An increasing number of companies are shifting their focus towards skills-based hiring rather than focusing on candidates academic background.
Firstly, let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of skills-based hiring…
The benefits of Skills-Based Hiring
- Increase diversity of talent: You can support candidates from underrepresented groups in highlighting their skills, by moving away from emphasising education and experience.
- Identify the top candidates: Instead of depending on proxies such as an academic degree, assess candidates based on the skills they will apply regularly in the role.
- Widen recruitment searches: By adopting skills-based recruitment, you can discover fresh, overlooked candidates, reducing the necessity to compete with other firms for the same talent.
- And perhaps the biggest benefit of all… Employees without a bachelors degree tend to stay at companies 34% longer than those with a degree!
Now that you know the benefits, let’s dive into how to get started which begins with conducting a skills evaluation.
How to identify what skills your company needs
Conduct a collaborative skills analysis:
- Meet with the hiring manager to understand the responsibilities and the crucial skills needed for successful performance.
- Engage with the team: Meet with current team members who will work alongside the new hire to gain a deeper insight into the role.
- Determine which skills can be learned on the job: After listing the necessary job skills, categorise them into those to assess initially and those that can be developed later.
- Avoid cloning employees: Don’t try to replace the previous employee like-for-like or find an employee who is similar to those in the team. This will limit who you hire to candidates from a similar background.
- Review and adjust: Regularly meet with leaders and relevant employees to review business priorities and ensure you are recruiting talent with the skills the company needs.
In conclusion, shifting to skills-based hiring offers many advantages for organizations. By focusing on candidates’ skills rather than academic backgrounds, companies can enhance diversity, identify top performers, and widen their recruitment pool, reducing competition for the same talent. This approach also increases employee retention, with those lacking a bachelor’s degree often staying longer.
Embracing skills-based hiring maximizes incoming talent potential and helps build capable, adaptable, and loyal teams ready for future challenges!
Reach out to us today and let us help you hire top digital talent and build a stronger, more capable team for the future. Happy hiring!
