July 21, 2025 • 28 mins
2025 is half over. What issues should human capital leaders focus onduring the restof the year?
In this time of rapid change, chief HR officers (CHROs) shouldfocus on issues such as AI transformation, leadership resilience, and strategic workforce planning. Whatelse made The Conference Board’s top 10 CHRO priorities for the restof 2025?
Join Steve Odland and guest Diana Scott, center leader of the US Human Capital Center at The Conference Board, to find out why succession and workforce planning are so important, the role of reskilling and upskilling, and how to help your workforce overcome their fear of AI.
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Episode Transcript
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Steve Odland (00:00):
Welcome to C-Suite Perspectives, a signature
series by The Conference Board.
I'm Steve Odland from The ConferenceBoard and the host of this podcast series.
And in today's conversation, we'regoing to talk about the top priorities
for the rest of 2025 for CHROs.
What should CHROs be focusedon for the rest of the year.
Joining me today is Diana Scott, thecenter leader of the Human Capital
(00:22):
Center here at The Conference Board,and multiple times CHRO herself.
Diana, welcome.
Diana Scott (00:29):
Thank you, Steve.
Happy to be here.
Steve Odland (00:31):
So Diana, we're going to go through our top 10 list, but we are
going to do this from the bottom up.
We're going to start with number 10.
What is number 10 on your listof CHRO priorities for 2025?
Diana Scott (00:45):
Number 10, and actually I debated whether this was number 10
or number one, is well-being, holisticwell-being and the employee experience.
And the reason that is so important,and also why it is a tossup, whether
it's number one or number 10, is becausewell-being has really evolved into
a core part of how CHROs think aboutmaking their business strategy actually
(01:12):
very effective and helping employeesdeliver against the business strategy.
So well-being is actuallybecoming embedded in everything
across the organization.
Thinking about things like mental,physical, emotional well-being,
but also even financial well-being,because what is so important is that
employees feel like they can bring theirauthentic selves to work, that they
(01:37):
feel like they're being heard, that theorganization values them, and that they
can bring the best parts of themselvesto really focus on the business.
So if you want to deliver good businessresults, you have to have healthy
people there to deliver those results.
So, well-being kind ofpermeates everything.
And it's a big topic with CHROsright now, CHROs who are members.
Steve Odland (01:57):
And even if you've got the perfect work environment,
perfect engagement scores, no roomfor improvement in the workplace, you
still have all these people who arebringing this stress and this angst
from the macro environment, fromtheir home environment, from their
personal lives, into the workplace.
Diana Scott (02:16):
That is absolutely the key, cause in many cases it's not necessarily
the workplace that is creating the stress,it's the stress from everything else.
And if you think about what life has beenlike in 2025, it has been very stressful.
There is a lot going on.
There's a lot of change externally,in addition to change that we
find necessary in the workplace.
(02:38):
So employees are reallyhaving to navigate a lot.
Leaders are having to navigate a lot, andthat's actually a key point because the
leaders need to be considered as well.
Leaders, frontline managers.
They're feeling the stress.
They need to feel like they're supportedand that the work environment is actually
a place where they can clear their minds,where they can actually stay focused, and
(03:01):
that the organization is a safe space.
If you look at the Trust Barometerright now across the world, the
Trust Barometer says that thecorporations and the organizations
where people work are some of themost trusted parts of a person's life.
They trust it much more thanpotentially government or media.
(03:23):
So there's a real responsibility thatthe organization has to really build
on that and think about the wholeperson, what's coming at them from the
outside, but also how we help removethe stress and keep them focused while
they're at work to do their best work.
Steve Odland (03:39):
Number nine on your list of CHRO priorities for the balance of 2025.
Diana Scott (03:45):
Number nine is helping CHROs focus on making
data-driven workforce decisions.
And that's really important because ifyou don't know, if you can't measure it,
you don't really know what's happening.
And how can you then refocus theorganization and understand how
effective or ineffective your programmingis, or how effective the work that
(04:08):
you're doing is, in the organization?
Steve Odland (04:10):
So what kind of data are you talking about, Diana?
Diana Scott (04:13):
Everything from looking at things like turnover, we look at data
that we actually have (04:18):
turnover and how retention is working, how quickly you're
able to find the talent that you need,how effective your brand is externally.
So we look at those things, butbeing able to tie it then to why, and
understand, why is this happening?
And when you make tweaks to certainprogramming, whether that actually
(04:41):
improves some of those key metricsthat are absolutely really important
to maintaining, finding, retaining andengaging your employees most effectively.
Steve Odland (04:50):
And you've written a lot about the use of AI in
collecting and analyzing these data.
Diana Scott (04:56):
Absolutely.
And there are a lot of wayswhere AI can actually help
you do this more effectively.
And it's not even necessarily AI, it'seven large language machine learning
capabilities and things like that helpyou analyze data, macro bytes of data
and say, "So what insights can we takeout of this? And what is it telling us?"
I think the key, though,is data-driven insights.
(05:19):
It's not just about understandingthe data, it's understanding what
is the underlying cost and what canwe do to tweak it, and how do we
actually measure whether the actionthat we took is having impact?
And I think that's the focus, and thatis a lot of the discussion that we're
having now with our CHRO members.
It's how can we take the data thatwe have and make it more actionable?
(05:41):
And actually help align other seniorleaders in the organization to recognize
that, or help our boards understand whatare the key drivers and leading indicators
of what's happening in our workforce,and how is that going to then help us
make better decisions so that we canactually increase productivity, find the
right people, make sure we're reskillingand upskilling for the right kinds of
(06:04):
things in our organization that aregoing to drive better business results.
Steve Odland (06:09):
Number eight in CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (06:12):
Succession planning.
