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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Here’s a glance at this week’s content. A deep dive is in the section that follows.

• Template for Identifying an Organization’s Most Critical Positions | Brian Heger | I share a new one-page editable template to help organizations determine their most critical roles.

• How People Can Create—and Destroy—Value with Generative AI | BCG Henderson Institute | Shares the results of a study on the impact of generative AI on the productivity of highly skilled workers.

• Podcast: What Works…Talent Review | Future of HR Podcast | Host JP Elliot has a discussion with guests Anne Davis Gotte (VP Global Talent at General Mills) and Joe Garbus, (EVP Global Head of Talent at PVH Corp) on aspects of the talent review process.

• The Rise of the Invisible Workforce | The Conference Board | Addresses how organizations can more effectively integrate their contingent workforce strategy into their overall workforce strategy.

• Checklist to Review Your HR Technology Roadmap | Gartner | A 15-page paper on how HR can review and update its HR tech roadmaps biannually or when a review is triggered by changing requirements.

Also, check out the 2023 job cuts tracker & Chief HR Officer hire of the week.

Let’s dive in.

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

Template for Identifying an Organization’s Most Critical Positions | Brian Heger

An organization's ability to identify and plan for its critical roles is essential to workforce planning and talent management. And while there has been a much-needed shift in broadening our view of work beyond traditional roles to focus on skills and tasks, critical roles still play an important part in informing an organization's talent practices. However, a recurring challenge in identifying critical roles arises when assessors use less valid criteria, such as 1) job level (e.g., where only executive roles are considered critical, even though role criticality is level-agnostic); 2) basing it on how challenging it is to recruit and hire for a role (a challenging-to-fill role may not be critical); and 3) assessing the role based on the incumbent rather than the role's impact on organizational value. Assessors must also be reminded that a role deemed critical may lose its criticality over time as business strategies evolve. Against this backdrop, here's my new one-page editable template to help organizations gain insights into their critical roles. The first column allows you to list the roles for evaluation, and the following columns provide sample indicators of role criticality. For each role, you can mark the relevant indicators with a simple click, and upon completion, the visual representation will reveal the most critical roles (i.e., more checks indicate greater criticality). While this approach is not sophisticated, a simple exercise like this can assist in identifying and planning for an organization's most vital positions.

How People Can Create—and Destroy—Value with Generative AI | BCG Henderson Institute

This study, conducted in collaboration with scholars from Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Warwick, investigates the impact of generative AI (Gen AI) on the productivity of highly skilled workers. Focusing on over 750 BCG consultants globally who served as participants, the study examined the degree to which Gen AI (specifically OpenAI’s GPT-4) influenced the participants’ performance on professional services tasks mirroring their daily work activities. Key findings include: 1) When using OpenAI’s GPT-4 for creative product innovation— a task involving ideation and content creation— around 90% of participants improved their performance. Furthermore, the improvement was 40% higher than those working on the same task without GPT-4. Workers best captured this upside when they did not attempt to improve the output that the technology generated. 2) However, for business problem-solving tasks, using GPT-4 resulted in performance that was 23% lower than that of the control group (see Exhibit 1). These outcomes underscore the necessity for thoughtful consideration of the compatibility of Gen AI with different organizational tasks. The authors also propose that organizations establish a "generative AI lab" to experiment with various use cases for their organizations. In case you missed it last week, here is a newly released 26-page report from MIT Technology Review Insights on how organizations are experimenting with and deploying Gen AI.

Podcast: What Works…Talent Review | Future of HR Podcast

One talent practice I continue to receive requests for additional resources is the organizational talent review. While the approach and structure of talent reviews vary across organizations, most include common elements, such as identifying high-potential (HiPo) employees and determining actions to develop HiPos for future opportunities, including those integrated into an organization's succession planning. Despite being a core talent management practice, organizations often encounter challenges when conducting these reviews, such as deciding on criteria to identify HiPos (e.g., using the "traditional 9-box" of performance potential or other tools). In this recently released 39-minute Future of HR podcast episode, host JP Elliot discusses talent reviews with guests Anne Davis Gotte, VP of Global Talent at General Mills, and Joe Garbus, EVP Global Head of Talent at PVH Corp. Anne and Joe share many practical insights on what makes an effective talent review, including 1) the importance of establishing consistent and shared definitions for evaluating and differentiating talent and 2) how the best talent reviews are described as "action-oriented" and result in tangible plans, outcomes, and progress. This episode includes many actionable insights from respected internal talent management practitioners charged with leading talent reviews for their organizations. To supplement this podcast, I am resharing Marc Effron’s article, Six Steps to Great Talent Reviews, which delves into overcoming common challenges in executing effective talent reviews, including overly complex processes and lack of follow-up.

