Today, a growing number of companies are prioritizing skills and competencies over education and experience in their search for talent. Known as “skills-based hiring,” this trend is growing quickly: LinkedIn reports a 21% rise in job ads emphasizing skills over experience and a 40% increase in roles that don't require a college degree.

As this approach gains momentum, companies must adopt a broader, skills-based mindset throughout the entire organization, beyond hiring and recruitment efforts. 

Let’s discuss what it means to be a skills-based organization and what steps your company can take to become one.

In a skills-based organization, employee skills and competencies are prioritized over traditional factors such as education background, job titles, and experience. While a skills-based approach is key during the hiring process, companies should commit to ongoing skills development, cross-training and evaluating employee performance throughout the employee’s tenure, not just at hiring.

In this environment, success isn’t measured solely by fulfilling a job title’s duties, but also by acquiring and applying new skills. Promotion opportunities are evaluated through this lens as well.

Traditionally, organizations take a role-based approach to hiring and talent management. This means job requirements determine what it takes to be hired, and once in the role, an employee's success is measured by how well they perform the tasks tied to that position. In many cases, job requirements include things such as a minimum number of years of experience or a certain level of education attainment.

A skills-based organization, however, values versatility and applicability of skills across multiple roles. For instance, someone with food service management experience might be hired for a project management role because key skills like organization, decision-making, and communication are transferable between both.

In a skills-based hiring model, degree and experience requirements are typically removed from job postings, or are not weighed as heavily. Then, after a new hire gets through the door, there’s a path for them to build skills continuously in order to grow and move within the organization.

Moving towards a skills-based model doesn’t mean devaluing traditional education, degrees, and experience—it simply means ensuring that those requirements don’t serve as barriers to success for workers who have not had access to those privileges. 

Skills-based approaches benefit employees who don’t have traditional qualifications, but they also present numerous benefits to businesses. 

In today’s fiercely competitive labor market, finding top talent can be a challenging, often fruitless task if you're relying on traditional hiring methods. A skills-based approach, however, opens up a much larger talent pool of qualified candidates that might lack traditional qualifications but have the skills and potential needed for the job.

When you emphasize skills over job titles, you’re able to build a more agile workforce where employees can shift across roles or projects more easily. Additionally, focusing on skills makes it easier to identify emerging skills gaps and proactively address them.

Skills-based organizations create opportunities for people who may not have had access to education but still possess the necessary skills to be successful. The most successful skills-based organizations ensure that employees are supported after they’ve been hired by providing access to debt-free education, cross-training, and other kinds of learning opportunities.

Becoming a skills-based organization takes more than just changing up your hiring practices. Here are three key things an organization will need to change in order to adopt a skills-based approach.

Consider removing experience and education requirements from job listings. The exception is for roles that require specific accreditation, such as a nurse or accountant. To truly be a skills-based organization, this should also be true for internal job openings. 

To reap the full benefits of a skills-based approach, you have to think beyond hiring and provide ongoing opportunities for employees to build new skills and refine existing ones. This can include anything from on-the-job training to debt-free education to earn degrees, certifications, and other credentials.

Being a skills-based organization also means identifying opportunities for people to gain skills in areas outside their roles as a means of tapping into unidentified talent. A talent marketplace solution can help make those opportunities more visible and accessible. 

Traditional hiring methods are out, skills-based hiring is in—and for good reason. The skills-based approach can provide growth opportunities for employees and businesses alike and make the workplace more accessible, equitable, and versatile.

Ready for more skills-based hiring resources? Learn how shifting to a skills-based approach can enhance your career pathing strategy.