets (AI handles low-risk, data-heavy tasks). The article also highlights in the visual “Why Don’t Gen AI Gains Show Up in My P&L?” six ways AI-driven productivity gains are often missed and not articulated. Both frameworks provide useful tools for organizing work tasks and ensuring that projected gains and ROI from AI are adequately captured.

Read article

AGENTIC AI

The Agentic Organization: Contours of The Next Paradigm for The AI Era | McKinsey

Presents the case for how the true AI advantage comes from redesigning the enterprise into an “agentic organization,” where humans and AI agents work together—reshaping roles, skills, and core talent practices.

As more organizations adopt AI at scale, a recent McKinsey article argues that competitive advantage will come not from using individual AI tools but from redesigning the enterprise around an “agentic organization,” where humans and AI agents create value together. This model requires rethinking five pillars: 1) Business model (AI-native channels, hyperpersonalization, proprietary data), 2) Operating model (AI-first workflows and agent teams), 3) Governance (real-time decisions and controls by humans and AI), 4) Workforce, people, and culture (how roles, skills, and mindsets evolve as humans orchestrate AI), and 5) Technology and data (platforms that enable AI agents at scale). Focusing on the workforce pillar—employees shift from performing tasks to orchestrating outcomes, supervising AI agents, setting goals, and managing trade-offs. Humans move “above the loop,” overseeing workflows instead of completing every step. These shifts introduce new roles, including supervisors who direct AI agents, specialists who redesign workflows and manage exceptions, and AI-augmented frontline workers. A key implication for HR is how this transformation will reshape core talent practices—such as workforce planning (accounting for humans and AI agents), performance management (evaluating how well employees guide AI to create value), and learning and development (expanding beyond AI literacy to systems thinking, judgment, and decision-making with AI).

Read article

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance Calibration Discussions: 10 Questions to Help Managers Reflect on Employees’ Year-End Performance | Brian Heger

My cheat with questions to help managers prepare for performance calibration discussions and drive more objective, consistent evaluations.

Last week, I shared my one-page sheet to help managers identify six risk factors that may derail team goals, so they can prioritize actions and make timely course corrections. And while there are 73 days left in 2025 to influence performance and outcomes, many organizations are also preparing for—or already conducting—performance calibration discussions. These are sessions where managers come together to ensure greater consistency and objectivity in performance evaluations. They aim to promote fairness by addressing discrepancies between “tough graders,” who hold employees to exceptionally high standards, and “easy graders,” who offer overly generous evaluations. When done well, calibration discussions lead to more accurate and credible performance differentiation. To help managers prepare, I’ve created a one-pager featuring 10 sample questions. They range from Goal Achievement—“What were the employee’s most significant accomplishments during the performance period?”—to Obstacle Navigation—“What were the most significant obstacles this employee faced, and how did they overcome them?” and Impact on Team Performance—“In what ways has the employee positively influenced the performance of others?” Reflecting on questions like these can help managers approach evaluations more thoughtfully and objectively. Employees can also use them to reflect on their performance and contributions.

Access cheat sheet

TALENT REVIEWS

Talent Reviews: Key Questions, HiPo Metrics, and Regrettable Loss Segments | Brian Heger

My one-page sheet consolidates three elements from my past posts on talent reviews: key discussion questions, talent segments to retain, and sample HiPo metrics.

As I continue to receive requests for resources to support talent review discussions, I’ve created a one-page cheat sheet that brings together three elements of my previous posts on the topic. It includes eight questions to help structure and guide the discussion, nine employee segments that organizations may consider regrettable losses if they exit, and nine metrics related to high-potential (HiPo) talent—a key focus of many talent review practices. For example, questions like “What are our organization’s top priorities for the next 18–36 months?” help ground the discussion in strategic goals and identify where leadership and skills are most critical. When prioritizing efforts to retain key talent—another focus of many talent reviews—the regrettable loss segments highlight employees who are not only HiPos and key successors but also culture carriers, employees with rare cross-functional expertise, and those with specialized or scarce skills. And when measuring progress and impact within the HiPo segment, metrics such as HiPo performance consistency—the stability of performance ratings over time, especially as individuals take on new roles—can help ensure they continue to perform at a high level despite new challenges. Use the cheat sheet as a starting point for your own purposes.

Access cheat sheet

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Succession Planning: Taking Action Based on Scenario Type | Brian Heger

My excerpt slide with eight succession scenarios—each requiring distinct talent actions to keep plans current, relevant, and actionable.

This editable slide—an excerpt from a broader deck in my private Talent Edge Circle community—helps you think through eight succession scenarios that may exist in an organization at any given time. Each scenario is unique and may call for different talent actions informed by the right questions. If you are a Talent Edge Circle member, you can access the full slide deck and set of guiding questions in our resource library.

Access slide

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:

• Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). The e-commerce and tech giant is reportedly preparing to lay off approximately 15% of its HR function, equivalent to around 1,500 of the 10,000 HR employees. It is currently unknown when the layoffs will take place.

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). Three months after laying off roughly 400 employees, the bank is getting ready for another round of layoffs. In addition to cutting lower performers (~ 1000 people), the bank will reduce roles that could be more efficient if replaced by AI.

• NBC News. The network’s news division eliminated about 150 jobs—roughly 2% of the NBC News Group workforce—ahead of Comcast’s planned Versant spinoff, which will separate MSNBC and CNBC from NBC News.

Click here to access my tracker with all 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 platform tracking movement in and out of the CHRO role.  

This week’s CHRO move of the week is:

• Fortive Corporation (EVERETT, WASHINGTON) [NYSE: FTV]—a global technology and industrial growth company that provides essential technology for a wide range of industries—announced that Stacey Walker, Chief People Officer, notified the company of her decision to retire. Walker's retirement will be effective January 2, 2026. Walker has been the company's Chief People Officer since 2016. The announcement was disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. No additional details regarding the transition or succession plans were provided in the filing.

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FROM ME ON LINKEDIN

THE BEST OF SEPTEMBER 2025

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Did you miss the “Best of September ” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #316, which includes the most popular resources from the month.

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