The current global landscape is creating a perfect storm for businesses. Skills shortages in key areas remain acute, yet paradoxically, businesses face an increasing demand for new skills as they innovate and grow. At the same time, various external factors such as economic uncertainty, technological transformation and regulatory challenges are causing leaders to question traditional business models.
Navigating such a complex landscape means rethinking global talent strategies and embracing a mindset that uses technology, data and analytics to build an agile, connected workforce. And while many businesses have already understood the power of external global hiring, fewer may have seen the opportunity that lies within: the ability to unlock internal cross-border mobility at scale.
A recent Deloitte and Raconteur research survey of more than 800 decision-makers across industries examined the steps leaders are taking to future-proof their organisations and improve operational efficiency, particularly through global talent.
It found that more than 95% of respondents believe that talent agility and access to cross-border skills are at least somewhat important, with nearly half (45%) saying cross-border talent agility will be a key business differentiator in five years’ time.
“Globalisation and market expansion amid changing global dynamics means the competition for talent is intensifying,” says Michelle Fertig, principal, global employer services (GES), global workforce consulting at Deloitte Tax LLP (US).
“To mitigate the impact of these factors on available talent, companies have to be able to move people with agility. Organisations will be best positioned when they can tap into the right skills, regardless of where they exist,” she adds.
Creating talent marketplaces
Internal talent marketplaces are growing in prevalence as organisations look to encourage cross-border agility. According to Deloitte’s research, 73% of respondents say they are currently using a talent management system or internal marketplace, with 26% planning on doing so in the near future. However, it is important to note the perception gap here with many organisations potentially conflating the use of talent management systems (a more common, generalist HR platform) with internal talent marketplaces, which are typically a more specialised, data-driven and AI-powered software solution.
The current biggest impacts of such talent marketplaces for organisations are faster hiring (46%), faster talent mobility opportunities (46%) and access to a larger cross-border talent pool (45%). However, in five years’ time, companies expect these platforms to also unlock the ability to tailor learning and development programmes (41%) and enable them to pivot towards becoming a skills-based organisation (21%).
Another potential benefit of developing truly agile cross-border talent is the chance to develop future leaders. Those that are willing to move geographies for roles often demonstrate a hunger for new challenges, resilience, the ability to build new relationships and adaptability – all key traits for leadership.
Deloitte’s survey asked respondents to identify where their talent was sourced from today and where they think it would be sourced from in five years’ time. For senior leadership roles, the findings suggest that while internally promoted leaders are expected to continue being drawn largely from local talent pools rather than from across borders (31% vs 14%), externally hired senior leaders are projected to come increasingly from cross-border recruitment rather than domestically (30% vs 21%).
Nevertheless, global experiences will be a hallmark of future leaders: 68% of those surveyed believe that long-term physical exposure to an international environment is important or very important to the development of future leaders, with 64% saying short-term international experiences was important or very important.
Changing working patterns and the impact of technology means virtual exposure to global geographies is just as valued, with 68% saying it is important or very important. Fewer than 10% believed that international experience – whether long-term physical (8%), short-term physical (6%) or virtual (4%) – was not needed to develop future leaders.
All this is not to say that there aren’t business challenges around internal mobility programmes.
“External hiring can often be a quick solution, as there may not be the infrastructure needed to identify internal mobility. There can also be an element of self-interest among managers wanting to hold onto their best people and possibly not seeing the full organisational value in internal mobility,” warns Fertig.
“Mobility can also be expensive and requires extensive organisation and planning. Getting the technology in place to monitor cross-border moves is key. Changing payroll systems, arranging temporary housing – removing that burden from employees allows them to focus on work, engage with new colleagues and make the move a success,” she adds.
So if talent agility and cross-border mobility will be crucial to future organisational success, how can businesses create the right infrastructure for it to thrive?
Agility infrastructure
Firstly, understanding the skills your workforce has and how they map across to global opportunities is key, alongside potential skills gaps. This requires having the right skills taxonomy and technology in place to crunch the data – as well as buy-in from senior leadership to allocate resources and prioritise the initiative.
