BCG

PEOPLESTRATEGY

TurbulentTimesCallforaNewPeopleStrategy

By

AparnaBharadwaj

,J

ulieBedard

,

FrankBreitling

,and

AlexKoster

ARTICLEAUGUST04,20258MINREAD

Globalbusinesshasenteredanerade?nednotbyasingledisruption,butbycompounding,volatileforces.Thecurrentunpredictabilityhasledanalyststoquestionthereliabilityofearningsforecastsandsomecompaniestostopissuingearningsguidance.Pullbackslikethishavehappenedonlya

fewtimesinthepast25years.Notsincethe?nancialcrisisof2008hastherebeenthisdegreeofchange,norhavemostCEOsexperiencedsuchturbulencesinceassumingtheirroles.

Inthisenvironment,CEOsmustworkwithCHROsto

rethinktheiroperatingmodel

andcultivatea?exibleworkforcethatcanadjustquicklytomultiplepossiblefutures.Centraltothatevolutionis

adoptinga

talentstrategy

thatfocusesonatriangleoftightlywovenworkforceactions:rethinkinghowtohiretalentsuperstars,adoptingAI,andupskilling.

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CEOswhosuccessfullybuildawinningtalentstrategytodayleadwithpurpose,thinkintermsof

scenarios,deepentheirunderstandingofeconomicstatecra,andusetheirCHROsascopilotstohelpacceleratetransformationandexecutethecompany’sgoalsandpriorities.

TheForcesPushingLeaderstoRethinktheMeaningofTalent

Powerfulforces

arereshapingabusinesslandscapethatdemandsstrategicforesightandtheabilitytoadaptquickly.Theyfallintothreecategories:

.Unbalancedmultipolarity,ashifromafewcentersofglobalpowertoalargernumberofnationsofunequalin?uence.TheUSgovernment’sAmericaFirstvision,China’seconomictransitionandpivot,theriseofacon?dentGlobalSouth,andEurope’s“reckoning”tostaycompetitiveareamongthedevelopmentsdrivingthistrend.

.Geopoliticalrivalriesproducingtectonicshisinworldtrade,theintensifyingracefortechnologicalandAIsupremacy,andthereemergenceofeconomicnationalism.

.Globalshocksthatcontinuetoa?ectbusinessoutcomes,includingarmedcon?icts,climatechange,andpolarizedpopulations.

Volatileconditionsandstrategiccontradictionswillnotbeeasilyresolved.CEOs,CHROs,andotherC-suiteleadershavetooperatewithasharpawarenessofhowtheseforcesinteractandshape

companies’abilitytodobusiness—andpreparetheirworkforce.Leadersmustbuildatalentbasethatcanbeadaptedandrecon?guredinrealtime—onewith?exibility,optionality,andcross-

functionalskills.Byidentifyingskillsandshisthatarevaluableacrossrelevantfuturescenarios,leaderscanincreaseorganizationalresilienceandmaximizereturnsontalentinvestments.

Thistypeofpeoplestrategycannotbebasedontraditionalworkforce.Insteadofplanningfora

linearfuture,leadersmustdoscenarioplanningthataccountsformultipleeconomic,

geopolitical

,andtechnologicalchanges,thenstress-testtheirtalentstrategyagainsteach.Takingthisapproachwillreveal“no-regrets”movesthatleadtopositiveresultsregardlessofthecircumstancesandthe“bigrocks”—prioritiesthatcompanieshavetogetright.

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Leadersmustdoscenarioplanningthataccountsformultipleeconomic,geopolitical,and

technologicalchanges,thenstress-testtheirtalentstrategyagainsteach.

ToTackleFutureWorkforceNeeds,ThinkTriangles

Havingtherighttalentwiththerightcapabilitiesintherightroleshelpscompaniesaccelerateandscalechanges.Thisisespeciallytrueatatimewhentheworldisembracingmoretechnology,andAIinparticular.OrganizationsthatalignanAI-in?uencedpeoplestrategytotheirbusinessedge

anduseittofocusonactivitiesthatallowthemtooutperformwillpullaheadofthecompetition.

ThatmeanshiringtoptalentwithAI-immersedskills,rewiringcorework?owstoincorporateAI,andretrainingemployeestoworkmorecloselywithAItools.

WinningcompanieswillinvestheavilyinAIincoreprocesses,andthetalentstrategyforthese

domainareaswillneedtomatchtheirtechnologicalambition.CHROsmustworkinclose

partnershipwithCEOstoenablespeed,rede?neoperatingmodelsandtalent,anddrivechange.