It's really important, and it'sreally important for CHROs right
now to think about, do they have theleadership pipeline for today, but
also more importantly, for the future?
So it's a little bit likefour-dimensional chess.
It's an ongoing living, breathing process.
(06:33):
It's not like the thing thatyou do once a year anymore.
You can't just have a static list.
It's constantly thinkingabout and updating what the
talent pipeline looks like.
You have to really think aboutrunning scenario planning, the "what
ifs" (06:46):
If this happens, then what?
And with the amount of change that'shappening in most organizations,
whether it's the external factors ofhow is the economy going to impact us?
Right now, big discussion is tariffs.
How is that going to impact us, the globalworkforce, the supply chain, our sales?
How do we pivot quickly?
(07:07):
Then you think about, do we havethe right talent in place to address
all these different scenarios?
And which one is the most likely?
There's a lot of planningthat goes into this.
Steve Odland (07:17):
Yeah.
And it needs to be at all levels, as yousaid, because increasingly, we're running
into skill set deficits in key areasthat, you just thought, oh, "We'll just
go to market and recruit." But they'renot out there like they used to be.
Diana Scott (07:32):
They absolutely aren't.
And I think when you think about deepinto the organization, it does get into,
how do we make sure that the workforceof the future—and this will get to some
of the other factors that I'm going totalk about—how do you make sure that
you're doing your workforce planningstrategically to think about, how do I
maintain and make my goals this year?
(07:54):
But I'm also thinking next year,three years, five years out.
And with the rapid rate of change,especially from an automation
and technology perspective,how is this fundamentally
going to change how we operate?
And those operational changesare going to change jobs, so
do we have the right talent?
The succession planning can't justhappen at the top of the house.
(08:14):
You have to think about thepipeline of leadership for the
future and make sure that you'reactually developing that, as well.
Steve Odland (08:22):
Number seven on the CHRO priority list.
Diana Scott (08:26):
I would be remiss if I didn't include the whole concept of
reimagining hybrid and flexible work.
There is so much conversation about this.
Every meeting I have with CHROsone-on-one, in groups, this
becomes a topic of discussion.
And I really do think that, I'vesaid before, hybrid is here to stay.
(08:46):
I think structured flexibilityis the winning formula.
What does that mean?
That means that you are giving decisionpower to leaders in the organization to
decide how best to manage their workforce.
In some organizations, if you're talkingabout professional workers, a lot of
the talk is how many days in the office,how many days not in the office, why?
(09:09):
What do you do in thosedays in the office?
How do you make sure that you areproviding those anchor days and
making sure that the activitiesthat happen in the office are really
meeting the needs of your workforce?
I just saw some research that saidGen Zs actually like to be in the
office because of feeling like they'rebeing mentored, the camaraderie, it
(09:31):
helps them from loneliness, they feellike they can be more innovative.
But, and there is a but, they don'twant to be in the office full time.
They want to be in the office acertain number of days, and they want
those days to be really productive.
So I think understanding the generationalworkforce, what their needs are
to keep them engaged and happy.
And then really thinking about and beingvery intentional about, what does hybrid
(09:55):
or flexibility mean in my organization?
Because think about it.
Office workers, absolutely, itbecomes a discussion about how
many days in the office is optimal?
And how do we restructure the workthat we do as a team to make that most
valuable and allow people some flexibilityto work from home or work elsewhere
to get certain types of work done?
(10:16):
But if you think about moreof the frontline labor workforce
or retail or in healthcare, youhave to be on-site in many cases.
You have to treat your patients.
You have to be on-site tomanufacture the product.
You have to be in a retaillocation to serve your customers.
So what does flexibility mean there?
And I think those are the discussions thatwe're seeing happening in the C-suite.
(10:39):
And CHROs are really driving thatdiscussion cause there are benefits,
there are pros and cons on both sides,and you really have to thread the needle.
There's not one solution that fits all.
And empowering your leaders and helpingthem understand how to get the most
out of your workforce, whether it'shybrid or to provide that flexibility
(11:00):
and create that really strongculture, is probably the way to go.
And it's going to vary across the board.
Steve Odland (11:07):
Number six on CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (11:12):
Talent mobility and creating internal opportunities.
So this is really about, the buzzwordthese days is talent marketplaces.
What does that really mean?
That's using technology and creatingleveraging technology to allow you
to identify what the skill setsare in your current workforce.
(11:33):
They get to identifysome of it themselves.
You have validation so that you can reallymake sure that those assessments are
correct, giving managers opportunitiesto tap into those skill sets and those
individuals in the workforce, and givingpeople opportunities to move around.
So it's not the old-fashioned modelof a manager taps somebody that they
(11:54):
happen to know in the organizationcause they know that they have the skill
set to do a specific job or a project.
Today, it's much more fluid.
It's allowing people to tap intoenterprise, having an enterprise
view of what your talent is,what your skill sets are.
And then creating the ability forindividuals and managers to really match
(12:15):
the skill sets and provide opportunitiesfor people to learn and grow and make
them feel like they're actually a littlemore in charge of their own careers.
Now, they have to perform,they have to deliver.
And managers need to becomfortable with that.
But by leveraging some technology andcreating internal talent marketplaces,
you're really thinking about talentmobility and creating opportunity for
(12:38):
growth and development in a very differentway—and leveraging technology to do that.
And then you can also do it theold-fashioned way, where you just
really need to focus on, how do I reallyfocus on showing opportunity to my
employees in the organization, becomea culture that really values growth and
development, and we're willing to invest?
(12:59):
Cause that is seen as, frankly,part of well-being, part of the
value that an employee believes thatthey represent to an organization,
and they value that in return.
It's not just aboutcompensation these days.
Part of what employees are looking for is,yes, compensation, but also, am I valued?
