What is hr sourcing and how does it reshape reskilling strategies

Understanding what is hr sourcing in a reskilling context

HR sourcing is often described as the art and science of finding the right candidates for the right job at the right time. In a reskilling context, it becomes something more strategic : it is about identifying potential, not just experience, and building a talent pool that can evolve with the organisation.

Traditionally, sourcing meant scanning job boards, using recruitment agencies, posting job openings on social media, and waiting for applications. Today, when roles change faster than job titles, this approach is no longer enough. Reskilling forces recruiters and hiring managers to rethink what sourcing really is and how the sourcing process can support long term workforce transformation.

From filling vacancies to building future capabilities

In a classic recruitment process, sourcing focuses on finding qualified candidates who match a predefined position. The goal is to reduce time to hire and secure quality hires for immediate needs. In a reskilling strategy, the focus shifts from the job description to the underlying skills and learning potential.

Instead of asking only “Who has done this job before ?”, recruiters start asking “Who could grow into this role with the right training ?”. This subtle change has a big impact on sourcing strategies :

• Identifying potential candidates based on transferable skills, not just previous job titles
• Looking at internal talent who can move into new positions through structured learning paths
• Using data to understand which skills are adjacent and how people can transition between roles

This is where concepts like skills ontology and skills mapping become essential. They help recruiters and HR teams see beyond job titles and map the real capabilities available in the organisation and in the external talent market.

What sourcing means when skills matter more than titles

When reskilling is a priority, effective sourcing is less about volume and more about precision. The sourcing process needs to support both recruiting and learning decisions. That means :

• Looking at skills gaps before launching a hiring process
• Deciding whether to hire or reskill for a given role
• Using sourcing strategies to identify attracting people who are open to learning, not only to changing jobs

Recruiters still use familiar channels such as job boards, social media, employee referrals, and recruitment agencies. However, the way they evaluate candidates changes. Instead of filtering only by years of experience in a specific position, they look at learning agility, adjacent skills, and motivation to grow.

This approach also changes how organisations think about passive candidates. In a reskilling oriented model, passive candidates are not only people who might be convinced to change employers. They can also be employees who are not actively looking for a new role but have the potential to move into critical jobs if offered the right training.

Connecting sourcing, reskilling, and business priorities

HR sourcing in a reskilling context is deeply connected to business strategy. It is not just a recruitment function ; it becomes a way to secure the capabilities the organisation will need in the next two to five years.

To make this work, recruiters and HR leaders need clarity on :

• Which roles are hard to fill through traditional hiring
• Where internal talent has the potential to step up with targeted learning
• How to balance external hiring and internal mobility to optimise cost, time, and quality hires

In practice, this means that sourcing is no longer a separate step that happens before hiring. It is integrated into a broader workforce planning process, where identifying, attracting, and developing talent are treated as one continuous cycle.

Why the sourcing process must evolve for reskilling

To support reskilling, the sourcing process itself needs to evolve. Recruiters cannot rely only on traditional CV screening if they want to uncover top talent with strong learning potential. They need better ways to identify potential candidates who may not look perfect on paper but can become quality hires with the right support.

Some practical shifts include :

• Using structured criteria to assess transferable skills and learning capacity
• Building a talent pool that includes both external candidates and internal employees
• Leveraging social media and employee referrals to reach passive candidates who are curious about new skills
• Aligning sourcing strategies with learning and development teams to design realistic reskilling paths

These changes do not remove the need for speed and efficiency. Time to hire still matters, and organisations still need effective sourcing to keep the hiring process under control. But the definition of success expands : it is not only about filling a job opening quickly, it is about building a workforce that can adapt.

Research from organisations such as the World Economic Forum and the OECD consistently highlights that many roles will be transformed or replaced by automation and digitalisation in the coming years. In this context, sourcing that ignores reskilling is short sighted. Sourcing that integrates reskilling becomes a strategic advantage.

As we look deeper into how job titles are giving way to skills maps and how internal talent sourcing becomes the hidden engine of reskilling, it becomes clear that HR sourcing is no longer just about recruiting. It is about shaping the future capabilities of the organisation.

From job titles to skills maps

Why job titles are not enough anymore

In traditional recruitment, the job title has been the main filter in the sourcing process. Recruiters search job boards, social media, recruitment agencies, and internal databases using titles like “project manager” or “data analyst”. They hope this will surface qualified candidates quickly and reduce time to hire.

