In 2020, Josh Bersin expected talent marketplaces to ‘explode into view’. Three years later, that’s very much the case as companies increasingly plug their skills gaps with internal talent. Talent mobility marketplaces are white hot, but what’s the behind their recent success and who are key players?
Connecting employees with career opportunities and resources
Talent marketplaces are able to connect employees with career opportunities and resources with which they can grow in their careers. They’re often referred to as talent mobility or opportunity marketplaces. Largely leaning on artificial intelligence (AI), employees can be matched with advancement opportunities such as internal projects, courses, mentorship programs and any open roles within the organisation through such a marketplace. Based on existing skills and future goals, the talent marketplaces subsequently match profiles with options that align.
Talent marketplace are white hot
And talent marketplaces have been white hot in recent times — mainly due to the fact that companies are finding it harder (and more expensive) to successfully recruit external talent. It’s been a trend Josh Bersin, renowned technology expert, has been predicting for a number of years. In 2020, he deemed talent marketplaces as the most disruptive trend within the world of HR and recruitment technology.
“Today internal mobility is far less about careers and much more about experiences and skills”, Bersin wrote. “High performing professionals want to try new things, learn adjacent skills, take international assignments, and get a chance to work with different leaders. These types of mobility scenarios cannot be planned or programmed into career models. They happen in real-time. So the platforms we now need are different.”
Planned, facilitated or agile mobility
After a lengthy study of the marketplace — Bersin sees three different forms, or options, for talent mobility.
1. Planned mobility
The first category is all about planning. “You create career paths and you encourage people to progress”, Bersin wrote. “This is the traditional ‘career management’ model, where we do development planning each year, and managers coach and often throttle people back from promotion until they’re ready. There has always been this idea of “waiting until someone is ready” and then giving them the job. I’ve never felt this is a good model because there are often many barriers in the way (the narrowing of the pyramid as you move up) and most people “learn to be ready” by taking a new job. So this traditional model, while common, is very limiting. Companies regularly tell me their “succession plans” are not filled in or complete.”
2. Facilitated mobility
The second model revolves around facilitation — but Bersin warns it may not lead to the best business outcome. “[Facilitated mobility] is where someone gets a stretch assignment, or they get ‘assigned’ to take on an important new role or move. These are forced, business-driven moves that often occur because someone is tired of their job or the business needs a hole filled. This is a more dynamic process and most companies do it in a very ad-hoc way.
“This is a common practice and it happens all the time, but it’s often driven by politics (“who you know” or “your internal brand”) so it may or may not result in the best business outcome. But with a good talent mobility platform it can become better, and many HR leaders study patterns of mobility to figure out which moves have the highest potential for success.”
3. Agile mobility
The last option is agile talent mobility. “Where people move around all the time. This takes place when people work on multiple projects, they join various teams or initiatives, and the company operates more like a professional services firm and less like a hierarchy of jobs and functions. Over time all companies are moving in this direction, but for most this is a new idea.”
“Agile talent mobility is very common within a job function. In IT, HR, Finance, or Facilities people move around from project to project all the time. But how many IT managers move into marketing or vice versa? A strong data analyst in IT may be a fantastic hire into Marketing Analytics, but that type of move is uncommon. In an Agile Mobility model, this may happen on a regular basis.”
4 key talent marketplace players
While new talent marketplaces continue to born every year due to the nature of the industry and its subsequent opportunities for success — Bersin highlighted several companies that form the talent marketplaces. We’ve picked four companies that have become experts in recent years within the talent marketplace.
Eightfold
Eightfold AI delivers the Talent Intelligence Platform, the most effective way for organisations to retain top performers, upskill and reskill the workforce, recruit top talent efficiently, and reach diversity goals. The company’s deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) platform empowers enterprises to turn talent management into a competitive advantage.
Fuel50
Fuel50 is the AI Opportunity Marketplace solution that smart-matches your people to coaches, learning, vacancies, gigs, projects, and career journeys. Harness next-gen workforce data, power internal talent mobility, drive workforce agility and reskilling, and future-proof your organisation. With hyper-personalised AI and a deeply embedded commitment to diversity and inclusion, Fuel50 activates your talent. Fuel50’s ethical AI matches your people to opportunities in real-time, automatically maps your workforce architecture, and provides deep data insights for predictive talent and workforce planning. Fuel50 powers the workforce of the future
Gloat
Gloat is an industry-leading Workforce Agility Platform that enables businesses to move like a startup and deliver like an enterprise. Bringing together the world’s first AI-powered Talent Marketplace with rich, dynamic Workforce Intelligence, the Gloat platform empowers businesses to develop and deploy their talent, while continuously understanding and adapting their workforce to changing needs. With Gloat, businesses are ready to navigate change at speed, retain critical skillsets, and design a future-proof workforce. Gloat is trusted by some of the world’s leading global enterprises, including Unilever, Schneider Electric, Mastercard, Standard Chartered Bank, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Novartis, HSBC, Seagate, and many more
Phenom
Phenom has a purpose of helping a billion people find the right job. Through AI-powered talent experiences, employers are using Phenom to hire employees faster, develop them to their full potential, and retain them longer. The Phenom Intelligent Talent Experience platform seamlessly connects candidates, employees, recruiters, hiring managers, HR, and HRIS — empowering over 500 diverse and global enterprises with innovative products including Phenom Career Site, Chatbot, CMS, CRM, AI Scheduling, Video Assessments, Campaigns, University Recruiting, Talent Marketplace, Career Pathing, Gigs, Mentoring, and Referrals.
