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THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

Below is a glance at this week’s content. A deep dive follows. 

• Assessing a Role for Hybrid Working | CIPD | A one-page flowchart to determine a role’s feasibility for hybrid work.

• When New Hires Get Paid More, Top Performers Resign First | Harvard Business Review | Shares findings and recommendations from an analysis on the effects of hiring a higher-paid coworker on existing employees.

• 24 Talent Questions Across Eight Talent Areas Template | Brian Heger | An editable PDF with questions that can help uncover insights about aspects of an organization’s talent management.

• Corporate Culture in a New Era: Views from the C-suite | Journal of Applied Corporate Finance | Explores the perspectives of 1,348 executives on multiple aspects of corporate culture within their firms.

• Strategic AI Adoption in Talent Acquisition Today: Overcoming Barriers and Unveiling Future Possibilities | Mercer and St. John’s University | Discusses barriers and challenges to AI adoption in talent acquisition (TA) and proposes recommendations. I share bonus resources.

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

Let’s dive in. ⬇️

THIS WEEK'S EDGE 

HYBRID WORK

Assessing a Role for Hybrid Working | CIPD

A one-page flowchart to determine a role’s feasibility for hybrid work.

Many leaders continue to make decisions about hybrid, remote, and flexible work arrangements within their organizations. As leaders make these decisions, it’s essential that they approach them thoughtfully, considering various factors, such as the nature of specific roles and jobs. To aid in this process, CIPD has introduced a new one-page flowchart designed to facilitate a critical assessment of a role's suitability for hybrid work. It helps to identify whether a role might mostly fit one of three scenarios: 1) Work activities that are undertaken with other people at the same time and place. Such roles may not permit hybrid working or only a minority of time spent working remotely. 2) Activities that are performed with other people at the same time but that can be done in person or remotely. Such roles may be able to undertake some hybrid or remote working. 3) Activities that are largely independent and can be undertaken anywhere or at any time. These roles may permit a significant amount of remote work. The flowchart incorporates clarifying questions to aid in decision-making. Additionally, I am resharing a McKinsey Global Institute article, What’s Next for Remote Work: An Analysis of 2,000 Tasks, 800 Jobs, and Nine Countries. While the article was published a few years ago, it provides insights for basing a role’s remote work potential on tasks and activities that can be effectively performed remotely without compromising productivity.

Access flowchart

FAIR PAY

When New Hires Get Paid More, Top Performers Resign First | Harvard Business Review

Shares findings and recommendations from an analysis on the effects of hiring a higher-paid coworker on existing employees.

Fair pay continues to rise in importance as a topic of interest for both employees and HR leaders. According to Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends Report (see p. 28), employees ranked fair pay as the second most important of 20 factors influencing their decision to stay with their organization; similarly, HR leaders ranked fair pay as the second most influential factor. With pay transparency regulations in many states and localities requiring employers to disclose wage scale or salary range in job advertisements, disparities in pay become more evident, presenting several implications for organizations. This article explores one of those implications by examining how likely employees were to resign after hiring a higher-paid coworker, as well as the extent to which getting a pay raise might reduce their chances of resigning. One finding is that: employees whose pay was increased soon after the addition of a higher-paid coworker tended to stay in their jobs much longer, whereas those who had to wait for a raise were more likely to quit; high performers were disproportionately represented among resigning employees. The authors present strategies for mitigating these risks, aiming to provide both new hires and existing employees fair pay. As a bonus, I am resharing this 36-page paper by ADP Research Institute on pay transparency. Page 10 shows how workers’ perception of pay equity influences their willingness to leave their organization.

Read article

TALENT MANAGEMENT

24 Talent Questions Across Eight Talent Areas | Brian Heger

An editable PDF with questions that can help uncover insights about aspects of an organization’s talent management.

HR leaders and their teams continue to be called upon to communicate aspects of their workforce strategy and talent initiatives. This editable PDF includes questions that can stimulate thinking and conversations that inform the narrative for a few of those areas. Each slide includes three starter questions for eight talent areas. A few examples include: 1) Talent Strategy: What are the key components of our talent strategy over the next 2-3 years? Where are we “placing our bets?” 2) Recruiting: What is the strength of our employment brand among prospective employees? 3) Internal Mobility: Which lines of business or managers are the best developers of talent as evidenced by promotions, transfers, etc. out of their departments? 4) Employee Retention: What are the main reasons for employee turnover? How does this vary by business unit or employee segment? 5) Workforce and Talent Risks: Where do we have the most difficulty in finding and attracting workers with the necessary skills? The questions in this PDF are simply examples. Use them as a starting point for determining the questions most important for your organization. You can use the text box on each slide to formulate answers to these questions.

Access template

CULTURE

Corporate Culture in a New Era: Views from the C-suite | Journal of Applied Corporate Finance

Explores the perspectives of 1,348 executives on multiple aspects of corporate culture within their firms.

