In today's growing landscape of layoffs and uncertainty, more professionals are moving away from traditional career paths -- opening the door for HR pros to take a skills-first approach in recruiting and hiring. Host Nicole Belyna and John Morgan, president of career transition & mobility and leadership development at LHH, discuss how HR professionals can use tools like HRIS data and AI to guide displaced talent to new roles amid this trend. This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires May 1, 2026. Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz --- Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
In today's growing landscape of layoffs and uncertainty, more professionals are moving away from traditional career paths -- opening the door for HR pros to take a skills-first approach in recruiting and hiring. Host Nicole Belyna and John Morgan, president of career transition & mobility and leadership development at LHH, discuss how HR professionals can use tools like HRIS data and AI to guide displaced talent to new roles amid this trend.
This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires May 1, 2026.
Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz
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Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career.
Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
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Nicole Belyna: Welcome to Honest HR, the podcast for informed and inspire aspiring HR professionals. I'm your host, Nicole Belyna. Today we're exploring displaced talent and how HR professionals can guide them to new, more fulfilling paths. Joining us is John Morgan, president of Career transition and Mobility and Leadership Development at LHH.
Welcome to Honest HR John.
John Morgan: Happy to be here, Nicole, thanks for having me.
Nicole Belyna: It's my pleasure. So to kick it off for our audience, can you tell us a little bit about your background and career transition and mobility?
John Morgan: Sure, yeah. Happy to. it's been a, great life's work. I've always, you know, my whole career I've really enjoyed, the blend of sort of business and psychology.
And so back when I was in, out of graduate school in management consulting, we did a lot of work on helping. Companies, design systems for employees. and then later on when I joined, we had Carson, now LHH for the past 20 years we've really just been focusing on how to really help employees go through a variety of different transitions.
And so whether it's joining an organization, developing and growing in an organization and then ultimately sometimes leaving an organization, it's those career moments, that you really want to have people set up for success. So I've always had that element of my. Career. but before lh, then during lh, it's been just a, wonderful past 20 plus years of, really, helping people grow in their careers.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah, thank you. In this landscape of layoffs and the uncertainties, employees feel overwhelmed. They can feel unsure of their next move, and this is also an opportune moment for HR professionals to step in and guide these employees through the tough transition. Can you tell us about what strategies and tools have been proven most effective in identifying transfer transferable skills in displaced employees, particularly as industries are invol evolving so rapidly?
John Morgan: Sure. I think that's the key. the industries are really evolving and the, sort of, the workplace has really changed a lot in the past decade and now it's really rapidly advancing. So we have a lot of people moving around inside of organizations. We have people leaving organizations. Is HR is obviously at the front and center of that, and I think it requires all HR professionals to learn some new skills and also to learn how to deal with new emerging technologies.
So, on the skill side, I firmly believe that if you're in the HR profession, you, have to be a coach. You have to have really good coaching and communication skills, and you have to really know, when to deal with people with empathy. And so that becomes an important skill as you're helping somebody navigate any type of transition.
But then the other, the tools and best practices are really more on the tech side as well. So trying to figure out, you know, what, AI based tools can help people identify those skill adjacencies. And that's again, whether they're moving inside or outside of an organization. There's a lot of great AI based tools that can help you figure out, okay, if I was doing this job and I had this set of skills, how transferable are those?
Are there new adjacent skills that I can develop? And then what types of roles are emerging that I can get connected into? And so using the available technologies that are out there, whether it's bringing in a new technology or using HRIS systems that are in your company, HR professionals really need to, understand how to use that, how to leverage it, but then also to take the data that the tool provides, and again, to engage in that really human emotive discussion to help somebody figure out what that next move is.
So it's a real blend of good coaching skills for HR professionals, but also staying, really abreast of the latest AI based, skill-based. Technologies.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah. Yeah. And so really to set up employees for success, and success, particularly through those transitions, HR professionals themselves have to be more agile and, be aware of the latest technologies, and continue to upskill themselves.
Wouldn't you say?
John Morgan: For sure. Yeah. I think, it's like anything, you have to, you sort of have to practice what you preach, and, you absolutely have to. If you're expecting other people in your organization to be lifelong learners and to acquire new skills, I think HR can be a great role model on how to do that as well.