In a reskilling context, this approach is no longer effective on its own. Job titles hide a lot of nuance. Two people with the same title can have very different skills, potential, and learning capacity. When the goal is to build a sustainable talent pool and prepare for future job openings, organisations need to move from titles to skills maps.

Research from the World Economic Forum and the OECD shows that many roles are evolving faster than job descriptions are updated. That means relying only on titles in the recruitment process can lead to missed potential candidates and slower hiring. Instead, sourcing strategies must focus on what people can actually do and what they can learn next.

From static roles to dynamic skills maps

A skills map is a structured view of the capabilities needed for a position and the capabilities already available in the workforce. It connects roles, skills, and learning paths. For reskilling, this is essential. It allows recruiters and HR teams to see which employees could move into new jobs with targeted training, instead of assuming they need to hire externally.

In practice, this means breaking down each job into:

• Core technical skills required to perform the role
• Transferable skills that can come from very different backgrounds
• Behavioral and social skills that support performance and collaboration
• Learning agility and growth potential, which are critical for reskilling

When the sourcing process is guided by a skills map, recruiters can identify potential candidates internally and externally who do not match the title but match the skills. This shift supports more effective sourcing and more strategic reskilling investments.

How skills based sourcing changes the recruitment process

Moving from job titles to skills maps reshapes every step of the hiring process. It affects how recruiters define a position, how they search for candidates, and how they evaluate quality hires.

Instead of starting with a fixed job description, recruiters collaborate with HR and business leaders to define the skills and outcomes needed. This becomes the basis for sourcing strategies. The focus moves from “who has done this exact job before” to “who has the skills and potential to succeed after reskilling”.

Some practical changes include :

• Using skills keywords rather than only job titles when searching job boards and social media
• Screening candidates for adjacent skills that can be developed through reskilling programs
• Rewriting job openings to highlight skills, learning opportunities, and career paths
• Integrating skills assessments and work samples into the recruitment process

This approach can reduce time hire in the long term, because the organisation builds a reusable talent pool based on skills, not just roles. It also improves the match between candidates and future needs, which supports better retention and more effective reskilling.

Expanding the talent pool with skills focused sourcing strategies

When recruiters stop filtering only by job titles, they can access a much wider range of potential candidates. This is especially important when the market for top talent is tight and when the organisation wants to invest in reskilling instead of constant external hiring.

Skills based sourcing strategies can include :

• Employee referrals that focus on skills and potential, not just similar roles
• Social media campaigns that highlight learning opportunities and reskilling paths
• Partnerships with training providers to identify attracting learners who are ready for a career shift
• Collaboration with recruitment agencies that can search by skills clusters instead of narrow titles

These strategies help organisations reach passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new job but are open to reskilling and career growth. By presenting a strong employer brand around learning and internal mobility, companies can attract qualified candidates who value development as much as salary or title.

For individuals, this shift means that enhancing your technical skills for a new career path can be more visible to recruiters, even if your current title does not match the target role. Resources that explain how to structure and communicate these skills, such as enhancing your technical skills for a new career path, become essential in this new landscape.

Identifying potential candidates beyond traditional profiles

One of the biggest advantages of skills maps is the ability to identify potential candidates who would be invisible in a title based search. For example, someone working in customer support might have strong analytical skills, problem solving abilities, and digital literacy that make them a good fit for a junior data role after targeted reskilling.

To make this work, organisations need a sourcing process that captures and updates skills data over time. This can include :

• Internal skills inventories and self assessments
• Data from learning platforms and certifications
• Performance reviews that highlight strengths and growth areas

Recruiters can then use this information to build internal talent pools for future job openings. Instead of starting from zero with each new position, they already know which employees have the right foundation and can be moved through reskilling programs. This internal sourcing approach connects directly with the idea of internal talent sourcing as a hidden engine of reskilling.

Aligning sourcing, reskilling, and long term hiring strategies

Finally, moving from job titles to skills maps is not just a technical change. It is a strategic shift that connects sourcing, reskilling, and long term workforce planning. When organisations know which skills they need in the future, they can decide when to invest in reskilling and when external hiring is necessary.

