Acquiro | Blog

The talent gap is a huge (and expensive) problem for many organizations. When employees lack the skills companies need to stay competitive, workers and the organizations themselves struggle meet operational demands and plan for the future. 

But unfortunately, as much as we wish it would, the talent gap isn’t going to close itself. Organizations and employees need to work together to identify where the problems arise, what skills are needed, and how the right people can acquire those skills, either through sourcing the right talent or investing in existing team members. 

Now, this sounds like a lofty goal. When the gap is so big, costing the economy over 2.5 trillion dollars over the next decade, how do you even know where to start?

Let’s break down the seven-step process you can follow to close the talent gap at your organization. 

1. What is a talent gap? 

The talent gap is the space between your employees’ current level of talent, skill, or competencies and where you’d need them to be to meet your organization’s goals. This often happens because technology advances so quickly, it’s hard for employees to keep up—especially when they’re not actively trying. 

Whether the rate of innovation excites you or it leaves you feeling overwhelmed, it feels like as soon as you catch up, the entire game changes. You blink and new software or processes appear, and you’re expected to be an expert in them all. 

This is where the talent gap happens. 

2. Rethink your recruitment strategy and process

If you’re seeing particularly large gaps in your talent, your recruitment strategy and process might need to be reworked. You might have a system in place that prevents employees with the right skills from getting hired, or is looking for the wrong competencies entirely.

In one example, you may hire for a role that requires a niche technical skill. Your recruiting team knows the skill is important, but they don’t fully understand the nuances. In the end, they may move candidates along for a variety of other important factors, and leave you with a candidate who has a basic understanding of the skill, while having missed top candidates because they didn’t fully understand the details.