In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations face the daunting challenge of keeping up with ever-changing skills needs. While recruiting new talent might seem like a straightforward solution, it is not sustainable in the long run. Companies are increasingly aware that they cannot hire all the talent they require, yet they struggle to bridge the gap with internal talent-building approaches. In fact, according to a 2024 Gartner survey of 190 HR leaders, only 18% agree that their organization effectively moves talent internally to fill skills gaps.

Traditional development programs, such as formal training, mentorship, and individual development plans, help employees develop proficiency in the skills needed to fill in-demand roles, but the focus on proficiency in all skills needed for a new role delays movement into a new role where employees can contribute value with newly developed skills. However, organizations can enhance enterprise skills preparedness, a measure of workforce readiness, by focusing on “skills promise” rather than waiting for employees to be fully proficient.

Understanding Skills Promise

Gartner defines skills promise as an individual’s willingness and ability to learn new skills from a minimum foundation. It allows organizations to meet their skills needs by leveraging and redeploying current skills without compromising business continuity. Organizations can quickly fill critical skills gaps by moving employees with promise to projects where they can meaningfully contribute while still learning. This approach enables employees to add value to the organization sooner, rather than waiting for proficiency across all requirements.

Strengthening the L&D and Talent Management Partnership

Learning and Development (L&D) has long been at the forefront of continuous upskilling and on-the-job learning. However, investing in promise is not solely an L&D task; it requires a joint venture between talent management and L&D. This partnership spans multiple intersecting workflows, including identifying critical skills gaps, supporting career development, and enabling talent mobility. HR leaders must address four key concerns to integrate learning and mobility to build promise:

1. Identify Employees with Promise: Establish foundational criteria for the skills and behaviors that define promise across different roles.
2. Address Manager Reservations: Give managers the evidence-base to understand how promise helps them hit their goals.
3. Maintain Performance While Learning: Combine learning resources with workflow adjustments to ensure teams have what they need to perform despite skills gaps .
4. Structure Learning Networks: Facilitate knowledge exchange and transfer to support promise talent.

Identify Employees with Promise

To identify employees with promise, organizations must redefine the skills required for each role. Most organizations have extensive lists of requirements, limiting the available talent pool.

Progressive organizations have realized that most roles share a common core of skills and behaviors that indicate success, such as curiosity, adaptability, collaboration, and customer orientation. While role-defining requirements may be necessary, focusing on foundational skills and behaviors enables organizations to create a talent bench that can be readily upskilled for high-demand roles.

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