Three Critical Elements of an Effective, Skills-Based Hiring Strategy

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64% of American adults don’t have a bachelor’s degree. Fortunately, there’s good news on the horizon for these workers, as nearly one-third of companies say they plan to shed degree requirements for salaried positions in the near future.

This represents a significant pivot toward skills-based hiring, a practice defined by a reliance on a candidate’s proven skills and abilities instead of prioritizing their degrees and work experience. 

As many companies have been affected by recent talent shortages in this highly competitive landscape, it has become a way for businesses to secure the talent necessary to meet strategic goals and objectives. Still, this is a new era for many industries to navigate.

For many years, a college degree has been the gold standard, indicating that a candidate has crucial skills in a particular area of study as well as the ability to communicate, think critically, and problem-solve. 

If you’re considering pivoting your strategy to embrace skills-based hiring, discover what you need to know about this practice and how Talent Traction is using it to help attract and retain highly qualified professionals across specialized industries.

Navigating the New World of Skills-Based Hiring

Skills-based hiring may be the new favorite buzzword circulating many industries, but it isn’t without its challenges. Hiring managers will need to do the work required to define the necessary skills for each role clearly. 

When you hire someone who has completed an accredited degree program, you can rely on the school to ensure that they have the skills they need to succeed. When you are the person determining whether a candidate is qualified to take on a role, it becomes more critical to ensure that you know exactly what you are searching for.

You will also need to create reliable and valid skills assessments that are tailored to each role. If you don’t have experience in survey or test design, you’ll need to know how to select assessments that will give you an accurate picture of each candidate’s abilities. 

The Benefits of Overcoming Skills-Based Hiring Challenges

Still, though a candidate’s skills can be more challenging to verify without a degree or certifications under their belt, skills-based hiring still offers significant benefits to organizations. First, it can help you find candidates who are uniquely suited for the role.

Though degree programs help students build fundamental skills in their degree fields, many students still graduate with varying levels of knowledge. Using skills assessments in your hiring decisions can help you identify those who have indeed developed the abilities required to excel in the role.

Additionally, skills-based hiring can increase the size and diversity of your applicant pool. Requiring a college degree to apply for a role means that 63% of Americans who don’t have one won’t qualify for the position. 

With labor shortages looming, limiting your potential applicant pool to just 37% of the population can result in talent shortages that reduce productivity and hinder your ability to meet goals and objectives. Skills-based hiring can put you ahead of the competition when it comes to sourcing and attracting top talent.

Finally, skills-based hiring can help you build a culture of continuous learning. As digital transformation continues to upend industries, many roles require rapid upskilling to keep up with the pace of change. When employees know that skill development is crucial from the outset, they may be more open to future opportunities to build on those skills.

Building a Skills-Based Hiring Strategy That Works

Transitioning to skills-based hiring will be challenging for hiring managers across the board who are used to relying on degrees, certifications, and years of experience to qualify candidates. 

Before you jump into the deep end, you’ll need a concrete hiring strategy to ensure you end up with quality candidates who can get the job done. Here are some basic principles you can use that our Talent Traction team finds helpful.

Defining Key Responsibilities

Take some time to identify the roles you are hiring for and what tasks an employee in that position would need to take on. It’s important to ask yourself the following questions as you go along:

• What does this position do?

• What are the primary responsibilities?

Summarize the day-to-day expectations for these roles in a succinct way. Then, list the top two most critical responsibilities. This will help you understand what skills you are looking for and what assessments will provide evidence of those skills during the hiring process.

Understanding the Role of KPIs

Next, you should select three to five measurable key performance indicators that would define success in the candidate’s first year in the role. For example, you may desire for candidates to:

• Grow the number of accounts by 5%

• Achieve 30% overall sales growth

• Decrease project timelines by 20%

This ensures that candidates clearly understand the role’s expectations and can measure them against their own knowledge of their current skill level.

Getting the Candidate Profile Right

It’s important to understand your deal breakers and must-haves for each role. Though you are engaging in skills-based hiring, it’s still critical to know how many years and what type of experience you want candidates to have. 

You should also understand what technical and soft skills you are looking for, such as ERP system knowledge, CRM management, communication skills, critical thinking, and teamwork. 

If you know that the role requires degrees or certifications, be clear on that. Not every role will be suitable for a skills-based hiring approach. In some cases, you won’t be able to get around it, and it’s important to acknowledge that fact from the outset.

Take a Measured Approach to Achieve Success in Skills-Based Hiring

Skills-based hiring is trending, but you don’t have to pivot your plan right away. Instead, take the time to define your needs, know what skills you are looking for, and develop assessments that help you identify those skills. 

With this measured and strategic approach, you’ll be much more likely to be able to identify the right candidates and ensure success and longevity in each role.