How can you develop internal talent to fill open positions?

Open communication around open positions is important so employees also can apply for roles, promoting internal mobility. Skill gaps can be understood by both the employee and the employer for the particular role so that a learning or experience map can be co-created, setting up the person for success.

Identify key competencies required for the roles and assess the existing workforce. Implement training programs to bridge skill gaps and provide professional development opportunities. Foster a culture of continuous learning and internal mobility, encouraging employees to explore different roles within the organization. Establish mentorship programs to facilitate knowledge transfer and skill development. Recognize and reward employees who exhibit potential, creating an incentive for them to grow within the company. Regularly review and update talent development initiatives to align with organizational goals and industry trends. This approach not only fills positions internally but also boosts employee engagement and retention.

A company can identify its talent needs and gaps by assessing the skills required for each role, analyzing performance data, seeking feedback from managers and employees, conducting market research, considering succession planning, and leveraging technology and data.

Developing internal talent to fill open positions requires a strategic approach aimed at identifying, nurturing, and advancing the skills and capabilities of existing employees. We should focus on individuals exhibiting strong performance, leadership qualities, willingness to learn and should be ready to take on new challenges.

Fomentar la confianza y la autonomía: Empodera a los empleados para que tomen la iniciativa y asuman responsabilidades adicionales. Crea un ambiente de confianza y apoyo donde los empleados se sientan seguros para tomar riesgos y aprender de sus experiencias. Fomenta la movilidad interna ofreciendo oportunidades para que los empleados exploren diferentes roles y funciones dentro de la organización. Esto les permite adquirir una amplia gama de experiencias y desarrollar habilidades transferibles que los preparen para asumir nuevos desafíos.

Know what you can teach at your company, but especially know what you can't. It's important to be able to make distinctions between what employees can learn through on the job experiences and in-company mentorship, and what skills you'll want to help them gain through outside education and development. Think about how you make strategic investments in key individuals who have already demonstrated high potential and learning agility. This should be linked to your talent mapping succession planning. All employees should have access to development tools, but you can make strategic investments in growing your top talent by first knowing who they are, and understanding how they want to grow.

Providing new opportunities for Learning & development is absolutely crucial. Imagine scouting and employing a candidate who is a potential superstar but lacks sufficient training, coaching and mentoring. This can have a great impact on the employee regarding career progression and personal growth and development. This can result in loosing employees to competitors or loosing them to a completely different industry! You want to maintain and gain new talent and not loose the employees with great potential!

Promoting professional growth opportunities internally will lead to higher retention rates for your company. If your company is able, create a robust learning and development program that encourages colleagues to train and obtain the desired skills required for various career paths (technical, non-technical, people leader, IC, Project Management, etc). Provide people leader training around this program and train leaders to look for transferrable skills. If your company is not able to create a L&D program, provide tuition reimbursement or assistance to encourage professional growth. Allow your colleagues the opportunity to job shadow or have mentorship opportunities that align with their career aspirations.

Create a comprehensive program that includes access to online courses, workshops, and seminars relevant to the roles you aim to fill internally. Encourage employees to participate in cross-departmental projects or rotations that offer firsthand experience in different areas of the business. This broadens their skill set and gives them insights into various roles, making them well-rounded candidates for future openings. Offer mentorship programs where employees can learn directly from experienced leaders within the organization. By investing in the professional growth of your team, you not only prepare them for advanced roles but also demonstrate a commitment to their career development, boosting morale and retention.

Establish a robust learning and development program that includes training sessions, workshops, and online courses. Encourage employees to acquire new skills relevant to their current roles and future career aspirations.

From my experience working with multiple high-growth organizations, the winning strategy is creating an environment where a high performer has different options to provide value and where they can raise their hand to proactively ask for more challenge and diverse work. Having ongoing open discussions about their goals is crucial as this will help engage professionals with the right opportunities as the organization continues to evolve. Ensure these discussions are also documented in a centralized system to minimize the risk of relying on just one person holding the info.

To develop internal talent for open positions, consider implementing mentorship programs, providing relevant training, and offering opportunities for skill-building. Encourage cross-functional experiences to broaden employees skill sets, and create a clear career development path within the organization. Regularly assess employees strengths and areas for improvement, and provide constructive feedback to guide their growth.

