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Gaps in Talent
Donna McCurrie-Bowen
Walden University
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Gaps in Talent
When agencies are trying to hire real talent, they are finding that there is a talent gap all
over and it seems as if, no one realizes it. Not all companies realizes how much of their talent is
missing the skills to keep them going, so they have to learn how to get the program that has
strategy, action plan, analysis, and the diagnosis to be successful (Ingram, 2006). Not everyone
will know how big of a talent gap there is, unfortunately, the gap is getting even bigger.
According to a recent Manpower survey, only 73% of senior human resource managers said they
felt their company had the talent it needed to implement its business strategy (Talent Gap. Who,
Us? (n.d.). Industries need talent, and a resource must be created to offer accelerated learning and
qualifications as soon as possible.
There are companies everywhere that are struggling with what the hiring industry has
coined "the talent gap" - that is, the percentage of both employed and unemployed workers who
are qualified for a position versus those who are not (Montagetalent.com (n.d.). The old ways of
providing talent to the industry are no longer feasible. The number of academic institutions is in
decline, and the number of corporate universities is on the increase because the industry is
learning to bypass the traditional sources of talent. Business are going to have to include the
multiple generations into their business because of the development and the diversity that they
will give (Managing the Multigenerational Workplace (n.d.)
When trying to use the measuring system it is hard, but it is also tough to achieve.
Employers that are using new skills need to base their hiring choices not merely on the
knowledge, but also on the non-cognitive skills that allow some people to outshine at learning on
the job. Although it is hard for both the employees and the employers to improve on these new
experiences, this creates a challenging opportunity.
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The employers who hire the right workers and train them well can realize the competitive
advantages that come with new technologies (Employers Are Not Just Whining, (n.d.).
Multisource Assessment Recognizing Gaps
When you need to improve the performance of your workers, agencies would have to do
complete some research, by talking with the individual, their co-workers and even the supervisor
to get the feedback that is necessary to understand where the gap is for the worker. While the
Multisource Assessments (MSA) has been set for a particular group of people, this process is
hard with the range and the complexity because of the resistance of that particular culture.
(www.cmureas.wordpress.com). The organization would need to get with their Executive team
and other leaders so they can plan how to develop each individual employee, they would want
them to go from being good, but going to be great. The MSAs helps to identify the gaps that
employees are missing in their job skills, but for the MSAs to work it has to be given all the
needs which could be challenging and somewhat complex (www.cmureas.wordpress.com).
When using the Multisource Assessments, without any assistance, probably not the most
beneficial thing to do, especially, if trying to identify the gap is essential (Silzer & Dowell,
2010). There are some that feel that companies should do more than just using the Multisource
Assessments it was suggest to use a 720 (2MSA) and make sure that there be a follow up
afterwards(Cashman, 2009). Discussing with the supervisor regarding an employee based review
this seems to be more accepted as long as both the company and the business process connects
(Silzer & Dowell, 2010). For employees who are taking on the responsibility to learn new
talents, it is also the responsibility of the company to give them the tools needed to succeed in
that talent (Smith, 2012).
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To achieve the effectiveness that the company is looking for there has to be a follow-up
from the supervisor-based reviews (Cashman, 2010). Companies know that the supervisor-based
reviews cannot succeed if they do not give any follow-up on how the employee could be better at
their jobs. (Silzer & Dowell, 2010). The Multisource Assessments is more thorough when it
comes to that of the supervisor based-review, but for the gap assessment to complete the job that
is necessary there has to be a chance to fill a position (Silzer & Dowell, 2010).
Conclusion
When an organization has to take a look at how many gaps they have in the business,
then they realize it is time to do something different. The company might have to have get
outside help and do a need-gap analysis. For some companies that have to see that there is a need
and a possibility that something was left out so the needs analysis tries to bridge the gap.
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References
Bessen, J. (2014). Employers Are Not Just Whining-the “Skills Gap” Is Real. Copyright © 2017
Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2014/08/employers-arent-just-whining-the-skills-gap-is-real
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insider’s perspective. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13(2), 187-202.
Retrieved from https://cmaureas.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/analyzing-talent-individual-
gaps/.
Cashman, K. (2009, November). 720 Development. Leadership Excellence, 26(11), 6. Retrieved
October 7, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1906542681).
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Silzer, R., & Dowell, B. E. (Eds.). (2010). Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership
imperative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Smith, D., 2012. How Employers Can Help Solve the Skills Gap., Harvard Business Review,
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_-Links-_-End%20of%20Page%20Recirculation
Talent Gap. Who, Us? (n.d.) Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/announcement
Talent Management: Managing the Multigenerational Workplace (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://execdev.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/blog/managing-the-multigenerational-workplace-0
