Talent mapping, so the hiring plan is written against reality
Before a new plant, a new function or a difficult replacement, the useful question is not who is available — it is who exists, where they sit, what they cost and what would move them. Talent mapping answers that as a document you keep, whether or not you hire anyone this quarter.
Roles, comparator companies and locations. We aim to send a scoping note within one working day.
What a map contains
A talent map is not a CV pile. It is structure, names, bands and movement signals, assembled by talking to the market rather than searching it.
- ✓Named org charts for competitor and comparator plants, function by function
- ✓Role-by-role compensation bands with fixed, variable and allowance split
- ✓Skill availability heat map by city and industrial belt
- ✓Attrition and movement patterns: who is hiring from whom
- ✓Movability signals: tenure, last promotion, likely triggers
- ✓Succession bench for your own critical roles
- ✓Feasibility read for a new site: can this location staff this plant
Hiring plans built on assumptions fail at the wage bill
A plant is committed to a location because land and incentives worked, and the manpower assumption turns out to be badly wrong on wages, or months late on ramp.
Internal bands are anchored on your own history. Vendor 'market data' is a blend of unrelated companies. Neither tells you what the plant across the road pays a CNC setter.
Or the opposite: a band set too high that resets your internal parity and raises cost across an entire grade permanently.
Named org charts, real bands from the comparator set, availability by belt, and a feasibility read that says plainly whether this location can staff this plant on this timeline.
Start the search →
Scope, method, deliverable
Mapping is a fixed-fee project scoped by number of roles, comparator companies and locations, with no obligation to run a search afterwards. The fee itself is agreed in your contract; the slider multiplies roles by an illustrative ₹46,000 per role mapped, before GST — an assumption for budgeting, not our rate.
Scope is agreed in writing first, because a map that is too broad is useless.
When to commission a talent map
A talent map earns its fee when a decision depends on what the market holds. The most common triggers:
Choosing a site
Before committing land and capital, check whether the location can staff the plant: skills within commuting distance, local wage levels and who else is hiring. See the feasibility questions below.
Succession planning
Name the external benchmark for each critical role, so the board can compare internal successors with the market before a vacancy arises.
Fixing pay that feels wrong
Attrition to one competitor, or offers being declined, often means a grade is out of line. A comparator-set benchmark shows where, by how much and on which component.
A difficult replacement
Map the market first, discreetly, before anyone knows the seat may open. Converts cleanly into a retained search or leadership hire.
A new function or capability
Setting up design, automation, a GCC or a new product line: learn where that talent sits today and what it costs before writing the budget.
Organisation design
See how comparable companies structure a function — spans, layers and titles — before redesigning your own.
What a talent map looks like, row by row
Every map is built on the same structure. An illustrative extract, anonymised — real maps name the comparator companies agreed with you:
| Comparator | Function | Role and level | Team size | Fixed CTC band | Movement signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comparator A | Maintenance | Head of maintenance, reports to plant head | 40–50 | Range from several conversations | Five years in role; plant expansion on hold |
| Comparator B | Maintenance | Maintenance manager, reports to operations head | 25–30 | Range | Recently promoted; unlikely to move |
| Comparator C | Quality | Quality head, reports to unit head | 30–40 | Range | Company restructuring announced |
Illustrative layout only — not real data. Compensation is reported as a range for the role and level across the comparator set, with the fixed, variable and allowance split, never as one named person's salary.
Questions a site feasibility map answers before you commit to a location
Land, power and incentives decide most site shortlists. Manpower is usually checked last, when it is hardest to change. These are the questions we answer for a proposed plant or warehouse location.
- ✓How many people with each required skill live within a realistic daily commute of the site?
- ✓What do the nearest comparable plants pay each grade, and how does that compare with the State minimum wage for the zone?
- ✓Which employers are hiring the same skills, and who is poaching from whom?
- ✓How many ITI, diploma and engineering students with the right trades graduate nearby each year?
- ✓Is there housing and transport for workers from other districts or States?
- ✓How long would a realistic ramp to full strength take, and where is the bottleneck?
Comparing locations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka? Start with our notes on Sriperumbudur, Hosur and Coimbatore.
How personal data and competitor information are handled
A talent map is built from information about real people and real companies. Handling it carefully protects you, the people mapped and us — especially as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its Rules phase in fully by 13 May 2027.
- ✓Names and titles come from information the individuals or their employers have made public, or from conversations with their agreement
- ✓Pay is reported as ranges by role and level across several sources — not as an individual's salary
- ✓Nothing is obtained from anyone in breach of their confidentiality obligations to an employer
- ✓Pay data is never passed from one company to another; benchmarks are aggregated, which also keeps them clear of competition-law concerns about rivals exchanging pay information
- ✓Your identity is not disclosed in mapping conversations
- ✓The personal data in the map is limited to what the decision needs, kept for an agreed period and deleted on request
Talent mapping vs a salary survey vs a live search
| Talent map | Published salary survey | Executive search | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers | Who exists, where, at what pay, and who might move | Average pay by role across many companies | Who will join you, now |
| Comparator set | The specific companies and locations you choose | Broad, pre-set sample | Wherever the best candidates are |
| Names individuals | Yes, where appropriate | No | Yes, with approaches |
| Output | A document you keep and reuse | A report | A hire |
| Fee | Fixed project fee | Subscription or purchase | Staged search fee |
Questions clients ask before signing a mandate
Answers we give in the first call, written down so you can compare firms on the same terms.
Start the search →What is talent mapping used for?+
New site feasibility, difficult replacements, succession planning, compensation correction and competitive intelligence. It is bought when a decision depends on what the market holds, not on filling a vacancy this month.
How is it priced?+
A fixed project fee, scoped by the number of roles, the comparator set and the number of locations, plus GST at 18%. There is no success fee and no obligation to run a search afterwards.
How accurate is the compensation data?+
Every band is cross-verified across multiple role holders in the comparator set, and reported as a range with the fixed, variable and allowance split. Where a data point is thin, we label it thin rather than smoothing it.
Is our name disclosed during mapping?+
No. Conversations are conducted without identifying the client. If a candidate later becomes a hiring target, the approach is a separate, disclosed conversation.
Can mapping convert into a search?+
Yes. Whether any part of the mapping fee is credited against a later search fee, and within what window, is agreed in your contract — but the map is a standalone deliverable, not a lead-generation exercise.
How is talent mapping different from buying a salary survey?+
A survey averages pay across a broad, pre-set sample of companies. A talent map covers the exact comparator companies and locations you choose, names who holds each role, shows structure and movement, and reports pay ranges from direct conversations — so it answers "what does the plant across the road pay a maintenance head", not "what is the national average".
Is talent mapping allowed under India's data protection law?+
Yes, when it is done carefully. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 does not apply to personal data that individuals have themselves made public, and other information should be collected with the person's agreement, kept to the minimum needed and not retained longer than necessary. We design maps on those lines and report pay as ranges rather than individual salaries.
Map the market before you commit the plan
Give us the roles, the comparator companies and the locations. We aim to deliver named charts, real pay ranges and a feasibility view in about two weeks.