There are not many feelings as warm and exciting as stepping foot in a foreign country for the first time and watching a customs agent add a fresh stamp to your passport. It’s sorta akin to that feeling of finishing a really interesting and challenging new project and walking away with a few new skills under your belt.

Even if you think that analogy is a bit of a stretch, at graphic design platform Canva, employee skills are viewed and cherished like stamps on a passport. New ones are acquired on projects and revered the way globetrotters flip through old passports, ogling at their stamps with pride and joy.

Canva employs its “Skills Passport” framework as part of its skills-based hiring approach. The company—which fields 300,000 resumes annually—looks at candidate and employee talent as transferrable and fluid through a skills lens; the right fit for a role is the sum of skills, rather than simply the last job title a candidate held.

The skills passport concept at Canva enables employees to focus more on skills-based growth and development—while opening up internal mobility in a more fluid way for its TA team.

Keep reading here.—AD

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to an abortion in 2022 shook up the business world, as shareholders called on the corporate sector to detail how the move would impact their workforces, and employees asked their employers to be more transparent about their reproductive healthcare benefits. Two years on, abortion access is still an animating issue for the US electorate.

While a Harris-Walz administration could signal to HR professionals fewer restrictions to navigate when it comes to reproductive healthcare benefits, a Trump-Vance administration could tighten access while focusing on broadening access to other aspects of family planning. Who moves to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., in January, however, is only a piece of the regulatory puzzle, albeit an important one.

Keep reading here.—AD, CV

You may not know a lot about Quantum Workplace, but you’ve certainly seen their surveys. The Omaha-based employee engagement software company is behind many annual “best workplaces” lists, including those published by regional business journals and Inc.’s “Best Workplaces” ranking. The company also offers an employee engagement platform that organizations can use internally, which is how Cyndi Wenninghoff, director of employee success, was introduced to the organization.

Wenninghoff has a unique advantage, as she’s able to use the company’s software to find pain points in its culture, and to get intel on the broader talent market for its customers. Currently, she said she’s observing client and colleague concerns about retaining top talent. In light of that, she’s leaning on manager training and leveraging her company’s software to conduct quarterly performance reviews and regularly analyze them with Quantum Workplace’s leadership team.

Keep reading here.—PM