When a new role is created or someone needs to be replaced, the first response is often to look outside the organisation.
Sometimes that is necessary.
But have we first looked closely enough at the people already with us?
A CV tells us where someone has worked. A job title tells us what they were recruited to do. Neither tells us everything they are capable of.
This becomes even more important as work changes. At ThinkPeople Nexus, we looked at vacancy adverts published across ten publicly available sources in Malta during one week in October 2026. Our analysis found that 86% of those adverts did not ask for a degree. This does not mean qualifications are no longer important, but it suggests that employers are increasingly focusing on skills, experience and what someone can do.
In my experience, people often have strengths their current role does not allow them to show. A different project, a new responsibility or someone’s confidence in them can make that potential visible.
At ThinkPeople Nexus, we use Skills Mapping & Gap Analysis to help an organisation understand the skills its people hold today, where strengths may be hidden and which gaps matter most for its roles and priorities.
The purpose is not to reduce people to a list of skills. It is to see them more fully and make better-informed workforce decisions.
Sometimes the right person will come from outside. But sometimes the person we are looking for is already within the organisation and we simply need a clearer way to recognise what they could contribute next.
Charmaine Farrugia
Leadership & Integration, ThinkPeople Nexus