The Rise of the Invisible Workforce | The Conference Board

Many organizations rely on external contributors, such as temporary workers, gig workers, and independent contractors, to help meet work demands. According to a Brookings Institution report on workforce ecosystems, external workers, often referred to as contingent workers, can make up 30-50% of an organization's workforce. However, as pointed out in this recent article by The Conference Board, the management of the contingent workforce is often characterized by a "tactical, piecemeal approach, with insufficient focus on risks like hidden labor costs, protecting intellectual property, or financial penalties and higher labor costs if regulators judge external workers are permanent employees." As such, the paper emphasizes the need for a strategic and integrated approach to the contingent workforce, based on three foundations: 1) strategic governance, 2) integrated workforce planning, and 3) clear guidelines for managers to ensure transparency, consistency, and compliance with regulations. The article provides ideas for each of these foundational components, including strategic governance, where it notes how Cisco has shifted responsibility for contract workers from the procurement team to a newly created cross-functional steering committee to oversee the deployment of external workers. As a bonus, I am resharing this 12-page Harvard Business Review Analytics Services whitepaper, which addresses how HR and Procurement teams can strategically collaborate on a contingent worker strategy.

Checklist to Review Your HR Technology Roadmap | Gartner

HR technology leaders face the challenge of managing an increasingly complex HR tech portfolio. To help HR tech leaders manage, measure, and adjust their tech roadmaps as the needs of the business evolve, this Gartner checklist offers a comprehensive checklist for leaders to consider. This 15-page resource comprises four key components: 1) Reassess Business Outcomes (e.g., determining new stakeholders and business outcomes, adjusting timelines, modifying guiding principles), 2) Refresh Needs and Gap Analysis (e.g., evaluating new emerging requirements, conducting a gap analysis, reprioritizing needed capabilities), 3) Review Market Scan and Portfolio Assessment (e.g., scanning the HR tech market landscape for changes, staying updated on vendor information), and 4) Measure and Replan (e.g., measuring the value of roadmap initiatives, conducting governance meetings with stakeholders to share wins, progress, needed adjustments). The checklist provides examples of timelines and specific tasks supporting each of the four components of the roadmap. To supplement this resource, I am also including Gartner’s 2024 HR Priorities Paper, which includes a section on HR tech.

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK

Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2024 | Gartner

This 22-page paper outlines the five key areas HR leaders will prioritize for 2024. 1) Leader and Manager Development, 2) Organizational Culture, 3) HR Technology, 4) Change Management, and 5) Career Management and Internal Mobility. You can also view my post about this resource on LinkedIn and join the discussion!

2023 JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Here is my tracker, which includes announcements from a segment of organizations that have announced job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023.

A few firms that announced job cuts this past week include:

• LinkedIn. Is laying off about 668 employ`ees across various teams, including engineering, product, talent, and finance. The cuts come 5 months after LinkedIn announced 716 job eliminations, bringing the total number of layoffs to 1,384.

• Nokia (NYSE: NOK). The Finland-based mobile company is planning to cut between 9,000 to 14,000 jobs amid a sales slump and reduced demand for 5G equipment. The cuts could potentially impact around 16% of the company's current global workforce of 86,000.

• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). The company is reducing its headcount as it is expecting revenue from its Covid-19 shot Comirnaty to come in $2 billion lower than previous estimates. Simultaneously, it cut revenue guidance for Paxlovid by $7 billion.

Click here or the image below to access all listed announcements from 2023.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

​​​Herbalife (LOS ANGELES) [NYSE: HLF]— a premier health and wellness company—announced that Claire V. Groen has been named the new Chief Human Resource Officer, effective immediately. Ms. Groen will report to EVP and Chief of Staff, Ibi Montesino. Ms. Groen is a global human resources leader with over 28 years of experience in the consumer goods and professional services industries. Before joining Herbalife, she was a senior advisor (contract role) with the Boston Consulting Group, and prior to that role, she held numerous leadership roles at Amway for more than 15 years, most recently as the Chief People Officer.

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FROM X (AKA TWITTER)

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

REPORT: Hidden Workers: Part-Time Potential Report | Harvard Business School and Accenture

This 21-page report delves into a specific subset of “hidden workers:” part-time workers. Hidden workers are those seeking employment but face obstacles in their endeavors. These part-time workers report various factors that hinder them from realizing their full potential, such as caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, and partial retirement, among other reasons. The report sheds light on different segments within the part-time worker category and presents strategies for employers aiming to attract them.

THE BEST OF SEPTEMBER

Did you miss the “Best of September” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #200, which includes 15 of the most popular resources from September. 

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