Optimizing Talent for Challenging Times

While digital transformation has been one of the top concerns for many organizations over the past five years, the world’s rapid shift to work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this change in many organizations. For many companies the pressing issue has been the need to deploy new skills that are often in higher demand than supply. This remains true no matter how an organization plans to source talent (e.g., FTE, consultant, contractor, or  talent-on-demand). Talent operating models need to evolve to be more efficient in their use of human capital, and more responsive to the rapid shifts in skills, technology and business models.

On top of the talent challenges we have been dealing with because of digital transformation, we are now experiencing the greatest health and economic disaster of our lifetime. As a consequence, many companies will have to lay people off as a result of declines in their business, supply chain disruptions, or a need to preserve cash.  While we have always talked about doing more with less, that is the reality facing many organizations. Now, more than ever before, we need to optimize the use of the talent we have within our organizations.

To do this companies need to gain an in-depth understanding of the talent they have to both leverage all of the skills inside their companies and create strategies to transition employees to new kinds of work. To better leverage the talent we already have we need to gain insight into all the skills employees have —beyond the bounds of job titles or descriptions.  Armed with this information organizations can better utilize those skills when and where they need them.

Now let’s address the need for strategies to transition employees to new kinds of work. Every day we’re inundated with articles addressing the shifting business landscape and the quandary many organizations face of what to do with their current workforces when, because of technological advancements in the workplace, existing skills become obsolete and new skills are needed. However, there is simply not enough talent in the labor market for some of the in-demand skills today (e.g., data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence) to meet the growing needs of companies. Companies need to identify what skills the existing talent has and who has foundational skills that can be built on to develop the skills needed for the future of work.

By gaining visibility into the hidden skills, capabilities and aspirations of their employees, organizations can more rapidly and cost-effectively match the right talent to solve real-time business challenges. They can also tap into discretionary effort from a highly engaged workforce by allowing employees to work on those projects that best match their skills and interests. The future is about connecting people with — Inside Gigs — short-term projects that provide opportunities for micro-learning, personal growth and fully leveraging all of their capabilities so that they can lead more fulfilling careers and companies can maximize their investment in talent.

Companies can increase their performance and results by creating an internal gig network which will boost both productivity and engagement in their organizations. Rather than acquire new skills by hiring from outside, the new and quite disruptive reality is that competitive advantage is now based on the ability to rapidly develop and more effectively deploy the talent supply within a company.