This alignment helps to :

• Reduce dependency on external recruitment agencies for every new role
• Improve the quality of hires by combining skills fit and learning potential
• Use recruitment and hiring data to refine reskilling programs over time
• Strengthen the employer brand as a place where people can grow into new positions

In the next parts of this article, we will look at how internal sourcing can power reskilling, how to balance external hiring with internal development, and how data and tools can support a fair and effective sourcing process that truly focuses on skills.

Internal talent sourcing as the hidden engine of reskilling

The overlooked power of sourcing inside your own walls

When people talk about sourcing, they often think about scanning job boards, social media, or recruitment agencies to find new candidates. In a reskilling strategy, the most effective sourcing process often starts much closer to home : with the employees you already have.

Internal talent sourcing means systematically identifying potential candidates for future roles among your current workforce. Instead of starting every recruitment process from scratch, recruiters and HR teams map existing skills, learning potential, and career aspirations. This turns reskilling into a core part of the hiring process, not an afterthought.

In practice, this changes what sourcing is about. The question is no longer only “Who can we hire from outside for this job opening ?” but also “Who inside the company could grow into this position with the right learning path ?” This shift is key to building a sustainable talent pool and to reducing time to hire for critical roles.

How internal sourcing transforms the recruitment process

Internal sourcing reshapes the recruitment process at several stages. It affects how you define the job, how you search for talent, and how you evaluate potential candidates.

• Job definition : Instead of writing a job description based only on past hires, HR and managers translate the role into skills and learning requirements. This aligns with the move from job titles to skills maps.
• Identifying and attracting internal talent : Recruiters use internal skills data, performance reviews, and learning records to identify employees who could be reskilled into the role. These employees become a first wave of qualified candidates.
• Assessment of potential : The focus shifts from “Has this person done this job before ?” to “Can this person learn the required skills in a realistic time frame ?” This is where reskilling strategies and sourcing strategies merge.

Done well, this approach improves the quality of hires, because you already know how the candidate behaves in your culture, how they collaborate, and how they respond to change. It also reduces the risk of misalignment between the role and the person, which is a common issue when recruiting only from external talent pools.

Internal talent pools as the engine of reskilling

To make internal sourcing effective, organizations need to treat their workforce as a dynamic talent pool. This means continuously updating information about employees’ skills, interests, and learning progress, not just when a job opening appears.

Some practical elements of an internal sourcing process include :

• Skills inventories : Centralized, regularly updated records of employees’ skills, certifications, and learning activities.
• Transparent internal job postings : Making internal job openings visible and easy to apply for, with clear information about required skills and possible reskilling paths.
• Structured mobility programs : Programs that encourage employees to move across departments or functions, supported by training and mentoring.
• Internal talent communities : Groups built around key skills or roles, where employees can express interest in future positions and recruiters can spot potential candidates early.

These practices help recruiters and HR teams identify potential candidates for future roles before the need becomes urgent. As a result, time to hire decreases, and the organization can respond faster to market shifts.

Blending internal and external sourcing strategies

Internal sourcing does not replace external recruiting. Instead, it changes the balance. For each position, recruiters can decide whether to prioritize internal reskilling, external hiring, or a mix of both.

External sourcing remains essential for roles where the skills are completely new to the organization or where the internal talent pool is too small. In these cases, effective sourcing still relies on a combination of channels :

• Job boards and social media to reach active and passive candidates.
• Employee referrals to tap into trusted networks and attract top talent.
• Recruitment agencies for niche or hard to fill roles.

However, when internal sourcing is strong, external recruitment can focus on truly strategic gaps instead of filling every job opening from outside. This leads to better use of recruitment budgets and more targeted sourcing strategies.

For a deeper look at how sourcing and reskilling can be aligned in practice, including ways to shorten time to hire while improving quality hires, you can explore this guide on efficient source staffing and recruiting for successful reskilling.

Why internal sourcing improves quality and retention

Internal sourcing is not only about filling roles faster. It also has a direct impact on engagement and retention. When employees see that internal mobility and reskilling are real options, they are more likely to stay and invest in their own development.

From a recruitment perspective, this creates a positive cycle :

• Employees feel valued as talent, not just as resources for a single job.
• Recruiters gain access to a richer internal talent pool, including passive candidates who might not apply on their own but are open to new opportunities.
• The employer brand strengthens, because the organization is seen as a place where people can grow, not just be hired for one position.

