Beyond Good Intentions: Spotting Ethical Blind Spots in Talent Management

Presented by:
Dr. Adena Johnston

Every day, HR professionals make decisions that profoundly impact people’s careers, livelihoods, and sense of worth. Unfortunately, many organizations operate with strategic blind spots that turn well-intentioned leaders into unintentional sources of harm. This session explores the hidden ethical challenges in talent management that go beyond legal compliance, focusing on the moral responsibility we have as stewards of human potential.

We will explore components of the strategic blindness that occurs when leaders believe they see the complete picture but miss crucial connections resulting in the implementation of quick fixes that treat people as interchangeable resources rather than complex human beings. These decisions may look efficient on paper, but they create ripple effects that damage trust, engagement, and organizational culture in ways that aren’t immediately visible.

Participants will explore critical ethical questions: How do we balance short-term business pressures with long-term people impacts? What’s our responsibility when we see unfair processes that others don’t recognize? How do we move from simply following procedures to actively creating environments where people can truly thrive?

This session challenges HR professionals to recognize their unique position as ethical talent stewards and provides concrete strategies for building transparency, fairness, and trust into everyday talent decisions. Participants will learn to spot ethical blind spots and discover how to advocate effectively for practices that honor both human dignity and business success.

Whether you’re dealing with promotion decisions, performance management, or organizational changes, you’ll leave with practical approaches to ensure your talent practices create positive impacts that extend far beyond immediate business results.

Learning objectives include:

• Identify Common Ethical Blind Spots in Talent Decisions: Participants will recognize warning signs when talent management decisions may create unintended harm or unfairness, using simple diagnostic questions to spot potential ethical issues.
• Understand the Impact of Transparent Decision-Making: Participants will learn why process fairness matters as much as outcomes and identify key elements that make talent decisions feel trustworthy to employees.
• Apply an Ethical Lens to Everyday HR Situations: Participants will practice asking better questions about the human impact of common HR decisions, moving beyond “Is this legal?” to “Is this right for our people and organization?”

Approved for 1.25 SHRM PDCs
Approved for 1.25 Ethics HRCI Credits

Dr. Adena Johnston is the author of Growing Forward: An HR Guide for Adaptive Talent Management, Principal of the Lateral Group, and the 2025 HR Person of the Year award winner as a Strategic HR Ally. She combines hands-on executive leadership with deep academic expertise to help organizations navigate complex challenges. With experience leading start-ups and three turnarounds as both HR consultant and corporate president, she creates customized solutions that drive sustainable organizational transformation. A certified Master Corporate Executive Coach with a doctorate in Management and an MSOD, Dr. Johnston’s recent impact includes guiding strategic planning processes, developing competency frameworks, and leading multi-year transformations while maintaining organizational continuity through leadership transitions.

Drawing from her background in sociology and organizational development, she specializes in helping leaders navigate the ethical blind spots that emerge when business pressures meet human complexity. Her work emphasizes procedural justice and transparent decision-making as foundations for building organizational trust and engagement.

Registration:

Members: $25
Guests: $30
Students: $10

Meeting Agenda:

Thank you to our Meeting Sponsor: