The use of a talent marketplace in organisations is on the rise, as the very nature of work and skills have morphed after the pandemic and the Great Resignation. Employers discovered that talent marketplace platforms allow them to remain competitive in a tight labour market by focusing more on how work is getting done over job titles and job descriptions.

What is a Talent Marketplace?

A talent marketplace is an internally built-in system in the organisation focusing on talent and career development. It is a place where job roles, projects and mentoring opportunities are posted by the organisation and employees have the opportunity to promote their skillset create career development and bid on those postings.

Ruslan Tovbulatov from Gloat, a provider of a talent marketplace platform, shared:

“The way we talk about the company is we are really helping democratise careers and career opportunities. We are unlocking skills within organisations, and we are future-proofing workforces. We do that by connecting individuals and their skill sets and capacity to the right opportunities within an organisation.”

To put into perspective, a talent marketplace is much like a freelancer/gig platform where freelancers set up a skills profile and bid for or receive invitations to bid on work companies are looking to have done. Another example would be Uber and how they get drivers together with people who need a lift somewhere. Such systems have been garnering more attention by human resources management for all the right reasons.

Why did the Talent Marketplace come into use?

Several trends escalated the talent marketplace into use in companies. One was the transformation of HR and its role in businesses. It became clear to workforce leaders that HR professionals offer compelling insight into business challenges through data collection, advanced analytics, and they are now invited to strategic business meetings.

Second came the realisation that employees were a vital asset and played a large part in a company’s success. With that, came businesses listening and working to make the employee morale and employee experience more positive for their talent. Lastly, it was from the changing nature of skills and how skills have become a priority when work needs to be done – more important than job titles or experience.

What are the Business Benefits of a Talent Marketplace?

The overall benefit to a talent marketplace is improved productivity. The talent marketplace contributes to the organisation’s understanding of productivity in a new and more profound way. By building and utilising the talent marketplace, the company can unleash the full potential of their employees, all while improving the employee experience. But to break it down:

Retention of Talent

From the shift in mindset with talent, their tenure began to drop as they started to seek opportunities for continued learning and would leave an organisation after just a few years of service. With a talent marketplace, those employees that could potentially go for the next opportunity for growth can now find it with their current company, allowing them to have many careers in one company.

Beat Organisational Silos

Collaboration was a challenge with so many companies employing people from all over the globe and implementing hybrid work. With a talent marketplace, networking becomes far easier for everyone. Before, if a manager needed help with a project, they would only be aware of the talent resources at their location. But with the assistance of a talent marketplace, that manager can now reach out and partner with people from across the globe to get work done. 

Support Diversity and Inclusion

Due to the ease of accessing talent within the organisation through the talent marketplace, there is a greater opportunity to solicit insights into the diverse talent within the organisation. Since more individuals can offer their skills and be included in the company culture, a sense of belonging will develop. Not only that but building an inclusive workplace culture drives greater business value, as we saw in our Digital HR Leaders Podcast episode featuring Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia

Leverage for Speed

Not all organisations or managers understand what skill sets their current employees possess. Employers have that information in a data-driven and organised fashion with a talent marketplace. So when work needs to be done and specific or new skills are required, that skill set can be utilised rapidly, giving the company more agility through a talent marketplace with the avoidance of third-party approval processes or expensive recruitment efforts.

Re-Deployment

Since the pandemic, many jobs have been lost because of Covid-19. The talent marketplace offers an alternative to layoffs. Employees can be realigned to new job roles through the talent marketplace and remain employed with the business.

How are Organisations using the Talent Marketplace?

Many companies have embraced using the talent marketplace within their organisation and found measurable success. 

Ruslan shared one example:

“Some of our earliest partners like Unilever have these incredible stories where in the first 60 days of the pandemic, they were able to redeploy a huge number of their talent using the Gloat-powered marketplace that they call Flex Experiences. So, they were able to staff, I think the numbers were 700 plus business-critical projects.

They unlocked tens of thousands of hours that would otherwise have been unused. And the amazing thing about it, too, was they connected the globe almost overnight where 60% of the job assignments and the role assignments were cross country, which just would never have happened without a talent marketplace in action because you are so focused on your region. So, it enabled them to really be so efficient and adapt, in almost real-time, to the changing dynamics.”

Another example is how IBM used the talent marketplace to understand skills demands and adjust their learning program to accommodate the company’s needs and enhanced professional development. Diane Gherson of IBM discovered what skills they had at their organisation and what skills they needed by first asking questions such as: 

• What skills are hot at IBM?

• Where do we have demand?

• Where does the market have demand?

• How do we align our people accordingly?

Afterwards, they took their insight into creating a robust workforce planning that incorporated employees’ current skills and upskilled employees where required. This shifted the learning mindset, gave employees insight into where their skills lie and enabled them to take control of updating their talent where needed.

How do you get started building an internal Talent Marketplace?

Though well worth the effort, setting up a talent marketplace within the organisation is not a simple task. But several steps can be taken to make the process easier.

Decide the Purpose

First, form a committee to discuss why a talent marketplace is being implemented into the organisation and clearly understand what is hoped to be accomplished. It is keen to remain in business focus with longer-term priorities in mind.

Build a Plan

From here, a roadmap can be developed. Deciding how the talent marketplace will function once put into place is the next step. Think about these concerns and find answers.

• Will an AI be enabled for machine learning? 

• Will the experiences be customised for users?

• How should the rollout be communicated to the staff?

Find a platform

At this stage, whether to buy, build or borrow a platform that employees want to engage with becomes a question. Any product developed should have dimensions serving what people wish, such as deploying their skills, utilisation of their current skills or getting more fulfilment. The platform should also consider these types of employees who would use it, such as:

• New employees - who wants to learn everything they can

• The manager - who has a project that needs doing

• The sceptic - who may have been disappointed in the past

You also want to consider the barriers that might stand in their way of using it as much as what would motivate them to - and then make every attempt to remove those challenges.

Launch the Program

Begin by launching a program pilot with MVP - minimum viable products tied to the business needs. Communicate with the employees who first utilise the program and ask for feedback. From the insight they provide, continue to explore and set out on a larger scale. The real key here is to see if people use it.

Final Thoughts

In order to create an effective HR professional pathway you need to consider the power of the talent marketplace. Since employers are discovering the power the talent marketplace gives them with higher productivity, more job satisfaction and employee engagement, and greater retention of that same talent, HR professionals and people analytic teams have a great opportunity to assist company leaders with building a system to function best for their organisations. To do this most effectively, CHROs, HRBPs and analytic leaders must remain business-focused, data-driven, and experience-led.

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