Making the Most of Internal Talent in a Tight Labor Market
As the economy tightens and the competition remains fierce to retain the most talented workers, many companies are searching for innovative ways to retain talent.
As with many thorny business issues, artificial intelligence tools have an answer to this age-old conundrum: with ways to better leverage internal talent and match them to emerging skills gaps within a company. Consider New York-based comapny Gloat, which is a platform that can connect employees with internal work and development opportunities, including new projects, reskilling and mentoring.
Employees fill out profiles, including their key skills, interests, goals and resume. The platform then allows the companies that use it to market opportunities for upskilling or career development to employees and in turn, to allow employees to market themselves internally to company decision-makers.
It’s just one example of the new ways technology can be employed in the service of a constant goal: to retain and make the most of talented employees.
The Role of Internal Talent
Gloat is carving out a specific niche because internal skills development and molding qualified candidates to fit existing skills gaps remains an under-leveraged component in talent sourcing. Normally companies are prone to conduct an outside search when they identify a need.
If you can identify an internal worker to fill a need, you can save money. With the economy on a robust recovery trajectory, as it is now, and as restless executive talent contemplates a migration to new opportunities, platforms like Gloat represent a new way of hanging onto key workers.
Developing Talent Through Many Stage of their Careers
Over-the-top employee perks, such as gourmet catered lunches or deluxe campuses, only go so far. Employees want to know they can advance in a position, and that such advancements come with not only additional compensation but also challenges that align with personal goals and values.
Platforms like Gloat can be one way of making that process more transparent, but companies can also make a it priority among management to set aside regular time to chat about career goals and development.
The Role of Online Training and MOOCs
The pandemic has been a real boon for online training, allowing workers to hone their skillsets on their own time. Outside companies such as Coursera, Udemy and Skillshare have numerous options in business management, technology, computer skills and others. Some companies also opt to create their own custom training programs to entice workers to enhance their skills. Read more about online training and MOOCs here.
Identifying Skills Gaps
Whether or not you use a technological platform to scour your internal resources for the best talent, it is important for all companies to have a strategic way of identifying skills gaps. It’s just one part of having a “talent acquisition strategy” or an intentional set of guidelines that steer your decisions in hiring. Your talent acquisition strategy will be individual and unique to your business and goals, and will normally incorporate:
- business goals
- a framework for attracting and evaluating candidates
- the set of tools you use in hiring
Read more about crafting a strong talent acquisition strategy here.
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