Understanding Career Dynamics

BREAKING: The job market is cooling with hiring down 5.8% in March, according to LinkedIn's latest data. Worth noting: 62% of CEOs are now predicting a recession within six months, up from 48% just last month. Smart job seekers aren't panicking; they're strategizing. So, what does this mean for you if you're currently job searching or considering a move: 1️⃣ Target growing industries: Healthcare added 53,600 jobs last month, with social assistance adding 24,200 and retail trade gaining 23,700. Meanwhile, Utilities (+0.4%) and Holding Companies (+5.9%) were the only industries showing month-over-month hiring increases. 2️⃣ Develop future-proof skills: LinkedIn's report highlights several in demand skills plus I've added several employers value in uncertain times: • AI literacy and technology adaptation • Conflict mitigation and communication • Adaptability and agility • Data analysis capabilities • Cost management expertise • Supply chain knowledge (especially as tariffs impact operations) • Automation-related skills (as manufacturers focus on "more automation rollouts") Companies implementing AI are seeing 10% revenue increases—they need talent who can leverage these tools while demonstrating agility, which Aerotek's April report calls "the X factor that will give companies an edge." 3️⃣ Consider geography: The Sunbelt continues to outperform with Miami-Fort Lauderdale showing a 4.8% hiring boost and Phoenix maintaining strong numbers. Meanwhile, St. Louis (+4.2%) and Denver (+1.9%) are bright spots in other regions. If you've been searching for a while: Revisit how you present your skills: Highlight how you can help companies navigate uncertainty and control costs—top priorities as businesses prepare for potential downturn. Expand your industry targets: If you've been focusing on manufacturing (-10.3% YoY) or government (-17.3% YoY), consider how your transferable skills apply to healthcare, retail, or utilities. Consider contract roles: With economic uncertainty, many employers are shifting to flexible hiring strategies—these can be excellent foot-in-the-door opportunities. In every economic shift, there are still thousands of jobs being filled daily. Position yourself where growth is happening and showcase the skills employers need most right now. What strategies are working in your job search? Share them with me below. #LIPostingDayApril #Careers #LinkedInTopVoices

📈HR is evolving — and so should our metrics!! Gone are the days when HR was just about hiring and payroll. Today, HR drives business value — but only when we track what really matters. 💡 Whether you’re building a high-performing team or improving culture, your data should tell the story. 👉Here are key HR KPIs that matter across every stage of the employee lifecycle: 🔍 1. Recruitment & Talent Acquisition • Time to Hire – Average time from job posting to offer acceptance. • Cost per Hire – Total recruitment cost divided by number of hires. • Offer Acceptance Rate – % of candidates who accept the offer. • Source of Hire – Performance of different hiring channels (LinkedIn, job portals, referrals). • Quality of Hire – Performance and retention rate of new hires (after 3 or 6 months). ⸻ 👋 2. Onboarding • Time to Productivity – Time it takes for new hires to reach expected performance levels. • New Hire Retention Rate (30/60/90 days) – How many new hires stay. • Onboarding Satisfaction Score – Feedback from new hires on onboarding experience. • Completion Rate of Onboarding Tasks – % of employees completing orientation, document submission, etc. ⸻ 💼 3. Employee Engagement & Experience • Employee Engagement Score – From surveys (e.g., eNPS or pulse surveys). • Participation in Engagement Activities – Attendance/feedback from events, programs. • Internal Mobility Rate – % of employees moving to new roles internally. • Manager Feedback Score – Employee feedback on direct supervisors. ⸻ 🧾 4. HR Operations & Compliance • HR-to-Employee Ratio – Number of HR staff per total employees. • Policy Compliance Rate – % adherence to HR policies/processes. • HR Request Resolution Time – Average time to resolve employee queries. ⸻ 📈 5. Performance Management • Completion Rate of Performance Reviews – % of employees reviewed on time. • Goal Achievement Rate – % of employee goals/KPIs met. • Performance Distribution – Breakdown of rating levels (e.g., top, meets, needs improvement). ⸻ 📚 6. Learning & Development • Training Participation Rate – % of employees attending programs. • Training Effectiveness Score – Feedback scores post-training. • Learning Hours per Employee – Average hours spent in development activities. • Skill Acquisition Rate – % of employees acquiring new skills/certifications. ⸻ 🚪 7. Retention & Offboarding • Employee Turnover Rate – Monthly/annual % of employees leaving. • Voluntary vs. Involuntary Turnover – Who left by choice vs. termination. • Regrettable Loss Rate – % of high-performing employees who left. Which of the following HR metric do you track most closely? #HRStrategy #PeopleAnalytics #HRKPIs #EmployeeExperience #PerformanceManagement #Recruitment #LearningAndDevelopment #HRLeadership

