Most companies overspend on external hiring — often unnecessarily.
Why? Because they struggle to identify and leverage the hidden talents of their current employees effectively.
By uncovering these hidden skills, businesses can temporarily redeploy employees across teams or projects where their expertise is most needed, creating a more agile and resourceful workforce.
This is where an opportunity marketplace comes into play.
In this article, we’ll explore what an opportunity marketplace is, why it’s a game-changer for organizations, and how you can create one to unlock the full potential of your workforce.
What is an opportunity marketplace?
An opportunity marketplace is a dynamic platform that connects employees with growth opportunities across an organization—from full-time roles and project-based work to mentorship relationships and learning experiences.
But to view it as merely a sophisticated job board would be to miss its transformative potential. At its core, it represents a fundamental shift in how organizations think about talent mobility and development: moving from rigid, hierarchical career ladders to fluid, skills-based talent ecosystems.
Think of it as an organization’s internal talent economy, where skills are the currency and growth is the shared goal. In this marketplace, a software developer might take on a three-month project in data analytics, while a marketing manager could mentor junior colleagues in digital strategy—all while maintaining their primary roles.
This fluidity enables organizations to harness their full talent potential while giving employees agency over their career development.
But what makes an opportunity marketplace truly transformative is its ability to solve three critical challenges that traditional talent management approaches have struggled with:
First, it addresses the “hidden talent” problem. In most organizations, valuable skills and potential often remain invisible, trapped within departmental silos.
A software developer in finance might have untapped data science skills that the marketing analytics team desperately needs. An opportunity marketplace surfaces these hidden capabilities, allowing organizations to utilize their full talent potential.
Second, it democratizes career development. Rather than relying on managers to identify and groom select individuals for advancement, an opportunity marketplace empowers all employees to take charge of their growth.
At companies like KeyBank, this approach has fundamentally changed their talent philosophy—they now ground their strategy in the idea that “each employee is the CEO of their own career.”
Third, it creates organizational agility. In an era where skills become obsolete faster than ever (the half-life of professional skills has dropped from 10-15 years to 5 years or less), opportunity marketplaces enable organizations to rapidly realign their talent with emerging needs.
When a new strategic initiative emerges, leaders can quickly identify and mobilize the right skills from across the organization, regardless of where those skills officially “sit” in the hierarchy.
However, it’s crucial to understand that an opportunity marketplace isn’t just a technology solution—it’s a fundamental reimagining of how organizations manage and develop talent.
While AI-powered platforms and sophisticated matching algorithms are important enablers, the real transformation happens in how organizations think about work, careers, and development.
The most effective opportunity marketplaces operate on three key principles:
-
Skills-centricity: They focus on capabilities rather than roles, allowing for more fluid matching of talent to opportunities
-
Transparency: They make opportunities visible across the organization, breaking down traditional silos
-
Agency: They give employees significant control over their career trajectories while aligning individual aspirations with organizational needs
When these principles come together, the result is a more dynamic, engaged, and adaptable organization.
What are the benefits of an opportunity marketplace?
For the organization
The business impact of an opportunity marketplace extends far beyond traditional talent management metrics. Organizations that successfully implement these platforms often discover three transformative benefits:
-
Enhanced talent retention and cost savings
When companies empower employees to grow internally rather than looking elsewhere for opportunities, the impact on retention is dramatic.
LinkedIn’s research shows that employees stay 41% longer at companies with high internal mobility compared to those with low internal mobility.
More importantly, it’s substantially more cost-effective—studies show that external hires typically cost 18-20% more than internal moves for the same role and take two years to perform at the same level.
-
Accelerated business agility
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to quickly reallocate talent to emerging priorities is crucial.
CarTrawler’s experience demonstrates this perfectly—their opportunity marketplace enabled them to rapidly identify and deploy hidden talent across the organization, allowing them to respond more nimbly to market changes.
This agility becomes particularly valuable during strategic pivots or when launching new initiatives.
-
Improved innovation through cross-pollination
When employees move across different parts of the organization, they bring fresh perspectives and diverse experiences that can spark innovation.
AT&T’s experience is telling—their internal mobility program not only helped retain talent but also fostered innovation by enabling employees to apply their skills in new contexts.
This cross-pollination of ideas and experiences creates a more dynamic and innovative organizational culture.
For employees
The impact on individual employees is equally profound, transforming how they view their careers and professional development:
-
Greater career control and visibility
Employees gain unprecedented visibility into potential career paths they might never have considered. At KeyBank, for example, their opportunity marketplace showed employees various growth trajectories, including both vertical and horizontal moves.
