Jeff Smith, who served as BlackRock’s Head of Global Human Resources for over ten years, identifies five critical priorities for HR departments in today’s business landscape. His insights reflect decades of experience building strong organizations through strategic talent management.
First on Smith’s list is leader and manager development, including succession planning. “Leaders need to drive change and help drive strategy and create culture,” Smith explains. He emphasizes the importance of providing the right incentives—both compensation and recognition—to attract high performers into leadership roles.
The second priority is HR technology and data analytics. Smith believes exceptional technology is “critical to make processes better and more efficient, for culture and risk management, and to help provide data and insight to make decisions.” He stresses that companies must carefully evaluate the rapidly evolving technology landscape rather than defaulting to established players.
Creating an intentional culture ranks third, with Smith noting this has become “much more difficult in the hybrid environment with fewer in-person interactions.” He advises that all communication, training, and promotion criteria should be designed with the desired culture in mind.
Fourth is managing careers in more flexible ways. “The evolving theme here is the phasing out of traditional linear career paths, static job descriptions, and inflexible structures,” Smith observes, advocating for “more flexible and iterative career journeys.”
Finally, Smith emphasizes building the HR talent pool. “The job of HR is hard enough, one of the hardest, and without great talent it has no chance of success,” he states. For a more comprehensive look at Jeff Smith’s business insights, professionals can explore his published works.
Smith’s work has been featured in Harvard Business Review and the book “Talent Wins” by Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey. His evidence-based approach to talent management continues to influence how forward-thinking companies structure their HR functions.