Over time, this approach leads to more quality hires, fewer mismatches, and a more resilient workforce. Internal sourcing becomes the hidden engine that keeps reskilling strategies moving, while external sourcing adds fresh perspectives and skills where they are truly needed.

Balancing external sourcing with reskilling investments

Why external sourcing still matters in a reskilling first world

Even when a company is serious about reskilling, it cannot stop looking outside. Markets move faster than any internal training plan. New technologies appear, new regulations arrive, and suddenly there is a gap that internal talent cannot fill in time. This is where external sourcing becomes a strategic complement, not a competitor, to reskilling.

In practice, the recruitment process has to answer a simple question for every job opening : do we grow this skill from within, or do we bring it in from outside ? The answer is rarely 100 percent one side. Most organisations need a mix of internal mobility and external recruiting to keep their talent pool healthy and future ready.

When to reskill and when to recruit from outside

Balancing reskilling with external hiring starts with a clear, honest look at time, risk, and business priorities. Once you have mapped skills and potential inside the company, you can compare internal options with external candidates in a structured way.

• Time to hire vs time to reskill : Some roles are urgent. If a critical position is open and the business is losing revenue every week, waiting 12 months for an internal reskilling program is not realistic. In those cases, a focused sourcing process that reduces time to hire is justified.
• Strategic vs temporary needs : For long term capabilities, such as data literacy or cybersecurity awareness across many teams, reskilling is often more sustainable. For short term or niche projects, recruiting external talent or using recruitment agencies can be more effective.
• Depth of expertise : If the organisation has no baseline knowledge in a domain, it may need at least a few external experts. These quality hires can later mentor internal employees who are reskilling into the field.

In other words, external sourcing strategies should be used to plug immediate gaps and seed new expertise, while reskilling builds a broader internal foundation over time.

Designing sourcing strategies that respect reskilling investments

Traditional recruiting often focuses on filling a job as fast as possible. In a reskilling oriented organisation, the sourcing process has to change. Recruiters and hiring managers need to ask not only “who is the best candidate for this position today ?” but also “how does this hire fit with our internal talent development plan ?”.

Some practical ways to align sourcing with reskilling :

• Start with internal talent checks : Before posting on job boards or contacting recruitment agencies, recruiters should systematically review internal skills data and employee referrals. This helps identify potential candidates who are already in the company and could move with targeted training.
• Use external sourcing to complement, not replace : When external recruiting is needed, define clearly which skills must come from outside and which can be developed internally after hire. This avoids over specifying job requirements and missing high potential candidates.
• Integrate learning into the hiring process : For some roles, you can design a hiring process where part of the skill gap is intentionally covered by structured reskilling after onboarding. This is especially useful when the market for top talent is tight.

By doing this, the organisation protects its reskilling investments and avoids sending the message that only external candidates are valued for new opportunities.

Using external sourcing channels to enrich the internal talent pool

External sourcing is not only about filling current job openings. Done well, it also feeds a long term talent pool that supports future reskilling. The key is to treat every sourcing channel as a way to learn about the market, not just to collect CVs.

Common channels that can be used in a more strategic way :

• Social media and professional networks : Social platforms are powerful for identifying and attracting passive candidates who are not actively applying. Observing profiles and conversations helps recruiters understand which skills are emerging and how other employers describe them.
• Job boards and niche communities : Job boards remain useful for volume, but niche communities often reveal new skill combinations. Analysing the language used in these spaces can inform internal reskilling programs and job design.
• Employee referrals : Referrals are often one of the most effective sourcing strategies for quality hires. They also show which external skills your current employees value and which networks they are connected to.
• Recruitment agencies and RPO partners : External partners see patterns across many clients. When they share insights about candidate expectations, salary trends, and skill shortages, this information can guide internal reskilling priorities.

In this way, what sourcing reveals about the external market becomes input for internal learning roadmaps, not just for immediate recruiting decisions.

Rethinking what “best candidate” means in a reskilling era

When reskilling is central to the talent strategy, the definition of the best candidate changes. Instead of focusing only on a perfect skills match, recruiters and hiring managers look at potential, learning agility, and cultural fit with a development oriented environment.