This transparency empowers employees to make informed decisions about their career development rather than relying solely on their manager’s guidance.
-
Accelerated skill development
Through project-based work and temporary assignments, employees can rapidly acquire new skills and experiences without changing roles permanently.
UCI’s implementation of an opportunity marketplace led to significant increases in skill development activities, with employees actively seeking out projects that would help them build new capabilities.
-
Expanded professional networks
By working across different teams and departments, employees naturally expand their professional networks. This broader exposure not only enhances their visibility within the organization but also creates more opportunities for mentorship and sponsorship relationships.
For human resources
HR teams find that opportunity marketplaces transform their ability to deliver strategic value to the organization:
-
Data-driven workforce planning
With an opportunity marketplace, HR gains unprecedented insight into the organization’s skill inventory and how it’s evolving.
At CarTrawler, HR teams could finally see not just what skills existed in the organization, but also which skills employees were interested in developing. This data enables more strategic workforce planning and development initiatives.
-
Reduced administrative burden
Modern opportunity marketplaces automate many of the manual processes involved in internal mobility.
Texas Health Resources, for instance, eliminated the need for staff to spend 20% of their time managing career development processes after implementing their platform. This automation frees HR to focus on more strategic initiatives.
-
Enhanced DEI initiatives
Opportunity marketplaces can significantly support diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts by making opportunities more visible and accessible to all employees.
They reduce the reliance on informal networks that can perpetuate existing biases and instead create a more equitable playing field for career advancement.
By providing these multi-faceted benefits, opportunity marketplaces do more than just facilitate internal mobility—they fundamentally transform how organizations develop and deploy talent, how employees grow their careers, and how HR delivers value to the business.
How to create an internal opportunity marketplace in 9 steps?
Creating an effective opportunity marketplace requires more than just implementing new technology—it demands a thoughtful approach to change management, culture, and infrastructure.
1. Build the foundation with skills architecture
The backbone of any effective opportunity marketplace is a robust skills architecture. This foundational step involves:
-
Creating a comprehensive skills taxonomy that reflects both current and future organizational needs
-
Mapping existing roles to skills and competencies
-
Developing clear proficiency levels for each skill
-
Ensuring the architecture is dynamic enough to evolve with your organization, supported by additional resources that enhance educational tasks and mentorship opportunities, ensuring ongoing skill development through supplementary materials
2. Secure leadership buy-in and support
Success here requires more than executive approval—it demands active championship. Begin by:
-
Building a compelling business case focused on tangible outcomes and presenting comprehensive solutions to secure leadership buy-in
-
Involving leaders early in the design process
-
Creating clear governance structures
-
Establishing metrics for success
Make sure your extended leadership team is involved from the beginning, with regular meetings on updates and progress, creating a strong foundation for successful implementation.
3. Design the user experience
The platform must be intuitive and engaging for both employees and managers. Focus on:
-
Creating a simple, streamlined interface
-
Ensuring easy access to opportunities
-
Developing clear processes for applying to and posting opportunities
-
Building in feedback mechanisms
Design the platform to be employee-led and manager-supported, making it easy for employees to explore opportunities while giving managers the tools they needed to support their teams’ development.
4. Implement in phases
A phased rollout helps manage change effectively and allows for adjustments based on user feedback. Consider this sequence:
-
Phase 1: Launch basic profile creation and skills assessment
-
Phase 2: Enable mentorship and coaching connections
-
Phase 3: Introduce project-based opportunities
-
Phase 4: Roll out full job mobility features
Start with mentoring capabilities, then gradually expand to include career insights, opportunity matching, and development planning.
5. Develop supporting processes
Success requires more than just technology. Create processes for:
-
Posting and vetting opportunities
-
Managing internal transitions
-
Supporting skill development
-
Measuring and tracking outcomes
-
Ensuring fair access to opportunities
6. Create a communication and change management strategy
Effective communication is crucial for driving adoption. Focus on:
-
Clearly articulating the value proposition for all stakeholders to enhance employee engagement
-
Providing training and support resources
-
Celebrating early wins and success stories
-
Regularly gathering and acting on feedback
Host a company-wide career day to build enthusiasm and appetite around opportunities for internal mobility. This will help demonstrate the importance of robust change management.
7. Establish governance and metrics
Create clear frameworks for:
-
Managing the quality of opportunities posted
-
Ensuring fair access and selection processes
-
Tracking key metrics (participation rates, internal mobility rates, skill development)
-
Regular review and refinement of the platform
8. Foster a supporting culture
The most sophisticated platform will fail without the right cultural foundation. Focus on:
-
Encouraging managers to support talent mobility
-
Recognizing and rewarding development-focused behaviors
-
Breaking down silos between departments
-
Celebrating internal mobility success stories
Ground your implementation in the philosophy that “each employee is the CEO of their own career,” and you’ll easily create a culture that truly supports internal mobility.