Do I have opportunities to learn andgrow and develop in this organization?
(13:22):
And if I do, I could stay foreverbecause the sky's the limit.
It's limitless opportunity for me.
Steve Odland (13:29):
We're talking about CHRO priorities for the balance of 2025.
We're going to take a shortbreak and be right back.
Welcome back to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm your host, Steve Odland, fromThe Conference Board, and I'm
joined today by Diana Scott, theleader of the Human Capital Center
here at The Conference Board.
OK, Diana, we're halfway through.
Number five.
Diana Scott (13:51):
This is related to number six, but it's really about reskilling
and upskilling and doing it at scale.
And, the driver of this isreally the fact that there's
so much rapid change happening.
Yes, technology.
CHROs are very aware that the needs ofthe organization and how work gets done
(14:11):
is changing dramatically every day.
That's not going to stop.
So that's number one.
But also, markets are changing.
If you are a growth-orientedcompany, how you grow might change.
So really understanding whatare the needs today, and what
are the needs of the future.
And then having real commitmentto and programming in place that
(14:33):
allows you to reskill and upskillyour workers at scale has become
a central focus for CHROs in 2025.
Steve Odland (14:41):
Yeah, and we're living in a knowledge-based economy for the most
part, and in that kind of construct,you've got non-discrete functions.
It used to be everybody was in a silo,and everybody's work was discrete,
but now it's all team-oriented,matrixed because of the collaboration.
And so the skills required for thisenvironment is way different than, "Let's
(15:03):
teach functional skills on manufacturingor on finance." Different world.
Diana Scott (15:08):
Absolutely.
And I was with a member yesterday, andwe were talking about, what does it
really take to create the workforcethat's going to be able to deliver
today, but also predicting whatwe're going to need in the future?
And their point was, this is constant.
The change is constant, andthe need to learn is constant.
(15:28):
So it's not like you go to acourse and then you check the box.
It really is all about, it'sabout learning on the job.
It's about micro learning.
But this member said something reallyinteresting because they said, what is
really needed from our workers, and weneed to help instill that and look for
that and support that, is curiosity,because you're never really done.
(15:51):
And so when you think about it, it'snot just a program, it's creating tools
and platforms and partnerships that aregoing to make it much more effective
for you to give that constant learning.
There's a lot of mentoring, peermentoring, experimentation that goes
into this kind of skilling, reskilling,and upskilling that has to be embedded
(16:13):
in the very culture of the organization.
But you do need real programs, too,because they're real skills that
need to be developed over time,and everybody learns differently.
Steve Odland (16:23):
Speaking of change, number four on their list of priorities.
Diana Scott (16:27):
How do you drive organizational change and
build culture in today's world?
Steve Odland (16:31):
And do it deliberately rather than just flip a switch.
Diana Scott (16:34):
Exactly.
And CHROs, I think, sitat the heart of this.
The mistake that some organizationsmake, of course, is thinking HR
is going to take care of that.
No.
Culture, we all know this.
Every CEO knows this.
You know this, Steve, youwere a CEO three times over.
The culture of an organization derivesfrom everybody, and the leadership across
(16:57):
the board really helps to drive that.
And what the CHROs can do is reallyreinforce that by reinforcing how
leaders lead and really reinforcing afocus on creating trust, transparency
and authenticity, and inclusion.
And I think those are really thebig ones in terms of what helps
(17:21):
set the foundation of drivingorganizational change and culture.
Steve Odland (17:26):
Yeah.
But there needs to be a big plan.
You can't just throw a switchor put out an email and make an
announcement and wash your hands of it.
You've got to continuallymeet with people.
You've got to listen, you've got to train.
There needs to be, people needto hear it 10 times, they say,
before they understand it.
It takes a lot of energy and effort.
Diana Scott (17:43):
Exactly.
It really comes down to communication,and having leaders who are willing to
share in very transparent and authenticways why this is a change that's
necessary, but it's not a static thing.
It's not you do it and then you're done.
It's constant.
Why are we doing what we're doing today?
What is our overall strategy?
(18:03):
What role do you play?
Leaders deep into the organizationreally need to learn to articulate
these messages and build that trustso that people are willing to follow
you through the change and understandhow it's going to benefit them.
And in the end, they need tounderstand why they're part of it.
And if it's a change that's a toughchange and a tough message, transparency
(18:26):
and authenticity and how you deliverthe message and talk about how are we
going to care for everybody throughthis change is just as important.
Cause it's not always good news.
Change is not always good, but you cantalk about where it's going to get us and
why we need to do this change right now.
Steve Odland (18:44):
We're coming down to the home stretch here, the final three.
Number three on CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (18:51):
Strategic workforce planning.
Steve Odland (18:53):
What does that mean?
Diana Scott (18:54):
It's how do you balance your short-term talent needs and any
gaps there with the need to reallyfuture-proof your organization.
It's a balancing act.
It's blending your just-in-timehiring alongside, what are your
long-term bets going to be about?
What are the emerging skillsand talents that you need in
(19:15):
the organization to succeed?
So again, what I talked about in thebeginning around scenario planning, you
have to stress-test your organization.
Those are becoming the standardpractices to prepare for the different
types of futures that could arise.
But you have to do that scenarioplanning, and you have to think about
in the context of where we are todayand the skill sets we have today,
(19:38):
and where we potentially are goingin the future, and what that means.
Steve Odland (19:42):
And so basically, what you're saying is, yeah, you got to
hire to fill the whatever skill setgaps you have, you've got to reskill,
which you talked about earlier.
But this is, where's the puck going?
And therefore, how do youdevelop those skills within the
organization for the long term?
And it may take a while to do that.
