Talent Edge Weekly – Issue 351

Newsletter Workforce Trends

Thanks to Draup for sponsoring this issue. Download Draup’s report How Leading Organizations Are Redesigning for the AI Era

This issue of Talent Edge Weekly covers:

  • HR Monitor 2026 | McKinsey | A new 44-page report with benchmark insights on workforce planning, employee development, and talent acquisition, among other topics. I expand on building proactive external talent pipelines.
  • Are Your Critical Roles Occupied by Your Top Talent? | Brian Heger | My cheat sheet offers five factors for evaluating whether a critical role is staffed with the talent needed to deliver its full value.
  • Sidetracked: The Hidden Crisis in Mid-Career Mobility | Burning Glass Institute & NYU School of Professional Studies | A new 41-page report finding that 24.2% of mid-career professionals are stalled— 5 or more years with no meaningful promotion. I zoom in on how lateral moves can help.
  • Strategic Workforce Planning and Scenario Planning Worksheet | Brian Heger | My one-page worksheet for thinking through workforce planning responses to different scenarios.
  • When Employees Are Drowning in Change | MIT Sloan Management Review | Outlines three suggestions for managing change more effectively. I build on the one related to sequencing change based on employees’ capacity.

If you find value in content like this, sign up for my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter.