The Language of
Talent Intelligence

A working reference for the terms, frameworks, and methods behind
skills architecture, workforce planning, labor market intelligence, and the AI reshaping
of work. Plain definitions, built for the people making workforce decisions.

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S
Skills Ontology
Skills & Job Architecture

A model of how skills relate, not just a list of them.

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S
Skills Taxonomy
Skills & Job Architecture

An organized, shared vocabulary of skills.

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S
Sourcing
Sourcing & Hiring

Finding and engaging candidates before they apply.

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S
Span of Control
Workforce Planning

The number of direct reports a manager has.

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S
Spans and Layers
Workforce Planning

Analyzing management widths and levels for efficiency.

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S
Strategic Workforce Planning
Workforce Planning

Aligning the multi-year workforce with business strategy.

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S
Succession Planning Intelligence
Workforce Planning

Using data to identify successors for critical roles.

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S
Superworker
AI & Future of Work

An employee whose output is amplified several-fold by AI.

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T
Talent Acquisition Intelligence
Sourcing & Hiring

Market insight applied to recruiting strategy.

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T
Talent Density
Talent Intelligence

How concentrated a skill or role is in a place or company.

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T
Talent Intelligence
Talent Intelligence

Combining internal and external data to guide talent decisions.

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T
Talent Mapping
Talent Intelligence

Locating where skills and roles exist across the market.

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T
Talent Migration
Talent Intelligence

How skilled workers move between companies and regions.

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T
Talent Pool
Talent Intelligence

A defined group of candidates or employees to draw from.

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T
Talent Strategy
Talent Intelligence

The plan for attracting, developing, and retaining the workforce.

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T
Talent Supply and Demand
Labor Market Intelligence

The balance between available workers and employer need.

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T
Task-Based Workforce Planning
AI & Future of Work

Planning at the level of tasks rather than whole roles.

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T
Task Distillation
AI & Future of Work

Reducing a role to its human-essential core as AI absorbs tasks.

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T
Time to Fill
Sourcing & Hiring

The days between opening a role and a candidate accepting.

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T
Total Cost of Workforce
Workforce Planning

The full cost of employees and contingent workers combined.

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U
Universities-to-Workforce Pipeline
Talent Intelligence

How graduates flow from universities into the workforce.

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U
Upskilling
Skills & Job Architecture

Deepening capability within a worker's current role.

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V
Vacancy Rate
Labor Market Intelligence

The share of positions unfilled at a point in time.

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V
Vendor Workforce
Workforce Planning

Workers engaged through third-party providers and service firms.

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V
Verified Skills
Skills & Job Architecture

Skills confirmed by assessment or evidence, not self-report.

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W
Wage Inflation
Labor Market Intelligence

How fast pay for roles or skills rises in a market.

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W
What-If Analysis (Workforce)
Workforce Planning

Testing how a plan changes under different assumptions.

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W
Work Deconstruction
AI & Future of Work

Breaking jobs into tasks so work can be redistributed.

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W
Workforce Analytics
Talent Intelligence

Analyzing workforce data to measure and predict outcomes.

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W
Workforce Budgeting
Workforce Planning

Translating the workforce plan into financial terms.

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W
Workforce Ecosystem
AI & Future of Work

A workforce spanning employees, contingent, partners, and agents.

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W
Workforce Intelligence
Talent Intelligence

Internal and market data combined into one workforce view.

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W
Workforce Modeling
Workforce Planning

Simulating how the workforce evolves under different decisions.

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W
Workforce Planning
Workforce Planning

Forecasting workforce needs and aligning talent to meet them.

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W
Workforce Segmentation
Workforce Planning

Grouping the workforce by shared traits to plan each.

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W
Workforce Transformation
Workforce Planning

A large-scale shift in workforce skills, structure, or makeup.

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W
Work Redesign
AI & Future of Work

Rebuilding roles around the work that remains after automation.

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Y
Yield Ratio
Sourcing & Hiring

The share of candidates advancing from one stage to the next.

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Z
Zero-Based Workforce Planning
Workforce Planning

Building the workforce plan from zero against strategy.

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