Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #72

Covers 9 articles on hybrid work, flexibility in a framework for remote work, Pepsi's view on remote work, diversity &inclusion, and SEC human capital guidelines.

June 27, 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

  • 9 Articles on the Hybrid Workplace | Gartner's HR Leaders Monthly - July | Provides a collection of articles that explores the hybrid workforce model from multiple perspectives, including critical questions HR leaders need to answer as they design their hybrid workforce strategies.

  • Remote Work Is the New Signing Bonus | The Wall Street Journal | Summarizes how many workers are enticed by the guarantee of flexible schedules and continued work from home rather than financial incentives, such as signing bonuses.

  • Top CHROs Believe 'Flexibility Within a Framework' Is the Future of Work | Gallup Workplace | Shares the perspectives of CHROs on the challenges of remote work, such as addressing unauthorized relocation during the pandemic.

  • How PepsiCo Is Rethinking the Office: More Remote Work. No Assigned Desks | CNN Business | Covers aspects of PepsiCo’s new “Work that Works” plan, where global corporate employees decide with their managers which days they’ll be in the office and when they’ll be remote.

  • It’s Time to Reimagine Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | BCG | Describes 3 core elements that enable a step-change in DEI solutions, including resetting who should be the focus of DEI efforts.

  • HR’s Guide to the SEC Human Capital Disclosure Requirements | IntelliHR | Covers multiple aspects of the SEC's human capital (HC) disclosure reporting requirements, including a curated list of potential HC objectives and measures a firm can disclose.

  • Last Week's Poll Results and This Week's Poll | Shares results from last week's poll on whether executive compensation should be linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals; new poll on the percentage of a firm's critical positions.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

Many firms continue to embrace hybrid work models as they return employees to the workplace. And while hybrid work offers many opportunities, it also presents challenges that CHROs and their team must consider and evaluate. In this July issue of Gartner’s HR Leaders Monthly, there is a collection of nine articles that explores the hybrid workforce model from multiple perspectives, including critical questions HR leaders need to answer as they design their hybrid workforce strategies. It covers topics such as building manager empathy, using talent analytics to redesign the hybrid workplace, driving inclusive well-being for every employee in the hybrid world, and three outdated assumptions that impede hybrid work design. Page 9 begins an article on how to provide employees who aren’t knowledge workers—and do not have flexibility over when, where, or how much they work—with flexible work options. For example, retail workers can be allowed to schedule and trade their own hours. Figure 3 on page 12 includes eight questions managers can ask to uncover hidden opportunities for flexibility in all roles. 

As a large segment of white-collar and knowledge-based workers state they are not willing to return to corporate offices full-time, many firms are using flexibility as a perk to poach talented people. This article describes how remote work has become the new signing bonus—where workers are enticed by the guarantee of flexible schedules and continued work from home rather than financial incentives. And as organizations provide their employees with greater detail and clarity on return-to-office plans, many reports show that this will prompt employees to leave their organization in search of greater flexibility. As a result, firms can consider two immediate implications:  1) Organizations with difficulty attracting top talent and diverse candidates can "promote" flexibility and remote work as a core component of their employer value proposition. 2) Firms should quickly assess the retention risk of their key employees, identify what influences their engagement and desire to stay or leave the organization, and develop a plan to retain these workers; a “stay conversation/interview” can support this effort. For more on stay interviews, you can check out this previous post.  

While CHROs and their teams help their firms transition into a post-pandemic world marked by hybrid/remote work, they continue to think through the implications for every aspect of HR. This article summarizes the concerns that Gallup’s CHRO Roundtable members—the biggest group of large-company CHROs—globally face regarding remote work. For example, one of the less talked about challenges of remote work has been addressing unauthorized relocation during the pandemic. As noted in the article, “although physically and theoretically people can work anywhere, they can’t be employed everywhere, so CHROs must choose between expanding employee location options or reeling in their rogue employees.” CHROs are tackling this issue by opting for a hub model, which requires employees to live within driving distance of a central office location. “Workers will choose their hub based on their job duties and function and will be expected to be on site at certain times. Though it narrows the labor pool, it substantially cuts companies’ travel expenses while sustaining flexibility.” Other challenges are discussed, such as employee experience and culture in a remote environment.

