Struggling with the talent shortage? Here are six ways to embrace “expertship” within your business

Given the recent Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra, the spotlight is on talent shortages in Australia. But it does beg the question as to why we even needed a summit when most Australian businesses already have untapped skills on their payroll? Is it a systemic problem that businesses aren’t recognising the talent in their midst? 

After five years of research involving more than 2000 experts and 30 organisations culminating into a recently released white paper, one thing is clear: technical experts in Australia are often overlooked as leaders within businesses, which then compounds our “talent shortage”. 

There needs to be paradigm shift of viewing technical experts such as those in IT and engineering — industries highlighted by the Prime Minister as areas where shortages exist — from service providers within a business to strategic partners. Rather than looking for leadership in your business let’s start talking about expertship.

After all, a business of 2000 employees could save about $825,000 alone if it retains its experts. Furthermore, by unleashing the full potential of internal expertise, organisations can reap benefits that lead straight to their bottom line. And importantly, this is not just a HR issue, it’s a company-wide education that’s needed.