Employees are in great demand in almost every industry. As a result, some suggest using nontraditional talent pools such as older workers or military veterans. However, most often, the best talent pool may be the surplus talent hiding in plain sight.

For example:

• The salesperson can fill the open sales manager position. 
• The house cleaner in the motel can become a capable general manager.

There may be risks associated with this strategy, as you have to identify the right people and then do what you can to set them up for success.

Most often, the hidden talent in your organisation will have some of these qualities:

• They don't just have skills and knowledge, but they have a hunger and talent for learning new skills and knowledge.
• They have a record of adding value to every experie...