Some shifts that help balance external hiring with reskilling :

• From static profiles to growth potential : A candidate who covers 70 percent of the technical requirements but shows strong learning capacity and alignment with the employer brand may be a better long term hire than someone who matches 100 percent but has low interest in development.
• From one position to career paths : During the recruitment process, discuss not only the current job but also possible future moves supported by reskilling. This attracts candidates who value growth and reduces the risk of quick turnover.
• From narrow filters to broader talent pools : Overly strict filters on degrees, industries, or linear careers can exclude high potential candidates who are ready to reskill. Relaxing some criteria, while keeping clear standards for quality, opens the door to more diverse and adaptable talent.

This approach makes external sourcing more effective because it aligns with how the organisation actually develops people once they are hired.

Making recruiters key partners of reskilling, not just gatekeepers

Finally, balancing external sourcing with reskilling investments requires a cultural shift in how recruiters work with learning and development teams. Recruiters are often the first contact point with potential candidates and passive candidates. They see what the market offers and what candidates expect from employers.

To use this position well, organisations can :

• Include recruiters in discussions about future skills and internal training plans, so they understand which roles should be prioritised for internal mobility.
• Share data on time hire, quality of hire, and post hire performance for both internal moves and external hires, to refine sourcing strategies over time.
• Encourage recruiters to give feedback to learning teams when they see recurring skill gaps in external candidates, which may signal an opportunity for targeted reskilling programs.

When recruiters are treated as strategic partners, the sourcing process becomes a bridge between the external market and internal development, instead of a separate, isolated function. This is how organisations manage to balance external recruitment with serious, long term investment in reskilling.

Data, tools, and biases in hr sourcing for reskilling

Turning sourcing data into reskilling decisions

When organisations talk about data in recruitment and sourcing, they often focus on speed : how fast they can fill a job opening, how many candidates they can reach, how quickly they can move someone through the hiring process. In a reskilling context, the real value of data is different. It is about understanding where skills exist today, where they are missing, and how sourcing strategies can support long term talent development instead of only short term hiring.

Modern sourcing tools collect a huge amount of information about candidates and potential candidates : profiles from job boards, social media activity, internal mobility history, performance data, learning records, and more. When this information is connected to reskilling, it helps recruiters and HR teams move from guessing to evidence based decisions about who to reskill, when, and for which position.

Key metrics that matter for reskilling focused sourcing

Not every recruitment metric is useful when you want to align sourcing with reskilling. Some classic indicators, like time to hire, still matter, but they do not tell the full story about long term talent potential. A more balanced view combines efficiency metrics with learning and mobility signals.

• Time to hire and time to fill : If the time to hire for a recurring job is consistently long, it may indicate a structural skills gap. That is a strong signal that reskilling internal talent could be more effective than relying only on external sourcing.
• Quality of hire and quality of internal moves : Tracking performance, retention, and engagement of both external hires and reskilled employees helps compare the impact of different sourcing strategies. In many organisations, reskilled internal talent shows higher commitment and lower early attrition.
• Talent pool depth : Looking at how many qualified candidates exist in your external talent pool versus your internal talent pool for a given role can guide investment. Scarce external supply often justifies stronger reskilling programs.
• Learning and skills progression : Data from learning platforms, certifications, and on the job assessments shows which employees are building skills that match future job openings. This is crucial for identifying attracting internal candidates for reskilling pathways.
• Internal mobility rates : A low rate of internal moves, combined with heavy use of recruitment agencies or external job boards, may reveal that the sourcing process is not fully integrated with reskilling opportunities.

When recruiters and HR analysts review these metrics together, they can redesign the sourcing process to prioritise internal talent with reskilling potential before launching large external campaigns.

Tools that connect sourcing, skills, and reskilling

The technology stack behind effective sourcing is changing quickly. For reskilling, the most useful tools are those that can translate job requirements into skills, and then match those skills with both internal and external talent. This goes beyond traditional applicant tracking systems that only manage the recruitment process.

• Skills based talent platforms : These tools map each job to a set of skills and proficiencies. They allow recruiters to search not only by job title but by skills, which is essential for identifying potential candidates for reskilling, even if their current position is very different.
• Internal talent marketplaces : These platforms show employees short term projects, stretch assignments, and open roles that match their skills and learning goals. They help build a living talent pool inside the organisation, where reskilling opportunities are visible and accessible.
• AI assisted sourcing tools : Many sourcing tools now scan social media, professional networks, and job boards to find passive candidates. In a reskilling strategy, the same tools can be used to benchmark external talent trends and compare them with internal capabilities, informing where to invest in training.
• Learning experience platforms : When connected to recruitment data, these platforms can recommend learning paths that prepare employees for specific future job openings, aligning the sourcing process with development plans.

