Most companies plan their permanent staff carefully and treat contractors as an afterthought. Total talent management is the idea that both should be planned and managed together, as one pool of people who do the work.
Key facts
- Total talent management is the practice of planning and managing permanent employees and the external workforce together, as one talent pool.
- The goal is a single view of everyone who does work for the company, whatever their contract type.
- Most organizations run two workforces and only have a system for one of them.
Contents
- What is total talent management?
- What total talent management covers
- Why it matters
- How to move toward total talent management
- Frequently asked questions
- Getting to one view of talent
What is total talent management?
Total talent management is the practice of planning and managing permanent employees and the external workforce together, as one talent pool, rather than in separate systems. It treats everyone who does work for the company as part of one workforce picture.
What total talent management covers
- Permanent employees, in the HR system.
- The external workforce: contractors, freelancers, agency workers, and EOR employees.
- Planning across both, so work is resourced by the best option, not just the default one.
Why it matters
When permanent and external talent are planned separately, companies over-hire in one lane while ignoring capacity in the other, and lose visibility of total cost and risk.
Key takeaway: You run two workforces. Only one usually has a system. Total talent management is about giving the second one a system too, and seeing both together.
How to move toward total talent management
- Give the external workforce a system. You cannot manage it as part of the whole while it lives in spreadsheets.
- Standardize classification and data. Consistent worker data across both lanes.
- Connect the systems. External workforce platform and HR system talking to each other.
- Plan across both. Resource work by the best engagement model.
Best practice: Start by getting the external workforce into one platform, then connect it to your HR system. Worksome gives the external workforce its system and connects to the rest of the stack through an open API.
Frequently asked questions about total talent management
What is the difference between total talent management and workforce planning? Workforce planning forecasts needs. Total talent management manages permanent and external talent together as one pool, which makes better planning possible.
Why do companies struggle with total talent management? Because the external workforce usually lacks a system, so there is no single view to plan against.
Where do you start? By giving the external workforce one platform, then connecting it to the HR system.
Getting to one view of talent
Total talent management starts with giving the external workforce a system of its own. Worksome is that system, built to connect with the rest of your stack.
Related: External workforce, External workforce platform, Contingent workforce management, Contingent workforce.