We are now in the employment epoch of competitive talent deployment, according to authors Edie Goldberg and Kelley Steven-Weiss. Their prescriptions for how to adapt to this environment fits perfectly for the current economic conditions as well. In particular, they note businesses should follow the five following steps:
- Bring visibility to the internal skills you have and any gaps there are (supply).
- Learn to accurately predict what skills you might need (demand).
- Address the speed at which you can fill open jobs and upskill current talent for new or critical skill domains.
- Use digital horsepower—through human-machine collaboration via predictive analytics, machine learning, and automation—to accurately and efficiently match and deploy that talent to the right work, at the right time, at the right cost.
- Redeploy and rapidly mobilize talent to address business continuity and avoid loss of functions during a crisis.
The last point is so critical to the moment we are all experiencing right now – how can companies efficiently and effectively redeploy in-house talent to ensure continued business growth in the face of hiring freezes and furloughs. In your industry, have you seen examples of companies successfully implementing talent redeployment policies to address the current crisis?