What matters is not the number of tools, but how well they are integrated. If recruiting systems, learning platforms, and HR data remain isolated, it becomes very hard to build a coherent view of talent potential and to design effective sourcing strategies that support reskilling.

Bias risks hidden in sourcing data and algorithms

As soon as data and algorithms enter the sourcing process, bias becomes a serious risk. This is not only an ethical issue ; it directly affects the quality of reskilling decisions and the diversity of the future workforce.

Bias can appear at several stages :

• Data collection : If the organisation mainly uses employee referrals, certain social media channels, or specific job boards, the talent pool will reflect the same networks and backgrounds again and again. This limits the range of candidates and passive candidates considered for both hiring and reskilling.
• Screening criteria : Over reliance on formal education, past job titles, or linear career paths can exclude people with strong learning potential or non traditional experience. For reskilling, this is a major loss, because many high potential candidates do not fit classic CV filters.
• Algorithmic recommendations : AI tools trained on historical recruitment data may reproduce past preferences, such as favouring certain schools, regions, or career patterns. This can reduce access to reskilling opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Research from the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development and the International Labour Organization has shown that biased recruitment practices can reinforce labour market inequalities and limit access to training and career progression for specific groups (OECD, "Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace", 2021 ; ILO, "Global Employment Trends", 2020). When these patterns are embedded in sourcing tools, they can silently shape who is seen as suitable for reskilling.

Practical safeguards for fair and effective sourcing

To keep sourcing strategies aligned with fair reskilling, organisations need clear safeguards. These safeguards protect both candidates and the organisation’s long term talent strategy.

• Use skills first criteria : Define roles in terms of skills and capabilities instead of narrow job histories. This opens the door to internal employees whose current job is different but who show strong learning potential.
• Audit sourcing channels : Regularly review which job boards, social media platforms, recruitment agencies, and employee referrals are used, and who they reach. If the same profiles dominate, diversify channels to broaden the talent pool.
• Monitor demographic and career path patterns : Without exposing individual identities, analyse whether certain groups are systematically underrepresented among qualified candidates, quality hires, or reskilled employees. Public guidance from the European Commission on trustworthy AI and from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offers frameworks for such monitoring.
• Human oversight on AI tools : AI based sourcing should support, not replace, human judgement. Recruiters and HR analysts need training to understand what sourcing algorithms do, where they can fail, and how to challenge their recommendations.
• Transparent communication with employees : Explain how data from the recruitment process, performance reviews, and learning platforms is used to identify attracting people for reskilling. Transparency builds trust and encourages employees to engage with development opportunities.

When these safeguards are in place, data and tools become allies rather than risks. They help recruiters focus on the best use of time and resources, balancing external hiring with internal development, and ensuring that sourcing strategies truly support a more inclusive and future ready workforce.

Building a culture where sourcing and reskilling work together

Making reskilling part of everyday conversations

Reskilling only scales when it becomes part of daily work, not a side project. In many organisations, the recruitment process and the learning agenda still live in separate worlds. Recruiters talk about candidates, time to hire, and sourcing strategies, while learning teams talk about courses and certifications. Employees hear both, but do not see how it connects to their own job and potential.

To build a culture where sourcing and reskilling work together, leaders need to make skills the common language. That means :

• Explaining clearly how internal talent sourcing works and why it matters for career growth
• Showing employees how their current skills map to future roles and job openings
• Making it normal to talk about mobility, not just performance

When managers regularly discuss skills gaps, learning options, and internal moves in one conversation, employees start to see reskilling as a realistic path, not a risk. This also helps recruiters, because they can rely on a visible internal talent pool instead of starting every search from zero.

Aligning recruiters, managers, and learning teams

Culture change does not happen only through messages ; it happens through alignment of the people who run the process. In most organisations, three groups shape how sourcing and reskilling work :

• Recruiters, who run the sourcing process and manage the hiring process
• People managers, who define the position, evaluate candidate potential, and own team performance
• Learning and development teams, who design reskilling strategies and programs

If these groups work in silos, you get conflicting signals. Recruiters push for fast time to hire and external qualified candidates. Managers ask for the best profile on the market. Learning teams promote internal programs that are not fully used. To change this, organisations can :

• Co design role profiles based on skills, not only job titles
• Agree on when to prioritise internal candidates versus external recruiting
• Share data on quality hires, internal mobility, and time hire in a single dashboard

When everyone sees the same data about sourcing, recruitment, and reskilling outcomes, it becomes easier to make trade offs. For example, a slightly longer hiring process may be acceptable if it allows an internal employee to complete a targeted learning path and move into the role.