So again, when you're coaching somebody on these things, it's often helpful to relate it to what you've done as a professional as well. Tell your story, tell how you've adapted, tell you know what new skills you've learned to help you grow in your career. job you were doing, you know, a couple years ago, you know, is probably not the job that you're doing now in HR.
So if you can use that story, I think as a metaphor to help somebody figure out what their next move is. Is again, that's the powerful and good power of a good coaching conversation.
Nicole Belyna: How can HR professionals communicate with laid off employees about their support options while remaining empathetic?
John Morgan: it's a, it is a, obviously it's a bit of an art.
I think one, I think you can learn and develop empathy. So I think there's a little bit of, skill building that every HR, you know, practitioner should work on active listening skills. Good communication skills. that's kind of simple. I think you have to start with just, transparency always when you're communicating some sort of job displacement, whether it's, performance based, whether it's job elimination, whether it's restructuring or whatever that context is.
And you have to give it to people straight. and they may not at least appreciate that at the very beginning, but over time they will appreciate the transparency. So I think you always have to have that level of transparency and, really trying to deal with fact. and trying to help the person, you know, manage their emotions.
There's that part of it for short. Then I think you have to, I know you have to read the person in terms of meeting them where they're at always. But there's a lot of support options, hopefully, that the organization has put in place to help the people. So then you become an educator. You kind of shift from and counselor to educator, and you help the person really understand well.
We have, for example, maybe there's an internal redeployment program that we want to put you into so that you have during your notice period, for example, a way to get into new types of roles or explore new types of roles. So maybe this actually isn't you leaving the organization, maybe there's particular training, programs that are available to the person that you want to point them to.
Again, are there assessment tools that you can help the person, take advantage of so that they can understand a little bit more about what their strengths are, what their passions are. Their interests are, and then help them see what possibilities there, there could be. So I think you shift from kind of coach counselor to, to educator and then making sure that the person is really aware of whatever the benefit package is that the organization is, providing.
And so a lot of times we, do a lot of restructuring consulting work and we'll talk to somebody that's left the company and, they won't really know, what the outplacement benefit is. For example, they just were never told about it, but they, have. And so then we become the educator, right?
So I think the more you can do that while the person's still employed, the smoother that transition's gonna be. And, that's what everybody wants, right? 'cause you wanna, have people leave your organization with a good offboarding experience.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah. Yeah. People want to know what's next as best they, possibly can.
Right. Great. What role does HR data play in building a more inclusive and supportive approach to career transitions? So. How can organizations use this data to ensure laid off employees, and make sure they feel supported and they can retain trust through the most challenging times?
John Morgan: Yeah. the data is key because I think, you know, the, data and the technology stack that the HRIS has in the company, if you don't have that, you can't really help the person see what the possibilities are.
So you really, data helps people identify what skills that they have that are adjacent and transferable. Data helps people understand, again, the suite of available roles that might be existing in other parts of the organization. If you don't have a good HRIS system, a lot of companies have marketplaces, marketplace systems where all of the internal jobs, are posted and, all of the skills are really clear.
And so to be able to package that up using data in a way that the user can, easily work with it. That's clear because again, during that notice period, you can actually help somebody explore. And you can't do that if you don't have the structured set of data. And that's, the key. so many, companies buy HRIS systems, whether it's, you know, Workday or SAP, et cetera, et cetera.
and they have poor adoption when it comes to actually, figuring out what the skills are like. So they have people struggle to get their data into these HRI. So it actually starts really early on during someone's career. You know, really make sure that people are, using V-H-R-I-S, updating it with their skills so that when something does happen and their role may not exist anymore, the system can do what it's supposed to do, which is to match them to other jobs that are open.
and so I think that's the biggest way that, that companies can actually, you know, leverage the big data to, to make a more meaningful experience. Yeah.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah. I mean, we're only as good as the data we put into it, right. Yeah. How is AI transforming career transitions and, mobility? Can you share some examples of how AI guides displaced workers towards career paths that align with both their skills and current market demands?
John Morgan: it's really, it's advancing the industry is probably the best way that I would say it. and there's some, I think there's some incremental things that it's helping on, and then there's some big ticket items. And so the small. Sort of what I would call sort of, you know, just sort of helping the experience go quicker is, just tools, right?
