Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #42

November 22, 2020

Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly - the weekly newsletter for strategic human resources practitioners, bringing together talent and HR insights from various sources.

This week's Edge covers the following resources:

  • Superhuman Resources: How HR Leaders Have Redefined Their C-suite Role | strategy + business

  • HR Transformation: How a New HR Model Drives Long-term Value | EY - US

  • Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2021 | Gartner

  • 10 Steps to Complete an ROI Forecast for An Unanticipated Learning Program| Chief Learning Officer

  • Covid-19 Heightens the Leadership Gap | Harvard Business Corporate Learning

  • Flexible Work and Rewards: 2021 Design and Budget Priorities | Willis Towers Watson

  • Discussion: The Future of Work | The Washington Post Live

If you enjoy content like this, you can access additional articles and resources at www.brianheger.com

If you find this issue to be of value, please share the newsletter link or any of its articles with your social media networks. To share an article summary, you can click the “share” icon located below the summary.

If you enjoy Talent Edge Weekly and aren’t yet a subscriber, please sign-up so that it can be delivered to your email inbox every Sunday.

Have a great week everyone and, for those of you who celebrate the holiday, Happy Thanksgiving!

Brian

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Brian Heger is a human resources practitioner with a Fortune 150 organization and has responsibilities for Strategic Talent and Workforce Planning. To connect with Brian on Linkedin, click here.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

Chief human resources officers (CHROs) are at the forefront of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. And as CHROs continue to address unprecedented challenges that are coinciding at scale, it raises the question: What sets the great CHROs apart as they help their firms convert these challenges into opportunities for improving work, the workplace, worker experience, and business results? This article identifies five priorities that establish new benchmarks for the changing CHRO role. It looked at the performance of CHROs in today's corporations using interviews with leading practitioners from top organizations. Priority 1: Put strategy first, function second. Priority 2: Optimize the organization, not just processes. Priority 3: Bring a viewpoint to the boardroom. Priority 4: View culture as a business driver. Priority 5: Model leadership excellence. The five priorities "serve as a solid starting point for constructive conversations among HR executives, CEOs, and board directors." CHROs should also check out Marc Effron's and Jim Shanley's article, The CHRO's Team: What Matters Most - which helps CHROs determine if they have an all-star HR team.

As HR organizations continue to transform their operating models to deliver value, this article provides one model, the People Value Chain, based on three core components: 1) The digital people team. Adopts, innovates, and shares a suite of innovative front-end tech-driven services, harnessing the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. 2) People consultants. Provides strategic guidance and expertise to the business to address problems, providing the people lens, and working on agile teams. 3) Virtual global business services (VGBS). Delivers cross-functional service management, providing scale while reducing cost through virtually connected, global pods.  The authors indicate that HR can migrate 72 percent of its work to VGBS and the digital people team. The article provides ideas for evolving the HR operating model and function, such as adjusting HR's KPIs to things it can influence, not just what it controls. Last, while many consultant-based articles (such as this one) use phrases as "the Dave Ulrich approach must be left behind for a new model" when presenting (and marketing) their model, it is important to acknowledge that these models are anchored in the work that Dave pioneered and continues to evolve. Thanks to subscriber Steven Oakley for sharing this resource.

CHROs and their HR teams continue to refine their 2021 priorities as we are about to enter the final month of 2020. To help HR functions with this effort, this Gartner report reflects survey responses of 800-plus HR leaders on their top priorities for 2021. The top five HR priorities are: 1) Building critical skills and competencies, 2) Organizational design and change management, 3) Current and future leadership bench, 4) Future of work, and 5) Employee experience. In exploring why building critical skills and competencies top the list, it is likely due to this lever's ability to impact multiple business priorities ranging from growing the business and executing business transformation to improving operational excellence. For each of the five priorities, the report provides a problem statement and a "new imperative" to address the problem. For example, sticking with the priority of building skills and competencies for the future: Problem today: COVID-19 has worsened the reskilling challenge. New imperative: Take a dynamic approach to reskilling. For each imperative across the five priorities, recommended actions are provided. A useful resource for all HR practitioners. 

When organizations set their learning and development (L&D) priorities and budgets in 2019 for the 2020 year, no one could have predicted the extent to which the pandemic would rewrite those plans. Faced with new ways of working, shifting business priorities, and remote work at scale, many organizations have been faced with the decision of how to allocate limited and scarce L&D resources for the most significant impact and ROI. However, determining the ROI of learning efforts and programs has been a perennial challenge for many organizations. This article by Jack Phillips and Patti Phillips provides ten steps to complete an ROI forecast for an unanticipated learning program or effort compared to the cost. It uses clear examples on how to link the proposed program or effort to the business measures that will improve if the program is implemented and how the improvement's monetary value is calculated. The current situation presents an opportunity for HR, Talent, and Learning leaders to articulate the business case for why certain L&D investments are needed now--not just for a firm's survival-- but for it to thrive in a post-pandemic world. You can also check out the authors' book, Proving the Value of Soft Skills: Measuring Impact and Calculating ROI.

