Skill-based hiring is the shift of focus from educational credentials to competencies. It is prioritizing hiring based on the skills possessed by the candidates and not their academic qualifications. Hiring based on skills is finding the perfect candidate that fulfills the specific skill requirements. Skill-based hiring reduces the continuous task of upskilling and reskilling. It helps in hiring strong candidates that increase the company’s productivity and support its growth. Talent management and skill development are at the heart of this approach. Some basic skills that the candidates should have are communication and interpersonal skills, critical thinking, collaboration, self-accountability, etc.
“72% of people hired via skills-based hiring are happy in their roles.”
TestGorilla
Benefits of skill-based hiring
Skill-based hiring shapes the future of work by creating a skills-based workforce. There are several benefits of hiring skills:
- Larger candidate pool
- Faster time to hire
- Better competency assessment
- Higher retention
- Greater diversity—people of color, women, people with disabilities
Larger talent base
Skill-based hiring increases the talent base. Degree-based hiring pulls back candidates who do not have the required degree from applying for job vacancies despite possessing the necessary skills. However, skills-based workforce planning enhances the internal skill set and thus helps in the company’s growth. Candidates who have the right skills get the work done efficiently and at a good pace.
Reduced time-to-fill
Skill-based hiring helps in reducing the time gap between when a candidate leaves the company, and another candidate is hired. Once a talent pool is extended, it helps recruit the skilled-based candidate for the vacant position within a short span of time. This will help in the efficient recruitment process, including cutting extra costs, enhanced metrics, and a better candidate experience.
Enhanced employee retention
Employee experience is completely based on everything he comes across while they are a part of the company. These include ideas, notions, people, work culture, etc. Identify the need for hiring, write a well-described job description, and refine the recruitment strategies. Having the right candidate with the right set of skills, and contributing to the company’s goals, increases the chance of employee retention. Companies do not want to lose such people whose mission aligns with the company’s goals.
More inclusivity in the workforce
Diversity and inclusion are two essential concepts that must be incorporated into the workforce. There should be no discrimination of any form, whether caste, class, creed, and gender. Since skill-based hiring focuses exclusively on the candidate’s abilities rather than their educational qualification, skills recruitment can increase heterogeneity in the team. Every member will thus be able to learn from their colleagues with new insights and mindset.
Top 5 skill-based hiring practices
Skill-based hiring increases competencies. However, hiring skill-based candidates may appear to be an overwhelming task. Therefore, to ease the process, hiring managers can incorporate various practices. This makes the entire process more efficient and effective. The different skill-based hiring practices are:
- Find the skill gaps in the organization
- Redefine the JD to make it more competent
- Conduct skill-based assessment
- Give feedback
- Create growth opportunities for skill-based hiring
Find skill gaps in your organisation
Skill for talent management is pivotal. To study and evaluate an individual’s behavior, various techniques such as observation, interviews, etc., are used as modes of behavioral assessment. Behavioral assessments have many objectives, including identifying target goals and target behavior. Companies can incorporate various types of behavioral assessments to assess an individual’s behavior. These include the five-factor test, culture adds test, DISC personality test, etc.
Rewrite job descriptions to focus on competency
Skill-based hiring is an effective way to strengthen competencies. The first and most important thing to get skilled candidates onboard is to redefine the degree-based job description. Modifying the JD with a clearly stated list of skills required for the job increases competencies. Skill-based competencies help in accomplishing the responsibilities of a job. Redefining JD helps identify the desired skills and behaviors needed to perform a job successfully. Competency-based hiring can open up new pipelines for organizations struggling to find talent.
Conduct skill-based assessments
After narrowing down the desired candidates through automated pre-screening, the next step is to conduct assessments to review the candidates’ skills. Conducting assessments helps to understand whether individual skills match the required skills for the job and whether a candidate is suitable for the job role. It should be conducted at the early stage of the hiring process as it would save a lot of time that would have been invested in bad hires.
Give quantifiable feedback
Have measurable feedback by structuring the interview feedback process. This helps potential candidates polish their skills and enhance their abilities before applying for other job positions. The company wants to hire the best candidate and the feedback must state that clearly.
Create growth opportunities for skill-based hiring
Growth is an important element of skill-based hiring. The company should take active steps to ensure that the employees maintain and grow their skills as required by the business to increase productivity. Employees need to brush their skills and develop them as per the requirements. This helps the employees to gain confidence and provide a better quality of work. Skilled candidates impact the company and increase the pipeline of qualified candidates. This allows the company to be renowned for skill-based employees.
Skill-based hiring Vs Degree-based hiring
Skills over degree? Skill-based hiring is a more balanced method of hiring candidates based on their skills. Unlike degree-based hiring which is based on educational qualifications, in skill-based hiring, there is a shift towards finding the right skills which are more indisputable and the best way to help business. Degrees cannot prove if a candidate has the hard or soft skills required for the job. Screening skills provide an insight into the potential ability for the job. Skill-based hiring is thus a more acknowledged way of hiring candidates to help the company achieve its goals and ambitions.
Skill-based hiring: An emerging trend
For centuries educational qualifications have been a conventional way of hiring candidates for different job positions. However, there is a shift in this trend towards skill-based hiring with changing times which is finding the right skills, right person, right role. This gradual hiring shift helps organizations and companies create specific skills and competency requirements or targets. Emerging talent strategies focus on adaptability and growth, with skills-based hiring increasing in popularity. A skills-based workforce is proficient at reskilling or retraining. Employees are open to understanding that a single role, department, company, and entire marketplace can suddenly change and that they need to adapt to changes.
Frequently asked questions(FAQ)
What are the skills people look for when hiring?
- Critical thinking and problem-solving.
- Teamwork and collaboration.
- Professionalism and strong work ethic.
- Oral and written communications skills.
- Leadership.