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No matter the status of the job market, it’s essential to find the best talent for the job. Many companies today are practicing skill-based hiring, which sets skill requirements for positions. This method has its pros and cons. Here are some tips and techniques to implement skills-based hiring effectively in your organization.
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Focus on Skills Talent
Traditional hiring practices focus too much on specific degrees and/or certifications. Many companies put firm education requirements in the job postings, which may eliminate great candidates from even applying.
Requiring not only a four-year degree but a degree in a specific field like finance or business may severely limit your hiring options, leaving top talent out of the hiring process. Putting too much of an emphasis on education requirements ignores the skills you need your employees to have. You may get candidates who have a formal marketing degree, for example, but can they communicate well? Do they have strong writing and editing skills?
Write Clear Job Descriptions
The most effective way to focus on skills and performance instead of degrees is to optimize and refine your job descriptions. In place of job requirements, consider instead describing the typical responsibilities of the job. Write clear descriptions of what you expect the employee to accomplish and the skills they might need to use to do their job on a day-to-day basis.
A clear job description that focuses on the responsibilities of the position rather than the requirements will open up your job description to more qualified candidates. It will allow candidates to assess right from the beginning whether they think they’d be a good fit for the job, based on the skills it would take to be successful.
Test the Top Candidates
One thing that a degree or certification does is provide comfort to companies. It shows that the candidate put in hard work and effort to complete an educational goal. It’s tougher to do this in the recruiting phase when you focus on candidates’ skills. One way to overcome this is to test your top candidates.
There are plenty of standard skills-based tests you can have all your candidates take so you can objectively measure the likelihood that they could handle the job. You could have them take personality tests and/or skills tests that are specific to the job. You could even have their potential manager create a simulated task that would be based on real-world work they’d do if they got the job. The test can serve as a great screening tool either before or after the interview process. You can have multiple candidates take the test after you first narrow your choices, then set up formal interviews with the candidates who performed the best.
Emphasize Skills in the Workplace
A skills-based approach to hiring will only work in the long term if you integrate skills in the workplace for all of your employees. One of the best ways to optimize performance and ensure consistent growth is to reduce your employee turnover—and a great way to convince top talent to stay at your company is to actively help them improve their skills and grow in their career.
You should invest in allowing your employees to gain new knowledge and skills on the job. This could include internal or external training. It should also include setting aside the time and providing the resources necessary for employees to learn new skills that they choose, rather than those that you pick.
Giving employees this freedom and choice creates a much more inclusive work environment, which is proven to lead to better teamwork, a happier and more productive work environment, and better overall output.
Focusing on employee skills can’t start and stop at the recruiting and hiring stage. If you want to successfully shift your organization to focus on employee skills, you have to continue that focus long after employees join your team.
Expand Your Business with SERVIAP
SERVIAP is a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO) ready to help your business expand operations throughout the Western Hemisphere. PEO is a model of co-employment, where we assume total responsibility for your talent, allowing you to focus on the strategic activities of your organization. Contact us today to learn more about how you can expand your business in South America and Latin America.
