Many organizations face significant challenges in their talent management, particularly the level of difficulty hiring the required profiles, and even more in face of the growth of demand for people who are able to manage the growing complexity of the companies more skillfully and in a more comprehensive manner.
According to a study by Manpower, the shortage of talent in Mexico reached one of its highest levels in 2025, making the demand for people with the abilities to sustain the business a critical factor for growth and reaching the desired results.
In this sense, part of the challenge is that frequently talent calibration leaves much space for improvement, due to lack of objectivity, poor connection with the future of the business, or merely because the leaders do not consider it a priority.
Talent in a company is a highly valuable asset, but it is the only one on which, frequently, no “accountability” exists. Moreover, it is the only asset that seems to be owned by the human capital areas and not by the team leader. What would happen if financial resources were seen as owned by the financial area? How much autonomy would an executive actually have over his position?
When a new leader receives an area, he is informed about the objectives or results he is expected to deliver, and he is assigned a budget to manage. only in a few cases the leader receives the “talent inventory” that he should care for and enhance. This is not only telling him who will be the people under his responsibility and the profile of each one of them, but it means that with the “delivery of the team” we help the leader to analyze his current resources and needs.
Thus, the responsibility to develop the abilities of the staff is seen as a task to be done by the training area, but nothing could be more inaccurate!
Imagine that you have your own business and it develops successfully, then you need to serve new clients with growingly complex needs; you are no longer able to do it yourself, you need “additional hands”. The question is: does the ability of these hands have an impact in sustaining the best results of your business?
Then, it is essential to observe what you really need to grow, since these new persons must be able to encourage your clients to keep buying your product or service.
The issue is that, as organizations grow, their leaders have less time to think which persons will be able to produce the desired results, or, sometimes, they simply give up trying to acquire what is needed.
And it should also be noted that, frequently, the lack of talent is subsidized by higher workloads on the most competent staff, creating a vicious cycle affecting both people and the business.
Rethinking talent mapping
So, which are the changes needed in talent mapping?
1. You need to define the “target” talent inventory to become aware of the actions to obtain it
Calibration exercises must begin with strategic thinking on the future of the business to be able to establish the type of teams that will be needed, thus clarifying if certain abilities must be reinforced, others be acquired and even if some should be unlearned.
This analysis allows the projection of (very specific) competences as well as a more effective organizational culture and design to reach the desired future.
2. High potential can obtain everything
It has been proved that the type of talent depends on the challenge of the business, high potential can be extremely valuable at times of innovation or when facing challenges under uncertain conditions; but to consolidate the execution, expert talent will be the key.
3. I hire her and then I see if she delivers
Given the fast pace of business, talent planning has become a trial and error exercise, but then people suffer and the business suffers.
Thus, the definition of the type of abilities needed to become part of the team is a strategic responsibility of the leader, no one is more aware of the needs so this is his task, but we need to give him the tools to complete the job easily.
Currently, the definition of the future profile is conducted more easily through key experiences and knowledge, since competences are too conceptual if not made tangible.
Finally, a good talent engineering is not sufficient, but the management of each group must be aligned to the employee value proposition, since this is the only way to ensure that the top performance or potential of the talent strategy is unleashed.
These days, leaders need to be expert staff inventory managers, mastering tools that were previously reserved to the Human Resources areas.