Many leaders recognize the vital role of organizational culture in enabling organizational success. But how effective are organizations at utilizing their culture as a source of competitive advantage? This article explores the perspectives of 1,348 chief executives and financial officers on multiple aspects of corporate culture within their firms. The findings are based on survey data and in-depth interviews with executives representing over 20% of the US equity market capitalization. While there are too many insights from this paper to cite here, one notable finding is executives' indication of a lack of alignment between companies' stated values and the actual norms within their organizations. This inconsistency may manifest in several ways, such as hiring or promoting individuals who do not embody the organization's values or employees feeling hesitant to express their honest opinions despite the organization's emphasis on open communications and transparency. This article offers valuable insights for leadership teams as they assess the alignment of their organization's professed values with actual workplace practices and behaviors, including decisions on remote work, promotion criteria, reward allocation, and fostering innovation. Additionally, a PDF version is available for further reference.

Read article

AI AND TALENT ACQUISITION

Strategic AI Adoption in Talent Acquisition Today: Overcoming Barriers and Unveiling Future Possibilities | Mercer and St. John’s University 

Discusses barriers and challenges to AI adoption in talent acquisition (TA) and proposes recommendations. I share bonus resources.

This new white paper, conducted in partnership with Mercer and researchers from St. John’s University, examined the state of technology adoption within the Talent Acquisition (TA) function, mainly related to artificial intelligence (AI). The report, which is based on survey responses from 477 respondents (~80% hold jobs as TA or HR leaders) from multiple industries, notes that: despite its tremendous potential, AI adoption within the TA function is not as pronounced and advanced as some recent reports might suggest. The authors share various ways that TA can benefit from using AI in recruiting and hiring, such as using AI to mitigate unconscious bias that influences hiring decisions. Since there are concerns about data privacy and algorithmic biases in TA, organizations must ensure that they monitor and refine their algorithms to prevent inadvertent biases. To help bridge this gap, I am resharing this 18-page Future of Privacy Forum Report outlining Best Practices for the development, implementation, or expansion of AI tools in employment decisions. The report breaks down practices into six crucial areas: 1) non-discrimination, 2) responsible AI governance, 3) transparency, 4) privacy and data security, 5) human oversight, and 6) alternative review procedures. I am also resharing the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology’s (SIOP) 36-page paper, presenting considerations and recommendations for the validation and use of AI-based assessments for employee selection.

Read white paper

MOST POPULAR FROM LAST WEEK 

2024 Mercer’s Global Talent Trends: Workforce 2.0: Unlocking Human Potential in a Machine-Augmented World | Mercer  

Mercer recently released its 2024 Global Talent Trends report, sharing insights from over 12,200 C-suite executives, HR leaders, employees, and investors across 17 geographies and 16 industries. This comprehensive 68-page report explores various topics, including worker preferences, productivity, and AI in the workplace. You can also view this post on LinkedIn and join the discussion!

Read report

JOB CUTS AND LAYOFF TRACKER

Check out my tracker of announcements from a segment of organizations that have conducted job cuts and layoffs since the start of 2023.

A few job cuts announced this past week:

• IBM. (NYSE: IBM). Has announced that it is cutting jobs in its marketing and communications division.

• Shell. (NYSE: SHEL). Plans to cut 20% of several hundred positions in its M&A unit. This follows recent cuts in the company’s low-carbon energy division.

• Workhorse. (NASDAQ: WKHS). The electric vehicle (EV) and drone manufacturer is reducing its workforce by 20%.

Click here to access all listed announcements.

CHIEF HR OFFICER HIRE OF THE WEEK

​​​​Foot Locker, Inc. (NEW YORK) [NYSE: FL]—a leading footwear and apparel retailer— announced that Cindy Carlisle has assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. As CHRO of Foot Locker, Inc., Carlisle will be responsible for developing and executing the Company's global human resources strategy in support of the Company's Lace Up Plan, a transformation designed to drive the organization's next phase of growth and create value for all stakeholders. Carlisle joins Foot Locker, Inc. from Stryker Corporation, where she served as Group Vice President of Human Resources. ​

If you want access to +3600 (and growing) detailed announcements of CHROs hired, promoted, and resigning, join CHROs on the Go—a one-stop-shop for knowing who is moving in and out of the Chief HR Officer role.

If you are already a subscriber to CHROs on the Go, log in here.

FROM X

TALENT EDGE WEEKLY REWIND

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS & WELLBEING

Reducing Information Overload in Your Company | Employee Experience Magazine

This article provides an overview of “information overload” in organizations, exploring its root causes and the detrimental effects on individuals and teams while offering strategies for reducing it. One approach for alleviating cognitive overload is through thoughtful information sharing, which involves encouraging colleagues to refrain from unnecessary CCing and BCCing, and avoiding sending "FYI" messages altogether.

Read article

THE BEST OF FEBRUARY 2024

Did you miss the “Best of February” issue of Talent Edge Weekly? If so, check out issue #225, which includes 18 of the most popular resources from the month.

Read the Best of February

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