9. Continuously evolve and improve
An opportunity marketplace should be dynamic, evolving with your organization. Plan for:
-
Regular review and updates of the skills architecture
-
Continuous gathering of user feedback
-
Periodic assessment of platform effectiveness
-
Updates to align with changing business needs
The success of your opportunity marketplace ultimately depends on creating a seamless experience that empowers employees while meeting organizational needs.
How to create an opportunity marketplace while instilling a culture of talent mobility using Fuel50?
Creating a thriving opportunity marketplace isn’t just about implementing technology—it’s about fostering a culture where internal mobility becomes part of your organizational DNA.
Fuel50’s integrated platform offers specific capabilities that help organizations achieve both these objectives simultaneously.
Build a dynamic skills architecture that evolves with your organization
Unlike static skill taxonomies, Fuel50’s Skills Architecture provides a living framework that adapts to your organization’s evolving needs.
The platform’s AI-powered Talent Blueprint™ analyzes your existing roles, skills, and structure, then maps this to market data to create a comprehensive, up-to-date workforce architecture.
For example, when CarTrawler implemented Fuel50, they transformed their traditional career framework into an automated, modernized architecture. This gave them unprecedented visibility into their organization’s skills landscape and enabled them to make data-driven decisions about talent development and deployment.
Enable personalized career discovery through AI-powered matching
Our talent marketplace goes beyond simple keyword matching. The platform creates a unique “career DNA” for each employee based on their skills, experiences, interests, and aspirations.
This sophisticated matching ensures that employees see opportunities that truly align with their career goals.
At UCI, this personalized approach led to remarkable success stories. One customer service representative discovered and successfully transitioned into a CRM role after the platform helped her identify the required skills and development path.
This kind of precision matching helps create a culture where employees feel empowered to explore new directions within the organization.
Foster meaningful connections through mentorship
Our platform’s mentorship capabilities help organizations build a culture of knowledge sharing and development. The platform intelligently matches mentors and mentees based on skills, experience, and career goals, while providing structured guidance for these relationships.
RTI International leveraged this feature particularly well, seeing a 36% increase in mentor relationships within just a few months. They found that 31% of their mentors had 10-20 years of service, ensuring valuable institutional knowledge was being effectively transferred across the organization.
Drive engagement through gig opportunities
This feature allows organizations to create short-term project opportunities that enable employees to develop new skills while contributing to important initiatives.
This capability helps create a more fluid, agile organization where talent can be deployed flexibly to meet business needs.
KeyBank used this feature to significant effect, enabling employees to take on stretch assignments and cross-functional projects that accelerated their development while solving critical business challenges.
Empower leaders with actionable insights
Fuel50’s analytics capabilities provide leaders with deep insights into their teams’ skills, aspirations, and development needs. This visibility enables more meaningful career conversations and helps leaders become true champions of internal mobility.
At Allied Irish Banks, this led to a remarkable 96% platform adoption rate, with leaders actively using these insights to support their teams’ development and career progression.
Create transparency through skills-based career pathing
Our career pathing tools show employees clear development paths based on their current skills and interests. This transparency helps create a culture where growth opportunities are visible and accessible to all.
Texas Health Resources used this capability to transform their career development process, with 91% of users reporting the new system was easy to use and navigate. This transparency led to increased engagement in development activities across the organization.
Support DEI initiatives through unbiased opportunity matching
Fuel50’s platform includes built-in features to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in talent mobility. The AI-driven matching algorithms are designed to minimize bias, ensuring opportunities are presented fairly to all employees.
Relayr specifically highlighted how Fuel50’s approach helped them reduce hiring bias and create more equitable access to development opportunities, particularly for women and minorities in their organization.
Measure and track mobility success
Fuel50’s comprehensive analytics help organizations track the impact of their opportunity marketplace. The platform provides metrics on engagement, skill development, internal mobility rates, and other key indicators of success.
CarTrawler, for instance, used these analytics to track their transformation, recording an 85% adoption rating and significant increases in skill development activities across the organization.
Enable continuous learning through integrated development tools
Fuel50’s Learn+ feature connects employees with relevant learning resources based on their career goals and skill gaps. This integration of learning with career development helps create a culture of continuous growth.
KeyBank leveraged this capability as part of their “Future Ready” initiative, seeing a 60% increase in training participation and usage, demonstrating how the right tools can drive cultural change.