Adeeperdiveintothetriangletalentstrategyshowshowthethreeactionssupporteachother,aswellastheadvantagesandchallengesofeach.(SeeExhibit1.)

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Rethinkhiringofcriticaltalent.Companiesneedtotakeaglobalapproachtohiringtalent

superstars—peoplewithhighlydesirableskillswhomayonlybeavailableincertainareas,whetherthatmeanshigh-end

cybersecurity

expertsclusteredintheBalticsorIsrael,orlaserlithography

professionalsintheNetherlands.AccordingtonewBCGresearch

,only1.3%ofhighlyskilled

professionalsrelocated

acrossbordersin2024.Toreachthevastmajorityofpeoplewith

specializedskillsinSTEMandAI?eldswhoaren’twillingtorelocate,companiesmustdeterminenotonlywheretheyarebuthowtoattract,engage,andretainthem.

EmbracingAIandbeingquicktorespondtochangestothemarketaretwowaystoappealtotoptalent.Soareo?eringcustomizedcareerpathsandrewardingpeopleforlearningcutting-edge

skills.Companiesmustknowhowtorespondifaccesstotalentinspeci?cgeographicregionsiscuto?orifcompetitionmakeshiringtoptalentincertainareasorwithcertainskillsbecomesso

expensivetheyneedtolookelsewhere.Anddependingonthewheretoptalentisbased,companiesmayalsoneedtodealwithshiingimmigrationregulations.

Competitionisn’ttheonlychallengeassociatedwithhiringsuperstars.Companiesexpandingintoanewbusinessortransformingtheiroperatingmodelmayneedtochangehiringtacticstoattract

talentwithcriticalskillsthatthecurrentworkforcedoesn’thave.TheymayrunintoissuesintegratingsuchnewemployeesintothecultureandHRprocesses.

UseAI.Tobe?exibleenoughtobypasstalentconstraintsoractquicklyinthefaceofrapidly

changingbusinessconditions,companiesmustidentifytasksthatAIcantakeover.Adoptingan“AI-?rst”mindsetcanhelpcompaniesscaleandacceleratechange.Italsomeansthatworkcan

happenanywhere,whichlessenstherisksposedbygeographicchallenges.

Adoptingan“AI-?rst”mindsetcanhelpcompaniesscaleandacceleratechange.Italsomeansthat

workcanhappenanywhere,whichlessenstherisksposedbygeographicchallenges.

BringingAIcapabilitiesintotheworkforcemaybethehardestofthethreetalenttriangle

componentstoimplement.ItrequiresidentifyingopportunitiestotransformworkandmakingtheswitchtoAIapriorityforfundingandmanagement.ItalsorequiresputtingpeoplewithstrongAI

skillsinchargeofbuildingtherelevantprocessesandsystems.Butifdoneright,AItransformationscreatetremendousvaluebyallowingpeopletofocusonmoreinnovative,strategicwork.Using

autonomousagentsforR&Dordesign,legalreasoningtools,AIcopilotsforwritingcode,andothertoolsfundamentallyreshapescorework?owsandhowworkgetsdone.

Upskill.Talentsuperstarsand

AI

onlygosofar.Companieshavetofuture-prooftheentire

workforcebyprovidingthemwithopportunitiestolearnnew,AI-basedprocessesandcollaborate

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withAItools.Inadditiontohelpingthemgainskillsthey’llneedinthefuture,upskillingshouldfocusonworkthatpeopleareinnatelybetteratthanmachines,suchasrelationship-basedsellingor

makingjudgementcallsondecisions.Forcompanies,upskillingcanreinforceemployeeloyalty,whichallowsthemtoretaininstitutionalknowledge,andshouldbeo?eredalongwithother

opportunitiesthatwouldenticepeopletostay,especiallytopperformers.

Upskillingcanbepartofa

skills-basedorganizationinitiative

wherepeopleconstantlylearnanddeploynewabilities,allowingacompanytomaximize?exibilityandadaptquicklytoshiing

businessdemands.However,resultsmaytaketimeandrequiresustainedfocusfromemployeesandleaders.Forupskillingtobesuccessful,leadersmustconsiderthebestwaytoscaleit,which

capabilitiestostartwith,andwhetherthecurrentworkforcecantakeonthechallengeorwhetheritwouldbemorebene?cialtoturntoexternalhireswhoalreadyhavetheskills.

Leaderscanuseacombinationoftwoormoreoftheseactionsto?llthesametypesofroles.Forexample,toevolvemanufacturingcapabilities,companiesmaymovefactoriesandaggressively

upskillworkers.Manycompanieshavefoundthatbuildingafuture-readyAIengineeringworkforcerequiresactinginallthreeareas—goingaersuperstars,automatingtasks,andupskillingcurrentemployees.

