With new tariffs, rising costs and economic uncertainty, most employers are facing the same challenge: how to manage turnover, hiring freezes and workforce efficiency without sacrificing growth. For organizations already battling employee burnout or disengagement, the results of lost productivity can be staggering. Yet even in challenging times, many organizations struggle to fully utilize their workforce.
When valuable skills remain untapped, organizational progress and employee engagement can stagnate. In 2025, the real challenge is maximizing the talents of the people you already have, rewarding merit and leveraging the potential of your employees. How your business develops cross-departmental HR partnerships can turn workforce change into lasting value.
Beyond Basic Recognition
Merit-based recognition has long been inherent to the workplace: compensation in exchange for competent service. (See our previous Insights article: Compensation & Benefit Trends to Watch in 2025.) However, if we look past standard expectations and examine how contributions align with the full range of an employee's capabilities, there is clearly room to expand how we assess employee contributions to their workplace.
Companies should embrace employees' valuable skills that may exist outside of their job title. By rethinking how we define and measure contribution, we can unlock hidden potential, fuel innovation and strengthen employee retention.
Employers shouldn't overwork their employees; they shouldn't pigeonhole them either. Imagine a copy editor with strong graphic design abilities or an account manager who's a natural public speaker being underutilized. Leaders should explore employee capabilities and interests that may provide significant or additional benefits toward departmental and company goals.
Leveraging Employee Potential: Positioning People to Win
Exploring employee interests and skills is a great first step. Beyond that, finding opportunities and actively positioning employees for success is key. Creating an environment where employees can bring their whole skill set forward - and where those skills are integrated into organizational goals - is a win for employee satisfaction and employer success.
Today, employee retention isn't only about keeping people in their job, it includes giving them room to grow and contribute in ways that elevate both the individual and the business. Forgo isolation for collaboration and the flow of fresh ideas across the organization. By recognizing and activating these hidden capabilities, organizations can:
Boost productivity
by applying diverse skills to deliver fresh solutions.
Increase engagement
by showing employees their full range of talents is valued.
Spark innovation
by encouraging new perspectives that drive measurable impact.
How to Recognize Untapped Opportunities
Employee retention strengthens when employees see a path forward. Clear career pathing, mentorship exchanges, innovation hours and early leadership training all build confidence and commitment while surfacing untapped skills. This is where spotting and activating underutilized talent becomes essential.
How to Spot and Activate Underutilized Employee Talent
- Skill-Mapping Sessions: Host quarterly conversations that uncover skills beyond the job description.
- Cross-Department Projects: Invite employees to contribute to initiatives outside their primary team.
- Internal Gig Programs: Offer short-term “stretch” assignments to apply different strengths.
- Skill Spotlights: Create an internal platform for employees to share expertise others may not know they have.
- Rapid Re-Skilling for Supply Chain Shifts: Use microlearning to support vendor transitions or compliance changes triggered by tariffs.
Four Tips for Employee Performance Tracking
- Include skill mapping in performance reviews.
- Design skill-shift roles for cross-team collaboration.
- Foster experimentation with leadership support.
- Track key performance indicators like internal mobility and training effectiveness.
Employers can use a discovery and exploration process to find underutilized or untapped skills — and employ accountability metrics to track performance.
How NFP Can Help
NFP helps employers turn workforce challenges into business opportunities. We help identify untapped opportunities and design career pathing frameworks that unlock greater productivity.
Our Corporate Benefits and Wellbeing teams reduce turnover by aligning employee retention strategies with employee needs, while Rx Solutions manages cost pressures to support employee retention. With integrated expertise across retirement and total rewards, NFP delivers a comprehensive approach to internal mobility, re-skilling and organizational resilience.
