Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #54

February 21, 2021

Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly—the weekly newsletter for human resources practitioners, bringing together insights about work, the workplace, and the workforce from various sources.

If you find value in this issue or any of its resources, please share them with your network by using the social media icons at the top of the newsletter.

Have a great week, and I look forward to sharing more ideas in next week’s Edge!

Brian 

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 CONTENT

  • Global Leadership Forecast 2021 Study | DDI | A report done in partnership with Josh Bersin and that summarizes best talent practices and provides key trends to guide the future of leadership.

  • 2021 Global Talent Trends Report: The Future of Work | Mercer | A 64-page global trend report that identifies four trends that will guide many firms' talent and workforce strategies in 2021 and beyond.

  • Sources of Workforce Planning Intelligence | Gartner | Reference guide on the top internal data sources (e.g., business goals, attrition rates, etc.) and external data sources (e.g., graduation rates and industry trends) that can be used to guide workforce planning.

  • The Future of Work After COVID‑19 | McKinsey Global Institute | 32-page global executive report that examines the long-term impact of COVID-19 trends and the extent to which they will endure or decline in a post-pandemic environment.

  • The Most Pressing People Questions Facing Companies Today | Harvard Business Review | Encourages firms to think through and answer 5 in-depth questions that will enable firms to emerge from the pandemic stronger while minimizing future risks.

  • Why Psychological Safety (PS) at Work Is Key to Preventing Employee Burnout | Fast Company | Provides ideas for cultivating PS in the workplace, including how managers and leaders can foster PS in their teams.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

This DDI report, in partnership with Josh Bersin, summarizes best talent practices and provides key trends to guide the future of leadership. Each section has two parts: 1) data and conclusions, 2) potential actions. While the report's findings are too numerous to summarize, one clear theme is that firms will need to develop leaders prepared to lead in an environment of unpredictability and constant crisis. Said differently, the ability to embrace uncertainty and develop new skills rapidly will be the hallmark of effective leadership in the years ahead. And with bench strength to fill critical roles reported at its lowest in a decade, many firms will be at risk to have ready-now leaders when the economy recovers. In examining leadership preparedness by industry (page 11), bench strength is 10–25% below current capabilities in every industry, with Retail and Consumer Products having the largest gap. The report cites " unpredictability" as the biggest reason for the decline in bench strength and, as a result, advises that firms view bench strength much less in terms of one-to-one replacements for key roles. Instead, they should focus on creating leadership teams with "complementary strengths and cross-collaboration, enabling them to weather change better." Bringing further concern to the bench strength issue is that various sources warn that a mass exodus of CEO and other C-suite members is coming--which I have shared in a previous post. Given these factors, firms will need to have plans in place to mitigate these risks. 

The 64-page global trend report identifies four trends that will guide many firms' talent and workforce strategies in 2021 and beyond. 1) Focus on Futures (e.g. remaking opportunities, reimagining retirement, etc. 2) Race to Reskill, (i.e., transform the workforce for a new world economy) 3) Sense with Science (e.g., augmenting Al with human intuition - leveraging analytics such as pay equity analysis, and 4.) Energizing the experience (g., inspiring and invigoratng people by redesigning the work experience through digital transformation, flexibility, and HR transformation. This robust report contains various insights and references, including a multi-stakeholder model (page 7) that illustrates the various external (e.g., customer, activists, investors, etc.) and internal stakeholders (e.g., boards, employees, etc.) that purpose-driven firms must keep in mind when driving change. Concerning reskilling, page 26 has a Skills-based talent practice maturity model that illustrates four levels of how firms develop their talent. Level 4 (future-focused firms) focus more on developing workers' skills through assignments, whereas Level 1 firms (Traditional) focus more on development through job movement. The former is more in line with the promotion of an internal talent marketplace strategy. Besides the global report, you can visit this part of Mercer's website and register to receive any of 23 geography companion reports covering 46 countries. 

