6 Steps to Create an Internal Talent Marketplace in 2025

With companies navigating the increasingly dynamic workforce situations in 2025, Internal Talent Marketplaces (ITMs) have been the key solution. An ITM helps match employees' skills, ambitions, and experience with opportunities within the company, from full-time jobs to short-term projects and learning opportunities, creating a culture of development and flexibility. 

The implementation of talent marketplaces is picking up speed. The move is prompted by the requirement to overcome labor shortages, fill skills gaps, and maintain talent competitiveness. This article has provided six crucial steps to create a thriving ITM in 2025. 

What is an Internal Talent Marketplace?

It is an AI-driven web-based platform that assists companies in matching employees with internal opportunities like upskilling initiatives, mentorships, full-time positions, and short-term assignments. Instead of relying on external recruitment, it promotes talent within the company, maximizing the current workforce's potential.

Key Features of Internal Talent Marketplace

Here are some of the key features and capabilities of an ITM: 

• AI-based Skill Matching: Suggests learning pathways, gigs, or jobs based on the career aspirations, experiences, and skills of employees.
• Employee Profiles & Skill Inventories: Centralizes skills information to construct dynamic employee profiles.
• Integrated Learning Paths: Connects employees to upskilling content that supports career objectives or business requirements.
• Opportunity Listings: Offers mentorships, job rotations, stretch assignments, and internal gigs across departments.
• Real-Time Insights: Provides managers with visibility into skills gaps, potential successors, and available talent.

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Why is the Internal Talent Marketplace becoming More Popular in 2025?

With talent gaps, increasing attrition, and a growing requirement for agility, businesses are focusing on internal mobility. Based on a report by Gartner, 30% of big businesses now use ITMs to enhance employee engagement and workforce agility. These marketplaces enable companies to keep top talent, decrease hiring expenses, and change rapidly.

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How Internal Talent Marketplaces Work?

With the help of AI, an ITM evaluates employee aspirations, experience, and skills. This platform aligns them with the relevant internal opportunities. For instance:

• A team lead can spot talent available for a high-priority short-term assignment in real time.
• A new employee can discover a mentor from the system.
• An employee with marketing expertise can be assigned to a cross-functional branding project.

Key Benefits of an Internal Talent Marketplace

Below are some of the significant advantages that ITM offers:

• Accelerated Project Staffing: Cross-matching internal talent quickly fills Crucial projects and roles, boosting business agility.
• Enhanced Career Mobility: Employees can explore diverse roles, learn new skills, and grow without leaving the company.
• Greater Talent Exposure: Managers can find hidden capabilities within their teams and throughout the company.

6 Steps to Create an Internal Talent Marketplace

Here are the six crucial steps that organizations must follow to create an ITM:

1. Define Your Talent Strategy & Goals

Before starting an ITM, connecting it with your organization's overall talent and business plans is essential. Start by defining the main goals:

• Boost Internal Mobility: Drive employees' movement through roles to keep leading talent.
• Enhance Employee Engagement: Engage employees by offering them clear career path opportunities.
• Fill Skill Gaps: Identify and bridge current skill gaps inside the organization.
• Increase Organizational Agility: Facilitate the rapid redeployment of talent based on shifting business requirements.

Schneider Electric, for example, used its Open Talent Marketplace to match employee capabilities with internal job opportunities, yielding more than $15 million in cost savings from enhanced productivity and decreased hiring expense.

2. Conduct a Skills Gap Analysis

Next, knowing the current and future skill requirements for an efficient ITM is crucial. To learn more about skills, organizations should follow these steps:

• Map Current Skills: Use performance metrics, audits, and surveys to plot present staff capabilities.
• Forecast Future Needs: Work with leadership to anticipate skills needed for future projects and strategic objectives.
• Identify Gaps: Align existing skills with future requirements to identify deficiencies.

3. Foster a Culture of Internal Mobility

A successful ITM relies on an internal movement-supporting culture that values such a system. The following are strategies to develop such a culture:

• Leadership Support: Inspire leaders to initiate and engage with internal mobility programs.
• Transparency in Communication: Periodically share success stories and opportunities within the organization.
• Manager Training: Provide managers with the tools and information necessary to assist their team's career growth.

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4. Select the Right Technology Platform (AI/HRIS Integration)

Selecting an appropriate platform is crucial to the ITM's performance and adoption. Major considerations include:

• AI-driven Matching: Make sure the platform applies AI to match employee skills and interests with existing opportunities.
• Integration Capabilities: The platform should effortlessly integrate with existing HR systems like Human Resource Information System (HRIS), Learning Management System (LMS), and Application Tracking System (ATS).
• Easy-to-Use Interface: An intuitive and straightforward layout inspires employee involvement.

5. Pilot the Marketplace with a Test Group

Before a full release, it's better to conduct a pilot that helps determine potential pitfalls and points of improvement. For this:

• Choose a Diverse Test Group: Use workers from different departments and levels.
• Establish Clear Goals: Establish what success in the pilot stage will look like.
• Get Feedback: Obtain feedback from participants to improve the platform and processes.

6. Scale Organization-Wide & Continuously Optimize

Following a successful pilot, roll out the ITM throughout the organization and ensure simultaneous improvement whenever required. For this:

• Phased Rollout: Implement the ITM into various departments in stages to handle the change smoothly.
• Track Key Metrics: Monitor crucial metrics, such as internal mobility rates, employee engagement, and time-to-fill for positions.
• Continuous Feedback: Continuously collect feedback from users to allow for required changes.

Best Practices for a Successful Internal Talent Marketplace

Jotted down below are some best practices to be followed for a successful ITM:

• Communication & Change Management: Open and ongoing communication is necessary. Initiate in-house campaigns to describe the ITM's purpose and value. Provide managers and employees with training, FAQs, and success stories. Change management must address cultural resistance and promote a growth mindset across teams.
• Transparent Opportunity Listings: Ensure all internal mentorships, gigs, and jobs are open and readily available to all qualified employees. Posts must have clear descriptions, necessary skills, duration, and application procedures, encouraging transparency and honesty.
• Data Privacy and Governance: Safeguard employee data using robust governance processes. Communicate transparently regarding how data is gathered, stored, and used. Uphold data privacy regulations such as GDPR or follow regional guidelines.
• Equity and Accessibility: Make the ITM inclusive and accessible to individuals with disabilities, flexible across languages, and unbiased. Periodically audit the system to provide equal access and avoid favoritism.

Conclusion

Establishing a thriving internal talent marketplace is the secret to future-proofing a company's talent. iMocha simplifies this revolution with its robust AI-powered skills intelligence platform, providing skill assessments, skills gap analysis, and real-time analytics for talent. By connecting present capabilities to future opportunities, iMocha helps businesses with internal mobility, onboarding talent quicker, and creating a growth culture. 

FAQs

How does an internal talent marketplace work?

Such a marketplace uses AI to match current workers with suitable internal positions according to professional ambitions, interests, and skills. It funnels these into one central source, increases visibility, and facilitates instant talent assignment, enabling agile workforce planning and career advancement.

Why do companies use an internal talent marketplace?

They help companies drive employee retention, cut hiring costs, and make their workforce more agile. By revealing invisible talent and providing internal mobility, businesses can get people into roles more quickly, develop employees at scale, and adapt faster to changes in business.

How is an internal talent marketplace different from a traditional job board?

In contrast to traditional job boards, internal marketplaces concentrate on existing staff. They use AI to connect individuals with learning opportunities, gigs, or jobs. This fluid model helps with career advancement, internal mobility, and strategic talent deployment above what traditional job postings offer.