And so there needs to be somedeliberateness about this, and
that needs to coordinate with thelong-term strategic business plan.
Diana Scott (20:05):
Exactly.
And I think in order to do this,you need to do all of that.
But at the same time, there are somethings that you need to consider.
Like, you really need to thinkabout skill sets separate from a
job description or a job category.
It's really, what are the skills we need?
And to do that, you have to create askills taxonomy and make it so that
you know you can move people around.
(20:26):
We tend to put people in boxes.
Oh, you're a finance person.
And so therefore you're goingto go into a finance job.
But a finance person may haveskills that are really going to
be valuable in non-finance jobsgoing forward in the organization.
So being able to define peopleby skills is really important.
And then, I think, making sure that youunderstand labor market data becomes a
(20:47):
really important input into that, as well.
So what does the labor market look like?
Where are we likely to seeshortages going forward?
What are the stress points going to be?
Where are there opportunities to actuallygrab talent now that we know or think
we're going to need in the future?
And then it plays into the wholeupskilling and reskilling aspect of,
if people have certain skills, doesthat make them good candidates to then
(21:11):
develop skills that we're going to needin the future because the skills they
have today are somewhat foundationalto where we think they need to go?
And those become good candidates tothen develop within the organization,
which creates growth opportunitiesfor them and access to a good
labor force for the organization.
So it's all interconnected.
Steve Odland (21:31):
Yeah.
And you need, you need attitudinally, anorganization that likes to change and
has curiosity about new stuff and doesn'twant to just get pigeonholed and static.
And that's part of theculture that you talked about.
Diana Scott (21:43):
Exactly.
Curiosity is such a good word.
Yeah, it's necessary across the board.
Steve Odland (21:48):
Killed the cat, though.
Number two on the hit parade.
Diana Scott (21:52):
That one has got to be a focus on building
leadership resilience and agility.
And let me explain alittle bit about that.
Given again, all the changethat's happening, adaptability
and empathy are very important.
Both at the top, because leadershave to be able to pivot quickly.
They have to keep teams motivated.
(22:15):
There is a focus on thiscuriosity, the ability to be
agile in how you learn and adapt.
And then I think the third point,around what is leadership resilience and
agility, really comes also from havingthe ability to be a good listener.
Having the ability to think about, howdo I include different types of people?
(22:37):
Because that creates the diversityand richness that fuels innovation and
fuels future success of teams and fuelscreative curious interaction, as well.
Steve Odland (22:49):
All right.
Here it is.
Number one on the hit parade.
What is the top priority forCHROs for the balance of 2025?
Diana Scott (22:57):
Leading AI and technology transformation.
Steve Odland (23:00):
Oh, I'm so sick of hearing about AI.
It probably will be for life.
Yeah, this is it, isn't it?
Diana Scott (23:09):
It is.
It's going to continue forever.
And I think CHROs are finding thatthey are sitting at the center of this
revolution across their organizations.
And as AI technology, the technologiesaccelerate in terms of their
capabilities, it requires that theorganization really have the ability
to navigate, that leaders can navigatethat, that we're really thinking
(23:33):
creatively about all the differentareas in which artificial intelligence
is going to impact the organization.
And the big issue aroundAI is number one, adoption.
There's some early adopters whoare out there screaming for more.
They're excited.
But to really recognize the promise ofartificial intelligence in an organization
(23:55):
really requires that you democratizeit and you get everybody engaged.
So the more you can fuel adoption,the more you're going to be able
to recognize the benefits of AI.
And there's a lot of fear outthere, even at the top of the house.
Fear because people don'twant to look stupid.
They're not necessarilyadopting use of AI.
And they're worried about looking dumb.
(24:16):
They don't necessarily understand thepotential and the value going forward.
So if you can get everybody, startingat the top of the house, engaged
in this and thinking about theapplications across the organization,
CHROs can actually help drive that.
And they need to start by thinkingabout how to use it within their own
organizations so that they can beginto model some of those behaviors
(24:39):
with the rest of the organization.
Steve Odland (24:40):
There's also a fear.
First of all, people don't likechange, or they love it as long
as it's affecting somebody else.
But they fear these kinds of technologicalevolution, revolution, whatever you want
to talk, because it can impact theirlives, either indirectly or directly.
And so it's fear of the unknown.
So CHROs has really play the role herein helping to bring the unknown to
(25:06):
something more concrete and embraceable.
Diana Scott (25:09):
Right.
And I do believe that the fear canbe conquered just by experimentation
by fostering an environment wherethe curiosity and the experimentation
in a safe environment, thesandbox concept, is a great one.
To get more people in the organizationexperimenting and trying, cause
the more they use it, the morethey're going to realize how it
(25:31):
can impact their individual jobs.
But they need the training, they needthe reskilling, they need the comfort.
The other fear is people worrythat their jobs are going to
be taken over by the machines.
And so if you can help themunderstand that actually the promise
of AI is that it's going to makeyour job more interesting and
perhaps remove some of the mundane.
(25:52):
We're never going to replacehuman beings entirely.
But you've got to get peopleover that hump, as well.
And then the final thing is you reallyneed to think about how to roll this
out in a way that mitigates some of therisks to organizations for using these
technologies, whether it's intellectualproperty risk, misuse of the product.
But if you can balance that governancewith adoption, that can create a
(26:16):
really great flywheel effect, causethe more people feel comfortable
using the technologies responsibly andfeel like "I'm actually going to get
rewarded for this, not get in troublefor this," and the more you can set
clear guidelines and help people feelcomfortable experimenting, the more
you're more adoption you're going to get.
(26:37):
And the more adoption you'regoing to get, the better you're
going to be using these productsresponsibly within the organization.
Steve Odland (26:44):
All right, Diana Scott, that's a lot of focus for
CHROs, a lot of food for thoughtfor the balance of the year.
