I admit that for many years I was a little cynical about the value of market mapping as a tool to help businesses. “Why spend the money? What value can this really add?”, were the thoughts commonly occupying my mind.
And then I had a lightbulb moment, and now I truly see how market maps (also known as ‘talent maps’) can really add value.
A market map can provide you with the data (and this is really the key) to help you make some of your best and most informed business and talent decisions.
It can answer questions like:
- “Have we seen the best available talent in the market? Who else is ‘out there’?”
- “What does the market of diversity talent in South Africa look like for a specific role, and who are the top black (or female) leaders?”
- “Should we make an internal appointment, or is there a more suitable candidate out there?”
- “How do we create leadership succession?”
In a world where everything is changing so quickly, and leaders in a business have to contend with a multitude of urgencies vying for their attention, having the data readily available is not only important but invaluable. Getting that data is time consuming and laborious (not something you want to assign to an already busy member of your team) so it makes sense to outsource the project to specialists.
And yes, here is my sales and marketing punt: My research team at Jack Hammer is really best in class at this work.
They are the largest research team based in Africa.
They find and figure out information in ways that continue to astound me.
They are painstaking in the rigor which they apply to their market research.
And as a result, the information and insights that they gather helps our clients to make great business decisions.
So, if you’ve been struggling for answers in the talent and people domain, struggle no more.
Contact us for more info.