The Gartner Talent Angle Gartner

The rapid proliferation of HR technology has presented exciting opportunities while forcing HR leaders to make some difficult choices. Marcia Morales-Jaffe offers a path forward and shares insights from her experience as the former chief people officer of PayPal and World Fuel Services. Morales-Jaffe outlines how HR leaders can make the most of their technology investment and discusses the role that manager development, culture and change management play in the success of HR technology.
 
Marcia Morales-Jaffe is a retired chief HR officer (CHRO) and emeritus member of the Gartner CHRO Global Leadership Board. She currently serves as senior advisor at McKinsey & Company’s People & Organizational Performance Practice. Until 2017, Marcia was SVP, chief people officer at PayPal, where she played an integral role in shaping culture and advancing its transformational business vision and social mission.
 
Peter Aykens is chief of research in Gartner’s HR practice. He is responsible for defining research coverage within the practice and building and leading research teams addressing client’s key initiatives. In prior roles at the firm, he spent over 25 years leading research teams focused on banking and financial services strategy, producing numerous studies that addressed business strategy, channel, marketing, customer experience and product issues in financial services. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from St. Olaf College; an MSc.(Econ) degree in international politics from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; and a Master of Arts and a doctorate in political science from Brown University.

According to the 2020 Gartner Well-Being Benchmarking Survey, 70% of companies have introduced new well-being benefits or increased the amount of existing well-being benefits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To sustain momentum in developing a healthy workforce, organizations must continue to create an environment where employees value well-being. Dr. Richard Safeer, author of “A Cure for the Common Company,” joins the Talent Angle to make the case that organizations should go beyond well-being programs to create a culture of well-being. He offers practical guidance to help HR leaders establish the norms and environment that supports workforce health.
Dr. Richard Safeer, MD, currently serves as the Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being for Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he leads the Healthy at Hopkins employee health and well-being strategy. Richard released “A Cure for the Common Company: A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce” in January 2023 with publisher Wiley. Previously, he was the medical director of preventive medicine for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Baltimore, Maryland.
Jessica Knight is a vice president of research in the Gartner HR practice. She leads research teams to identify best practices and new opportunities for addressing HR executives’ most urgent challenges. Her areas of focus include employee experience, organizational culture, change management and the future of work.

As employees rethink the role that work has in their lives, organizations must similarly reimagine how they engage and retain employees. Author and commitment expert Joe Mull makes the case that employees do a great job when they believe they have a great job. Mull joins the Talent Angle to share insights from his book “Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work.” He discusses how key employment value proposition (EVP) aspects such as compensation, workload and flexibility help create a destination workplace.
Joe Mull is the author of three books including “No More Team Drama” and “Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work.” He is the founder of the BossBetter Leadership Academy and hosts the popular podcast Boss Better Now. Joe has appeared as an expert in multiple media outlets, including Forbes, the International Business Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and Good Morning America.
 
Brent Cassell is a vice president of advisory in Gartner’s HR practice, and he has spent the past 19 years in Gartner’s HR and CIO practices. His job is to help clients find the research they need, to help them understand that research, and to coach them through the implementation of those best practices in their own organizations. Brent is the contributing editor of the HR Leaders Monthly journal. In 2022, he won Gartner’s award for Outstanding Thought Leadership for his work on Redesigning Work for the Hybrid World.

