Human Resource (HR) professionals are exploring innovative strategies and leveraging advanced technologies to enhance talent development and retention, as they navigate the challenges of an uncertain economy and an evolving work environment, shows latest research from CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.

A majority of HR professionals expect their organisations to maintain their current pace of hiring with 71 per cent planning to hire to support growth initiatives during the first half of the year. Layoffs will continue to be a reality with 23 per cent expecting skill gaps to play a factor in layoff decisions, reveals CompTIA’s annual “Workforce and Learning Trends” report.

According to CompTIA, there are five major developments that are currently influencing organisations' efforts to recruit new talent and inducing a rethink on the deployment of their existing staff.

1. Talent mobility approaches grow in scope and importance.
2. T-shaped skills models remain integral for future-proofing careers.
3. Algorithms and platforms exert greater influence over talent development.
4. Organisations strive to maintain diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) momentum.
5. Talent marketplaces add a new dimension to workforce flexibility.

Three-quarters of the respondents to the CompTIA survey report the existence of either a formal or informal talent mobility programme within their organisation, and 75 per cent say that their organisation plans to increase their programme’s scope and their emphasis on talent mobility.

“Learning and development programmes aimed at upskilling and reskilling workers will be essential. Every organisation has untapped talent and an opportunity to empower employees to strive for that next career rung,” said Nancy Hammervik, chief solutions officer at CompTIA.

Maintaining a focus on durable skills remains important to most companies.

According to the survey, 84 per cent of HR professionals indicate that they use a T-shaped skills model in some capacity to guide talent management. The T-shaped model signifies an employee with a significant depth of understanding of a particular field, as well as a breadth of cross-discipline competencies.

“An employee with T-shaped skills – the hard technical skills and the broader soft skills, also referred to as durable skills -- is particularly valuable today when flexibility is so important. When done with intention, this powerful combination can help future-proof an organisation and boost its competitiveness,” said Hannah Johnson, senior vice president of tech talent programmes at CompTIA.

With a constant stream of new HR tech innovation hitting the market, most organisations report a combination of systems upgrades and new implementations.

Three of the top four new investments in platforms and systems are in areas that focus on developing and deploying talent: learning and training platforms (82 per cent net); talent mobility and talent marketplace platforms (69 per cent net); and skills inventory, talent intelligence, and career pathways platforms (70 per cent net).

While it is still at an early stage, artificial intelligence (AI) is on the radar of most HR professionals. Not surprisingly the largest share of respondents has a neutral or to-be-determined view of AI and its impact on HR (52 per cent).