3 MIN READ
WHAT IS TALENT MAPPING?
It’s an ongoing assessment of your company’s talent gaps. It involves identifying the skillsets and, eventually, the right candidates to support, grow, and/or transform your company.
Talent mapping is a powerful tool to gain a deeper understanding of your current and future business needs. It’s designed to align your talent strategy with your business goals and objectives, and ensure you get the right people in the right roles to drive success.
Now, let’s break this down.
Identify the following...
Talent mapping for experience is not new, but how this wisdom is used can have a significant business impact. Traditionally appraisals kept us informed of employee loyalty and development areas, but many companies now use continual performance management as an ongoing measure of success.
So, the first step in talent mapping is to clearly define the specific skills and attributes that are essential to meet your business objectives. This may involve working with senior leaders, HR professionals or a recruitment partner to identify the core competencies and level of expertise critical for success.
Once your talent requirements have been determined, the next step is to assess the talent in your existing team. This may involve:
- Skills assessments
- Performance evaluations
- Competency assessments
These reviews will help establish their strengths and weaknesses and give you an idea of the skills and attributes you’re going need.
Engaging with employees throughout the talent mapping process to ensure that they understand the purpose and benefits of the program is essential to retaining and attracting talent. Afterall, your employees are ambassadors for your brand and if they are being encouraged and developed, those details will reach the candidate market.
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To avoid sparking any concerns or stress in your team over new evaluations, tests or appraisals, ensure they know this is all going to be part of their professional development. Let them know that training will be provided if they wish to expand their knowledge or progress in any of the areas highlighted as a ‘weakness’. And don’t forget to showcase strengths when they are identified as well, and encourage those individuals to share their expertise to create a more robust team.
Mind the gap
Based on the results of your talent assessments, the next step is to find the gaps. Look for skills and attributes that are in short supply or lacking completely.
These steps will help you create your ideal candidate persona. You can bring your persona to life by identifying where this individual might be right now. Who are your competitors? What brands do you admire? It’s likely that your perfect candidate could be helping them build their brand right now.
Ask yourself, what level is this person at or what their job title might be? Do they need to be a permanent employee or are you searching for a short term solution to deliver a project? The answers to these questions will make it much easier and faster to find your perfect candidate.
On the record
All of this effort needs to be effectively tracked. This may involve creating a database or CRM that provides real-time access to talent data, including skills and experience, performance reviews, and career aspirations.
Regular talent assessments, updating the skills and attributes required for each role, and tracking the progress and development of employees over time is all essential to keeping your CRM effective for your needs.
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When you are ready to being your search for the perfect candidate, you can start by reviewing previous applicants, searching online or even sending out your wishlist to the team for referrals. (A cash incentive always helps!)
Your greatest asset
But we know that the companies that find it easiest to keep and gain talent are often those who’ve built their reputation on being innovative. This doesn’t have to mean cutting-edge technology, instead think about your Employee Value Proposition (EVP). What are your unique selling points (USP)? Are you offering alternative benefits, adaptive career structures, industry award wins and hybrid working?
The answers to these questions can help create a compelling pitch to candidates and increase employee engagement and loyalty. Your team will develop and become your best advocates, reducing recruitment costs as they encourage like-minded individuals to perpetuate the company culture and success.
Talk to Denholm
Denholm have the ‘know how’. Considered innovators in our field and with over 20 years in the market, Denholm consultants know where and how to find the talent you need to grow your business. If you’d like more information about anything from talent mapping to onboarding, please call us on 03303 359 818. We’re ready to help!
