Revealing and developing talents in the workplace first requires measuring what already exists. The gap between the skills reported by employees and those actually utilized on a daily basis is often poorly quantified. Understanding where this discrepancy lies allows for the orientation of training efforts, internal mobility, and retention towards the levers that produce a measurable effect on collective performance.
Gap between actual use and training: the case of AI in the workplace
The Cegos barometer conducted in December 2025 and January 2026 provides a useful benchmark for assessing the maturity of talent development strategies. 54% of French employees surveyed report using generative AI at work, while only 25% say they have trained on these tools.
This gap illustrates a recurring pattern in skills management: employees adopt tools before the organization structures their skill development. Training comes after use, not before.
| Indicator (Cegos barometer, Dec. 2025 – Jan. 2026) | Result |
|---|---|
| Employees using generative AI at work | 54% |
| Employees trained in AI | 25% |
| Gap usage/training | 29 points |
The challenge for HR managers is not to launch a generic awareness campaign about artificial intelligence. It is about connecting existing uses to targeted development paths by profession: marketing, sales, human resources. Feedback reported by Le Nouvel Économiste describes training applied to these functions, with regular updates of content to keep pace with the rapid evolution of tools.
Specialized organizations like lafabriqueatalents.fr support this logic by offering programs that start from existing skills to build tailored progression trajectories for each profile.
Professional development interview: what the law of October 24, 2025 changes
The legal framework for the professional development interview has been profoundly modified. The law of October 24, 2025 transforms the professional interview into a professional development interview focused on evolution, skills, and training. Three structural changes deserve attention.
- A first interview must take place within the year following hiring, which requires formalizing a discussion about prospects as soon as the employee is integrated.
- The frequency changes to an interview every four years (compared to two previously), with a summary assessment every eight years.
- In companies with at least 50 employees, certain shortcomings in conducting these interviews may lead to a corrective contribution to the concerned employee’s personal training account.
This new schedule changes how a talent management strategy is planned. The spacing of interviews to four years requires that each meeting be more structured, with specific development objectives and documented follow-up between two deadlines.
Direct consequence on talent detection
An interview every four years leaves less room for spotting emerging potential. Managers must compensate with informal interim check-ins or continuous skills tracking tools. Without this complementary work, the risk is to detect talent only when they consider leaving.
Applied AI training for professions: beyond awareness
Training in AI within a talent development logic is not limited to explaining what a language model is. Organizations making progress in this area structure paths by function, with concrete use cases.
Le Nouvel Économiste reports that some companies resort to direct experimentation: employees test tools on their own tasks and then share their feedback. This approach produces two simultaneous effects. It accelerates technical appropriation and reveals transversal skills, such as critical thinking and discernment, that AI does not replace.
AI enhances the need for human skills rather than rendering them obsolete. Employees capable of evaluating the relevance of a generated response, reformulating a request, or spotting a bias become sought-after profiles internally. Identifying these abilities is an integral part of a talent management approach.
Linking internal mobility and skills development
Most competitors treat internal mobility as a retention lever. The more productive angle is to use it as a diagnostic tool. Offering a job change or a new scope to an employee allows for measuring their adaptability, learning speed, and appetite for new responsibilities.
An effective skills development plan articulates three dimensions:
- Formal training (internships, certifications, e-learning modules) that structures technical knowledge.
- On-the-job learning, where the employee immediately applies what they acquire in a real context.
- Mentoring or support from an experienced peer, which accelerates the transmission of tacit know-how.
These three dimensions work together, not in sequence. An employee who undergoes training without immediate practical application loses the majority of the acquired knowledge within a few weeks. Conversely, an employee exposed to new tasks without a theoretical framework risks repeating avoidable mistakes.
The role of the manager in this system
The immediate manager remains the primary talent detector on a daily basis. Their ability to observe behaviors, identify spontaneous initiatives, and provide regular feedback conditions the quality of the overall system. Without managerial support, the best HR strategy remains theoretical.
Developing talents in the workplace does not rely on a single lever. The 29-point gap between AI usage and training on these tools shows that skills evolve faster than the systems intended to support them. The new framework for the professional development interview imposes greater rigor in follow-up. Organizations that measure these gaps and continuously adjust their development paths have a concrete advantage in retaining their top-performing employees.