PuttingaFuture-ReadyTalentStrategyintoAction

CEOsandCHROswhosuccessfullynavigateturbulenttimeswillbuildtalentstrategiesthathelpthemactwhenothersstillarepondering.Theywillembracetheopportunitiespresentedby

redirectingHRprocessestointegratepeopleandAI.(SeeExhibit2.)

ForCEOs,thismeans:

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.Usepurposetocreatestabilityintheturmoil.Inaneraofvolatility,havingaclear,crediblepurposeprovidesalignmentwhenconditionsfragment,andenergywhenambiguitydrains

con?dence.Ithelpspeoplemakehardchoiceswithconvictionandstaycommittedwhen

outcomesareuncertain.CEOsmusttapintotheirorganization’spurposeasbothanarrativeandoperatingtool:embeditindecisionmaking,communicateitwithclarity,anduseitto

unifydi?erences.Inafragmentedworld,companieswithaclearlyde?nedpurposehavetheedge.

.Prepareformultiplefutureoutcomes.Topleadersmustditchlinearthinkingandplanfor

futuresituationsoreventswithmultiplepossibleoutcomes,andstress-teststrategiesand

talentdecisionsthatcouldsupportthem.Whensignalsshi,CEOsmustbepreparedtomovefasttomakeconscioustrade-o?sbetweengeneralno-regretstalentmovesandbigrocks

investments.

.Build?uencyineconomicstatecra代.CEOsmustupskillthemselvesandtheirteamsin

economicstatecra,learninghowpolicyshapesmarketsandhowtoin?uencethat

environment.Thisisessentialformakinginformeddecisionsinaworldwherebusinesses

mustpivotinresponsetorapidlyevolvingdynamicsacrossgovernmentalactorsatalllevels.

.Maketalentyourmultiplier.CHROscanbechangeagentstoleadorganizationstoadopt

newculturesandmindsets.CEOscanacknowledgethatbyelevatingCHROstoserveas

strategicpartners.Together,theycanpositiontheworkforcetoacceleratetransformationandexecutethestrategicprioritiesneededtobemoreagileandresilient,aswellastoensuretheirtalentstrategyisintegratedwithAIinvestments.Thise?ortincludesreexaminingand

refreshingtheemployeevaluepropositionsoit’sconsistentwiththecompany’spurposeandinlinewiththedynamicsofthelocalandglobaltalentmarkets.

ForCHROs,itmeans:

.BetheCEO’snext-generation“talentwhisperer”CHROsmustshifromsupportingtalent

ingeneralwaystoexecutingthepeoplesideoftheCEO’sstrategicimperativeswithspeedanddiscipline.Theymusttightlyintegratepeopleprocesseswithbusinessprioritiesandadopt

workforceanalyticstoguideandtrackperformanceandcourse-correctinrealtime.Andtheymustmodernizeoutdatedpeopleprocesses,beginningwithusingnewapproachestosolvebigrocktalentissues.

.Embracescenarioplanning.LikeCEOs,CHROsneedtoembracescenarioplanningto

identifybigrocksandno-regretstalentactions,understandingstrategictalentprioritiessotheycansupportthecompany’sagendainmultiplepossibleeventualities.

.Modernizepeoplesystemstosyncwithstrategy.Carryingoutthecompany’sstrategiesmeansmovingbeyondsupport.CHROsmustrewirehiring,learninganddevelopment,andperformancetoexecutiveenterprisepriorities.

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.Bethechiefadvocateforchange.Thetalentstrategywe’vedescribedisn’taone-timetransformation.CHROsmustbuildthemuscleforongoingadaptationthroughclear

narratives,steadyleadership,andfastcoursecorrection.

Thenextwaveofbreakoutperformancewon’tcomefromavoidingvolatility.Itwillcomefrom

companiesthataremorecomfortablewithvolatility,moreagile,andmoreintentonachieving

theirgoals.Thecurrentturbulenceisasmuchanopportunityasathreat.Inanunpredictable

world,talentstrategycannotbeanaerthought.Ittakesforesighttodrivecompetitiveadvantage.Treatitthatway,andyou’lllead.

TheauthorswouldliketothankBillBeaverandJordanLockhartfortheirassistanceonthisarticle.

AparnaBharadwaj

ManagingDirector&SeniorPartner;GlobalLeader,GlobalAdvantagePractice

Singapore

Zurich

AlexKoster

ManagingDirector&Senior

Partner

Authors

JulieBedard

M