Digital talent management

The digital age has created a more transparent job market and intensified the battle for talent. agendaNi outlines some of the advantages of embracing a digital approach to both potential employees and current employers.

The digital era has proved both revolutionary and troublesome for traditional employers. On one hand access to talent has never been so open and the benefits of this are wide-ranging. While most employers would be judged not to have fully embraced digital as their platform for their talent management strategy, almost all now utilise it to some degree.

The most obvious use is for employee replacement or additional employment. Job vacancies are now almost exclusively advertised digitally. This is because employers have recognised the benefits of casting as wide a net as possible in their search for talent, the advantages of re-tracing a candidate’s digital footprint and increased efficiency in refining suitable candidates. For large scale employment, data analytics has now become a key feature in identifying the best talent that aligns with a company’s ethos and filling the skill gap that exists.

Digital has also opened up a new avenue in recruitment. Employers are now actively seeking talent, rather than waiting on prospective employees coming to them. Online platforms such as LinkedIn have provided an avenue not only to identify talent that may be employed elsewhere but also to track their progression and connect with them.

This approach also has its pitfalls, employer loyalty has diminished as movement in the job market has become more fluid. If a company is exploring existing talent in the job market, and even if they are not, it is likely that other businesses are also interested in their brightest stars.

For this reason, ensuring that the attractiveness of a business is easily recognisable is crucial. In the same way employers have a greater access to information on potential employees, potential employees also have a greater insight into the mechanics of an organisation. Key themes such as career progression, training availability, social interactions, flexible working and task diversity are all issues that a modern-day employee will look to establish even before submitting an application.

Platforms such as Glassdoor are forcing companies to manage their workplace reputations. Current employees have the ability to review things like job satisfaction, company culture and lifestyle and this insight can prove vital in where a potential employee chooses to work.

Internal 

It’s important to note that recruitment, although significant, is only a portion of the talent management process. A fully-immersed digital talent management strategy has many advantages. Done well, digital talent management can develop employees to fill existing skills gaps, chart career paths, increase productivity and nurture leadership.

Some of the benefits of a digitally immersed talent management strategy include:

• top-down communication of business performance and aspiration;

• regular and evolving training allowing for increased self-development;

• greater employee engagement allowing for better mentoring and greater employee satisfaction;

• more cost-efficient employee review and career path mapping;

• socially inclusive networks; and

• support flexible working and data sharing.