Lisa Raaijmakers
Total Talent: get a handle on a diverse workforce
Platformization
Temp & flex
Oct 5, 2025
The job market has fundamentally changed in a short time. Teams no longer consist only of permanent employees but also include freelancers, flexible workers, interns, and temporary specialists. “The Modern Workforce Ecosystem requires a Total Talent approach,” said Sepp Haans, labor market strategist at Freshheads, during his masterclass at the HR Day of Sijthoff. “HR must be able to serve all forms of labor, not just permanent employment.”
One workforce, different contracts
Where HR used to focus on managing permanent employees, today's reality requires a broader perspective. The boundaries between internal and external are blurring: people work on projects, remotely, or temporarily, but all contribute to the same organizational goals.
Total Talent Management means considering all workers as part of one workforce. The contract type is not leading, but the value someone adds. “We should think in terms of skills and collegiality, not contract types,” Sepp emphasizes. “The question is not how someone is employed, but what someone contributes.”
The role of technology
Digital solutions play a key role in this shift. Modern HR ecosystems bring together data from various work relationships: from payroll to freelancers, from internal talent pools to external suppliers. This provides insight into who is working, what they can do, and how they can create more value together.
Digital opportunities lie in:
Talent platforms that provide insight into both permanent and flexible workers.
Skill databases that show where knowledge is located within and outside the organization.
Integrations between HR, procurement, and recruitment tools, so all data comes together in one Total Talent dashboard.
Learning from practical examples
The challenge is significant. In his masterclass, Sepp speaks with an HR professional from the Ministry of Defense and cleaning company CSU. The following emerges:
At Defense, many candidates apply, but the process is slow and uniform. By segmenting candidates, from students and veterans to returnees, you can create a relevant path for each type.
At cleaning company CSU, retention is difficult: competition is high, and reward is important. Employees sometimes leave for just a few cents more per hour. It helps to look at other forms of value, such as mobility benefits or training opportunities.
Both examples show that Total Talent requires a custom solution for each target group, supported by data and digital tools that provide insight into motivations, skills, and behavior.
From fragmentation to control
Without digital support, Total Talent Management is nearly impossible. But with the right technology, you can indeed manage skills, performance, and engagement, regardless of contract type. Sepp: “It's about one connected ecosystem where everyone, permanent, temporary, or freelance, feels seen and supported.” This way, HR becomes not the manager of contracts, but the director of talent, both within and outside the organization.