Urvi Jobalia, Global Head of Talent Deployment & Strategic TA-Tech and Ops at Standard Chartered Bank, spoke at HRO’s Talent Mobility 2025 conference, where she shared her insights on internal talent deployment. According to her, internal talent deployment is a win-win strategy for both organizations and employees, allowing for higher productivity and reduced costs, while also driving employee engagement and employability. She noted that the market is struggling with several challenges, including finding talent externally, fear of being obsolete, aligning talent supply and demand, and the need for faster upskilling.
Urvi emphasized the importance of reversing the traditional approach of developing people first and then deploying them, instead suggesting that organizations should deploy individuals first and then develop their skills on the job. She shared three key strategies for driving internal deployment: employee opportunities, leadership mindset and culture, and structural changes. These include providing access to exclusive projects and roles, reviewing critical roles and allowing equal opportunity for others, and applying a “deploy to develop” philosophy.
Urvi also highlighted the importance of having a leadership mindset that promotes talent export and import, as well as creating a culture that enables career paths. She noted that technology can play a crucial role in democratizing the visibility of opportunities to people, and that gigs and projects can help individuals progress towards their next big career move. Closing her speech, Urvi shared her five-letter mantra for internal deployment: O-P-Q-R-S, covering obsession with a personalized journey, program approach, quality, robust gigs and projects, and skills mindset. Overall, her talk emphasized the potential of internal talent deployment in driving business outcomes and employee satisfaction.