Fresh out of the oven, the World Economic Forum's The Future of Jobs Report 2025 was finally released yesterday.  It highlights how macrotrends - like tech advancements, economic shifts, and climate priorities - will reshape the labor market by 2030. The report, based on insights from over 1,000 global employers representing 14 million workers across 22 industries, underscores the urgent need for workforce transformation and the new job opportunities emerging as a result. While the full 290-page report has a ton of interesting insights, here are the key highlights from my side: (1) Technological Shifts: Digital access, AI, and automation are set to transform 60% of businesses by 2030, driving demand for tech-related roles and skills such as AI, big data, and cybersecurity. (2) Green Transition: Climate change mitigation and adaptation are expected to fuel growth in renewable energy and sustainability roles, with 47% of employers planning climate-related transformations. (3) Workforce Evolution: Reskilling remains critical as 39% of current skills may become outdated by 2030, with 85% of employers prioritizing workforce upskilling initiatives. (4) Future Outlook: From 2025 to 2030, 170 million new jobs are expected, but 92 million jobs might be lost. Healthcare, education, and tech will grow, while clerical and admin roles may shrink. Happy Thursday ☕

One of the best reports that exist. Huge fan 🙋🏼♂️ What is it about? The World Economic Forum’s bi-annual Future of Jobs Report has followed evolving technological, societal, and economic trends to understand occupational disruption and identify opportunities for workers to transition to the jobs of the future. The report comprehensively analyzes the interconnected trends shaping the global labor market. Key Takeaways: 🎯 Broadening digital access is expected to be the most transformative trend with 60% of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030. 🎯 Increasing cost of living ranks as the second most transformative trend overall with half of employers expecting it to transform their business by 2030. 🎯 Climate change mitigation is the third-most transformative trend overall while climate change adaptation ranks sixth with 47% and 41% of employers, respectively, expecting these trends to transform their business in the next five years. 🎯 Two demographic shifts are increasingly seen to be transforming global economies and labor markets: aging and declining working-age populations, predominantly in higher-income economies, and expanding working-age populations, predominantly in lower-income economies. 🎯 Geoeconomic fragmentation and geopolitical tensions are expected to drive business model transformation in one-third (34%) of surveyed organizations in the next five years. Impact on the Labor market: 🎯 On current trends over the 2025 to 2030 period job creation and destruction due to structural labour-market transformation will amount to 22% of today’s total jobs. The creation of new jobs is 14% of today’s total employment, amounting to 170 million jobs. This growth is expected to be offset by the displacement of the equivalent of 8% (or 92 million) of current jobs, resulting in net growth of 7% of total employment, or 78 million jobs.  🎯 Frontline job roles are predicted to see the largest growth in absolute terms of volume. Care economy jobs and Personal Care Aides are also expected to grow significantly over the next five years, alongside Education roles such as Tertiary and Secondary Education Teachers. 🎯 Technology-related roles are the fastest-growing jobs in percentage terms as well as Green and energy transition roles. 🎯 Clerical and Secretarial Workers are expected to see the largest decline in absolute numbers. Similarly, businesses expect the fastest-declining roles to include Postal Service Clerks, Bank Tellers, and Data Entry Clerks. On average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period. Data set: This year’s edition captures the perspectives of over 1,000 employers – representing more than 14 million workers across 22 industry clusters and 55 economies. #economy #labormarket #jobs

RETHINKING POWER IN ORGANISATIONS For over a century, management theory has catalogued organisational forms—Weber’s bureaucracy, Mintzberg’s archetypes, coops, B Corps, social enterprises, DAOs. Yet this proliferation masks a remarkable evasion: virtually no mainstream framework systematically uses philosophical tools to analyse how power is legitimated within organisations. We classify governance codes, ownership structures, and culture, but consistently ignore political analysis that explains whose interests prevail, whose voices matter, and how compliance is enforced. This is no innocent oversight—Management science has deliberately severed itself from political theory to conveniently evade foundational questions of legitimacy. The result? We fail to ask by what right any organisation commands, excludes, allocates resources or value, thereby encoding systemic injustice into the architecture of organisational life. Imperium—the capacity to command and enforce rules—becomes “hierarchy” or “leadership style,” shorn of questions about what legitimates organisational sovereignty. Dominium—control over productive resources—becomes “fiduciary duty”, “minimum wage” or “business case,” occluding property as a social relation structuring power and exclusion through contracts. Potestas—the capacity for collective self-determination—shrinks to “employee engagement” or “empowerment”, while true constituent power is foreclosed. But every organisation is a political order. Just as societies struggle over state power, market dominance, and popular sovereignty, organisations mirror these tensions internally. State-owned enterprises concentrate imperium, suppressing both market discipline and democratic voice. Shareholder corporations prioritise capital’s dominium, reducing labour to disposable input. Cooperatives and NGOs attempt to maximise potestas—collective agency—but often suffer fragility without broader regulatory and legal scaffolding. Hybrids proliferate—social enterprises, platform cooperatives, steward-ownership, self-managed partnerships—each seeking to rebalance structures of authority, ownership, and agency. Yet even these “innovations” rarely confront core political questions. Most power distributions remain historically contingent, ethically incomplete, and open to manipulation. By mapping organizational forms onto the Political Triangle we can deploy rigorous political analysis to ask: What constitutes legitimate organizational authority? How do property regimes structure possible distributions of power and surplus? When does constituent power get captured by its own ideology? This is no mere academic exercise—it is the precondition for business to be a force for good. Only by reintegrating political theory with management and economics can we link macro justice to meso organisational design. Until we reckon with the legitimacy of power, management theory cannot become a genuine engine of societal transformation. #leadership