“Data is fundamental. A key starting point is going back to basics and clarifying your business strategy and objectives. What data exists and how accessible is it? How do we get it to a state where it is usable?” says Fertig.
Next, organisations need to develop their mobility framework by creating clear career paths that demonstrate the skills and competencies needed for growth. More importantly, businesses need to implement platforms that create internal talent marketplaces and then map such skills and career paths against their existing talent, identifying opportunities for agility.
Finally, a culture of mobility is key. Without open communication about opportunities and the support to develop global careers, such marketplaces are unlikely to succeed.
“The future will see more fluidity around teams, with a focus on project-based assignments and skills-based hiring. We’ll see proactive talent mobility, so creating that culture where people are encouraged to move around is important,” says Fertig.
Cross-border internal mobility is a business imperative – critical for growth, innovation and success. The question is no longer about whether talent agility is a priority, but rather how organisations can operationalise it. Doing so requires technological transformation, a better insight into skills and a culture of continuous learning and opportunity.
How to make a talent technology ecosystem work for you
Building a talent marketplace that allows for future talent agility requires buy-in from all leadership levels, not just HR.
Teji Susheela Vishwanath – a director in global employer services (GES) at Deloitte LLP – outlines some steps to make it a reality.
Before implementing any technology system, businesses need to audit, understand and cleanse their data sources, making sure they have the right processes in place to ensure it remains relevant.
“To understand the skills your workforce has and how they can be applied across borders, you need the right data. This requires the right technology and data systems, but also a framework that is very clear about what the business is trying to achieve and how it links to overall strategy,” says Susheela Vishwanath.
The idea of a skills-based organisation is still very nascent, with businesses still trying to understand how they will work in practice. Find the right technology platform to create an inventory of skills, build employee profiles and capture organisational needs. Keep things simple to start with, then build from there.
“If you’re thinking about a skills framework and tying it into specific roles and career paths, keep things simple, with 7-10 skills per role,” says Susheela Vishwanath. “It also depends on what you’re trying to achieve: an organisation doing an internal skills assessment will go about things differently to one creating a skills-based hiring strategy.”
Clarity of purpose, strategy and messaging is as important as how you get your data and what you are trying to achieve with it.
“Are individuals going to sit in one location and then be used for certain global projects, or are you creating an open talent marketplace where they can apply to jobs anywhere? That expectation management element is so important. If I’m led to believe the latter, but it’s actually the former, you’ll have a disgruntled workforce. Be clear about what you are offering,” says Susheela Vishwanath.
Moving countries and jobs are two of the single most stressful things a person can do, so companies need to make the experience as simple and streamlined as possible.
“The technology and processes need to be in place to monitor cross-border moves. How do employees change payroll systems, or arrange temporary housing?” asks Susheela Vishwanath. She adds: “The companies who get this right put the employee at the centre of the experience, then build out the end-to-end journey through technology. That allows the employee to focus on the business and increases the ROI of the programme.”
A globalised workforce creates increased complexity around regulation, organisational alignment and cultural challenges. Cross-border hiring can also be more expensive and time-consuming than external recruitment. Be prepared for challenges.
“Regulation can be so localised, with different rules even within the same country. These nuances add complexity and can make global workforces hard to manage,” says Susheela Vishwanath. “That said, employers should always be led by the significant value that internal mobility can deliver.”
Find out more about talent agility and tomorrow’s talent technology ecosystems with Deloitte.
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The current global landscape is creating a perfect storm for businesses. Skills shortages in key areas remain acute, yet paradoxically, businesses face an increasing demand for new skills as they innovate and grow. At the same time, various external factors such as economic uncertainty, technological transformation and regulatory challenges are causing leaders to question traditional business models.
Navigating such a complex landscape means rethinking global talent strategies and embracing a mindset that uses technology, data and analytics to build an agile, connected workforce. And while many businesses have already understood the power of external global hiring, fewer may have seen the opportunity that lies within: the ability to unlock internal cross-border mobility at scale.
A recent Deloitte and Raconteur research survey of more than 800 decision-makers across industries examined the steps leaders are taking to future-proof their organisations and improve operational efficiency, particularly through global talent.