The pandemic continues to transform aspects of business, work, and the workplace--presenting different and new demands on leaders. And as organizations seek to understand and prepare current and future leaders for these rapidly shifting requirements, this new 16-page report provides ideas for doing so. The survey found that leaders' requirements in all industries have rapidly shifted and that--while many senior leaders have stepped up quickly to meet the challenges brought on by the pandemic -- mid-level managers and leaders have struggled to adjust. The research identified three pivotal leadership clusters to help close leadership gaps: 1) Leading through uncertainty - develop personal adaptability; cultivate learning agility. 2) Cultivating trust - inspire engagement; value differences 3) Reskilling for the opportunity - foster innovation; build digital fluency. This report's insights can help organizations determine how to prepare best and equip their leaders to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. 

While organizations continue to support flexible work in a pandemic-altered workplace, many are thinking through the implications of this trend for rewards and benefits programs. This survey, conducted between October 6 and 21, 2020, provides insights on this topic by exploring the perspectives of 344 organizations in North America, employing 4.83 million employees. Among the findings is 1) about six in 10 workers (59%) are currently telecommuting/working from home, and they expect over half of their workers (52%) to be doing so through the first quarter of 2021, 2) over one-third (37%) of organizations do not have a formal policy to manage these arrangements, and a quarter (25%) have just put such a policy in place this year, 3) roughly half of employers (49%) indicate that the new work requirements necessitate a hybrid reward model, which for some organizations include paying employees based on their geographic home base when they relocate. Several other data points are provided that can help firms evaluate the cost benefits of alternative work arrangements. You can also check out a previous post I made regarding an HR Executive Online article, Managing Cost-of-living Differences for Pay in a Remote World. 

THE SOUND OF INSIGHT

On November 10th, Washington Post Live brought together "digital thought leaders, technologists with expertise in deep learning and robotics, and innovative workplace specialists to discuss our increasingly digital lifestyle and how organizations are transforming to meet customers and employees' needs." During this 48 minute discussion, the first segment includes Laszlo Bock, former SVP of People Operations at Google, and now CEO of Humu. Laszlo talks about how technology and AI can produce larger scale behavioral change through the concept of "nudging." A nudge is a reminder sent by text or email that is tailored and timed to prompt people toward small behavioral changes. For example, an employee might get a nudge encouraging her to speak up in the first 10 minutes of a meeting. Another might receive a nudge urging him to ask someone who is quiet what they think. The concept of nudging activates clusters of people (from different directions) as a way to drive behavioral change. Other ideas are discussed. 

OTHER RESOURCES

Book Recommendations on HR and business topics, such as:

Internal Talent Marketplace | Internal Mobility

Performance Management

People Analytics

Strategic Workforce Planning

Learning and Development ROI and Analytics

Employee Surveys

Upskilling

Recommended Tools I use for my personal learning and productivity, such as two of this newsletter's affiliates:

  • Soundview Executive Books Summaries which provides 7-8 page PDF summaries, and audio summaries, on the newest ideas and strategies from the best business books. They offer both individual and corporate plans, which can be monthly or yearly. One free sample is available for download.

  • Audible, who offers a 30-day free trial where you will get two free audiobooks immediately. You get to keep the two free audiobooks even if you decide to not purchase a monthly or yearly Audible subscription.

COVID-19 Resources for HR. These resources were gathered from March through May and contain 150+ references that can be leveraged as HR practitioners continue to lead their organizations through the recovery phase and beyond

WHO IS IN THE HR JOB MARKET?

If you are a subscriber to this newsletter and searching for an HR-related role, I am more than happy to list your name, a link to your Linked In Profile, and a sentence or two that describes what you are looking for, in a future issue of this newsletter. If interested, please send me an email from the email address that you used when signing-up for this newsletter.

The following subscribers are in the HR job market:

  • Cathy Ellwood - is looking for roles at the Director and Sr. Director level in Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Organization Development and/or Learning & Development. Cathy especially enjoys roles where she can lead in each of these areas, but it is open to leading just one. Fully relocatable (currently in St. Louis), with a first preference of Columbus, Ohio.

  • Serguei Zaychenko - is looking for an Executive Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Recruiter role in the metro New York City area. Serguei worked both for large, Fortune 500, as well as small, entrepreneurial companies and thrives in hyper-growth environments.

  • Nora Kinsela - is currently seeking a mid/senior level Talent Management/Development role in the Greater Boston area. The ideal company is one that looks to create an engaged workforce by providing career development opportunities needed for them to thrive and be their best selves.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS

While I try to read as much as I can and share resources and ideas that I believe would be of value to readers, there is only so much that one person can possibly uncover! This is where I ask for your active contribution to this newsletter.

If you have an article, report, or resource that you recommend, please send me an email at [email protected]. I would love to review it and potentially share it in a future newsletter.

And, if you have any ideas or suggestions on how this newsletter can be improved or deliver greater value (including topics you would like to see covered), please send me a note with your suggestions.

FINAL COMMENTS

If you aren’t yet a subscriber to Talent Edge Weekly and want to have it delivered to your email inbox every Sunday, you can subscribe by entering your email below.

If you enjoy this content and would like to access all issues of Talent Edge Weekly, you can do so by clicking here. You can also access content at www.brianheger.com

If you found this issue to be of value, please share the link above with your social media networks.

I look forward to sharing more ideas in next week’s Edge!

Brian