Investing in the talent you already have: Remerge's Riantina on building a talent marketplace

In a recent session at the Talent Mobility conference, Riantina, Global Director of People & Culture at Remerge, shared valuable insights on how organisations can shift leadership mindsets to embrace talent mobility as a retention strategy and highlighted how fostering internal mobility can enhance business agility and retention

Research shows the costs of replacing an individual worker can range from half to four times the employee’s annual salary. Evidently, the cost of employee turnover is not just a concern for HR departments; it is a substantial burden on the financial health and productivity of every organisation.

This highlights the importance of building a culture, systems, and a marketplace that support internal talent mobility.

During the recent Talent Mobility conference on 26 February 2025, held at Shangri-La Singapore, HRO’s own Priya Sunil, Deputy Editor, Southeast Asia, sat down with Riantina, Global Director, People & Culture at Remerge, to explore several key topics:

• The true costs of employee turnover and how organisations can adapt to a cost-aware era.
• How to cultivate a company culture that encourages long employee tenures through growth and recognition opportunities.
• Finding ways to leverage existing talent by establishing internal mobility best practices that support business outcomes.
• How organisations can build cultures, systems, and marketplaces that enable internal mobility.

A key challenge, as Riantina shared, is changing how leaders view talent movement — from a mindset of fearing loss to a mindset of recognising the organisational gain. Many leaders worry about losing top performers to other departments, especially in smaller companies where teams work closely together. However, Riantina pointed out that talent mobility should be seen as a retention strategy, not a risk. It enhances business agility and adaptability, allowing organisations to develop talent from within rather than losing them externally.

She explained, "I believe that the key to shifting leadership mindset is to educate leaders to view internal mobility as talent retention, instead of talent loss." Riantina acknowledged that leaders, including herself, often fear losing talent to other departments.

She also emphasised that in fast-growing companies, internal mobility expands professional scope and advised leaders to reinforce that operating as one organisation means prioritising company-wide success over siloed goals. This mindset shift is especially critical for SMEs looking to retain talent and remain agile.

One of the many key takeaways from this session was: What is the secret to retaining talent?

Riatina shared that, with Generation Z making up a growing share of the workforce, the importance of a strong workplace culture is paramount. This culture should be based on:

1. Transparency: Open communication fosters trust. One example she shared was salary transparency, which, while controversial, helps employees feel valued and informed.
2. Flexibility & mobility: Employees value the ability to work from global offices for up to four weeks, creating new learning experiences.
3. Work-life balance: Encouraging employees to disconnect and recharge strengthens wellbeing and productivity.
4. Core values of integrity, excellence, and fun: A culture where employees feel immersed leads to higher engagement and retention.

She elaborated on the three core values: 

Integrity

“Transparency is something that we do in Remerge, pretty much on a day-to-day basis.

"We integrate these values into everything — from our policies, benefits, to the way we work and we interact.”

One example she shared is pay transparency — a concept where employees are given the visibility to know what their peers are earning.

Excellence

“We work hard and hire the best talent, trusting them for their expertise. When someone joins, we don’t micromanage — we empower them with autonomy and confidence in their abilities”

Fun

“We have this element of fun as part of our culture. That’s actually my personal favourite. While we push for excellence, we also celebrate our wins,” Riantina expressed.

She shared an example of the company’s annual offsite tradition, where every year, the entire team takes a week off to travel to a destination chosen for that year. This yearly event is something the company takes great pride in, as it is a key part of the culture they’ve built.

Another initiative that Riantina highlighted was the short-term assignment programme, in which employees are allowed to work for up to four weeks in their global offices.

Concluding her session, Riantina shared useful leadership principles that leaders can adopt personally to transform their mindset from a talent deterrent to a talent magnet, such that talented individuals are attracted to work in their team.

These principles include:

• Inspire, don’t just manage. Cultivate trust and autonomy while empowering employees to take risks.
• Coach, don’t dictate. Support decision-making while providing guidance and mentorship.
• Trust first, correct later. Micromanagement stifles growth — leaders should step back and allow employees to learn.
• Lead with empathy. Employees should feel they belong — they stay because they want to, not because they have to.

Here's a TL;DR of our takeaways from the session:  

1. To shift leadership mindsets for the benefit of the organisation, it is crucial to educate leaders on the value of talent mobility. Often, there is a fear of losing talent to other departments, but by training and developing people on a day-to-day basis, a mindset shift will be possible.
2. Rather than viewing talent mobility as a potential loss, leaders should see it as an opportunity for growth and agility for the organisation as a whole.
3. For SMEs, this approach enhances business adaptability and allows the organisation to thrive. Ultimately, leaders must remember that they operate as one unified organisation, where talent movement strengthens overall success.
4. Employees should feel they belong in the company – then, employees stay because they want to, not because they have to.

Want more learnings from Riantina's session? Head over to read our LinkedIn post!

Lead image/ Human Resources Online