Thank you for being withus and sharing that.
Diana Scott (26:53):
It was my pleasure.
Steve Odland (26:55):
Thanks to all of you for listening to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm Steve Odland, and the series has beenbrought to you by The Conference Board.
Welcome to C-Suite Perspectives, a signature
series by The Conference Board.
I'm Steve Odland from The ConferenceBoard and the host of this podcast series.
And in today's conversation, we'regoing to talk about the top priorities
for the rest of 2025 for CHROs.
What should CHROs be focusedon for the rest of the year.
Joining me today is Diana Scott, thecenter leader of the Human Capital
(00:22):
Center here at The Conference Board,and multiple times CHRO herself.
Diana, welcome.
Diana Scott (00:29):
Thank you, Steve.
Happy to be here.
Steve Odland (00:31):
So Diana, we're going to go through our top 10 list, but we are
going to do this from the bottom up.
We're going to start with number 10.
What is number 10 on your listof CHRO priorities for 2025?
Diana Scott (00:45):
Number 10, and actually I debated whether this was number 10
or number one, is well-being, holisticwell-being and the employee experience.
And the reason that is so important,and also why it is a tossup, whether
it's number one or number 10, is becausewell-being has really evolved into
a core part of how CHROs think aboutmaking their business strategy actually
(01:12):
very effective and helping employeesdeliver against the business strategy.
So well-being is actuallybecoming embedded in everything
across the organization.
Thinking about things like mental,physical, emotional well-being,
but also even financial well-being,because what is so important is that
employees feel like they can bring theirauthentic selves to work, that they
(01:37):
feel like they're being heard, that theorganization values them, and that they
can bring the best parts of themselvesto really focus on the business.
So if you want to deliver good businessresults, you have to have healthy
people there to deliver those results.
So, well-being kind ofpermeates everything.
And it's a big topic with CHROsright now, CHROs who are members.
Steve Odland (01:57):
And even if you've got the perfect work environment,
perfect engagement scores, no roomfor improvement in the workplace, you
still have all these people who arebringing this stress and this angst
from the macro environment, fromtheir home environment, from their
personal lives, into the workplace.
Diana Scott (02:16):
That is absolutely the key, cause in many cases it's not necessarily
the workplace that is creating the stress,it's the stress from everything else.
And if you think about what life has beenlike in 2025, it has been very stressful.
There is a lot going on.
There's a lot of change externally,in addition to change that we
find necessary in the workplace.
(02:38):
So employees are reallyhaving to navigate a lot.
Leaders are having to navigate a lot, andthat's actually a key point because the
leaders need to be considered as well.
Leaders, frontline managers.
They're feeling the stress.
They need to feel like they're supportedand that the work environment is actually
a place where they can clear their minds,where they can actually stay focused, and
(03:01):
that the organization is a safe space.
If you look at the Trust Barometerright now across the world, the
Trust Barometer says that thecorporations and the organizations
where people work are some of themost trusted parts of a person's life.
They trust it much more thanpotentially government or media.
(03:23):
So there's a real responsibility thatthe organization has to really build
on that and think about the wholeperson, what's coming at them from the
outside, but also how we help removethe stress and keep them focused while
they're at work to do their best work.
Steve Odland (03:39):
Number nine on your list of CHRO priorities for the balance of 2025.
Diana Scott (03:45):
Number nine is helping CHROs focus on making
data-driven workforce decisions.
And that's really important because ifyou don't know, if you can't measure it,
you don't really know what's happening.
And how can you then refocus theorganization and understand how
effective or ineffective your programmingis, or how effective the work that
(04:08):
you're doing is, in the organization?
Steve Odland (04:10):
So what kind of data are you talking about, Diana?
Diana Scott (04:13):
Everything from looking at things like turnover, we look at data
that we actually have (04:18):
turnover and how retention is working, how quickly you're
able to find the talent that you need,how effective your brand is externally.
So we look at those things, butbeing able to tie it then to why, and
understand, why is this happening?
And when you make tweaks to certainprogramming, whether that actually
(04:41):
improves some of those key metricsthat are absolutely really important
to maintaining, finding, retaining andengaging your employees most effectively.
Steve Odland (04:50):
And you've written a lot about the use of AI in
collecting and analyzing these data.
Diana Scott (04:56):
Absolutely.
And there are a lot of wayswhere AI can actually help
you do this more effectively.
And it's not even necessarily AI, it'seven large language machine learning
capabilities and things like that helpyou analyze data, macro bytes of data
and say, "So what insights can we takeout of this? And what is it telling us?"
I think the key, though,is data-driven insights.
(05:19):
It's not just about understandingthe data, it's understanding what
is the underlying cost and what canwe do to tweak it, and how do we
actually measure whether the actionthat we took is having impact?
And I think that's the focus, and thatis a lot of the discussion that we're
having now with our CHRO members.
It's how can we take the data thatwe have and make it more actionable?
(05:41):
And actually help align other seniorleaders in the organization to recognize
that, or help our boards understand whatare the key drivers and leading indicators
of what's happening in our workforce,and how is that going to then help us
make better decisions so that we canactually increase productivity, find the
right people, make sure we're reskillingand upskilling for the right kinds of
(06:04):
things in our organization that aregoing to drive better business results.
Steve Odland (06:09):
Number eight in CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (06:12):
Succession planning.
It's really important, and it'sreally important for CHROs right
now to think about, do they have theleadership pipeline for today, but
also more importantly, for the future?
So it's a little bit likefour-dimensional chess.
It's an ongoing living, breathing process.
(06:33):
It's not like the thing thatyou do once a year anymore.
You can't just have a static list.
