June 06, 2024

Talent Intelligence: Can it Outsmart People Analytics?

Imagine you’re on a safari, eagerly searching for the lion.

Suddenly, your guide points to… a flamingo? Sure, it’s a pretty bird, but it’s not exactly what you came for.

That’s kind of how traditional talent management can feel.

It’s great for spotting basic skills, but when it comes to finding the perfect talent fit, it can be a bit…well, pink and feathery.

So, in this dynamic environment, intuition and gut feeling simply aren’t enough.

You need a data-driven approach to make strategic decisions about the most valuable asset – the people!

This is where talent intelligence comes in.

It’s the systematic collection, analysis, and application of data about individuals’ skills, experiences, and performance to inform HR strategies and decision-making.

Talent intelligence involves using various data sources and analytical tools to understand the current workforce, identify skill gaps, predict future talent needs, and develop strategies for attracting, retaining, and developing employees.

But is it better than traditional talent management? Let’s find out!

The Issue of Skills Taxonomy and Job Architecture

Many companies are struggling with skills taxonomies and job architecture. In fact, it is one of the most pressing problems in HR.

They hope that by creating a “global skills taxonomy”, it will make hiring, career development, and succession planning easier.

Vendors claim that this will automate job decisions based on skills. However, this process is complex.

Because,

Companies need accurate data on skills for various HR functions like recruiting and training
It’s crucial to regularly assess and update skills, and to have a process and governance for this.
Deciding on the terms and details of the skills taxonomy is difficult
Companies need to stay updated on new technologies and skills in the market to ensure their skills remain relevant

This is Where Talent Intelligence Can Offer Significant Help!

Talent intelligence can help overcome the complexities of creating a skills taxonomy and job architecture.

Here’s how.

1. Data Analysis and Insights

Talent intelligence tools can analyze vast amounts of data on employee skills, past performance, and industry trends.

This data can help identify the most relevant skills needed for different job roles and inform the creation of a more accurate and efficient skills taxonomy.

Source: The Josh Bersin Company

2. Automating Initial Screening

By analyzing candidate skills and experience against the defined taxonomy, it can automate initial screening processes.

This frees up HR professionals to focus on in-depth evaluations of promising candidates.

3. Predictive Analytics

Talent intelligence can use historical data to predict future skill requirements based on industry trends and technological advancements.

This helps ensure the skills taxonomy remains relevant and the company is prepared for the evolving job market.

4. Standardization and Consistency

Talent intelligence platforms can help enforce consistent use of the skills taxonomy across different HR functions.

This reduces confusion and ensures everyone is using the same language when describing skills and jobs.

5. Identifying Skill Gaps

By analyzing employee skills against the taxonomy, it can identify skill gaps within the workforce.

This allows companies to develop targeted training programs to bridge these gaps and maintain a highly skilled workforce.

Note:

Overall, talent intelligence doesn’t eliminate the complexity of creating a skills taxonomy and job architecture, but it equips HR with powerful tools for data analysis, automation, and standardization.

This can significantly streamline the process and make it more effective in the long run.

Why is it a Game Changer?

Think of talent intelligence as your crystal ball for talent management. Here’s how it empowers HR leaders:

1. Future-proof Your Workforce

Helps you identify critical skills gaps before they become talent shortages
You can use data to predict future talent needs based on industry trends and company growth projections.

2. Hire Smarter, Not Harder

You can go beyond resumes.
Enables you to leverage skills-based assessments and data analytics to identify the best-fit candidates

3. Boost Employee Engagement

Allows you to analyze employee sentiment and identify potential flight risks
Helps in proactively address concerns and create a culture of learning and development to retain top talent

4. Personalize Learning and Development

It uncovers individual strengths and weaknesses through data.
It can design personalized learning pathways that bridge skill gaps and unlock employee potential.

5. Measure the ROI of HR Initiatives

Helps you move beyond anecdotes and demonstrate the impact of HR programs
You can use data to measure the effectiveness of your initiatives.

How to Implement Talent Intelligence? A Framework

HTML Table Generator

6 Months to a Year	2-3 Year Journey	Many Years and Ongoing
Identify key metrics relevant to your business goals	Refine candidate sourcing based on skills and cultural fit	Integrate AI and machine learning for more sophisticated talent analytics
Determine data sources such as – ATS, employee surveys, performance reviews, social media	Identify skills gaps and develop targeted training programs	Track emerging skills in your industry and adapt your talent strategy accordingly
Develop a system for data collection, cleaning, and storage	Analyze employee engagement data to predict flight risk and implement retention strategies	Benchmark your talent metrics against industry leaders
Build basic reporting dashboards to visualize key talent insights	Use data to identify high-potential employees and prepare them for leadership roles	Foster a data-driven culture where talent decisions are based on insights, not intuition

Source: The Josh Bersin Company

Once you decide on which business area to focus, you can look at the “Four Rs” of talent intelligence.

Recruit: How do we source, recruit, hire, and onboard these people?

Retain: How do we improve employee experience to increase retention?

Reskill: What new development or career pathways will help us improve internal mobility and growth?

Redesign: How do we reorganize and redesign work, jobs, or our employment model to adapt?

What’s the Role of Technology? 🧐 And How We Can Help You Build Your Talent Intelligence Function

To bring the best out of talent intelligence, technological innovation is crucial.

For example,

1️⃣ Right now, AI is being used to analyze data and predict future performance, skills needs, and even flight risk (likelihood of an employee leaving).

This could be further refined to identify high-potential employees early or predict the impact of new technologies on the workforce.

2️⃣ Current talent intelligence systems can identify skills listed on resumes or profiles.

New advancements might involve using AI to infer skills based on a candidate’s work experience, projects, or even online activity, giving a more complete picture.

3️⃣ Talking about Generative AI, it can analyze your existing workforce data and create a skills gap report. You can then prompt the AI to identify employees whose past experiences and achievements demonstrate the ability to learn the desired skills quickly.

And these are just a few possibilities!

We can expect to see even more innovative solutions emerge in the field of talent intelligence.

Being an HRTech-focused product engineering company, we understand the complexities of implementing a robust Talent Intelligence solution.

Our team of HRTech experts can guide you through every step of the process, from identifying your specific needs to developing a customized solution that integrates seamlessly with your existing HR systems.

Here’s how we can help you.

✅ Data integration

✅ Customizable solutions

✅ Actionable analytics

✅ Future-proof technology

Contact us today to discuss your Talent Intelligence needs and let our HRTech product engineers craft a solution that propels your organization forward!