Talent Sharing: Facilitating the Notion of ‘sharing is caring’ | HR News

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to force organizations to rethink traditional talent practices. One talent practice that has emerged during the crisis is talent sharing – where one employer “shares” workers– who would otherwise lose their jobs or have a reduction in work hours due to less demand – with another employer who has a talent need. One such example is McDonald’s and retailers Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord – in which the companies signed an agreement to allow employees of the fast-food chains to work temporarily at the discounters’ stores. A similar arrangement was made when supermarket giant Kroger temporarily borrowed furloughed employees for 30 days from Sysco Corp. And although talent sharing may seem suitable only in unique situations, such as the pandemic, it can be an effective strategy–particularly in a post-COVID 19 world where many workers want flexibility and diverse experiences, and where organizations desire flexible work models and cost structures. As noted in this article, “now more than ever, the notion of ‘sharing is caring’ and conducting a gig-like workforce has come to light for organization looking to leverage talent across sectors in order to fill gaps.” Despite the promise of talent sharing, several questions will arise, such as: What are the implications for compensation? How do we protect against poaching of talent? How do we accurately match the skills of talent to the work being demanded?  Nonetheless, figuring out the answers to these and other questions can be transformative for an organization’s talent management.