It's constantly thinkingabout and updating what the
talent pipeline looks like.
You have to really think aboutrunning scenario planning, the "what
ifs" (06:46):
If this happens, then what?
And with the amount of change that'shappening in most organizations,
whether it's the external factors ofhow is the economy going to impact us?
Right now, big discussion is tariffs.
How is that going to impact us, the globalworkforce, the supply chain, our sales?
How do we pivot quickly?
(07:07):
Then you think about, do we havethe right talent in place to address
all these different scenarios?
And which one is the most likely?
There's a lot of planningthat goes into this.
Steve Odland (07:17):
Yeah.
And it needs to be at all levels, as yousaid, because increasingly, we're running
into skill set deficits in key areasthat, you just thought, oh, "We'll just
go to market and recruit." But they'renot out there like they used to be.
Diana Scott (07:32):
They absolutely aren't.
And I think when you think about deepinto the organization, it does get into,
how do we make sure that the workforceof the future—and this will get to some
of the other factors that I'm going totalk about—how do you make sure that
you're doing your workforce planningstrategically to think about, how do I
maintain and make my goals this year?
(07:54):
But I'm also thinking next year,three years, five years out.
And with the rapid rate of change,especially from an automation
and technology perspective,how is this fundamentally
going to change how we operate?
And those operational changesare going to change jobs, so
do we have the right talent?
The succession planning can't justhappen at the top of the house.
(08:14):
You have to think about thepipeline of leadership for the
future and make sure that you'reactually developing that, as well.
Steve Odland (08:22):
Number seven on the CHRO priority list.
Diana Scott (08:26):
I would be remiss if I didn't include the whole concept of
reimagining hybrid and flexible work.
There is so much conversation about this.
Every meeting I have with CHROsone-on-one, in groups, this
becomes a topic of discussion.
And I really do think that, I'vesaid before, hybrid is here to stay.
(08:46):
I think structured flexibilityis the winning formula.
What does that mean?
That means that you are giving decisionpower to leaders in the organization to
decide how best to manage their workforce.
In some organizations, if you're talkingabout professional workers, a lot of
the talk is how many days in the office,how many days not in the office, why?
(09:09):
What do you do in thosedays in the office?
How do you make sure that you areproviding those anchor days and
making sure that the activitiesthat happen in the office are really
meeting the needs of your workforce?
I just saw some research that saidGen Zs actually like to be in the
office because of feeling like they'rebeing mentored, the camaraderie, it
(09:31):
helps them from loneliness, they feellike they can be more innovative.
But, and there is a but, they don'twant to be in the office full time.
They want to be in the office acertain number of days, and they want
those days to be really productive.
So I think understanding the generationalworkforce, what their needs are
to keep them engaged and happy.
And then really thinking about and beingvery intentional about, what does hybrid
(09:55):
or flexibility mean in my organization?
Because think about it.
Office workers, absolutely, itbecomes a discussion about how
many days in the office is optimal?
And how do we restructure the workthat we do as a team to make that most
valuable and allow people some flexibilityto work from home or work elsewhere
to get certain types of work done?
(10:16):
But if you think about moreof the frontline labor workforce
or retail or in healthcare, youhave to be on-site in many cases.
You have to treat your patients.
You have to be on-site tomanufacture the product.
You have to be in a retaillocation to serve your customers.
So what does flexibility mean there?
And I think those are the discussions thatwe're seeing happening in the C-suite.
(10:39):
And CHROs are really driving thatdiscussion cause there are benefits,
there are pros and cons on both sides,and you really have to thread the needle.
There's not one solution that fits all.
And empowering your leaders and helpingthem understand how to get the most
out of your workforce, whether it'shybrid or to provide that flexibility
(11:00):
and create that really strongculture, is probably the way to go.
And it's going to vary across the board.
Steve Odland (11:07):
Number six on CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (11:12):
Talent mobility and creating internal opportunities.
So this is really about, the buzzwordthese days is talent marketplaces.
What does that really mean?
That's using technology and creatingleveraging technology to allow you
to identify what the skill setsare in your current workforce.
(11:33):
They get to identifysome of it themselves.
You have validation so that you can reallymake sure that those assessments are
correct, giving managers opportunitiesto tap into those skill sets and those
individuals in the workforce, and givingpeople opportunities to move around.
So it's not the old-fashioned modelof a manager taps somebody that they
(11:54):
happen to know in the organizationcause they know that they have the skill
set to do a specific job or a project.
Today, it's much more fluid.
It's allowing people to tap intoenterprise, having an enterprise
view of what your talent is,what your skill sets are.
And then creating the ability forindividuals and managers to really match
(12:15):
the skill sets and provide opportunitiesfor people to learn and grow and make
them feel like they're actually a littlemore in charge of their own careers.
Now, they have to perform,they have to deliver.
And managers need to becomfortable with that.
But by leveraging some technology andcreating internal talent marketplaces,
you're really thinking about talentmobility and creating opportunity for
(12:38):
growth and development in a very differentway—and leveraging technology to do that.
And then you can also do it theold-fashioned way, where you just
really need to focus on, how do I reallyfocus on showing opportunity to my
employees in the organization, becomea culture that really values growth and
development, and we're willing to invest?
(12:59):
Cause that is seen as, frankly,part of well-being, part of the
value that an employee believes thatthey represent to an organization,
and they value that in return.
It's not just aboutcompensation these days.
Part of what employees are looking for is,yes, compensation, but also, am I valued?
Do I have opportunities to learn andgrow and develop in this organization?
(13:22):
And if I do, I could stay foreverbecause the sky's the limit.
It's limitless opportunity for me.
Steve Odland (13:29):
We're talking about CHRO priorities for the balance of 2025.
We're going to take a shortbreak and be right back.
