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- Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #335
Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #335
Nine shifts reshaping organizations, succession planning in private equity, an internal mobility diagnostic, what AI means for jobs, and why organizational context may be the real competitive advantage in AI.
Brian Heger
February 22, 2026
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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.
The State of Organizations 2026 | McKinsey | A new 74-page report outlines nine shifts reshaping organizations; I expand on one focused on improving productivity and performance through better ways of working.
Succession Planning in Private Equity: A Strategic Imperative for GPs and LPs | Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance | A new article on how succession planning in PE has shifted from a founder-retirement “nice-to-have” to a governance and fundraising imperative.
Internal Mobility Diagnostic | Brian Heger | My one-page diagnostic with 20 statements across 10 key areas to help identify opportunities for enhancing internal mobility within organizations.
Measuring US Workers’ Capacity to Adapt to AI-Driven Job Displacement | The Brookings Institution | A new analysis pairs AI exposure with an “adaptive capacity” index to identify where worker resilience is high and where vulnerability is concentrated, which is useful for workforce planning.
When Every Company Can Use the Same AI Models, Context Becomes a Competitive Advantage | Harvard Business Review | A new article argues that as AI models become widely accessible, organizations will differentiate by “context,” offering four actions leaders can take.
Also, check out my job cuts tracker & Chief HR Officer move of the week, which is an excerpt from my CHROs on the Go platform (subscription-based), where I track hires, promotions, and exits in the Chief HR Officer role.
⬇️ Now let’s dive in.
THIS WEEK'S EDGE
FUTURE OF WORK
A new 74-page report outlines nine shifts reshaping organizations; I expand on one focused on improving productivity and performance through better ways of working.
In this new 74-page report based on input from 10,000+ executives across 15 countries and 16 industries, McKinsey highlights nine shifts reshaping organizations. These shifts are driven by three forces: 1) AI and technology acceleration, 2) Economic and geopolitical disruption, and 3) Evolving employee expectations and work models. While there are several insights throughout the report, the section I want to zoom in on is “From Structure to Flow: Reaching the Next Productivity Frontier” (p. 35). The chapter title is shorthand for this: familiar productivity plays (restructuring, delayering, downsizing, cost cuts) are hitting diminishing returns, so the bigger upside is improving how work moves across the enterprise by redesigning workflows, reducing handoffs and duplication, cutting unnecessary meetings, clarifying decision rights, and streamlining decision points and approvals. The opportunity is big: two-thirds of leaders say their organizations are overly complex and inefficient, and nearly 40% say redefining process flows is the biggest unlock over the next 1 to 2 years. This isn’t “just automate more.” It’s about simplifying workflows and decision routines first, then automate where opportunities exist. This point is reinforced through several posts I’ve made and tools I’ve created that underscore one key point: capacity is often trapped in ineffective ways of working. If this resonates, check out my earlier post and cheat sheet with 10 diagnostic questions to help leaders unlock capacity through improved ways of working.
SUCCESSION PLANNING
A new article on how succession planning in PE has shifted from a founder-retirement “nice-to-have” to a governance and fundraising imperative.
Succession planning (SP) remains one of the most requested topics for Talent Edge Weekly readers. While I’ve shared several resources on SP, I continue to get more requests about SP in private equity (PE). Against this backdrop, this new article argues that SP in PE has moved from a “nice-to-have” founder-retirement exercise to a core governance and fundraising imperative. As private equity has scaled rapidly to over $15.5T in assets and become more complex, limited partners (LPs)—the investors who commit capital to PE funds—are looking for evidence that leadership continuity is built into how the firm runs, including who makes decisions, how economics are shared, how governance works, and how transitions are communicated. The reason: when continuity depends on a few individuals, LPs may rethink how much capital to commit next time. The authors also note that only about 6% of PE firm leaders change over a five-year period versus turnover above 50% over comparable time horizons for public company CEOs. The authors offer a few tips for strengthening succession in PE (e.g., formalize governance, communicate transparently with LPs, etc). They also include a practical risk matrix that helps assess continuity across four factors and identify where succession risk may be highest and what actions may reduce it.
INTERNAL MOBILITY
My one-page diagnostic with 20 statements across 10 key areas to help identify opportunities for enhancing internal mobility within organizations.
A few weeks ago, I shared my one-page cheat sheet with nine policies and guidelines that may be slowing internal talent movement, paired with questions to help practitioners pressure-test whether each is truly warranted or simply creating unnecessary friction. To complement that resource, I’m sharing another one-pager designed to help identify opportunities to enhance internal mobility. This diagnostic covers 10 key areas (two statements per area) to assess an organization’s internal mobility practices. For example, Transparency and Communication: (1) Internal job opportunities are widely and proactively communicated to all employees, and (2) we advertise jobs internally before posting externally. Technology and Tools: (1) We use technology platforms to support internal job matching and applications, and (2) employees have tools to explore internal career opportunities. Practitioners can read each statement and check the box if it reflects their organization today (just click the box to insert a check mark). Unchecked boxes highlight potential improvement areas. Ultimately, this tool is a starting point to assess strengths and gaps in internal mobility practices and prioritize where to focus next. If you’re part of my private community for internal HR practitioners, Talent Edge Circle, I look forward to our upcoming discussion on internal mobility, where we’ll exchange practical, real tactics to enable internal movement in our organizations.
There is more content in this issue, but you must be subscribed (or logged in if you are a subscriber) to access the rest. It is FREE to sign up, and a new issue comes out every Sunday, 6 PM EST! ⬇️