How to Shape Talent Management Around Skills, Not Job Roles

The world has changed pretty drastically over the past two years or so, with the pandemic forcing — or merely accelerating — a rethink of the traditional way of work for many companies and businesses in 2022. This includes the very crucial area of talent management, which has a direct impact on employee engagement, and even employee retention and hiring. 

In other words, today’s highly competitive business landscape calls for an effective reimagining of the way employers manage their employees. One of the most impactful ways to achieve this is to implement a talent management approach that allows for a dynamic, skill-based organisation that can truly unlock the potential of the workforce. 

Don’t know what to do next? Here are a couple of steps to get you started. 

1. Understanding what skill-based talent management is

The traditional approach of talent management has been to use job roles as building blocks to design talent strategies. Elements like remuneration, resumes, experience, and even job descriptions are based upon segmented job roles, with a structural approach aimed at efficiency when managing the individuals for organisations. 

However, this conventional approach has its disadvantages, particularly with the changes in the average employee mindset brought upon by the pandemic. This includes a degree of rigidity when managing talent in the company, with jobs often created with a talent-agnostic approach — making for a seemingly cold approach to filling roles with manpower. 

Implementing a skill-based organisation instead prioritises skills and capabilities over traditional job roles, with the agile approach allowing for the maximisation of the true potential of your workforce. 

2. What type of skills should I take into consideration?

Skills will differ from job to job, company to company, and industry to industry. When considering a skill-based approach, there are three broad categories of skills you should consider: 

• Core competencies: These are skills that will be crucial to the job
• Value skills: These are employee abilities that should align with the core values and vision of the company ‍
• Unique skills: These are capabilities that employees may have that are not technically required for the job — while still offering value to the organisation

All of these skills (and beyond) should be incorporated into a skill-based talent management approach, ultimately helping recruiters to hire based on the most important skills for a job — as opposed to merely paper-based qualifications or job experiences. 

3. How to implement skill-based talent management

It’s important to understand that pivoting to a skill-based talent management approach isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires a holistic, shared strategy — one that requires the right tools in order to track and monitor the needs, wants, and and overall targets of talent management in the organisation. 

Consider the following steps:

• Evaluate and assess skill development and value created in jobs 
• Include skills in succession planning
• Review overall organisation core values and vision 
• Include skill-based job descriptions 
• Invest in the right digital infrastructure

For the last point, read on to find out about the benefits of using the right digital system to manage the end-to-end of your company’s HR.