So if someone's in transition, we have really great AI tools now to help 'em with their resume, to help them with their LinkedIn profile. I mean, these things make the experience just a little bit less stressful. A lot of, I mean it used to be in our industry that someone would leave a company and they hadn't done a resume in like 20 years, and that was like the hardest part.
AI really helps make that. Pretty simple now, which is, great. which is really great. It also frees up our coaches to do more higher value things versus helping them write a resume. there's also things like, like interview prep. It's, really helped, leapfrog and get people prepped to do interviews.
I mean, people have always been anxious to do an interview. then you added in a couple years ago, the onset of, virtual interviews, people really started to get freaked out. It's very, stressful using AI based tools now. And career transition process just helps you scenario, role play, and you can really test and just, you know, practice so easily using all the AI tools that are out there.
So I think that helps alleviate some of the stress that people are going through as well. But then the, bigger gains, I think AI is helping with our, again, back to this whole marketplace idea. Like how can you really much easier match people's skills to open roles? and you start getting really good.
Job leads to the person. So they start to feel like they have an opportunity to move forward when they see job matches coming in, so that the algorithms and the machine learning really helps, you know, with that experience quite a bit. But again, AI is great. This is a human, I mean, this is, at the end of the day, such a human experience.
And so, so we're always thinking about how do you augment that human experience with ai, ai, but just at the end of the day. You know, AI's not academic, right? So, so you need to make sure that you're balancing that and not forgetting that the coaching, the counselor is still extremely important in helping that person move forward.
Nicole Belyna: Workplace agility has become a major force in today's dynamic environment. What actionable steps can companies take to build long-term resilience while redeploying talent in suitable roles?
John Morgan: I think if you're thinking about like sustainable approaches, I think companies really need to shift to that skills based approach.
And, what that means is really thinking about skills and not jobs. Thinking about, career journeys and not hierarchical roles. And I think that's, where, again, you can help somebody figure out career path inside of an organization if you're taking those skills based approach. So helping a person really identify, again, skills that they have, skills that they could develop, and how that connects 'em to jobs of the future, I think is really important.
Also, helping. employees understand the, long term likelihood of some jobs being displaced by ai. I mean, there's pretty clear data out there that shows probabilities of if you're in an accounting role or if you're in a legal role or whatever role that you're in, there are elements that are, more likely to be automated than not.
And so if that's the case, what skills should you be, can you be developing? So I think that the, sustainability piece, like the long term piece that you're talking about is, really requiring companies to make that shift, get away from jobs and roles. Focus more on skills, whether you're hiring, developing, right.
Really focus on the skills that the company needs in the future.
Nicole Belyna: And so it's really more of a proactive approach. It's not preparing an employee in the moment when they're going through that transition, but rather much earlier in their career to prepare them, 'em when or if that transition, those transitions happen.
John Morgan: Yeah, and I think that's the sustainability piece, right? it's really being honest with the employee. That these are the skills that we're gonna need 'cause of our business strategy in the next 10 years. Right? And so opening that up and, giving people what you say, proactive space to develop their careers.
even if there's not a burning platform to make, can job shift, that's gonna help 'em when there is.
Nicole Belyna: And so can you explain the concept of a skills first framework and how it impacts decisions related to redeployment and career transitions for displacement? Talent.
John Morgan: Yeah, I mean, it's like you said, I think it's really, focusing more on, on skills and competencies and less on jobs and roles. And so again, it's again, making it clearer to the employee what types of, skills that they need to acquire to be future fitted in this organization.
Because when it comes to redeployment or career transition scenarios down the road, that's when the matching really can actually help. Right. So, for example. And, so many of our clients, they're tired of this model where you're, you know, letting people go and hiring people, letting people go and hiring people.
It's incredibly disruptive. Expensive, right? Nobody wants to do that. So the skills-based approach facilitates better redeployment outcomes, there's no doubt, data. 'cause you can match people to jobs that you have to hire for. so, so that's a clear advantage. And then every organization does inevitably have to people.
That's, you know, that's just the reality. And so. If you're focusing on a skills-based approach, once someone does have to leave again, they're leaving with sort of a personalized roadmap of where they're gonna go next already, because they understand a little bit more about, well, I know certain jobs are in demand.
