Technology is constantly changing, and the required knowledge naturally evolves with it. Has your organization fully embraced its digital transformation and grown exponentially as a direct consequence? You may be at risk of suffering a talent gap that exacerbates internal weaknesses and negatively impacts productivity in the long run.
In simple terms, a talent gap refers to the lack of skilled personnel in an organization, and dealing with it requires a strong HR strategy to identify this issue on time and remedy it. At Imagemaker, we are committed to collaborating with our Makers to address your needs– but how can your company identify its own talent gap and decide the best course of action?
Why is the Talent Gap Happening?
The lack of specialized personnel is an issue affecting organizations worldwide. Some universal reasons behind the talent gap include insufficient training for the current workforce, technological advances that happen too quickly for employees to catch up, and the current education system struggling to keep up with the demand.
These variables will continue affecting companies trying to find long-term solutions to their lack of personnel. If we move the focus inside the organization, talent gaps may happen because of a lack of talent nurturing within the company's culture or policies. If there's no actual incentive to develop new skills or capabilities, people will eventually grow dissatisfied, and talent retention is bound to fail.
Others cite a lack of long-term vision as the main culprit for the talent gap– if the company continues its growth without a clear pathway, its talent shortcomings will hinder the process. In the end, your team will feel overwhelmed if there are not enough people to address the workload evenly, leading to demotivation and team members potentially finding new career paths elsewhere.
Steps for Identifying a Talent Gap
Knowing your company deals with a lack of specialized talent is different than identifying the specific roles required to fix the issue. At Imagemaker, we share some guidelines for a proper analysis of talent management:
Study current and future market trends. This not only includes analyzing the competition's job offers and organization chart to evaluate your standing in the industry. Analyzing reports like 100 Jobs of the Future can give your company insight into future applications and potential skill gaps.
Develop a talent gap analysis, which evaluates how your company's employees stand in relation to current and future employment market trends. This exercise aids in visualizing how your team can accomplish the company's goals with their current skill set.
Create a skills inventory compiling your current employees' capabilities, experience, and skills. A detailed and updated breakdown of your workforce's qualifications will help you plan for future projects and analyze their current state. Don't forget about data visualization: select a clear and concise way to overview your company's situation.
Compile all Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) according to your company's needs for potential vacancies, emphasizing hard and soft skills insights extracted from the talent gap analysis.
How to Prevent Talent Gaps in my Company?
Just knowing about the talent gap won't be enough to fix the issue. Rather than react too late to a lack of personnel, your organization will ensure there's little talent leakage by applying the following recommendations:
Apply company value changes towards an influential and welcoming organizational culture to retain and grow talent. Focusing on internal mobility with proper recognition and promotions when applicable will help your team members find new career paths within your organization rather than looking elsewhere.
Evaluate your recruitment process to ensure you're effectively using the right hiring strategy to cover your talent gap. Educational programs are also ideal for internship opportunities that can evolve into full-time careers.
Use various talent sources in your search. Finding the right talent also requires broadening your search horizon, whether using the standard job boards or sharing your available vacancies through your site. Imagemaker connects companies with Makers for digital projects, helping bridge the talent gap with specialized professionals.
Closing the talent gap requires knowledge and practical recruiting to ensure your workforce can face challenges with the correct skill set. Imagemaker constantly updates with the latest insight on the digital job market, so be sure to check out our blog for more information.