iThe Cigna Group, the healthcare company that employs over 70,000 people globally, says that on any given day, it’s hiring for 3,000–5,000 open positions.

But a few years ago, the firm’s vice president of talent acquisition, Amanda Day, realized those open positions weren’t on the radar of some of Cigna’s most promising candidates: its own employees.

“There’s no greater talent pool than your own,” Day told HR Brew. “And unfortunately, our ability to get out to the masses internally was not working well for us.” She said that employees had an easier time finding open positions at Cigna on LinkedIn than through their internal talent system.

Fearing Cigna would lose valuable talent to external competition, Day and her team decided to overhaul their internal talent management system using artificial intelligence. She said the new system has made career opportunities more visible to current Cigna employees and helped boost internal hiring.

Picking the right partner. When Cigna decided they wanted to update their internal management system, they put together a request and started by talking to 10 different vendors, according to Day.

Her team ended up selecting Phenom, an AI-powered HR platform, because, Day said, the company understood what Cigna was trying to do with the project. It also helped that Phenom could integrate its technology with Workday, the applicant tracking system Cigna uses.

Day’s team initially shared a pilot version with 5,000 employees and ironed out kinks in the system over a period of eight months. She said they wanted to make sure the system was recommending “roles that would be considered viable roles for that employee,” and that the tool was easy to navigate.

Keep reading.—CV

HR pros and L&D folks spend loads of time finding, developing, and building workplace courses from scratch. But what if there was a way to lighten that load—with AI?

EdApp’s got a way. This mobile-first training platform just released AI Create, an AI-powered workplace training tool that cuts down course creation time for HR professionals.

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With AI Create, you can design a new course in seconds (seriously, try it) by entering a single prompt. Topics include emotional intelligence in leadership, setting priorities and managing workload, and preventing unconscious bias, to name a few.

Get this: 2 out of 3 HR professionals said they saved 2+ hours of course creation time. Wanna join ’em? Give AI Create a whirl.

Having a quiet, private, and clean space is vital for nursing parents to have a successful return to work. Thanks to the PUMP Act, which went into effect at the end of April, lactating parents now have the right to a designated private space, and time to pump during the workday.

HR pros can help to create a comprehensive lactation program for workers and provide spaces that are comfortable and functional, according to two experts.

The law. Lack of workplace accommodations can impede a new mother’s ability to continue feeding, according to a December 2022 study in the International Breastfeeding Journal. Women cite lack of work breaks, inadequate pumping space, and unclear policies as major contributors to discontinuing breastfeeding, according to the US Breastfeeding Committee. The Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, or PUMP Act, requires employers to provide feeding parents with adequate breaktime to pump, as well as a private space (not a bathroom) to do so. The breastfeeding employee must have access to these accommodations for one year following the birth of their child.

“Isolation is one of the most important indicators of whether or not baby-feeding goals are achieved,” said Leila Zayed, VP of sales at Pumpspotting, which connects breastfeeding parents. “Most families don’t breastfeed for as long as they intended to because they need stronger systems of support to reach their goals. So, having a great workplace program is not just about signaling support for women and families at work but also removing barriers to success.”

Pumping iron milk. Zayed said that a lactation space isn’t just a random unused room in the office.

Keep reading.—KP

While a majority of US workers believe that DE&I efforts are good for the bottom line, some companies may still not know the basics of crafting a DE&I strategy. While every business has different needs, some experts say that there are a few components every DE&I program should have.

A long-term plan. “Many efforts come out of the gates with a significant amount of momentum,” said Franklin Reed, executive director of global inclusion, diversity, and equity at TEKsystems, a technology management company. Reed told HR Brew that leaders need to be educated and know their long-term goals before developing or executing a strategy.

Ella Washington, a DE&I expert and organizational psychologist, said in a Harvard Business Review article that businesses need to know how their employees are impacted by diversity or discrimination in all facets of their lives. This basic foundational knowledge will help them determine their next steps, Washington wrote.

Company-wide participation. Reed said that successful DE&I programs need a variety of participants. He added that without an employee dedicated to DE&I strategy and execution, it’s hard to see progress being made.

Keep reading.—KP

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: An all-time high of 77.8% of US women between 25 and 54 are working, thanks, in part, to the work-from-home policies that emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. (Insider)

Quote: “Eavesdropping is a huge form of education…Hearing what other people are saying, how they’re dealing with problems.”—John Hayes, founder of Blackney Hayes Architects, on one surprising perk of RTO (the Wall Street Journal)

Read: The SCOTUS decision to toss out affirmative action policies at two universities last month could impact how companies attract a diverse talent pool. (Inc)

Lead the dis(course): EdApp’s AI Create lets HR pros develop a workplace course in seconds by simply entering a topic, ranging from unconscious bias to presentation skills. Try it for free.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}