Talent density. It’s a term that’s been popping up in LinkedIn feeds and recruiting newsletters a lot over the past couple of months. Here at the Talent Blog, we recently wrote about talent density, diving into a short history of the term and laying out some of its pros and cons as a talent strategy. We also defined it, simply enough, as “the percentage of high-performing employees you have within your total workforce.”
Reading that definition, however, may have sent shivers down a recruiter’s spine. After all, there are times when recruiting so-called high-performers or “superstar employees” can be a headache. Picture big egos, tough salary negotiations, ruffled feathers of current employees without the same salary and benefits package, and unrealistic expectations from hiring managers.
All of which begs the question, are these superstar performers really worth it? In a recent article, The Wall Street Journal asks that very question and comes to this conclusion: “The answer is yes, our research shows — but only if leaders understand that the kind of value superstars bring to the company changes as the star’s career evolves.”
To learn more — including what motivates a young superstar versus a high-performer later in their career — be sure to check out the top spot in our list below of must-read articles for talent professionals. And further down our list, you can also find out why some HR pros aren’t, to say the least, feeling their best; why industry leader Josh Bersin believes the “ability to change” is a fundamental skill for the future workforce; and what one L&D leader would say to his younger self — if only he had a time machine.
Here are the must-read articles from this week:
1. Are Superstar Employees Worth It? (The Wall Street Journal)
2. So, Human Resources Is Making You Miserable? (The New York Times)
3. AI Can’t Replace Recruiting, But It Can Replace the Modern Version of Hiring (Respondable Recruitment)
4. As the Economy Slows, Focus on the Skills of the Future: Ability to Change (Josh Bersin)
5. The Advice One L&D Leader Would Give Himself If He Could Go Back in Time (David James on LinkedIn)
6. The Simple Candidate Experience Hack That Every Company Should Adopt (LinkedIn Talent Blog)
7. Examples of Office Lingo That Can Destroy Employee Engagement (Jackye Clayton on LinkedIn)
8. Four Key Lessons for Recruiters from Amber Cabral’s ‘Say More About That’ (Increase Diversity)
9. In 2024, Is Burnout the New Baseline? (Better Work. Better Life)
10. Even Olympians Battle Impostor Syndrome. How One Team USA Psychologist Is Supporting Athletes’ Mental Health in Paris (Forbes)
Here is the must-listen podcast:
Ghost Jobs Are Haunting the Labor Market (The Big Take)