Developing clearly defined career paths is challenging when you have a new industry, like Cannabis; however, we have created them, and it is one of the best ways to retain your internal top talent. The attrition rate in the Cannabis industry is very high because many employees don't have any idea what their career trajectory could look like at a company. By having these profiles/paths clearly defined, companies can give employees an understanding of the areas they need to grow in to achieve their career goals. Having these career paths in place is also a great way to attract external talent as well, because they know the company takes internal employee career growth seriously.

It's in your best interest as the employer / TA to ensure that the company has a clear career progression guidelines and what needs to be done to achieve these career milestones. This is best done within early stages of the recruitment process. When you have new employees starting, it may also help to set short-term goals as well as long term goals which demonstrates how growth can be acquired. Monthly reviews always help employees to keep a close eye on their progress and identify areas of improvement.

You should outline a picture of the journey your employees go through in your company. Career paths should be mapped out, specifying what is required in each path, and a development plan showing short-term and long-term goals with employees should be created. The more clear and explicit this plan is, the better employees will understand the purpose of the plan presented to them and can make efforts to improve their process.

From my experience, this has been a very successful strategy on our market. But, there's also a side effect when competing for an internal promotion, the employees who are not selected must be carefully taken care of. Enter mentorship and upskilling programs to fill the skills gap or getting the ability to be reoriented toward a most fitting path.

Think about it, you have a new role at your company; why look externally when you may have a current employee who may be interested in the opportunity. This allows employees to feel the ease of navigation around the company as opposed to looking for other opportunities with different companies. This will also increase the percentage of employee retention which means you have a lower employee turnover. Ultimately this is a great way to manage costs; save time and money spent on the whole onboarding process with an external hire!

Start by creating a robust internal mobility program, which encourages employees to apply for new roles within the organization. This program should be well-advertised and supported by HR policies that make the internal application process transparent and accessible. Implementing a comprehensive career development plan for each employee is also crucial. These plans should include clear career paths, skill development opportunities, and regular performance and career progression discussions. This approach helps employees understand their potential growth within the company and aligns their aspirations with internal opportunities.

Encourage employees to explore different roles within the organization. Internal mobility fosters a dynamic workforce and enables employees to gain diverse experiences. Emphasize flexibility in career trajectories to accommodate individual growth.

Establish a culture that encourages employees to explore different roles and departments through job rotations or temp project assignments. This allows them to acquire diverse skill sets and provides a broader understanding of the company’s operations. Implement an internal job posting system where open positions are first shared internally, giving current employees priority consideration. Offer support for lateral moves that may not necessarily come with a promotion but allow for skill development and career progression in new areas. Creating an environment where employees are encouraged to grow and move within the company builds a more versatile and engaged workforce.

Another thing to consider is the crucial aspect of identifying potential talent within your organization. Recognizing individuals who consistently demonstrate outstanding performance, leadership qualities, and a commitment to organizational goals is the first step towards cultivating a robust internal talent pool. With targeted assessments, performance reviews, and collaborations, we can identify high-potential employees and tailor development plans to help them reach their full potential. A strong internal talent pipeline ensures both a strong workforce and a pipeline of qualified individuals ready to fill open positions and drive the organization forward. #InternalTalent

Participa??o em Projetos Estratégicos: Inclua funcionários talentosos em projetos estratégicos da empresa. Isso n?o apenas proporciona experiência valiosa, mas também os mantém engajados e conectados aos objetivos organizacionais.

The companies I see doing this best are ones who consistently give opportunities to graduates, enrolling them on extensive graduate programmes covering various areas of the business and a variety of work. Naturally, some will leave at the end of the programme but those who stay will take up open positions within the organisation, and with a constant "conveyor belt" of grads coming through, mid to long term staffing issues are mitigated.

The best internal teams are supported by excellent external suppliers. Do not expect an internal team to be able to do everything on their own! Allow them to and help them establish partnerships with the best external suppliers.

This should start from the moment you decide to hire someone. Part of your interview process should be understanding where the employee wants to go / who they want to be / what they want to accomplish. If you can help them get there, hire them and put a plan in place to make it happen. It won't be the same for every position you hire, but the philosophy should remain the same.