5 Questions Leaders Should Be Asking Right Now: A Summer CEO Checklist For Smarter Talent Strategy

Forbes

16-07-2025

A summer CEO checklist for smarter talent strategy: 5 questions leaders should be asking right now
As inboxes slow down and meetings taper off, summer offers a chance for business leaders to reflect and prepare. With AI accelerating, talent expectations evolving and pressure to deliver mounting, the choices leaders make now will shape their resilience tomorrow.
Drawing on the latest insights from global research, here are five critical questions I believe every leader should be asking this summer.
1. Are we investing in employability or just managing vacancies?
Hiring to fill gaps is one thing. Building capability for the future is another. Data shows that 67% of talent now prioritize long-term employability over remote work options. And more than 50% prefer access to skilling over flexibility. In short, people want to grow, not just work.
Employers that make skills development part of their value proposition go beyond helping their teams stay relevant. They're building a more agile, future-ready organization, especially crucial in the face of accelerating AI adoption.
2. What are we doing to retain the talent we already have?
Retention is the new recruitment. The data makes it clear: 60% of workers would take a lower salary to reduce stress, and 41% have already done so. We're also seeing people trade pay for time autonomy, flexibility and shared values.
To retain great people, leaders must recognize that today's talent are strategic - and personal - in how they assess their career path. It's no longer only about salary or status. It's about support, progression and belonging.
3. How can we empower talent to shape the future with AI, not be sidelined by it?
AI offers powerful opportunities to alleviate talent scarcity and address skills gaps, but only if its benefits are shared from a place of inclusion. According to the AI & Equity report, access to AI tools and training is uneven: only 29% of women say they have AI skills, and just 33% of workers globally have been offered training.
Meanwhile, the WEF Future of Jobs Report shows that 86% of employers expect AI to transform their business by 2030. The risk? A growing AI skills gap that leaves talent behind and doesn't realize its full business potential.
So, are we amplifying human potential with AI - or unintentionally excluding it?
4. Are we actually listening to our people, or do we just assume we know what they want?
The Workmonitor 2025 report found that nearly half of workers would quit if they felt their values didn't align with their employer's, and over 30% have walked away due to unmet expectations.
But here's the nuance: what flexibility, growth or wellbeing means can vary greatly by individual. Employers need to move from generalized assumptions to personalized listening, not just in engagement surveys, but in everyday interactions and decisions.
5. Are we leading with courage or comfort?
Periods of calm - like the summer slowdown - are prime opportunities to challenge the status quo. Whether it's rethinking job design, piloting new work models, or working with inclusive approaches in how we attract and develop talent, it's the time for decisive moves.
According to the WEF, up to 39% of today's core job skills will change by 2030, and 59% of the global workforce will need reskilling. It's a clear signal that businesses must act with urgency and ambition to develop and empower talent.
A final word
Leadership is about thinking longer, beyond the current trends and seeing the bigger picture on the horizon. Summer gives us the space to do that. The leaders who use this moment to reflect on their talent strategy will return stronger, more focused and better prepared to build the kind of organizations the future demands.