Hiiiii, 

I cannot believe we’re already in August. How is summer almost over?

Instead of the summer I turned pretty it feels like the summer that I did nothing but at the same time everything. 

But with summer ending we’re one step closer to my fave quarter of the year, Q4. 

Holidays! Big goals! Budgets! Evaluating tools! Q4 takes the cake. Also, why do I have a favorite business quarter???? Feel free to call me a dork! 

But before we get to my fave quarter, a few things to keep your eye on:

🎧 CEOs on their worst behavior? This week's episode of the pod the brilliant Sarah Reynolds joins me to talk about CEOs misbehaving, what we can learn from it and how marketing + HR work together during crisis moments. 

📺 HR Therapy: I’m Working Late Because I’m Elevating Candidate Experience. Oh boyyy, this month’s HR Therapy is digging into the candidate experience and how candidates are screaming please, please, please, deliver something worth their time. Did I mention we’re also giving away tickets to see Sabrina Carpenter at MSG? Register and fwd to your HR bestie and walk away with tips for days and a chance to scoop free tickets!! There is no talkin nonsense at HR Therapy. Put it in the cal: 8/27 at 1PM.

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CULTURE

The era of reskilling: Copy anchor linkCopied

Last week I told you to quote me on the fact we’re in the era of reskilling. And I'm back to explain what that means, why I feel that way and how I’m planning to prepare my org. 

Before I get to that let's take a second and discuss the moment we’re in. 

In 2019 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) made some bold predictions that within 15 to 20 years:

• New automations would eliminate 14% of the world’s jobs
• New automations would radically change another 32% of jobs

🤯 That impacts about 1 billion people globally. 

(Not so) fun fact: that was before it factored in the new wave of generative AI… 

Look, AI will disrupt how we do everything at work and there isn’t a function or industry it won’t touch. 

I know, I know you’re tired of hearing me say this! But I cannot stress enough how much things will change and a strategic HR team will want to be ahead of those changes and be prepared to meet the moment. 

The acceleration of technology is dramatically changing the demand for skills we need in our workforce. 

🚨 The average halflife for a skill is less than 5-years and in some tech fields it’s actually 2.5 years. 

That means certain skills become outdated more quickly due to things like rapid technological and market changes. The hard truth is that what was valuable a few years ago might no longer be relevant today… and that means employees and employers will need to deploy continuous learning to stay competitive. It is also a sign that we’re moving from static careers to dynamic, skill-based growth.

So, where does that leave HR?

IN THE THICK OF IT ALL!!!! Where else would we be?? 

We need to rethink everything we’ve done when it comes to skills, development, and even career pathing. They’re all intertwined! 

Let’s start with what I consider the foundation of it all: skills. 

A brief interlude for some definitions:

✍🏾 Skill: a learned ability or expertise that enables an individual to perform tasks, duties, and responsibilities effectively and efficiently.

✨ Reskilling: training an employee with entirely new skills.

☝🏾 Upskilling: training an employee to evolve their current skills.

With the disruption in tech, a lot of orgs decided to invest in upskilling. But here’s the thing… it’s not enough. 

If the OECD estimates even end up being close to correct it means in the next few decades millions of workers will need to be entirely reskilled. I’m not being dramatic when I say this could be one of the biggest challenges we face as it means employees will need to acquire NEW skills and potentially completely change occupations. 

It’s in our best interest to get started ASAP on reskilling!! Actually, it should be a strategic imperative for every HR team. 

So with that, welcome to the ✨ era of reskilling. ✨

Where to get started:Copy anchor linkCopied

Okay, I hope I didn’t scare you too much… reskilling will be a big challenge BUT I’m going to break it down for you! 

To get started every HR team should understand the supply & demand of skills. 

• Supply: skills available internally & externally 
• Demand: skills needed to beat the competition 

The best way to understand this? 

Develop your skills inventory. 

A skills inventory will tell you the capabilities required for each role at your org. 

