I’ve been in the Future of Work, talent acquisition, and workforce management arenas for nearly 18 years. Over that time, I’ve witnessed (as many of us have) two equally-devastating economic downturns, multiple waves of technological innovation, numerous hype cycles of various proportions, the continued evolution of talent management, and one worldwide pandemic that set off Future of Work-era accelerants that have shaped how we work today. Suffice to say, the last two decades have brought tremendous change to the greater world of work and talent.
Even though I identify as an “elder millennial” or “geriatric millennial,” I feel as if I’ve spent enough years in the business world to truly understand what is hype, what is theory, and, of course, what is reality. And in discussions with industry peers, procurement leaders, HR executives, talent acquisition leaders, Chief People Officers, and many, many workforce solution providers over the years, there is no strategy, concept, or topic that draws more debate than total talent management.
For years, conversations around total talent management typically follow one of three separate paths:
- Total talent management is a revolutionary concept that will allow businesses to better strategize around their workforce given the real-time skills visibility and resource intelligence that TTM provides (via total talent acquisition, total talent intelligence, procurement and HR collaboration, and integrated VMS, RPO, HRIS, and similar systems).
- Total talent management could one day be a reality, however, in an era when both traditional and extended talent engagement, acquisition, and management each have their separate, critical issues, businesses can tap into “elements” of TTM to derive some value (i.e., total talent intelligence).
- Total talent management is nothing more than a myth.
There are, as well, arguments that sit in-between the bullets above, as many business leaders believe that total talent management could already be occurring in some mature organizations that have homegrown capabilities combined with cutting-edge strategies and technology to effectively centralize talent acquisition and talent management under a single program. Such a scenario could very well be a reality, given that there is no true set of guidelines for total talent management outside of the expected outcomes of such an initiative, particularly real-time talent intelligence (“total talent intelligence”), enhanced tracking and resource insights, skills-based and intelligence-led hiring, and on-demand fulfillment of new and open roles given existing expertise, depth of the workforce, etc.
The question then arises: Can something without a true current state envision a future state? The debate on total talent management challenges us to consider whether a concept that remains nebulous in its widespread adoption today can truly evolve into a standard practice tomorrow. Despite the skepticism and varying perspectives, one cannot dismiss the potential transformative power that TTM holds in reshaping the future of work and talent management.
In essence, a so-called “future state” of total talent management would revolve around and include these concepts:
- Artificial intelligence as a central source of automation, knowledge, data, and insights, all of which catalyze skills-based hiring, real-time candidate recommendations based on total talent resources, and predictive modeling/scenario-building that enables deeper, long-term workforce planning (taking account of the total workforce).
- An interweaving of next-generation integration that blends the best of VMS, ATS, RPO, direct sourcing, and digital recruitment technology to effectively streamline total talent acquisition processes.
- Utilization of direct sourcing functionality and talent community capabilities to lean on company branding and workplace culture to build a sustainable talent model.
- A strategic level of collaboration between internal divisions, particularly procurement, HR, talent acquisition, and recruitment, that transcends typical cross-functional coordination to effectively drive advanced talent engagement and sourcing.
- An innovative spin on skills-based hiring that places expertise and skills at the very center of both traditional recruitment and non-employee candidate engagement to assess the presence of skills within the entire workforce and select or adapt the most suitable engagement method (and worker or resource) for the needed prerequisites.
As the total talent management debate unfolds, navigating between skepticism and optimism, the envisioned “future state” beckons—an era where artificial intelligence fuels skills-based hiring, next-gen integration revolutionizes acquisition processes, and strategic collaboration across divisions reshapes talent engagement. Whether TTM remains a nebulous concept or transforms into a standard practice, its potential to redefine the Future of Work and talent management cannot be dismissed, challenging us to envision a transformative landscape ahead.
