New Spotted Zebra & PeopleScout Research Report

Spotted Zebra, in partnership with recruitment process outsourcing provider PeopleScout, has produced groundbreaking new insights into the widening gap between the skills requirements of the workforce and traditional talent management practices, with the publication of a pivotal new study - which you can download now.

Based on a survey of 2,000 employees as well as over 100 senior Human Resources and Talent Acquisition leaders from organisations around the world, the research report reveals that organisations are sleepwalking into a deepening skills crisis.

The report, The Skills Crisis Countdown, demonstrates that existing skills shortages are being exacerbated by talent management shortcomings.

Two-thirds (63%) of organisations admit they are struggling to find the skills they need to meet their strategic goals. Yet the findings reveal that businesses have a poor understanding of workforce skills and are failing to implement strategies and programmes to address skills needs - with skills-based practices, reskilling and workforce transformation all underutilised. 

But worse is to come, with 50% of HR leaders anticipating that tech evolution - and in particular the growth in AI - will cause further disruption in skills requirements.

Key findings from The Skills Crisis Countdown include:

• 80% of HR leaders report that their top workforce challenge is recruiting skilled talent.
• Skills-based hiring dramatically improves hiring outcomes, but only 22% of employers have adopted it to date. 
• Despite the skills challenges, HR leaders are responding slowly - only 7% are actively investing in reskilling programmes and almost half (45%) admit that they have no plans to undertake a workforce transformation initiative of any nature. 
• Only 40% of HR leaders are leveraging any technology platforms to manage the skills within their organisation, and of those, only 41% are using skills assessment tools.
• It is therefore little surprise that less than half (48%) of employees feel that their employer has a good understanding of their skills, while over half (56%) feel their skills are underutilised. 

The widening gap between the demands of the workforce and current talent management practices is making skills-based talent strategies mission-critical.

“Skills-based talent strategies are essential,” says Nick Shaw, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer at Spotted Zebra. “Skills-focused organisations are better at understanding the skills needed for roles, at identifying workforce skills strengths and gaps, and at aligning people to opportunities based on fit. This facilitates internal mobility and development, and improves hiring outcomes

“Without future-focused skills strategies for both hiring and development, organisations will suffer lost revenue and productivity when critical jobs are left unfilled.”

Download the report here for more survey findings and actionable insights for HR Leaders.