A new era of CEO leadership in the talent space

In a world where work has become boundaryless—meaning it can be done almost anywhere and at any time—talent management has also become unbounded. This shift continues to be a top-of-mind issue for CEOs, but as the disruption of the last few years and trends like the “Great Resignation” show, the CEO’s role in recruiting, retaining, and developing talent continues to change and become more complex by the way work itself has changed. Human capital management is also influencing new types of discussions in the boardroom. Companies that are pioneers in this area are tasking human capital and compensation committees with initiatives like organizational culture, DEI, and well-being.

Talent may be a top organizational priority, but it’s not always clear how the CEO can most effectively lead in the talent space. What is clear is that while CEOs can’t ignore the issue of talent in today’s boundaryless world, they also can’t approach it in the same way. In this new, complex talent landscape, in which executives assert that the purpose of organizations extends beyond creating value for shareholders to include creating value for workers as human beings, and for society at large, how should CEOs be rethinking their roles? According to our research, building social capital may be one key to helping CEOs adapt to new expectations and priorities in a boundaryless talent management model.

Over the past several years, we’ve spoken with hundreds of CEOs as they navigate their role in talent initiatives. We’ve also surveyed Fortune 500 and Global 500 CEOs to understand the challenges they face and the actions they are taking. To further clarify how CEOs can navigate this challenge, we worked with Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Practice and the Center for Board Effectiveness to conduct focused interviews of CEOs and talent leaders around the world.

Here’s what we learned: the CEO’s role remains critical for enabling successful talent strategy, but the nature of that role is changing.

Traditionally, the relationship between CEO and talent leader has been defined by clear boundaries with the chief human resource officer, or other people leader, solely responsible for process improvement and tactics such as recruitment, hiring, onboarding, rewarding, and retaining people. But this black-and-white role definition is shifting as work becomes more collaborative in a distributed, boundaryless work environment. The talent challenge is no longer a single portfolio in the C-suite, and it doesn’t belong to a single leader. Research shows organizations that are the most confident in their ability to manage workforce risk have more leaders across levels and roles with expert-level knowledge on talent topics. Therefore, CEOs should consider deploying a broader and more systematic approach to talent issues, becoming orchestrators of talent priorities among their C-suite leadership.