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Talent and Skills

As markets, technologies, and expectations rapidly evolve, having the right talent and skills becomes even more essential. By taking a comprehensive approach, from strategic workforce planning to people development, we help companies build competitive advantage and position them for success.

Talent is the most important resource a business possesses, fueling the ideas that propel growth. But like many resources, talent is often in short supply and can be challenging to find and cultivate, especially as the economy shifts. We help companies develop a holistic talent and skills strategy that aligns with business goals and growth ambitions, such as tech and digital transformation or post-merger integration. When employees reach their potential, organizations are better positioned to reach theirs.

 

How We Help Clients Build a Talent and Skills Advantage

Talent advantage sparks competitive advantage. It boosts innovation and creates a meaningful improvement in business outcomes, ensuring that companies have the right skills when they need them. It also helps companies continually develop their expertise while improving time to hire, internal mobility, and talent productivity. We take an integrated, end-to-end approach to talent development because there are many facets to creating—and unleashing—a talent advantage.

Top-performing companies make attracting, developing, and retaining talent a key priority, proactively addressing workplace changes and the fierce competition for skills and know-how. But they also understand that to nurture growth, they need to nurture talent. Mastering talent strategy and solving the complex talent equation in a skill-based world means mastering four key dimensions:

 

For many organizations, significant upskilling is necessary to deploy next-generation capabilities and new technologies such as Generative AI. Talent, organizational processes, and culture enable effective, lasting results from tech transformation and other large-scale change programs. We know, too, that some companies have more targeted needs requiring tailored talent and skills programs in areas of talent sourcing strategy or employee retention strategy, for instance. Others require innovative workforce planning strategies to develop sustained cost management advantage.

Whether transforming for sustained results in digitization, climate, efficiency, or the future of work, our talent and skills consulting teams embed the end-to-end approach that defines our work—and helps perfect yours.

Our Client Work in Talent and Skills

We’ve worked with companies across the globe, helping them perfect their employee value proposition, talent sourcing strategy, employee retention strategy, and other talent initiatives.

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Launching an Inside Sales Hub at Siemens

Peter Barfuss, head of sales operation and sales transformation at Siemens Digital Industries, shares how the company worked with BCG to reimagine its inside sales operations, including the talent and skills required to support this transformation.

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BCG at the 2024 ASU+GSV Summit

BCG is committed to improving equal access to education and preparing the workforce for the future. Explore highlights from our ASU+GSV Summit programming.

Our Talent and Skills Resources

Leveraging BCG’s expertise in data science, learning programs, and people development, we’ve created unique tools to support companies as they attract, retain, and develop top-flight talent. Once implemented, our Build–Operate–Transfer model helps clients rapidly scale these new capabilities.

Here are two examples within our portfolio of tools to support talent and skills strategy:

 

TalentBuilder by BCG. An AI-powered platform designed to support clients in their most critical talent strategy decisions, from demand forecasting to fulfillment strategies. TalentBuilder by BCG leverages our deep expertise in data science and talent and skills consulting. Its six modules enhance workforce planning and talent acquisition strategy, helping companies define roles and tailor learning journeys and providing insight for optimal build–buy–borrow decisions.

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BCG U. BCG U partners with organizations to develop learning journeys and innovative approaches to people development that enable their full transformation on key topics like AI and generative AI, agile ways of working, and climate and sustainability. By offering unique upskilling solutions that are customized to align with outcome-focused priorities, our scalable approach spans senior leadership and the entire workforce to accelerate business impact. The result? An organization that is empowered to bring its transformational vision to life with a measurable return on learning investment.

Our Insights on Talent and Skills Strategy

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Bring AI Tools and a Learner’s Mindset to Work

Microsoft’s Colette Stallbaumer shares top findings on AI from the 2024 Work Trend Index and explains why a learner’s mindset is more important than ever.

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AI at Work: What People Are Saying

How do frontline employees, managers, and company leaders who have a front-row seat for the AI revolution feel about the technology sweeping across the corporate landscape?

Decoding Global Talent Collection of Publication and Reports
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Decoding Global Talent

To win the war for talent, employers must gain a better understanding of what matters to workers. In this series, BCG and The Network have conducted the world’s largest survey on talent preferences.


Meet Our Talent and Skills Consulting Team

BCG’s talent development consulting team draws from a global network of thought leaders—experts across the spectrum of industry, technical, and functional areas, including workforce planning, people development, and digital transformation.

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