The New Dictionary of Hiring

Talent Debt

/TAL-UHNT DET/

NOUN

Talent Debt is the accumulation of commitments a business has made without securing the people required to deliver them.

MEANING

A company sells the work before it has the team, announces the expansion before it has the expertise and commits to a deadline before it knows whether anyone can deliver. Hiring becomes an emergency. Naturally, it's recruiting's emergency.

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Talent Debt is what piles up when a business makes promises against people it hasn't secured. Like most debt, it looks cheap when you take it on. The bill arrives later, usually with “URGENT” in the subject line.

Defined by:
James Ellis,
Employer Brand Labs

Category:

Essentials

Related Terms:

The Hiring Assumption

→

Talent Risk

The New Dictionary of Hiring card: Talent Debt, noun. The accumulation of commitments a business has made without securing the people required to deliver them. Abstract iridescent glass shape on a white background.

MAKE THE CHANGE

Instead of:

Hiring backlog. Treating hiring as something that happens after strategy.

Ask:

How much of the strategy have we already promised before securing the people required to execute it?

EXAMPLE

The company promises a bigger offering, faster delivery and a new growth target. None of the needed talent has been secured. Three promises become three urgent searches, all at once.

HOW TO USE IT

Review commitments already made for the coming quarters. Mark which still depend on unconfirmed hires, then show the combined exposure instead of treating each search as a separate emergency.

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

We have commitments on the books that depend on people we don't have. That debt will come due whether recruiting is ready or not. We should decide now which promises need a different plan.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Unstaffed Commitment: an Unstaffed Commitment is one promise made without the people to keep it; Talent Debt is the total of those promises. Preference Debt is different again: missing reasons for talent to choose you, not missing people.