Talent Marketplace: The Path to Agile Talent Mobility

The HR tech landscape is rapidly evolving to meet the new challenges faced by HR departments and companies today. A new HR tech concept – the Talent Marketplace – has emerged and caught the attention of people analytics experts.

Why is the Talent Marketplace so important? And why are companies across industries focusing on it?

The primary reason for the growing popularity of this new talent management model is its innovative and flexible approach to talent acquisition, mobility, and management. Companies need to quickly place the right people in the right roles. For this, they need technology and data. The Talent Marketplace seems to be the answer to this need.

What is the Talent Marketplace?

The Talent Marketplace, also known as a talent mobility or internal mobility platform, is a technology-driven platform that connects employees with career opportunities within the organization. It allows companies to engage, develop, and retain their employees with comprehensive flexibility and agility.

At the core of the Talent Marketplace is the use of internal talent. It focuses less on "careers" and more on "experiences and skills." By leveraging internal talent, companies can benefit from the skills of all departments.

The Talent Marketplace also enables employees to take control of their careers and work more effectively. Top performers can learn new or adjacent skills, take on new tasks, and collaborate with different colleagues within the company.

Development of Talent Mobility

Josh Bersin outlines three stages of this concept development in his article on the Talent Marketplace phenomenon:

1. Planned Mobility: Traditional career management with linear career paths and annual development planning. This model lacks flexibility and holds employees back from promotions.
2. Facilitated Mobility: Roles are assigned to employees when a position becomes available. Without a good platform, this model lacks transparency and can be enforced by management.
3. Agile Talent Mobility: A gig or project-oriented model that allows employees to quickly and continuously switch between teams and initiatives. This model is flexible and advanced, enabling companies to make the most of their talents and offering employees endless opportunities.

Practical Examples

Companies like American Express, IBM, Nestlé, P&G, Unilever, Google, and General Mills successfully implement a Talent Marketplace strategy. Employees can choose projects and tasks that best match their skills.

Challenges Addressed by the Talent Marketplace

The Talent Marketplace model offers numerous benefits:

• People Analytics through Skill Matching: Transparency about existing skills and closing skill gaps.
• Reskilling and Future-Proofing: Insights into organizational structure and individual employee development.
• Reducing Recruitment Costs and Increasing Employee Engagement: Saving recruitment costs and motivating internal talent.
• Enabling Skill Shifts: AI-driven matching of employees with new opportunities.
• Building a More Agile Workforce: Promoting the transition to a more agile workforce.

How to Master Talent Mobility:

Transitioning to agile talent mobility happens in clear stages:

1. Discovery Phase: Transparency and documentation of all competencies.
2. Forecasting: Identifying skill gaps and future skill needs.
3. Connecting the Dots: Linking employees and skills.
4. Transformation: Making predictions and enabling skill transformation.

Conclusion In the new era of talent management, the ability to develop internal talent quickly and effectively is a competitive advantage. Invest in the skills you already have. At Sprad, we believe in the power of people analytics and workforce planning. Learn more about the Talent Marketplace and solve your talent management challenges.

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