In Canada and the US, winter is on its way—but many companies are acting like it is Groundhog Day: sticking their heads up every now and then, wondering if business is improving, if the economy is turning around, and if they can come out of their holes and start hiring already.
When hiring is down, HR and TA departments usually have to make do with less and get creative. Which is why many companies are turning to internal talent to fill gaps in challenging times: not only is it more cost-effective, but it also ensures a strong culture fit and removes the burden of hiring and onboarding.
I doubt anyone needs my two cents on why promoting people you already hired is a good idea. So, if you’ve been paying attention, this would probably be a good time to call me Captain Obvious and close the window on your browser.
But! Talent Marketplaces are a new twist on the old classic, because they utilize new tech and automation to help place the right people in the right positions.
How does it work? Let’s dive in.
What is a Talent Marketplace?
Talent Marketplaces are data systems designed to match current employees with new job openings. The complexity and value of that matching depend on the platform being used, but can include everything from skillsets to experience, interests, availability: you name it. Like any systems powered by AI these days, there are plenty of options in terms of configuration so long as the data is there to power it.
When configured correctly, it is kind of like a map of your talent in real time—able to chart how and where people can move within the company. Whether you’re looking for temporary help with a project, or to fill a full-time role, it is a powerful tool that goes beyond the casual, person to person recommendations that organizations typically use to fill internal roles.
Limitations
We all want AI to be the magic bullet that solves all our problems. And the sales folks involved would probably like us to believe that (I’m sure!). But the reality is these are tools like any other, with upsides and downsides that depend on how you use them.
Here are some things to consider when making the decision to implement a Talent Marketplace strategy:
- They are more effective in larger orgs – cross referencing the skills and abilities of eight employees who already have full-time jobs and do everything doesn’t make much sense. But at scale—with hundreds or even thousands of employees, let’s say—it can start to produce some very interesting and valuable connections.
- Data management is critical – accuracy is critical for a Talent Marketplace to be effective. That means up-to-date job titles, skill sets, and interests for every single employee. That makes managing a Talent Marketplace a big job. There’s nothing worse than the system failing to match because it doesn’t know Tabitha learned how to code in Python last summer.
- Creating an effective Talent Marketplace doesn’t happen overnight—although we are talking about a computer system, this one has a very strong, human behaviour piece. For example: assessing workplace skills only works if people are actually willing or interested in changing jobs…and if they can leave their current position without making another hole somewhere else. There is a culture-building component to doing this sort of thing well, which is likely going to need to start small before it becomes effective.
The Dream Scenario
Of course, there is also a tremendous amount of promise in these systems. Once mature, and if well maintained, it would be capable of powering some difficult and unintuitive decision making.
For example. Let’s say you’ve got a temp program that hires recent grads. They all have different backgrounds and degrees, but start at entry-level positions doing clerical work of some sort.
When you get a junior developer job, or an accountant, or even a graphic designer, your system is going to know which of these folks have a relevant background, which would allow you to at least try them for a bigger role with your organization.
Their managers might not know or care what they can do outside of their entry-level job—but with a Talent Marketplace, you get a greater, data-driven insight into what your people can do.
If sufficiently advanced, you could imagine integrating skills testing into these platforms as well, so that your existing staff could take a test that grades their ability to do the job you’re hiring for, regardless of what their skills and experience are on paper. Every organization has a handful of smart, dedicated employees that are being underutilized—this is precisely the kind of tool that could help there.
Wrap
With the sheer amount of technology that has been unleashed on the world this year, everyone is playing catchup.
Tools like Talent Marketplaces are so new that no one is really using them optimally, or even knows how they could fit into their organizations.
But their promise is also enormous (like many AI applications!). The trick will be waiting to see which platforms stand out as the most useful and robust, and how organizations adopt them effectively.
But that is for the future—for now, if you’re looking for help filling roles, working with a staffing company like Raise can make a huge difference. Check out https://raiserecruiting.com/ to see how we can help your business today!
