Heather Knight

My biggest professional win of 2025 was hiring two skilled, driven, curious, and resilient individual contributors. That, of course, followed the process of recruiting and hiring — which, to me at least, never feels like a win in the moment. During that period as a hiring manager, you have someone else’s future in your hands. A lot of someone elses. If that doesn’t weigh on you, your brain works very differently from mine. I learned a lot on this go-round as a hirer, and for a while there it was too fresh to debrief. Now that I’ve got some distance, a few points that stuck with me: - I still believe in cover letters for jobs where writing and/or professional reasoning are important skills. A cover letter doesn't have to be formal; it can also be the note you send the hiring manager you tracked down on LinkedIn, or via email. Whatever your "cover letter" looks like, it illustrates who you are beyond the lines on your resume: your priorities, your personality, how you present yourself. Don’t phone it in, don’t delegate it to AI, and please don’t skip it. In knowledge work, you can’t walk away from any opportunity to differentiate yourself. - As hiring managers, we can’t give a ton of feedback to every candidate; there just isn’t time in the day. But as candidates move along in the process and we ask more of them in terms of time and effort, we owe them more in return. I try when possible to offer some concrete feedback to help if there’s something I think a candidate can do to improve their chances next time, with my organization or another. That having been said … -Several candidates may be “good enough” for a position but one may differentiate themselves simply by having skills the team needs at that moment. If the team has strong project managers, the candidate who thinks more creatively may be the best hire to create balance. If the team has average writers, a strong editor may be the best fit. There may be no real coaching to be had — it may simply be continuing to try until you find the right fit. (I know that sucks to hear if you’re searching, and I want you to know I feel for you and am pulling for you if you’re in that situation at this tricky moment in history.) - If you don’t get the position, it’s wise to be gracious. I hired in December/January for an open position on our team. I had to turn some strong candidates down. I reached out myself to anyone who had gotten to at least a Teams interview. It’s an awful feeling to get close and not get the job. (Ask me how I know.) I don’t expect overwrought gratitude when I’m delivering bad news. But some replied to say thanks for the opportunity, and to keep the door open for future roles. In February, another position on our team opened up, and I knew exactly who I wanted to hire — because they had been my close second choice for the first role, and it had been painful to not offer them that job. They’d kept that door open, and it wasn’t long before opportunity came knocking again.

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A Global Talent Strategy A true global talent strategy is not a collection of local initiatives stitched together, nor a top-down playbook imposed from HQ. It involves a thoughtful cohesive, scalable framework that aligns business priorities with people practices across every region, while honoring the cultural nuances that make each market and country unique. Over the years, I’ve learned that the strongest organizations embrace what I call a "GLOGAL" approach: ➡️ GLOBAL standards + LOCAL Intelligence, Insights and Inputs. A unified vision, with the flexibility to adapt to real people, real markets, and real cultural context. So what does a GLOGAL talent strategy require? 1️⃣ Clear global principles Leadership capability models, including shared values and competencies. Unified performance philosophy, goal alignment and leadership behaviors. Succession planning and high-potential criteria. Shared definitions of talent, growth, and impact. 2️⃣ Local customization where it matters Cultural norms around feedback, recognition, careers and ways of working. Local market realities in attraction and retention. Regional leadership styles and expectations including a diversity and inclusive perspective. 3️⃣ Deep involvement of leaders and stakeholders An active (and inclusive) co-creation and continuum evolution versus a passive sign-off. When leaders help build the strategy, they own it. When employees help shape the experience, they trust it. 4️⃣ Evidence-based decisions, powered by data Analytics that reveal patterns globally and locally. Insights that uncover what matters locally. The ability to use data to predict and anticipate Talent challenges. 5️⃣ Scalable systems and processes Not reinventing the wheel every time. And ensuring the wheel actually works on different roads with the stakeholders involvement. At its core, global talent strategy is about balance: 📌 Global consistency and scalability 📌 Local relevance 📌 Shared accountability Future-ready organizations, cannot design talent strategies for regions, and for employees, we must design them WITH them. I’d love to hear from others leading global talent teams: What has worked for you when building a truly global (or GLOGAL) talent strategy? #ChangeLeadership #FutureOfWork #Transformation #TalentStrategy #Leadership #GlobalTalentManagement #Innovation #PeopleFirst

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EVERYONE has a super power 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️ Inspiring stories in the video below of the amazing super powers of our AMS Neurodivergent talent 👏👏👏👏 As Jess says “finding a workplace that understands and values neurodivergent talent can change EVERYTHING ”. #Neurodiversity #ADHD #Dyslexia #Inclusion #Belonging #AMS #ProudAMSer

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Morgan Marzec thank you for sharing this noteable piece. A few sections of particular impact for me: “Women over 50 are our guide to our future.” “…. she alone has lived through the full arc of the human condition. She has known youth, change, loss, reinvention, and resilience.” “Midlife often brings a sharper understanding of one’s strengths, limits, and aspirations. Many women at this stage are more interested in meaningful contribution than corporate theater. They know what they care about, what they are good at, and what nonsense they no longer wish to tolerate. This often makes them highly effective. They may be less ready to play status games, but they are frequently deeply motivated by usefulness, autonomy, and impact.” How true this is!! 💯 #humanresources

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