Mind the (Talent) Gap

"Why do you use contractors from all over the world?"

This is something I hear pretty often. As an international agency, we really have to. But why do we embrace this philosophy when we have so many talented people here in Edmonton?

What it comes down to is vision. When we get a client who is looking for a branding project, we may not grasp what the cultural or even geological impact by being based in North America. This not only allows us to source a designer, or copywriter, or even a UI specialist from all over, but almost requires us to do so. When we need to bridge a talent gap, it is typically on a project like this. That being said, the talent gap is a problem that exists in nearly every business in the world, but is not often discussed or addressed.

What is a talent gap? By definition, it is a lack of skills possessed by an existing team member. This opens the door for missed opportunity, or worse, delivering a sub-par service or experience to a client. Yet, this common issue is very present. We see it daily but are able to combat it with a wealth of available contractors. We are very fortunate to be able to rapidly scale from minimal to beyond maximum workflow (quite helpful when we work in an unpredictable industry). In recent times we have sourced a handful of incredible new team members that are going to be handling some of the global projects, which makes me pretty excited.

You may be wondering why I haven't picked a side in this argument, and it's because I do not see a perfect universal solution. For us, it doesn't make sense to try to fill an incredibly expansive gap. A designer that can handle or oversee many fields of design is an awesome asset for a large corporation. This same individual is not going to be at the top of the list when we are looking for a highly specialized and creative project, and I don't even think they would want to do something at that level.

Simply put, the talent gap isn't something to be worried about, it is something to very conscious of. With that in your mind, it is much easier to forsee a gap and can take a lot of stress off your plate.