A 2022 report states that employee engagement can be increased 3.4 times when career advancement opportunities are provided within the organisation. The same report also says that organisations capable of rapidly moving employees internally to strategic roles are 2.4 times more likely to perform higher than others, and 49% of employee turnover was observed due to a lack of career advancement in the same organisation.

Of the many reasons individuals look for jobs outside their organisation, an important one is the lack of growth opportunities in the current organisation or when they feel restricted and cannot put their talent or skills to use in their current role.

Many companies today understand the importance of creating an internal talent marketplace to make the best use of their existing talent and fill the skill gaps.

Here’s what talent marketplaces are and how you can create one for your organisation.

Talent Marketplace and Its Need in an Organisation

Senior leadership often talks about the ‘talent gap’ in their organisation while employees look for external opportunities. In the era of the Great Attrition, organisations need to set up successful internal talent marketplaces to help match their employees with roles.

A talent marketplace is a technology or AI-enabled platform that connects employees with potential positions and development opportunities in their organisation. Large organisations with multiple locations are ideal candidates to launch internal talent marketplaces to help their employees find opportunities and align them with current openings.

Talent marketplaces offer value to both the employer and the employee as they support the latter’s career aspirations and meet the business’s labour demands. Take, for example, a company’s product manager who faces a sudden increase in demand and requires the redeployment of employees from other teams.

The requirement is that these employees must have transferable skills and be able to support the new project until its completion. Posting the project requirement on the organisation’s talent marketplace can help this individual onboard more resources and complete the project on time.

Talent marketplaces are being adopted rapidly by most organisations to support a thriving culture of internal mobility and agility and give their employees several growth opportunities. This motivates and empowers employees, maximising their potential and improving their overall experience in the organisation.

Here are some reasons why a talent marketplace is essential if you are looking to grow your business:

Creates an agile culture

Organisations with functional talent marketplace platforms have insights into their employee potential and capabilities, allowing them to remain successful when restructuring is required to cope with a sudden challenge. Creating successful and functional talent marketplaces is a growing HR trend that is here to stay and an essential ingredient for organisations looking to build an agile culture.

Breaks rigid silos

Having rigid hierarchies create organisational silos and act like blinders for employees unaware of what is happening outside their team or department. When employees work in these silos, they are limited to the knowledge and skills within their business segment, preventing them from utilising or achieving their full potential. This can result in companies losing 20% to 30% of their revenue each year.

Contrary to this, having talent marketplaces in an organisation breaks barriers and allows employees to interact, collaborate and learn from others outside their team. Cross-functional collaboration can lead to greater productivity and motivate them to achieve their goals.

Improves employee engagement and retention

Talent marketplaces offer plenty of opportunities for employees to grow and expand their skills. Giving high performers a chance to explore other roles and growth opportunities helps improves employee engagement, loyalty and retention.

Offers opportunities for re-skilling and upskilling

Upskilling and re-skilling employees is a cost-effective way to source the right talent for the organisation’s upcoming needs. When employees have access to the company’s talent marketplace and upskilling opportunities, they can fine-tune their skills to gain expertise in the roles they wish to apply for. Re-skilling and upskilling, therefore, close the skills gap within organisations.

Enables succession planning

Building a talent marketplace in an organisation allows succession planning, as employees can explore growth opportunities. While it keeps employees engaged and motivated, it also helps organisations create a succession of leaders for the future.

How to Create a Successful Talent Marketplace?

1. Clearly define goals and purpose

When a new strategy or process is introduced in an organisation, there must be clarity on its purpose and the problem you are trying to solve. So, one of the first things you need for a thriving talent marketplace is to define the goals and purpose.

A few outcomes that organisations look to achieve with a talent marketplace are:

Enable cross-departmental projects
Find new opportunities for employees
Enable talent reassignment
Have a transparent internal mobility program
Dealing with crises and challenging situations when the time comes
Allow employee growth opportunities
Empower employees to help boost engagement, loyalty and retention

2. Select an appropriate technology solution

Once the goals and purpose are in place, the next step is to select the most appropriate technology to ensure a good user experience and a booming talent marketplace. A few vendors offering talent marketplace technologies include Gloat, Eightfold.ai, Fuel 50 and SmartPeople (by HRForecast).

Most technology providers allow customisation options to help tune the product for your organisation and goals. Asking the right questions and participating in demos for each product will help you pick the most suitable platform for your organisation.

3. Prime company culture for marketplace adoption

While a talent marketplace helps any organisation grow and thrive, the company culture must be primed to accept it. A culture of collaboration and sharing is insufficient for talent marketplace adoption.

It is essential for employees at all levels of the organisation to understand the importance of the talent marketplace and how it can help them. It is essential to make this internal mobility a part of your culture by deploying an efficient talent marketplace platform.

3. Empower the organisation to drive it

With the organisational workforce onboard and culture primed for the talent marketplace, the business must be empowered to drive the initiative. While HR is expected to provide constant inputs and support the execution, it is the prerogative of the business to ensure continuous skill development that sustains the talent marketplace.

4. Constant monitoring and evaluation

Once the talent marketplace has been set up, it needs to be constantly monitored and evaluated to ensure its success. A few parameters and metrics that you can track for a successful marketplace include:

Number of active employees
Departments with the most active employees
Departments that post the most opportunities
Most coveted and sought-after opportunities
Number of users who have performed activities like saving, sharing or applying for opportunities
Employee surveys from all cadres who use the platform can help get direct feedback from them.

The Key Takeaway!</h2

Talent marketplaces offer several tangible benefits. They empower employees to upskill, re-skill, and improve retention while building organisational capabilities. They also help improve transparency, diversity, equity and inclusion in the organisation when the right technology and platform are used.

References:

GLOAT
AIHR
Deloitte
McKinsey
Mercer
McLean & Company