Here’s an example + format you can use:

Role: HRBP

Core technical skills:

• Employee relations & conflict resolution 
• Org design
• Workforce planning 
• Data analysis 
• Policy development
• Compliance 

Soft skills:

• Coaching and influence 
• Communication 
• Change management
• Strategic thinking
• Business acumen 
  

Emerging skills:

• AI fluency 
• Agile HR practices 
• Strategy integration

✍🏽How to do this: 

At smaller orgs, HR might be able to do this for every single role on their own. At bigger orgs teams may leverage outside resources to help them build this! A lot of what you do will depend on your size and abilities. 

Here are 5 steps to consider taking to develop your skills inventory. 

1. Define the purpose

Start by asking these questions:

• Is this for learning & development, hiring, career pathing, or workforce planning? ALL are great options BTW! 
• Will this be used across the org or in one department?

2. Audit current roles & skills

• Pull job descriptions, org charts, and performance data.
• Analyze existing internal skills data (e.g., from LMS, resumes, LinkedIn profiles, performance reviews).
• Use frameworks to benchmark standard skills per role OR build your own!

3. Engage stakeholders:

• Interview or ask via survey managers, top performers, and team leads.
• Ask: “What skills do you rely on most in this role?” “What’s missing in our current capability?” 2 questions, 10 mins max per survey! 

4. Structure your taxonomy:

Break it into levels like:

• Function (e.g., Software Development, Marketing)
• Job Family (e.g., Frontend Engineer, Content Marketer)
• Role (e.g., Senior Frontend Engineer)
• Skills (Grouped into: Core / Soft / Emerging)
• Optional: add Proficiency Levels (Novice → Expert)

5. Validate & iterate:

• Have department leaders review and give feedback.
• Test: Does this help guide learning plans or hiring profiles? (yes should be the answer!!) 
• Update regularly (e.g., annually or when roles change) to reflect market shifts and internal evolution. We aim to update our JDs at least once a year and now this will be an added project!

6. Operationalize it:

• Connect to your LMS, ATS, or performance tools
• Map roles to career paths and development tracks
• Use in internal mobility or succession planning

This project is not an easy undertaking but I promise if you spend the time over the next quarter or so putting this together you will be so grateful you have a sense of where your skills are at! 

BTW: if you can’t do your whole org focus on where you are hiring the most OR where you have the most issues. I guarantee you will get value from that. 

📣 Want this in a template with helpful tips & more? Holla at your girl (me) and let me know and I may be already whipping it up!

It takes a village:Copy anchor linkCopied

Reskilling is a critical company imperative!!

Every single leader and manager needs to play a role in order to make sure your org is ready to take on the future and pivot as AI continues to disrupt work and everything we know. 

So next week I’m talking about the shared responsibility of reskilling and how everyone plays a part in helping your organization evolve.

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(HUMAN) RESOURCES

• Leading US labor market statistician fired after low jobs report 
• New grads enter a bad job market 
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down
• HSBC managing directors asked to RTO 4X days a week

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WORK-LIFE BALANCE

• 📚 What I’m reading: Universality by Natasha Brown. Okay ngl the cover drew me in then I read the description and was like… what???? Walked out the store with this book immediately. You know I love a good mystery! 
• 📺 What I’m watching: Perfect Match. Netflix’s version of a dating show expanded this year with people from other franchises like Bachelor and MTV shows. I’m a sucker for a dating show!! 
• 🚊 What I’m obsessing over: travel essentials. I have a lotttt of upcoming travel in Sept/Oct and have been trying to optimize from overnight bags to travel must haves. If you have any LMK. I've asked for recs before but I'm serious, i'll take anything from favorite waterbottles to makeup bags!! 

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SONG OF THE WEEK

🎧 august, Taylor Swift  Copy anchor linkCopied

I mean it’s the first Monday of August… what better song to pick??

I’ve been known to shout out “BACK WHEN WE WERE STILL CHANGIN’ FOR THE BETTER.”

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That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you.