Talent redeployment: what it is and why do it

Learn how to reallocate employees to maximize agility and unlock potential

From junior-level employees to senior leadership, everyone understands that the working world is rapidly changing.  New AI use cases have the potential to transform operating models, skill needs, and job requirements—and these shifts will only continue to become more significant as technology keeps advancing.

Paired with ongoing economic turbulence,  today’s ever-changing landscape is inspiring many executives to rethink traditional talent management tactics in favor of strategies designed to unlock agility. Given that skills-based organizations are 57% more likely to be agile, it’s easy to understand why 90% of companies are experimenting with these strategies according to Deloitte.

As skills initiatives rise to the top of business agendas, HR leaders are turning to talent redeployment to ensure employees with in-demand expertise are putting their skills to use in the most high-impact areas of the organization. While most HR teams are already familiar with the concept of redeploying talent, there’s a new generation of tools and frameworks designed to maximize the success of every reallocation.

What is talent redeployment?

Talent redeployment involves moving an employee from a position of lower or decreasing priority to another role of higher priority that requires similar skills and experience. While the nature of the job shift will vary depending on organizational needs and available employee resources, redeployments are typically lateral moves that don’t necessarily equate to a change in salary or level of seniority.

Redeployment will become increasingly important as skill needs and job requirements evolve due to advances in technology. According to the World Economic Forum, nearly a quarter of all jobs will change within the next five years and 69 million new jobs are expected to be created during the same time period. Since many roles will require similar skill sets to their aging or less in-demand counterparts, redeployments can help companies shift talent into open opportunities without external hiring.

When to consider talent redeployment 

As talent redeployments surge in popularity, leaders may struggle to identify when this talent management strategy makes sense for their organization. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, the following scenarios are a few examples of times when talent redeployment can be a smart move:

Mergers and acquisitions

Following a merger or acquisition, HR teams must devise new talent management strategies that reflect the influx of new skills entering their organization post-deal. Depending on newly acquired talent, it may make sense to redeploy some employees to different parts of the organization that better align with their skill sets and future business needs.

Downsizing

When companies decide to downsize, talent redeployments are often a logical next step. Rather than keeping an entire team for one strategic priority, HR leaders may decide to redeploy several members of that team into different departments where they can put their transferable skills to use as the organization switches to a leaner operating model.

Shifting priorities

When consumer demands shift, talent redeployments are likely to follow. If customers are no longer buying a specific product, for example, HR executives may choose to reallocate employees involved with this offering so they can work on another product or service that’s experiencing increased usage.

Cost cutting

Redeploying talent can also be an effective way to reduce your company’s spending on freelancers and contractors. If there are employees within your organization who are capable of taking on the work that an external hire is currently executing, these workers can be redeployed to oversee those responsibilities so that the organization can reduce its overall spending.

What are the benefits of a talent redeployment strategy?

There are several benefits associated with talent redeployment, including:

Empower employees to grow with your business

Businesses that choose to redeploy talent—rather than laying off workers whose roles are made redundant—send a strong signal to their employees that their organization is committed to their development. When companies invest in growing their workforce’s skills, employees will be inspired to achieve their full potential.

Reduce time spend and budget

Instead of wasting time and resources searching for external talent, organizations can simply move their existing employees into different roles that align with their skills and experiences. This can eliminate much of the onboarding that’s typically required to bring new external hires up to speed.

Improve collaboration

Redeployment facilitates better collaboration between departments and teams, in turn enabling organizations to break down silos. When talent is shared or moved into a new functional unit, these employees bring the knowledge they learned from working as part of one team with them into a new part of the organization.

What are the challenges associated with talent redeployment?

There are also a handful of talent redeployment challenges that leaders should have on their radars, including:

A lack of skills visibility

Many times, leaders are eager to initiate more talent redeployments but a lack of skills insights holds them back. If executives don’t have a complete picture of the capabilities their workforce has, they will struggle to identify which employees have knowledge that can be put to use within a different part of their organization.

Resistance to change

When employees and managers get comfortable in their roles, they may resist the idea of moving to another team and shaking things up. While the transition process can be challenging, redeploying talent into high-priority positions not only helps the business; it also enables employees to develop new skills and in-demand expertise.

Miscommunications

If leaders don’t have insight into the areas of their business that need extra sets of hands, they will struggle to make efficient decisions about which talent should be redeployed where. Skills intelligence tools like Gloat’s Skills Foundation can help overcome this challenge by equipping all executives with a clear line of sight into the skills their people have and the gaps that are emerging. Once leaders have an understanding of where skills lie, they can discuss redeployments with their colleagues to align on a strategy that works for their entire organization.

5 steps to implementing a successful talent redeployment strategy

If you’re interested in upgrading your approach to talent redeployments, here are a few steps to get started:

#1. Take stock of workforce skills

An in-depth understanding of the skills within your workforce is the foundation for all successful talent redeployments. Before leaders can begin shifting employees into higher priority areas of their business, they must first be able to understand who possesses the capabilities needed to make such a move successfully. They’ll also need insights into which skills may be transferable to other roles and the skills gaps workers will need to bridge to effectively transition into new positions.

Traditionally, information about employee skills has been siloed amongst various HR systems, making it challenging for leaders to gain a complete understanding of workforce capabilities. Fortunately, there’s a new generation of skills intelligence tools like Gloat’s Skill Foundation which are designed to equip executives with a 360-degree view of their workforce’s knowledge and expertise.

#2. Assess organizational needs and objectives

In addition to assessing the skills their workforce has, leaders must also evaluate organizational priorities. With the right talent redeployment strategy, leaders can identify where these high-priority projects and business units lie and begin shifting employee resources to the teams that need them most.

#3. Align skills and aspirations with open opportunities

Once leaders have an idea of their workforce’s skills and their organizational priorities, they need a mechanism that matches employees’ skills to open opportunities—which is where talent marketplaces come into play. Visionary leaders are harnessing these platforms to efficiently shift employees from one area of the business to another, based on the skills their people have and the knowledge their hiring managers are looking for.

#4. Training and development programs

Employees must keep honing new skills so they’ll have the knowledge needed to move into various roles and opportunities within their organization. To encourage their workforce to continuously upskill and reskill, leaders must create learning pathways that include both L&D content and experiential learning opportunities. Talent marketplaces can help generate suggestions for projects, gigs, and mentorships that will help employees get the on-the-job experience they need to excel in future roles.

#5. Help employees see the bigger picture

In addition to reallocating employees based on business priorities, talent redeployments can be an excellent opportunity for employees to take their careers in new directions. If someone wishes to explore a different career path and it aligns with business needs, redeploying them to a new role can become the ultimate win-win.

To open employees’ eyes to new opportunities within their organization, many leaders are harnessing talent marketplaces with built-in career pathing. These tools can even show workers the skills they will need to learn to take on various roles within their organization.

To see what a successful talent redeployment strategy looks like in action, learn how Seagate responded to shifts in demand by reallocating talent and prioritizing internal mobility.