Understaffed or Just Unseen? How Skills Visibility Solves the Talent Gap

Why visibility matters

Many leaders look at mounting workloads and stretched teams and assume the only solution is to hire more people. The build vs buy equation has shifted. Roles are emerging today where no prior experience exists, meaning the traditional "perfect candidate" doesn't live on a job board -  they potentially already sit inside your organization.

The Reality Check: According to Gartner, by 2030, one in five employees will need to be redeployed due to shifting business needs and AI. Despite this, many organizations remain unprepared to see the "hidden" potential right in front of them.

The problem isn't a lack of talent; it is a lack of visibility. When HR teams cannot see the full breadth of an employee's capabilities, talent becomes misaligned. One department may scramble to recruit externally at a high premium, while another sits on underused expertise.

Why outdated job descriptions hold you back

Traditional job descriptions define roles as static titles with fixed requirements. They haven't evolved with how work actually happens today. In rapidly changing markets, businesses need capabilities that didn't exist six months ago. Roles emerge where no prior experience exists.

This rigidity creates blind spots. A project manager with exceptional stakeholder collaboration skills gets overlooked for a customer success role simply because their résumé says, "project management." When you filter candidates by narrow job histories rather than transferable skills, you miss the people already equipped to solve your problems.

The cost of looking outward

Too many businesses default to a binary choice: hire new people or automate the old ones away. But cutting workforce to make room for automation often destroys institutional knowledge and tanks morale.

Redeployment offers a smarter path. Instead of viewing automation as a replacement for people, use it to free people for higher-value roles. This approach offers:

• Speed: External candidates take an average of 8-12 months to reach full productivity¹, slowing initiatives
• Cost Savings: Internal redeployment can save a company up to $30,000 per role² compared to the "recruit-and-onboard" cycle

How skills data unlocks hidden potential

The real power behind redeployment lies in skills intelligence. Modern HR technologies can now map employee skills, analyze gaps, and suggest matches in real time.

This visibility transforms strategic workforce planning. Only 8% of organizations currently have reliable data on the skills their workforce possesses, and those that have the greatest impact on business success³. Those who invest in skills intelligence gain a decisive advantage: the ability to see and activate hidden potential at scale.

Building a culture where mobility thrives

Technology enables redeployment, but culture sustains it. Organizations that excel at internal mobility treat career movement as normal, celebrated, and supported and not as an exception requiring special approval.

Before posting your next new job, HR and hiring managers should ask themselves, “Are we already paying someone who could do this work?” This mindset shift encourages leaders to look inward before hiring outward and give employees tools to showcase their evolving skills. That will create organizations that can stay innovative, adaptable, and resilient in a competitive shifting market.

The "look inward" checklist: 5 questions to ask before you hire externally

Before you open an external requisition, use objective skills data to audit your current workforce. If you can answer "Yes" to these questions, redeployment is likely your fastest and most cost-effective path.

1. Do we have a "skills match" hiding in another department?
   Scan your internal talent database for the specific skills, not job titles. You may find that a Marketing Analyst has 90% of the data skills needed for your new Operations role.
2. Can this gap be bridged with "adjacent skills"?
   Does an existing employee have 70% of the required skills and a proven track record of learning?
3. Is this role a "future-proof" home for someone facing automation?
   Before reducing headcount due to new tech or restructuring, identify high performers whose tasks are being automated. Could their institutional knowledge be redeployed into this open role?
4. What is the "time-to-productivity" difference?
   An internal hire already knows your systems, culture, and stakeholders. Can you afford the 4–6 months it typically takes an external hire to reach full ROI?
5. Will this hire create a "career dead end" or a "mobility win"?
   If you hire externally, do you signal to your current team that there is no room to grow? Choosing redeployment boosts retention by showing your people that their evolving skills are seen and valued.

Discover how to unlock hidden talent and mobilize your workforce with skills-based redeployment.

¹ AIHR | ² SHRM Report, 2022 | ³ Gartner HR Research, 2024