As part of PepsiCo’s new “Work that Works” plan, global corporate employees (about 80k of 290k employees) will decide with their managers which days they’ll be in the office and when they’ll be remote. As noted by Sergio Ezama, PepsiCo’s chief talent officer and chief human resources officer, “There are no limitations. There is no number of days you need to be in the office or a number of days you can be remote.” Before the pandemic, PepsiCo’s policy was that employees could ask to work remotely for up to two days a week upon manager approval. The office will no longer be the primary location where work gets done; instead, it will be used more purposefully for innovation, social connection, and celebration. As mentioned by Ezama,“when we asked our employees about ‘how are you thinking about coming back?’ people were not asking us for remote. Our people were asking us for choice to decide where and how they do their work.”Please note that when you open the link, there is also a 3-minute video that will play within 10 seconds, so please be sure to lower your volume. The video covers how banking/financial services CEOs are signaling that they want their employees back in the office. 

Despite organizations advancing their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, most would argue there is significantly more work to do. This article submits DEI has “hit a ceiling”—a metaphor reflecting a barrier to making meaningful progress. As noted by the authors, this barrier is due mainly to “DEI initiatives are centered on a core set of demographic minorities, segment people into these groups, and assume they define the workplace experience.” This approach is problematic because individuals comprise a multiplicity of identities shaping “who they are when they come to work and how they experience the workplace.” These factors range from demographic factors (e.g., age, socioeconomic background), life context (e.g., caregiver status or being part of a dual-career household), physical and mental differences (e.g., physical disability, neurodiversity, chronic illness, mental health challenges), etc. Exhibit 4 on page 6 illustrates how overly simplistic DEI approaches miss the multiple aspects of one’s identity. Other ideas are discussed for redefining why DEI benefits the organization, resetting who should be the focus of DEI efforts, and reinventing how to develop DEI solutions.

The Security Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation S-K human capital (HC) disclosure requirements is a topic I have reported on for several months (see here for a range of resources shared). The rule, which went into effect on November 9, 2020, gives firms 60-90 days after their fiscal year to include HC information in their annual report. Since the SEC has given organizations broad latitude to choose which measures to include, many have found it challenging to determine which HC information to measure and disclose. And while the range of resources I have already shared provides a comprehensive view of this topic, this recently published guide contains helpful information and insights in three areas:  1) SEC human capital disclosure reporting requirements (provides information about the rule, who needs to report), 2) Building a reporting framework (how to identify relevant human capital measures and objectives, determine what to disclose, and how to collect information) and 3) Objectives and measures (a curated list of potential objectives and measures a firm can disclose to the SEC). A useful resource for those interested in this topic. 

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK'S POLL

THIS WEEK'S POLL

Click on image to vote

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

TWEET OF THE WEEK

SURVEY ON IMPLICATIONS OF “WORK FROM ANYWHERE” ON EXPATRIATION PRACTICES

Sergey Gorbatov (Director, Area HR Lead LATAM at AbbVie), Angela Lane (Vice President - Global Talent Abbvie), and Julian Dalzell (ex-Shell HR exec and now professor at Darla Moore at USC) are working on research that would shed light on the impact of "work from anywhere" on expatriation practices. Their goal is to understand the extent to which this work model will change the purpose for which organizations use ex-pat assignments, the nature of the roles filled, or the duration of assignments post-pandemic.  Their research will also examine the potential impact of these changes on the skills profile of future leaders. They welcome you to participate in their research by taking 10 minutes to complete this anonymous survey.  It includes an option to provide your email to receive a copy of their findings.

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