Major shifts in the talent landscape have arisen from economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, and fierce competition for critical skills. This has put talent management’s efforts to achieve talent fluidity – getting the right people in the right place at the right time – under pressure and in the spotlight. Attracting and retaining talent has become a top priority for CEOs worldwide.
Gartner research from June 2024 reveals that 41% of organisations admit that their workforce lacks necessary skills, 50% say they do not leverage the skills they have effectively, and the majority (62%) cite uncertainty about future skills as a major risk. Simply put, talent is not ready for today or tomorrow and employee performance is lower (by 26 percentage points) as a result.
Businesses urgently need strategies to create a more fluid workforce. HR leaders understand the imperative of a more fluid workforce and are making investments to achieve it. But those investments are not paying off in delivering talent readiness. Gartner finds that organisations taking a more targeted approach to talent fluidity see an increase in talent readiness by up to 60%.
So, how can organisations target talent fluidity?
Differentiating skills intelligence investments
Ensuring the organisation has the skills it needs requires precise skills intelligence – comprehensive insights into current capabilities within the workforce and the skills required for future success. However, developing and maintaining such skills intelligence has proven to be more resource-intensive than many expected. This requires significant investments in data and technology and ongoing analysis to ensure talent strategies are aligned with rapidly changing business demands.
Currently, only 8% of HR leaders feel confident that they have accurate data on the skills their workforce holds, according to Gartner research. This creates a major obstacle in assessing current skill gaps and anticipating future needs.
HR leaders should adopt a targeted strategy by prioritising investments in skills intelligence for roles that have the greatest impact on evolving business needs. The focus should then be further narrowed to include highly dynamic positions that are particularly affected by rapid market shifts.
By gaining a clearer understanding of the organisation’s capabilities and needs in these key areas, HR can concentrate its resources where they will have the most significant effect on business outcomes.
Just 1 in 2 managers say they want employees to grow their careers even if it means losing talent on their team.
Reducing the personal costs of mobility
Where the organisation faces challenges in sourcing talent from the external labour market, encouraging internal mobility becomes an essential element of any strategy to bridge the skills gap. But in this effort talent management faces significant challenges in overcoming traditional employee and manager mindsets.
Today, employees don’t pursue mobility. Employees’ number one barrier to mobility is that they don’t find internal roles appealing. And managers share this reluctance, with just 1 in 2 managers saying they want employees to grow their careers even if it means losing talent on their team.
Although HR leaders recognise the benefits that internal mobility offers employees, they frequently overlook a key aspect: the personal risks and costs employees associate with such moves. Instead of concentrating solely on the potential advantages of internal transitions, HR leaders must also address any employee concerns, thereby mitigating a significant barrier to internal mobility.
Committing to the core skills of today
Gartner finds that 79% of CEOs say they’ll have a new growth and transformation strategy ready heading into 2025. Employees need the skills that are essential to their performance today, but they also need those that will support their performance tomorrow.
Yet only 23% of organisations effectively develop skills of the future. HR leaders rank the skills gaps as the number one risk for their organisations and addressing unclear future skill needs as the number two risk.
Gartner’s research identifies that HR should prioritise proficiency in today’s core skills over learning future skills. Focusing on today’s skills has a five times greater impact on sustained performance than the skills of tomorrow.
In today’s rapidly evolving business climate and labour market, organisations need a targeted approach to talent fluidity. This means HR leaders must focus the work they’re already doing to understand skills supply and demand by differentiating their investments in skills intelligence.
They must finish the work they’ve already started to get employees bought into internal mobility by focusing on the personal costs that managers and employees feel about internal moves.
Last, they should free themselves from the work they’ve been trying to do to balance current and future skills by focusing on those skills that have the greatest impact on performance now and into the future: today’s core skills.
