Talent Decisions Need Talent Data

Every day at Talmix we create thousands of new data points on our talent platform.  Our objective in doing this is straightforward: data is vital to the business as it looks to find the skills it needs to deliver on business objectives. Organisations, especially as they become more digital, need new roles and new skills to get the work done.

Traditionally, hiring managers had a vacant role, and a selection of CVs to fill that role. Today’s hiring manager has new pressures: they are often hiring for roles that aren’t as clearly defined, and requiring skills that are new, and often in the ‘soft’ skills category. In fact, as the workforce becomes more flexible and more fluid, the role is less relevant than the need to bring skillsets into the team and the business. It’s not surprising that hiring is slowing down as the decision-making process becomes tougher – and that makes the skills gap even wider.

To date, talent information available to the business rarely focuses on skills and it becomes harder to match talent knowing that new skills will be needed. And it isn’t just hiring managers who are impacted: the business finds it harder to develop a workforce strategy when they are unable to predict future requirements.

Companies currently lack information on what new roles will look like: the more information that is available, the easier it is to predict, and the easier (and faster) it is to bring in the right talent. And matching to precisely the right talent becomes more critical: wrong hiring decisions cost businesses thousands of pounds each time in the time lost in not delivering the work needed, having to repeat hiring processes, and the additional upskilling and training required to bring the right people on board.

Data is vital: understanding the new skills that are emerging, that are in demand and how to connect with the talent to deliver them.

This is why we launched the Talmix Talent Passport and continue to develop it to include more granular data. Not only is this a valuable way for talent to showcase their skills in a more comprehensive fashion, it provides a richness of data that enables more precise matching. We believe it’s the tool that hiring managers need to help them overcome this change in talent requirements.