Skill based hiring (2)

We started looking at the above topic last week. Skills-based hiring not only positively impacts the quality and consistency of your workforce, but it also encourages more candidates to apply – and stay – in their new roles. As recruiters our mantra is hire for skills and fire for attitude. However, this is changing now to hiring for both skills and attitude.

Many candidates apparently prefer a hiring process with skills-based assessments. This is because skills-based hiring gives candidates a better idea of the requirements of the role they are applying for, and also gives them the opportunity to see how well-suited they are for the role, and whether it aligns with their career objectives. Many start work and realise they do not like the role, are not quite suited to the role or they are not quite skilled enough.

On the other hand, it gives employers the ability to understand culture add in candidates and how motivated they are to join the company for better long-term alignment. Hiring for culture add, rather than culture fit, means new team members bring new skills, backgrounds, personalities, etc. to the table, which avoids creating homogenous teams. I do not need to tell you the importance of diversity in the workplace.

Skill based hiring helps you streamline the hiring process because the longer and more complicated your hiring process is, the less likely it is for candidates to complete it and stay invested in your brand and position. Especially if they’re actively interviewing for other positions with faster turnaround.

To streamline you may want to use a pre-employment testing platform because this will be unbiased and accurate. You may also want to consider an applicant tracking system software (ATS), depending on your size some a free or cost very little. Finally, it is good to administer skill based hiring assessments that quickly eliminates candidates without the requisite skills.

More than before it is important to be ultra-communicative and responsive with in-demand candidates during interview intervals and deliver rejections personally. A scheduling or communication slip-up can give your organization a bad reputation and deter other candidates from applying.

As we had discussed in earlier articles it is often more cost-effective to train and retain your current employees than hire new ones. It is therefore important to provide staff with opportunities to advance their careers and expand their skills and make this known during the hiring process.

Conveying to new hires or candidates that your organization values their growth and upward mobility will encourage them to want to stay longer and can better envision themselves growing with, and staying loyal to, your organisation.

Upskilling and reskilling employees can therefore increase employee retention, reduce recruitment costs when you fill positions internally, boost employee morale and help maintain a competitive edge in the face of growing automation and recession

This can be as simple as a mentorship program within the organization and can also include as again discussed before, making development opportunities widely available, investing in learning resources, webinars, or classes, rewarding growth and finally fostering a culture of curiosity

To attract and retain, you need to showcase an aligned company culture that accurately reflects your values. Many people value company culture and work benefits over salary. Skills-based hiring helps to build company culture and attract better talent by engaging diverse applicants from various backgrounds, helping to find candidates for culture add and reducing employee turnover by clearly outlining role and skill requirements and responsibilities. Finally, this helps by giving HRM more employee-facing time for initiatives that boost company culture.

The better the talent you attract and recruit, the more top talent you will attract. It’s a positive feedback loop. Spotlight your top performers within and outside the organisation. This will help grow your network of interested candidates who want to work with the best. Identifying best performers becomes easy when you create a talent pipeline based on identifying people with the best skills over qualifications and experience.

Read also: Making partner: soft skills for young lawyers

The perks and benefits you offer employees on your job description can make your organization stand out in a sea of job listings—and give you an opportunity to put into practice your core values.

But it is not enough to provide the same benefits other employers or organizations offer in your industry. Think of unique perks that align with your sector rather than just what most usual the bare minimum. I leave you to be innovative as to perks.

By focusing on skills, you improve the quality of your hires, increase efficiency and performance, and promote equality of opportunity. This results in happier, more diverse, and more effective teams and a company culture that prioritizes learning. Not to mention top performers you can be proud of. All of which has a positive knock-on effect on your ability to attract and retain top-tier talent.

I hope this has helped us. There is always a strategy. Before you can implement this however you need a proper structure that you can work with.

I do not even want to talk about the political or economic climate. At this point let us face work that seems to be the only steady thing. I know that you may not even agree that that is steady. Have a great weekend.