As organizations continue to face fierce competition for talent, HR leaders have upheld internal mobility as a lever to retain talent, yet many employees remain unaware of the career opportunities in their organization. In this episode of the Talent Angle, Helen Tupper illustrates how championing squiggly careers — or nonlinear career paths — can deliver on the promise of internal mobility by giving employees relevant and engaging opportunities. By intentionally empowering talent to apply their skills across a diverse set of experiences, HR leaders can create meaningful careers for individuals while also serving the needs of the organization.
Helen Tupper is the co-founder and CEO of Amazing If, a company with an ambition to make careers better for everyone. Together with her business partner Sarah Ellis, she is the author of two Sunday Times bestsellers: “The Squiggly Career” and “You Coach You.” Their “Squiggly Careers” podcast is the U.K.’s No. 1 careers podcast, and their TEDx talk “The Best Career Path Isn’t Always a Straight Line” has over 1.5 million downloads. Helen also works as a trustee for Working Families, a U.K. charity with a mission to support families and caregivers with their work and life commitments. Prior to Amazing If, she held leadership roles for Microsoft, Virgin and BP and was awarded The Financial Times and 30% Club’s Women in Leadership MBA Scholarship. She is mum to Henry and Madeleine and lives with her husband in Buckinghamshire. You can find her on Instagram @amazingif.
Dion Love is a vice president of research and advisory services at Gartner. He’s a labor market expert, focusing on global labor market trends and what they mean for organizations’ talent and business strategies, as well as broader social and economic issues. In his work at Gartner, Dion advises clients on key aspects of talent acquisition, including talent acquisition function planning and management, talent needs definition and internal recruiting, employment branding and recruitment marketing, and talent sourcing and selection. He has co-authored more than 12 strategic research studies at Gartner. His work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and industry publications, as well as Gartner HR Leaders Monthly and Smarter With Gartner.

As members of Gartner’s CHRO Global Leadership Board, Medtronic’s Carol Surface and GE’s Kevin Cox were both involved in creating the original Model of the World-Class CHRO in 2017. They join host Peter Aykens on the Talent Angle to discuss what’s changed in the recent update. They reflect on what originally inspired them to create the model, its legacy to date, and why it was due for a revision. In breaking down Chapter 2 of the model, Carol and Kevin share what’s remained the same for the chief HR officer (CHRO) role alongside what must be added to address today’s realities. The CHRO Global Leadership Board, convened by Gartner, is composed of CHROs from the world’s top companies with deep expertise in HR, talent management and executive leadership.
 
Carol Surface was recently appointed chief people officer at Apple, a role she will start in March 2023. Since 2013, she has served as executive vice president and CHRO at Medtronic, a global healthcare technology leader with 95,000-plus employees. Previously, Carol was executive vice president and CHRO at Best Buy and held a series of human resources leadership roles at PepsiCo, including chief personnel officer for PepsiCo International. In 2020, Carol was elected as Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR). She earned a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Central Michigan University.
 


Kevin Cox is the CHRO for General Electric. Kevin leads GE’s global HR organization, including talent management, leadership development, total rewards and employee relations. Prior to GE, Kevin served as the CHRO at American Express for 14 years. Previously, he spent 16 years at PepsiCo and the Pepsi Bottling Group, where he held positions leading strategy, business development, technology and HR. In 2009, Kevin was elected as Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR). He holds a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Marshall University.

The 4-day work week has gained momentum in recent years, but has not yet entered the mainstream. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Global Programs Director at 4 Day Week Global, joins the Talent Angle to explain why organizations should consider experimenting with new ways of working. He highlights the importance of rest for human creativity and problem solving, and outlines how a shortened work week can unlock human potential to benefit both employers and employees.
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang a leading voice in reduced hours working. He is the author of three books exploring how companies and individuals can better integrate rest, creativity, and focus into digital-age lives and work. Before joining 4 Day Week Global, Alex was a research director at the Institute for the Future and senior consultant at Strategic Business Insights, and lectured at Oxford University, Stanford University, and UC Berkeley. Alex received a Ph.D. in history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Brent Cassell is a VP, Advisory at Gartner, where he has worked for the past 18 years in both the HR and CIO Research Groups. His job is to help clients find the research they need, to help them understand that research, and to coach them through the implementation of those best practices in their own organizations. Currently, his research focuses on the Future of Work and Total Rewards. In 2022, he won Gartner's award for Outstanding Thought Leadership for his work on Redesigning Work for the Hybrid World. He is also the Contributing Editor of HR Leaders Monthly and the Co-Host of the Talent Angle podcast.