I know certain jobs are going away. So I've been working on some of these skills already, and now when I entered into career transition, I kind of know a little bit of the lay of the land versus starting from ground zero and having to really take three to six months that you can figure out what my job search objectives are.
Nicole Belyna: Sure. Yeah. So even if you're transitioning employee out of the organization, you're still in many ways setting them up for success with some marketable skills. Exactly. Exactly right. Amid talent shortages and key sectors, how can HR professionals balance immediate needs to fill critical roles with the responsibility of creating meaningful pathways for displaced employees?
Yeah, and
John Morgan: it's balance for sure, right? It's balancing, balancing. Speed versus, versus the right outcome is really key. I think it comes down to fit a lot. I think that's the thing that we've sort of used to talk a lot about in talent acquisition. And then I feel like, you know, from a cultural fit perspective, I remember doing interviews in graduate school trying to figure out cultural fit, and then that kind of went away for a while and now I feel like it's back and it's important.
It's really important because, that's, there's so many of our clients have the same person or teams that are involved in talent acquisition and career transition for that very reason. 'cause they actually want to make the connections. so I think, look, you're always gonna have some roles where the hiring manager might tell you, we actually need somebody from the outside.
'cause we want a different approach. And I think that's, totally fine. But if that's, you know, not the case, then I think you should really think hard about, you know, let's taken that. Isn't it a better outcome to take an extra month to fill the role eternally? Probably, It is, it's definitely more cost effective.
so I think you do need to have the balance. I think you just need to take a look at what segments allow for you to do that and which talent segments, you know, clearly need, an external hire because they need something totally different than the organization doesn't have today. But that's kind of, has to start with the business strategy.
Like that should really be something that's, figured out very early, right? not really something that should be left for the HR person to figure out. and then again, cultural fit is interesting, right? So many the data tells you. So onboarding people is hard. so many new, hires, especially as you go hire an organization, don't make it because of cultural fit.
So again, that equation of if you can just close the skill gaps on someone that you already know is a good cultural fit, you're gonna get a better at there.
Nicole Belyna: I love what you just said, John, about balancing culture fit and finding the right skills because it is, a delicate balance for sure. And. It does start before the HR professional, you know, gets involved. Ideally. and hopefully companies do take that time to invest and meet the skills gap rather than go outside to look for a, you know, a technical talent that might not be within the organization.
And oftentimes companies do get, you know, very focused on finding this missing. Technical talent, right. And overlook, or they'll kind of, you know, sweep under the rug, like, ah, maybe the culture fit isn't quite as important, and then you've got a bad eye on your hands.
Is there anything else, you wanted to share about displaced talent that we haven't already discussed?
John Morgan: We've covered a lot. Great questions, by the way. I think probably the only thing I would say is that. I mean, we are moving away from what we used to call career transition. we're really talking about career transformation now when we do this work.
So that's different than I think in the past. This whole idea of people have to reinvent themselves, whether it's inside a company or whether they're leaving a company. This idea that I just want to go do the same thing somewhere else, doesn't really happen a lot anymore. So I think there's a lot of great tech out there that helps people build awareness.
There's a lot of great AI tools that help people. Identify what their passions are, and also give them real time data in terms of, well, what's the supply and demand of certain jobs? And so that's really cool and that's great. and I said it earlier, that doesn't replace sort of in, in a transition inside or outside, you know, that HR coaching sort of skill that can really help somebody make the leap.
I mean, if you're sitting at your computer all day long just looking at skills and jobs and all these things, you're, gonna struggle if you don't have somebody to talk to about it and actually role play with. And so I think that's where the guidance of an HR person really helps make those transitions.
But again, I think, the combination of AI tech and that human mode of support is really what's key in, making a successful transition. Whether you're talking about redeployment into a new role onboarding or, ultimately we an organization.
Nicole Belyna: Yeah. Yeah. It's great that you're talking about that balance.
It's, they're complimentary AI and technology compliments. The coaching skills and capabilities of the HR professional during those career transitions.
John Morgan: For sure.
Nicole Belyna: And that's gonna do it for this week's episode of Honest HR. A big thank you to John for sharing his deep insights with us. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Honest HR is part of SHR m's. HR Daily flagship content series. You can head to SHRM dot org slash HR daily to learn more and sign up for our daily newsletter.
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