Making the most of talent in a skills-driven future of work

The latest jobs report from the US Department of Labor reveals a rise in hiring, with US employers adding 49,000 jobs in 2021.

While hiring is an important part of every organization’s growth, it’s equally important not to lose sight of the talent you already have.

In fact, many HR professionals involved in the recruitment process likely have an untapped pool of talent within their organization made up of undiscovered employee skills.

In its recent Jobs Reset Summit, the World Economic Forum (WEF) stated that the Future of Work will be skill-based, meaning that the right skill sets will be prized over academic qualifications alone.

With this in mind, it’s important for HR professionals to maximize the skills already present within their existing talent pool. After all, employee attrition can cost a company up to 33% of its employee compensation package.

Understanding your business

But companies can only maximize their existing talent pool when they understand the spectrum of skills they already have on staff.

In order to ensure that companies are making the most of the talent they already have, HR professionals must take an insight-driven approach to uncover employee skills that can be optimized or upskilled.

Let’s evaluate how taking a closer look at existing employee skills can in fact be a secret weapon to your company’s growth and success.

The talent that already exists

Large organizations benefit from a huge internal talent pool. On its face, this is an asset, but it can be an underused one if company leadership isn’t fully aware of the breadth of skill sets available.

For example, a large, multinational organization may have information about each employee’s project activities and performance area, but they lack a deeper view of the individual’s full skill profile, which is further made up of activities undertaken on their own time, such as public speaking or coding (to name just a few).

These acquired skills may not directly relate to the employee’s current role but can be useful to the company nevertheless. How could this person be utilized within the organization if senior management were aware of these other skills they possess?

Tech platforms that evaluate human capital can be useful in providing HR professionals with a real-time picture of the company’s full skill set.

Technologies like Yva.ai can unearth talents and “hidden” skills that can add tremendous value to new projects, departments, and can even result in building new teams tailor-made to solve specific problems.

Leveraging such technology is one way that companies can better invest in the human capital already under their own roof, thus saving money and time associated with additional recruitment and hiring.

Meaningful employee retention

Many people will initially join a company because it gives them the opportunity to gain experience and build their resume.

But if there is no mentorship or further learning opportunities for employees to develop their skills, the fact is that most will end up leaving. And the cycle of attrition and hiring begins again. But what if there were a better approach?

By using tools like Plum to implement psychometric personality assessments, HR professionals can better understand what motivates each individual employee.

Acting on this knowledge, they can offer appropriate learning and development pathways that cater to the employee’s professional goals while building the skills needed to further the company’s greater strategy.

This is the basis for upskilling —  an important element that drives both retention and value over time.

Upskilling within the company

Upskilling is a key investment that organizations make when they develop and leverage their human capital. Investing in upskilling means investing in the individual and their full potential to the company over time.

Large organizations such as IBM and Orange recognize this and have developed their own internal “academia” training programs designed to provide additional training and help employees achieve new professional heights. Such programs are a clear example of the effort made to add long-term value to the organization through upskilling.

These companies upskill because they understand that you not only want the most talented and highly skilled employees, but you also want those who know the company inside and out, who breathe its ethos and are loyal to its mission.

Investing in your talent pool through upskilling is a way to achieve that —  and everybody benefits. Whether they partner with internal or external organizations to deliver the training, internal upskilling is a growing area that helps organizations maximize their human capital and create a dynamic workforce based on growth from the inside.

Putting people first

Most business leaders understand that people are their greatest asset.

By combining a technology-led HR approach with a view to long-term growth and acceleration, a company can truly leverage the talent that already exists within its walls.

An HR program that is underpinned by a mindset eager to make the most out of your human capital by helping employees to grow continuously, is one that sets your company up for long-term success.