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

• The CEO-CHRO Partnership | Chief Executive Group | Explores survey results on how CEOs and HR chiefs are aligned--and misaligned--on the top 2021 human capital and talent priorities.

• Women@Work Report: A Global Outlook | Deloitte Insights | This 24-page report provides insights into how gender equality in the workplace has regressed during the pandemic and what firms can do about it.

• 5 Strategies to Infuse D&I Into Your Organization | Harvard Business Review | Provides five strategies for helping firms deliver on their D&I promises by creating a more representative, fair, and high-performing workforce.

• What Executives Are Saying About the Future of Hybrid Work | McKinsey | Shares practices that have enabled a segment of firms to develop specific plans for enabling hybrid work.

• How to Address Worker Skill Gaps in the Return to Work | MIT Sloan Management Review | Offers three ways that firms can help workers recover, refresh, and update their skills when returning from an extended period out of work.

• Your View: Poll: One of our readers would like to know: Which statement best reflects your organization's philosophy on asking workers about their vaccination status? a) Will ask and require proof, b) Will ask but not require proof, c) Will not ask.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

The CEO-CHRO Partnership | Chief Executive Group 

CHRO and CEO alignment on talent priorities is critical to organizational effectiveness. And to explore this alignment, a new survey by Chief Executive and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) polled 243 CEOs and 406 CHROs on their views of the top 2021 human capital and talent priorities. The two biggest talent priorities for 2021 among surveyed CEOs are 1) talent retention and upskilling (58%) and 2) talent availability and recruiting (56%). While CHROs agreed on the former (60%), only 29% of CHROs said they’d like to see more time devoted to talent availability and recruiting. When CHROs were asked what they’d like to see their CEOs spend more time on, 62% (the highest percentage) said diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy; this compares with 30% of CEOs when asked the same question about their CHROs. CEOs and CHROs shared similar views about the expanding role of HR as a strategic partner to the CEO, with a little more than three out of four CEOs saying they look to their HR chiefs for views on business strategy. Since the CEO and CHRO relationship is one of the most important in any organization, what practical tactics do you believe enable greater alignment between the two on talent priorities?

Women@Work Report: A Global Outlook | Deloitte Insights 

This research provides insights into how gender equality in the workplace has regressed during the pandemic. It’s based on over five thousand survey responses of women across ten countries, focusing on their work lives, experiences during the pandemic, and career expectations for the future. A few findings: 1) 51% of women surveyed are less optimistic about their career prospects than before the pandemic. 2) 57% say they plan to leave their current job within two years. 3) Women’s wellbeing has fallen since the pandemic, with only 22% of women believing that their employers have enabled them to establish clear boundaries between work and personal hours. 4) LGBT+ women and women of color are more likely to report lower mental wellbeing and work-life balance than the overall sample. On the positive side, women who report working for gender-inclusive cultures report higher mental wellbeing levels, motivation, productivity, and loyalty to their employers. They also plan to stay with their employers for longer than two years, compared with women who work for firms with non-inclusive cultures. The report provides many ideas on how firms can reverse the trends negatively affecting gender equality in the workplace. 

5 Strategies to Infuse D&I Into Your Organization | Harvard Business Review 

As firms commit to making real and meaningful progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), this article provides five strategies to speed up these efforts. 1) Ensure the CEO positions him/herself as the top champion and takes responsibility for progress toward goals. 2) Center D&I in your business strategy. 3) Hold executive leaders accountable for D&I outcomes. 4) Mitigate implicit bias at the systemic level. 5) Pivot from diversity training to leadership development. Concerning #4, the authors emphasize the need to eliminate systemic bias embedded in talent management and other decision-making processes rather than focusing primarily on eliminating individual bias. One tactic is to review all talent management policies and processes to identify how they unintentionally increase bias. A few examples include: recruiters might only advertise jobs to a narrow range of potential candidates; managers might only assign high-visibility work to those they know well; hiring managers might rank employee referrals higher than other candidates. Firms can audit all of their talent practices to determine required changes. 

What Executives Are Saying About the Future of Hybrid Work | McKinsey 

Although many firms have or plan to implement hybrid work models, this article outlines how many still lack details on executing a permanent mix of remote and on-site working. Based on a survey of executives, nearly a third of them say that their organizations lack alignment on a high-level vision among the top team regarding hybrid work. And for another third of organizations with a more detailed vision in place, only one in ten have communicated that vision. This article shares practices that have enabled firms to crystalize and execute their hybrid approach, including 1) when changing processes that support remote/hybrid work, take a “test and learn” approach where processes are iterated and tweaked as context shifts. 2) while most firms have changed their hiring practices to reflect a hybrid work, leading firms have holistically redesigned their entire hiring process. 3) leading firms have provided support in helping their managers and leaders develop skills that enable them to lead effectively in a hybrid work environment, such as providing feedback and showing empathy. Other ideas are discussed.

How to Address Worker Skill Gaps in the Return to Work | MIT Sloan Management Review 

Many firms are increasing their hiring activity as more people are vaccinated and pandemic restrictions ease up. And as noted in this article, as firms bring workers back to the workplace, many of them will need to retrain workers whose skills stagnated while furloughed, laid off, and unemployed during the pandemic. One tactic offered is to establish reintroduction periods -where a firm brings back returning employees after a period of absence and re-familiarizes them with their colleagues, the company goals, skill requirements, and changed policies, practices, and expectations. Regarding skills, firms can start by asking: 1) what skills did the worker develop while out (e.g., online learning) and that apply in the new role/environment? 2) What skills of the worker have atrophied and will be necessary for the worker to “fine-tune? 3) What new skills have emerged and that the worker will need to learn? These and other questions can help provide the basis for the learning component of one’s reintroduction plan. Other ideas are discussed.

POLL QUESTION

If there is a poll question you would like to see in an upcoming newsletter, you can submit your question HERE.

MOST SHARED RESOURCE FROM LAST WEEK

Using Shared Services to Drive the HR Operating Model of the Future | Gartner’s HR Leaders Monthly May | Offers a 4-component HR operating model that further separates operational and strategic work and evolves shared services into comprehensive HR operations and service delivery team.

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