Welcome back to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm your host, Steve Odland, fromThe Conference Board, and I'm
joined today by Diana Scott, theleader of the Human Capital Center
here at The Conference Board.
OK, Diana, we're halfway through.
Number five.
Diana Scott (13:51):
This is related to number six, but it's really about reskilling
and upskilling and doing it at scale.
And, the driver of this isreally the fact that there's
so much rapid change happening.
Yes, technology.
CHROs are very aware that the needs ofthe organization and how work gets done
(14:11):
is changing dramatically every day.
That's not going to stop.
So that's number one.
But also, markets are changing.
If you are a growth-orientedcompany, how you grow might change.
So really understanding whatare the needs today, and what
are the needs of the future.
And then having real commitmentto and programming in place that
(14:33):
allows you to reskill and upskillyour workers at scale has become
a central focus for CHROs in 2025.
Steve Odland (14:41):
Yeah, and we're living in a knowledge-based economy for the most
part, and in that kind of construct,you've got non-discrete functions.
It used to be everybody was in a silo,and everybody's work was discrete,
but now it's all team-oriented,matrixed because of the collaboration.
And so the skills required for thisenvironment is way different than, "Let's
(15:03):
teach functional skills on manufacturingor on finance." Different world.
Diana Scott (15:08):
Absolutely.
And I was with a member yesterday, andwe were talking about, what does it
really take to create the workforcethat's going to be able to deliver
today, but also predicting whatwe're going to need in the future?
And their point was, this is constant.
The change is constant, andthe need to learn is constant.
(15:28):
So it's not like you go to acourse and then you check the box.
It really is all about, it'sabout learning on the job.
It's about micro learning.
But this member said something reallyinteresting because they said, what is
really needed from our workers, and weneed to help instill that and look for
that and support that, is curiosity,because you're never really done.
(15:51):
And so when you think about it, it'snot just a program, it's creating tools
and platforms and partnerships that aregoing to make it much more effective
for you to give that constant learning.
There's a lot of mentoring, peermentoring, experimentation that goes
into this kind of skilling, reskilling,and upskilling that has to be embedded
(16:13):
in the very culture of the organization.
But you do need real programs, too,because they're real skills that
need to be developed over time,and everybody learns differently.
Steve Odland (16:23):
Speaking of change, number four on their list of priorities.
Diana Scott (16:27):
How do you drive organizational change and
build culture in today's world?
Steve Odland (16:31):
And do it deliberately rather than just flip a switch.
Diana Scott (16:34):
Exactly.
And CHROs, I think, sitat the heart of this.
The mistake that some organizationsmake, of course, is thinking HR
is going to take care of that.
No.
Culture, we all know this.
Every CEO knows this.
You know this, Steve, youwere a CEO three times over.
The culture of an organization derivesfrom everybody, and the leadership across
(16:57):
the board really helps to drive that.
And what the CHROs can do is reallyreinforce that by reinforcing how
leaders lead and really reinforcing afocus on creating trust, transparency
and authenticity, and inclusion.
And I think those are really thebig ones in terms of what helps
(17:21):
set the foundation of drivingorganizational change and culture.
Steve Odland (17:26):
Yeah.
But there needs to be a big plan.
You can't just throw a switchor put out an email and make an
announcement and wash your hands of it.
You've got to continuallymeet with people.
You've got to listen, you've got to train.
There needs to be, people needto hear it 10 times, they say,
before they understand it.
It takes a lot of energy and effort.
Diana Scott (17:43):
Exactly.
It really comes down to communication,and having leaders who are willing to
share in very transparent and authenticways why this is a change that's
necessary, but it's not a static thing.
It's not you do it and then you're done.
It's constant.
Why are we doing what we're doing today?
What is our overall strategy?
(18:03):
What role do you play?
Leaders deep into the organizationreally need to learn to articulate
these messages and build that trustso that people are willing to follow
you through the change and understandhow it's going to benefit them.
And in the end, they need tounderstand why they're part of it.
And if it's a change that's a toughchange and a tough message, transparency
(18:26):
and authenticity and how you deliverthe message and talk about how are we
going to care for everybody throughthis change is just as important.
Cause it's not always good news.
Change is not always good, but you cantalk about where it's going to get us and
why we need to do this change right now.
Steve Odland (18:44):
We're coming down to the home stretch here, the final three.
Number three on CHRO priorities.
Diana Scott (18:51):
Strategic workforce planning.
Steve Odland (18:53):
What does that mean?
Diana Scott (18:54):
It's how do you balance your short-term talent needs and any
gaps there with the need to reallyfuture-proof your organization.
It's a balancing act.
It's blending your just-in-timehiring alongside, what are your
long-term bets going to be about?
What are the emerging skillsand talents that you need in
(19:15):
the organization to succeed?
So again, what I talked about in thebeginning around scenario planning, you
have to stress-test your organization.
Those are becoming the standardpractices to prepare for the different
types of futures that could arise.
But you have to do that scenarioplanning, and you have to think about
in the context of where we are todayand the skill sets we have today,
(19:38):
and where we potentially are goingin the future, and what that means.
Steve Odland (19:42):
And so basically, what you're saying is, yeah, you got to
hire to fill the whatever skill setgaps you have, you've got to reskill,
which you talked about earlier.
But this is, where's the puck going?
And therefore, how do youdevelop those skills within the
organization for the long term?
And it may take a while to do that.
And so there needs to be somedeliberateness about this, and
that needs to coordinate with thelong-term strategic business plan.
Diana Scott (20:05):
Exactly.
And I think in order to do this,you need to do all of that.
But at the same time, there are somethings that you need to consider.
Like, you really need to thinkabout skill sets separate from a
job description or a job category.
It's really, what are the skills we need?