Workforce planning (WP) continues to be a top priority for many organizations. And central to building a WP capability is leveraging various data sources that can inform WP strategies and actions. These data sources range from internal sources (e.g., business goals, attrition rates, etc.) to external sources, including graduation rates and industry trends. According to Gartner, despite the variety of external and internal WP data intelligence sources available, less than half of HR leaders consider their organizations effective at analyzing internal (41%) and external (35%) data sources. This reference provides a useful summary of the top internal and external sources of WP intelligence. HR leaders can review this information with their teams to identify the most relevant data sources for their WP efforts. One recommendation I have to uncover these sources is to ask your team: 1) What talent and workforce questions–if we had the answer to–would enable us to accelerate the delivery of our business strategy?  2) What external and internal data sources provide disproportionate insights when answering these questions? 3) Of these vital few data sources, which do we currently capture? 4) For those critical data sources to which we do not currently have access, which of them would be the easiest to acquire?  Answering these questions can help chart a path forward for using data to inform high-impact workforce planning.

This 32-page executive summary report examines the long-term impact of COVID-19 trends across several work areas and eight economies that account for almost half the global population and 62 percent of GDP. As one example of this report's many insights, page 6 shows an illustration of the prevalence and usage of three groups of trends before, during, and after the pandemic. The three trend groups are 1) shift to remote work and virtual interactions, 2)  the surge in the use of e-commerce and other digital platforms, and 3) the deployment of automation and AI. The report offers supporting reasons for why each trend group will or will not endure in a post-pandemic world. For example, while the work-from-home (remote work) trend has spiked during the pandemic, it will decline in a post-pandemic environment. Still, remote work usage in a post-pandemic context will be higher than pre-pandemic levels due to workers desiring more flexibility and firms exploring cost savings. At the same time, this trend is mitigated because certain work is more effective (or required) in-person or at a physical company location. I point out this particular page since it serves as a useful way for firms to illustrate and think through the various trends impacting their business and how they will respond. Several other ideas on multiple related topics are provided.

The ongoing pandemic has led firms to focus on the most urgent issues--ranging from employee health and safety, protecting the corporate culture, and ensuring that their companies are running efficiently. And as noted in this article, organizations also need to think through and answer at least five in-depth questions to emerge from the pandemic stronger while minimizing future risks. 1) How do you balance your human workforce with automation? 2) What are your plans for remote work? 3) How are you helping ensure employee mental health? 4) How are you engaging your stakeholders? 5) Are you pursuing a purpose that supports society? Concerning #1--balancing the human workforce with automation--the article offers a set of questions that firms can use as they determine how work, the workforce, and structure may need to change as a result of increased automation, including: what is the workforce's ideal size and how much capital should the company commit to sustaining it? Which operations and roles will no longer be needed? Which emerging areas and roles should the company be investing in? Which metrics can management track to gauge a smooth transition to a more automated workforce? What investments should they make to reskill and attract the workforce of the future?  The article provides thought-provoking ideas and questions that will enable firms to better prepare for a post-pandemic business environment.

Employee wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and strengthening company culture are priorities for many organizations. As firms develop strategies to address these areas, the notion of psychological safety (PS) can serve as a multiplier for positively impacting these areas simultaneously. This short article provides a few ideas for cultivating PS in the workplace. It offers a premise that every interaction within an organization--no matter how small-provides opportunities to foster a culture where employees feel comfortable bringing forward ideas, admitting to their mistakes, and providing honest feedback without fear of repercussion. The article offers tactics for promoting PS, such as hosting regularly scheduled town hall meetings that promote people speaking up, or asking pulse survey questions, such as "Do you feel like you can bring your ideas forward?"  One critical strategy for fostering PS is cultivating manager and leadership capabilities in the skills and behaviors that enable PS within their teams, a topic on which I posted last week. As leaders create opportunities for PS, they build and reinforce a culture of PS overtime. As noted in the article, "some of the nicest environments are the least psychologically safe, but when you can engage in positive conflict and constructive feedback with care and candor—when people can say hard truths to each other—that's when you really know you have a psychologically safe environment."

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