Skills-first talent management prioritizes workers’ skills rather than four-year college degrees when sourcing, hiring, retaining, and advancing talent.
At the recruiting and sourcing level, that looks like removing degree requirements from public job descriptions, adjusting language on the recruiting landing page, and advertising skills-based job descriptions. It also means expanding sourcing channels, identifying community-based organizations, community colleges, and training organizations in your target geographies that have preexisting programs that support your talent needs.
At the hiring level, taking a skills-first approach involves looking at your open roles and mapping out the skills needed the first day on the job. It also means building diverse interviewing teams, creating skills-based interview rubrics, and coaching interviewers on how to use them.
At the advancement and retention level, skills-first best practices include developing skills-based performance rubrics, identifying upskilling needs, developing or buying formal upskilling programs, and creating skills-based pathways for internal mobility.
These are just some of the ways to take a skills-first approach across the talent journey, and Grads of Life is poised to support companies in implementing the full spectrum of best practices.