HR Beyond Knowing People: Do We Know Work? A century ago, HR was a lot about the nature of work itself. The advent of scientific management, or Taylorism, during the industrial revolution introduced rigorous methods for measuring and optimizing human effort. Early “personnel” departments specialized in analyzing work—timing tasks, standardizing processes, and designing jobs for maximum efficiency. As economies evolved, so did the nature of work. Modern roles demand less repetition and more creativity, adaptability, and cognitive skill. Job design shifted from breaking tasks into isolated parts to empowering people to tackle complexity and change. In 1997, Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company introduced the concept of the “war for talent,” driving HR departments to focus even more on the people aspect of the equation. Recently, companies have begun to treat skills as the new currency of talent management. The emphasis now extends beyond job titles and résumés to understanding the mix of abilities—both technical and human—that fuel performance and potential. HR leaders recognize that matching people to work requires deep insight into skills, learning agility, and cross-role mobility rather than relying solely on experience or credentials. This skills-based approach has been accelerated by the rise of AI-powered Talent Intelligence Platforms. These systems integrate data on employees and external labor markets to optimize hiring, workforce planning, and talent development—highlighting not just what employees know, but what they can do and where they could grow. The New Challenge: Human-AI Role sort. Today, another transformation is underway. Work is increasingly defined by how humans and AI share and shift activities. As AI and automation rapidly reshape jobs, even the most advanced HR systems struggle to keep pace with the fundamental changes in the content of work. Few tools can thoroughly support the analysis and redesign of work itself. Work content now evolves rapidly, as tasks are redefined, augmented, or automated. Traditional surveys and spreadsheets are no longer adequate. What’s needed is a solution for dynamic analysis of work and work redesign at scale. Organizations need a new generation of tools: Work Intelligence Systems. These AI-native platforms should: - Analyze real work activities and required skills, rather than just job titles or organizational charts. - Track how tasks evolve with emerging technologies such as generative AI. - Reveal where automation is shifting or creating new roles. - Deliver actionable insights for work design, organizational effectiveness, and workforce planning. There are already some pioneers in this space, such as the AI based Impact Assessment solution from TI-People, and likely many other HR technology providers are entering—or will soon enter—this promising new category. At least, I hope they do.

The Promotion Secret Most Professionals Discover Too Late   In over two decades of executive recruitment, I've observed a pattern among professionals who consistently advance in their careers versus those who stagnate despite equal talent and effort.   The difference? Strategic documentation of achievements, what I call a professional "brag book."   This isn't about boasting. It's about recognizing the reality of corporate decision-making: in quarterly review cycles and fast-paced environments, even exceptional work becomes invisible without proper documentation.   Your comprehensive brag book should include:   1️⃣ Achievement Portfolio: Concrete evidence of promotions, awards, successful projects, and initiatives that demonstrate your ability to deliver results   2️⃣ Quantifiable Impact: Specific metrics that translate your efforts into business value; revenue generated, costs reduced, efficiency improved, or risks mitigated   3️⃣ External Validation: Preserved testimonials from clients, acknowledgments from leadership, and formal recognition that provides third-party credibility   4️⃣ Leadership Moments: Documented instances where you identified problems independently and implemented solutions beyond your job description   The professionals I place in competitive positions understand a fundamental truth about organizational dynamics: visibility strategically created through documented evidence consistently outweighs undocumented effort, regardless of quality.   Update your brag book quarterly and bring it with you to performance discussions. Make it impossible for decision-makers to overlook your value when advancement opportunities arise.   Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights and truths here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju   #deepalivyas #eliterecruiter #recruiter #recruitment #jobsearch #corporate #careeradvancement #workplacesurvival #selfadvocacy #careerstrategist