And to do that, you have to create askills taxonomy and make it so that
you know you can move people around.
(20:26):
We tend to put people in boxes.
Oh, you're a finance person.
And so therefore you're goingto go into a finance job.
But a finance person may haveskills that are really going to
be valuable in non-finance jobsgoing forward in the organization.
So being able to define peopleby skills is really important.
And then, I think, making sure that youunderstand labor market data becomes a
(20:47):
really important input into that, as well.
So what does the labor market look like?
Where are we likely to seeshortages going forward?
What are the stress points going to be?
Where are there opportunities to actuallygrab talent now that we know or think
we're going to need in the future?
And then it plays into the wholeupskilling and reskilling aspect of,
if people have certain skills, doesthat make them good candidates to then
(21:11):
develop skills that we're going to needin the future because the skills they
have today are somewhat foundationalto where we think they need to go?
And those become good candidates tothen develop within the organization,
which creates growth opportunitiesfor them and access to a good
labor force for the organization.
So it's all interconnected.
Steve Odland (21:31):
Yeah.
And you need, you need attitudinally, anorganization that likes to change and
has curiosity about new stuff and doesn'twant to just get pigeonholed and static.
And that's part of theculture that you talked about.
Diana Scott (21:43):
Exactly.
Curiosity is such a good word.
Yeah, it's necessary across the board.
Steve Odland (21:48):
Killed the cat, though.
Number two on the hit parade.
Diana Scott (21:52):
That one has got to be a focus on building
leadership resilience and agility.
And let me explain alittle bit about that.
Given again, all the changethat's happening, adaptability
and empathy are very important.
Both at the top, because leadershave to be able to pivot quickly.
They have to keep teams motivated.
(22:15):
There is a focus on thiscuriosity, the ability to be
agile in how you learn and adapt.
And then I think the third point,around what is leadership resilience and
agility, really comes also from havingthe ability to be a good listener.
Having the ability to think about, howdo I include different types of people?
(22:37):
Because that creates the diversityand richness that fuels innovation and
fuels future success of teams and fuelscreative curious interaction, as well.
Steve Odland (22:49):
All right.
Here it is.
Number one on the hit parade.
What is the top priority forCHROs for the balance of 2025?
Diana Scott (22:57):
Leading AI and technology transformation.
Steve Odland (23:00):
Oh, I'm so sick of hearing about AI.
It probably will be for life.
Yeah, this is it, isn't it?
Diana Scott (23:09):
It is.
It's going to continue forever.
And I think CHROs are finding thatthey are sitting at the center of this
revolution across their organizations.
And as AI technology, the technologiesaccelerate in terms of their
capabilities, it requires that theorganization really have the ability
to navigate, that leaders can navigatethat, that we're really thinking
(23:33):
creatively about all the differentareas in which artificial intelligence
is going to impact the organization.
And the big issue aroundAI is number one, adoption.
There's some early adopters whoare out there screaming for more.
They're excited.
But to really recognize the promise ofartificial intelligence in an organization
(23:55):
really requires that you democratizeit and you get everybody engaged.
So the more you can fuel adoption,the more you're going to be able
to recognize the benefits of AI.
And there's a lot of fear outthere, even at the top of the house.
Fear because people don'twant to look stupid.
They're not necessarilyadopting use of AI.
And they're worried about looking dumb.
(24:16):
They don't necessarily understand thepotential and the value going forward.
So if you can get everybody, startingat the top of the house, engaged
in this and thinking about theapplications across the organization,
CHROs can actually help drive that.
And they need to start by thinkingabout how to use it within their own
organizations so that they can beginto model some of those behaviors
(24:39):
with the rest of the organization.
Steve Odland (24:40):
There's also a fear.
First of all, people don't likechange, or they love it as long
as it's affecting somebody else.
But they fear these kinds of technologicalevolution, revolution, whatever you want
to talk, because it can impact theirlives, either indirectly or directly.
And so it's fear of the unknown.
So CHROs has really play the role herein helping to bring the unknown to
(25:06):
something more concrete and embraceable.
Diana Scott (25:09):
Right.
And I do believe that the fear canbe conquered just by experimentation
by fostering an environment wherethe curiosity and the experimentation
in a safe environment, thesandbox concept, is a great one.
To get more people in the organizationexperimenting and trying, cause
the more they use it, the morethey're going to realize how it
(25:31):
can impact their individual jobs.
But they need the training, they needthe reskilling, they need the comfort.
The other fear is people worrythat their jobs are going to
be taken over by the machines.
And so if you can help themunderstand that actually the promise
of AI is that it's going to makeyour job more interesting and
perhaps remove some of the mundane.
(25:52):
We're never going to replacehuman beings entirely.
But you've got to get peopleover that hump, as well.
And then the final thing is you reallyneed to think about how to roll this
out in a way that mitigates some of therisks to organizations for using these
technologies, whether it's intellectualproperty risk, misuse of the product.
But if you can balance that governancewith adoption, that can create a
(26:16):
really great flywheel effect, causethe more people feel comfortable
using the technologies responsibly andfeel like "I'm actually going to get
rewarded for this, not get in troublefor this," and the more you can set
clear guidelines and help people feelcomfortable experimenting, the more
you're more adoption you're going to get.
(26:37):
And the more adoption you'regoing to get, the better you're
going to be using these productsresponsibly within the organization.
Steve Odland (26:44):
All right, Diana Scott, that's a lot of focus for
CHROs, a lot of food for thoughtfor the balance of the year.
Thank you for being withus and sharing that.
Diana Scott (26:53):
It was my pleasure.
Steve Odland (26:55):
Thanks to all of you for listening to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm Steve Odland, and the series has beenbrought to you by The Conference Board.
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