Total talent management (TTM) involves bringing all work resources together, including full time employees, contingent workers, freelancers, work that is outsourced, and even work that is automated.

The ultimate goal of TTM is to get more done by efficiently utilizing talent. With TTM, you can reduce your dependency on the permanent workforce. Plus, it's ability to provide clarity on labor data, workforce constitution, and resource requirements enables you to achieve ultimate workforce productivity.  

Here are the five main advantages of TTM

By combining talent solutions like RPO, MSP, and SOW services, TTM enables organizations to access the full spectrum of talent sourcing strategies, from permanent employees to contingent workers and project-based contractors.

This allows you to be more agile, responsive, and cost-effective in managing talent resources, while also providing a better experience for both employees and external talent. 

1. Make the most of your talent pool

An organization's HR, finance, and procurement teams seldom work in tandem, making it difficult to understand, manage, and revamp their operations in a cohesive manner. An integrated view of all the talent resources allows you to avoid redundancies and accurately invest in your workforce by enhancing engagement, learning, output, and retention.

2.  Plan your workforce 

With TTM, you can establish a unique talent strategy by gauging the skill availability and making necessary workforce changes with proper acquisition and allocation. When you have an overview of all the work to be done and the resources needed to complete it, you can see strong returns on the talent you hire. By utilizing all the different talent schemes available, you can plan your workforce more precisely based on project timelines and requirements.   

 3. Establish a unified culture

The TTM model allows you to establish a talent value proposition (TVP) instead of an employee value proposition (EVP) so that the same strategy is used to engage talent no matter the nature of employment. This way, you establish better collaboration, knowledge transfer, and overall workforce output.

4.  Be more inclusive 

The framework of TTM allows you to put all kinds of talent under the same bracket by focusing on the value they provide, and not the type of employment. With TTM, freelancers, contract workers, contingent workers, permanent employees, and interns are treated fairly and are provided with the same opportunities for growth and development.

5.  Save money and improve client satisfaction  

By leveraging the right talent at the right time, you can be more resourceful and achieve better outcomes for the effort and money you invest. This translates to overall business success.

Why do organizations struggle to implement TTM?  

According to research by Staffing Industry Analysts, only 16% of contingent American workforce programs had a total talent acquisition system in place during the height of the pandemic. One of the major challenges of building this kind of system is the lack of aggregated data available regarding the workforce.

Moreover, lack of communication between teams causes issues for companies trying to consolidate their efforts. People are often so used to working one way that a TTM system can take a long time to implement.

Looking into the future 

Total talent management can significantly enhance productivity and lead to savings through better talent utilization and improved engagement. Teams including HR, procurement, finance, IT, and marketing need to work together to facilitate this kind of holistic change. Like every organization's talent management strategy, total talent acquisition and management strategies will have to be tailored to company needs.