🚀 The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 has just been published 🌍 This essential read examines the major trends shaping the global labour market—technological change, economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, the green transition, &c —and what they mean for jobs, skills, and business transformation in the second half of this decade. Here's some key insights that struck me as important for those of us driving #digitaltransformation in organisations: 🔹 60% of employers expect broadening digital access to transform their businesses. We need to do more to integrate digital tools across processes and ensure equitable access for employees 🔹 Demand for AI, big data, cybersecurity, and technology literacy is skyrocketing 🔹 BUT we have to navigate the dual realities of job creation (eg, AI specialists) and displacement (eg clerical roles). Change isn't going to be good for everyone. 🔹 Two-fifths of skills and projected to become outdated by 2030 — a terrifying proportion for both employees and employers. Up-skilling and re-skilling are going to be critical 🔹 That doesn't mean everyone needs to become a techie. Arguably the opposite — it brings the human side of work to the fore, either in face-to-face occupations or shifting the focus to creativity, flexibility, and adaptability to complement technological skills 🔹 Upskilling 59% of the workforce by 2030 will require embedding training into day-to-day operations. Create systems that encourage continuous skill development, curiosity, and adaptability 🔹 Employee health and well-being will be increasingly important as a talent retention strategy. Similarly, while DEI's reputation is being trashed by tech bros, it's still vital to broaden talent pools and foster innovation 🔹 Climate change, economic uncertainty, and demographic shifts will redefine workforce priorities If you're shaping the #futureofwork, this report highlights a bunch of opportunities to align strategy with these transformative trends. Read the report here:

We have spent years measuring activity and outputs. But now we have such an amazing opportunity to do the real work of measuring outcomes/impact... the crown jewel of project management. That’s exactly why we put together this Hacking HR Guide to People Analytics: Definitions, Leading and Lagging Indicators... It is a practical framework to help HR leaders move from reporting numbers to understanding what actually drives performance, culture, and business outcomes. A few key ideas behind the guide: 1️⃣ Not all metrics are equal Lagging indicators (like turnover or cost per hire) tell you what already happened. Leading indicators (like engagement signals, training participation, or early turnover) tell you what is about to happen. Both matter — but only one helps you act before problems explode. 2️⃣ HR metrics are business metrics Turnover, engagement, quality of hire, and revenue per employee aren’t “HR topics.” They influence productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction, and long-term profitability. People analytics is not about HR dashboards. It’s about business performance. 3️⃣ Context matters more than the number itself Every metric in the guide includes common pitfalls. For example: • High retention isn’t always good if it signals stagnation. • High overtime can signal burnout, not dedication. • High salaries alone won’t retain talent without growth and culture. Numbers without interpretation create bad decisions. 4️⃣ Metrics must connect into a system Hiring → onboarding → performance → development → retention → productivity. The power of people analytics comes from connecting these signals, not looking at them in isolation. 5️⃣ The future of HR is evidence-based In the age of AI and increasing organizational complexity, HR leaders will be expected to explain decisions with data, not intuition alone. People analytics is becoming the language of strategic HR. This guide walks through dozens of key indicators, from turnover and engagement to skills gaps, workforce capacity, and human capital ROI, and how they connect to real business outcomes. If you work in HR, leadership, or workforce strategy, one question is worth asking: Are you measuring HR activity… or are you measuring human impact on the business?

Organisation structures don’t serve us well. They give us reporting lines and hierarchies, but they often fail to capture the fluid nature of collaboration and how work gets done. The fact is, organisations are ecosystems, not boxes on a page. When we design an organisation, we can’t separate structure from how we operate or how the ecosystem interacts. We need to think beyond the traditional model and look at the connections, interdependencies, and cultural dynamics that shape the organisation. Reorganisations are often driven by specific goals like optimising reporting lines, reducing costs, or increasing efficiency. But these efforts rarely address deeper issues like how we serve customers, how information moves, how people collaborate, and what the culture values. Without these considerations, restructuring becomes a surface fix rather than a meaningful transformation. And often an organisation restructure fails to optimise the business. It misses the opportunity to design an organisation that is adaptable and aligned with how people work. Frequently an organisation will be designed around the wants of a specific individual or set of individuals rather than around the customer needs and business optimisation. Typically these reorgs are short-term and not scalable so require another change when someone leaves. Before any reorganisation, it’s essential to look at the whole ecosystem: how do we create value for customers, how does work flow, how do people interact, where are the bottlenecks, and what are the unspoken norms that influence behaviour? Only by understanding this can we create a structure that enhances, rather than disrupts, how work happens. So, before you consider a reorganisation: - Have you mapped out how work happens in your organisation? - Do you understand the cultural dynamics that shape collaboration and decision-making? - Have you got clear outcomes in mind that you want to achieve? - Are you designing with growth, flexibility and adaptability in mind? How do you approach organisation design in your company or with your clients? #organization #OD #operatingmodel #businessgrowth Enjoyed this? ♻️ Share it and follow @digitalHolly for insights on strategy, leadership, culture, and women in a tech-driven future. 🙌🏻 All views are my own.