I just read an interesting piece in Forbes[1] about how talent strategies are evolving. It made me think about things I've been seeing with the organisations I deal with and hear about - particularly within the Generalist community.
Traditional talent acquisition: build talent internally or buy it externally. Promote from within to preserve culture, hire externally when you need fresh thinking or skills.
But that's no longer enough. The World Economic Forum reports that 39% of existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated between 2025-2030. Nine-box grids[2] and succession plans are not going to help.
The article introduces three additional strategies that forward-thinking companies are adding to the mix: bridge (moving internal talent across boundaries), borrow (bringing in fractional and contract expertise), and AI (as both a capability enhancer and talent planning tool).
The organisations thriving right now are the ones that have learned to flex.
I was talking with a manufacturing company last month where their compliance manager became their sustainability lead, not because she had environmental credentials, but because she understood systems thinking and stakeholder management. That's bridging. This is also where identifying the generalists in your organisation is paramount. Generalists are great problem solvers and pattern recognisers, and expertly bring their broad experience to unique or unfamiliar situations & roles.
And the "borrow" piece? That's exactly why fractional leadership works. Companies get top-level strategic thinking exactly when they need it, without the overhead of a full-time hire. (This only works in the long term if you're also building internal capability alongside it.)
AI is rapidly reshaping talent management: shortening the half-life of skills; and providing analytics to uncover hidden capabilities and match people to opportunities. It can already ease the burden of routine tasks. But discernment, empathy, and decision-making need to remain 'human', and outsourcing too much risks losing the capability to build future leaders.
For any leaders trying to fill talent gaps, "who do we promote?" or "who do we hire?" should not be the only questions; maybe you should also be asking "what capability do we need, and what's the smartest way to access it?"