Embedding reskilling into the sourcing process

In a mature culture, reskilling is not a separate initiative ; it is built into the way you identify and attract talent. That means rethinking what sourcing actually does. Instead of only scanning job boards and social media for ready made profiles, recruiters and talent teams look for people with strong adjacent skills and learning capacity.

Some practical ways to embed reskilling into sourcing and recruitment strategies :

• Redesign job descriptions to highlight which skills can be learned on the job and which are non negotiable
• Use internal talent marketplaces to match employees to stretch assignments and short term projects before opening external roles
• Include learning potential as a formal criterion when assessing potential candidates, not just past experience
• Offer clear learning paths in job ads, showing how the role connects to future positions and skills growth

This approach changes how recruiters talk to both internal and external candidates. Instead of selling only the current position, they can describe a skills journey. That is attractive for top talent and also supports more effective sourcing, because it widens the pool of qualified candidates who can grow into the role.

Using social channels and referrals to support reskilling

Culture is also shaped by how people talk about the organisation outside formal processes. Social media, employee referrals, and informal networks are powerful tools for identifying and attracting talent, especially passive candidates who are not actively searching job boards.

To connect these channels with reskilling :

• Encourage employees to share stories of internal moves and reskilling success on social platforms
• Design referral programs that reward employees for recommending internal and external candidates who show strong learning potential
• Use social content to highlight your employer brand as a place where people can change careers, not just change companies

Research from multiple labour market studies shows that employee referrals often lead to better retention and quality hires compared with purely external recruitment agencies or anonymous job boards. When referrals are aligned with a reskilling narrative, they reinforce the message that the organisation values growth, not just immediate fit.

Rewarding managers and recruiters for internal mobility

One of the most common blockers to a reskilling culture is the fear of losing good people. Managers sometimes resist internal moves because they worry about short term gaps. Recruiters may feel pressured to fill roles quickly, even if an internal candidate could be ready with a short learning period.

To change behaviour, organisations need to adjust incentives. Some options include :

• Including internal mobility and development of team members as part of manager performance goals
• Recognising recruiters who successfully balance internal and external sourcing strategies, not only speed of hire
• Tracking and sharing success metrics such as internal promotion rates, cross functional moves, and reskilled employees in critical jobs

When leaders publicly celebrate teams that develop and release talent, it sends a strong signal. Over time, this helps shift the focus from protecting headcount to building a dynamic talent pool that can adapt as business needs change.

Making data and fairness visible

Earlier, we looked at how data, tools, and biases influence sourcing for reskilling. Culture change requires transparency about these issues. Employees will only trust the process if they believe that internal candidates are evaluated fairly compared with external applicants.

Some practical steps :

• Share clear criteria for how candidates are screened, both for internal and external recruitment
• Use structured interviews and skills based assessments to reduce subjective bias
• Monitor outcomes by gender, age, background, and other relevant dimensions to detect patterns of exclusion

Independent research from organisations such as the OECD and the International Labour Organization has shown that transparent, skills based recruitment practices improve access to quality jobs and support more inclusive reskilling pathways. Making these practices visible inside the company helps employees see that the sourcing process is not only about speed, but also about fairness and long term potential.

Normalising experimentation and learning from mistakes

Finally, a culture where sourcing and reskilling work together accepts that not every move will be perfect. Some internal hires will struggle in a new role. Some external candidates hired for their potential will need more support than expected. The key is to treat these situations as learning opportunities, not failures.

Organisations can support this by :

• Offering coaching and mentoring for employees who move into reskilled roles
• Reviewing hiring decisions regularly to understand what worked and what did not in the sourcing process
• Adjusting job design, onboarding, and learning support based on real outcomes, not assumptions

When people see that the company stands behind them after a move, they are more willing to take risks. Recruiters and managers also become more open to hiring for potential, because they know there is a system to support development. Over time, this creates a virtuous cycle where sourcing, recruitment, and reskilling reinforce each other, and the organisation becomes better at identifying, attracting, and growing the talent it already has.