Open Talent

Introduction The Digital Transformation of Talent

In early fall of 2021, the software company SEI held an all-hands video meeting with a thousand engineers. Ryan Hicke, executive vice president of technology, dove right into the meeting’s main agenda—touting the benefits of returning to the company’s state-of-the-art campus in the Philadelphia suburbs. It had stood mostly empty since the end of March 2020 and the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns. When Hicke finished his remarks, the dead silence that followed spoke volumes. No one was scrambling to return to the office.

What might persuade his people to come back? Hicke sent out a digital survey asking for input and giving employees twenty-four hours to respond. He got back only twenty ...