Quick-to-read HR news & insights
From recruiting and retention to company culture and the latest in HR tech, HR Brew delivers up-to-date industry news and tips to help HR pros stay nimble in today’s fast-changing business environment.
You don’t have to be Simon Cowell to be able to spot talent, but more talent leaders are finding themselves under an America’s Got Talent-like spotlight as other leaders in their company increasingly rely on the talent function to drive business needs.
As companies continue to grapple with Covid-19, hot and cold labor markets, and tumultuous RTO plans, more CEOs are leaning on CHROs than before the pandemic. During a recent RHR International webinar, three talent leaders shared how they think their role has changed.
They upped the talent ante. A head of talent’s job is very different today compared to just five years ago, said Tapaswee Chandele, global VP of talent and development at The Coca-Cola Company.
“Leaders today have a much higher expectation of this role and the function,” Chandele said on the panel. “[Talent] is definitely driving the business agenda much more proactively, if done well, and has the ability to actually have a clear connection to business growth, so leaders are not passive about this job.”
As the labor market cools, Chandele said talent leaders need to remember it’s still a “market for talent,” and continue focusing on recruitment and retention that align with better work-life balance, a trend in recent years that will continue.
Talent leaders drive money. While there used to be a “separation between church and state” segmenting HR from other functions, heads of talent are now more connected in the “weeds of the business,” said Karthik Varatharaj, VP and chief talent officer at Levi Strauss & Co.
“I get called into board meetings…[and I’m asked] what does our store associate and stylist experience look like? How is that contributing to store profitability and productivity?” Varantharaj said.
Great heads of talent, he added, are on the front lines, meeting potential customers and working closely with the C-suite, so they understand the cultural and organizational implications of business decisions.
They redefined “talent.” Michael Ehret, head of global talent management at Johnson & Johnson, said talent leaders should recognize that their current and future employees have been fighting multiple pandemics: Covid-19, on top of social injustice and racial inequities.
“A lot of people [were] going through some deep soul-searching around their missions and life, their purpose, their values,” Ehret said. “This notion of work and life, whatever thin barrier may have existed, pre-pandemics, it’s just been eviscerated. It’s just life.”
As heads of talent look toward the future, Ehret recommended HR leaders rethink how they view talent in their companies.
“Five years ago, we [thought] about talent in a headcount view of who are our full-time and part-time talents that we have on our balance sheet, and now we think about talent much more broadly,” Ehret said. “It’s this incredible mix of full-time employees, freelancers, contractors, contingent workers, and [gig-based workers], and robots. The mere definition of talent has changed.”