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Newsflash: your workforce is a hidden goldmine of untapped skill potential.
Think about it. We never use all our skills and capabilities in any single role we perform. Every employee has unused capacity.
Talent demand currently outstrips supply, but there is a way to uncover the latent potential in your employees so that it could be deployed as needed where needed. This would reduce the need for external recruitment and all the attendant costs, including onboarding and training.
There is a way to simultaneously satisfy the employee’s need for greater meaning and purpose in their work, for mobility and flexibility, for challenge and variety. It would create a more satisfied and engaged workforce, a workforce less likely to suffer from the ‘stuck-in-a-rut’ feeling that’s often the precursor to a resignation. The boost in retention rates could save the business a fortune.
There is a way to have real-time visibility of your skill and talent demand and supply and democratize the internal recruitment process.
An internal talent marketplace is just the solution you need to combat chronic issues currently plaguing companies right now, such as the talent and skills gap, employee engagement, and attrition.
What is an Internal Talent Marketplace?
A talent marketplace is a part of your internal talent management system that gives a high level of transparency to workforce capabilities. It facilitates a more intelligent and highly connected workforce allocation solution by matching open roles with employees in different ways. Opportunities may be another full-time role, project-based assignments, mentorship, or gigs.
With a more detailed view of workforce potential, it’s like discovering a whole new talent pool. This quasi expansion in ready talent and skill supply can be a boon to the organization but also highly beneficial to employees.
Employers/leaders want to narrow the talent and skills gap and employees want more opportunities, greater purpose, mobility, and flexibility.
The Benefits of an Internal Talent Marketplace to the Employer
Talent: Work Alignment
The events of the last two years were a sobering reminder that change is unpredictable, and we need to be prepared. What does that preparation look like? It’s expected that business needs may change and putting systems in place to accommodate these sometimes-unpredictable shifts, often at scale and speed.
The ability to align and realign the workforce with the work is one way to mitigate for crisis and change. It allows the business to become more agile and adaptable by unlocking capacity and allowing mobility throughout the organization. Allocating resources where you need them prevents you from getting stuck with idle resources in one area and shortage in another.
A talent marketplace allows for easy reshaping the business and avoiding the need for layoffs. For example, at the onset of the pandemic, Unilever’s talent marketplace made it possible for them to relocate thousands of employees from areas where they were underutilized to those that were still growing. The moves protected jobs and kept the business profitable.
Rapid redeployment
In times of crisis or when circumstances call for a radical strategic shift, timing is critical when realigning your workforce. Speed can improve outcomes because the talent marketplace allows the organization to be in a state of readiness that avoids mobilization delays, thereby protecting productivity levels.
Flexible workforce
It’s a sure win for any business with fluctuating talent needs to have a flexible, scalable workforce that can be reallocated with changing priorities. Having an eye on talent demand and supply in real-time makes it possible. When you create an internal gig economy with short-term project assignments, you develop a more agile and resilient workforce.
Fragmented work for increased capacity
Gain efficiency advantages from breaking up jobs into projects or discrete tasks. When you unlock more capacity, you can tackle these tasks in creative ways that were previously impossible. By creating opportunities for project-based work, you’re able to tap into previously unused skills to drive productivity when you need it the most.
Talent and skill discovery
Sometimes roles can be so siloed that it is easy to be blind to hidden talent and skills in your workforce. The talent marketplace allows cross-functional working with the new visibility and access to workforce capabilities.
Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
The expanded access to the opportunities that the talent marketplace presents enhances the employee value proposition beyond the traditional avenues for growth and development.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
The added visibility and access to career development opportunities across the organization levels the playing field, removes bias, and increases networking that can promote diversity.
Recruitment savings
Improve internal mobility, and you are bound to see a reduction in recruiting costs along with stronger recruitment metrics as time-to-hire falls, and new-hire productivity increases.
Retention
An employee who can transition within the organization to a new role to progress their career is not likely to suffer the malaise of stagnancy and eventually leave. They’re happy to stay and explore new opportunities.
Recruiting people who are already a cultural fit and have institutional knowledge cuts the time to productivity and training costs. With a talent marketplace, you’re making it easier for them to find new jobs inside rather than outside the company.
The Benefits of an Internal Talent Marketplace to the Employee
Professional development:
LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends reports that investing in professional development opportunities is the number one way to improve company culture.
Flexibility was number two, and the culture of talent mobility that the talent marketplace provides makes it possible.
When employees know what career opportunities exist within the organization and how to develop and position themselves to be ready for their next opportunity, they are more engaged. It gives them agency and choice in determining their career progression. In the absence of that transparency, employees often find it easier to simply find a new job outside the organization.
An empowered, engaged workforce
Having more transparency and choice gives employees the ability to forge their own path for career development and advancement and select the experiences and challenges that lend variety, purpose, meaning, value, and exposure. Not only is that empowering, but it shows the employer’s effort to meet employee expectations. An empowered employee is a more engaged and loyal employee.
Learning:
Access to a range of opportunities helps deepen skills and expand networks and capabilities. In that way, it creates and supports a culture of learning, promotes a growth mindset among employees, and deepens their commitment to the organization.
It’s a Win-Win
An internal talent marketplace is a win-win for employer and employee alike.
Discover more about the benefits of internal talent mobility and how you can optimize your talent management system.
Phenom eCloud is a comprehensive technology solutions provider committed to empowering businesses to overcome challenges, enhance their workforce capabilities, and achieve superior outcomes.
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