Introducing: Spotted Zebra and skills-based organisations

Today, it almost seems bizarre to consider a person joining a company thinking their future career path would be mapped out for them. Instead of constantly moving up, it's now more commonplace for people to move around. They frequently change companies, industries and roles. Look around you – it’s extremely rare to find someone who goes through a linear career path in one firm.

This new reality is ushering in the era of the 'skills-based organisation', where employers are starting to embrace skills-based practices to ensure people in the organisation can perform at their best. In this era, employers are realising that degree qualifications are not the best indicator of present or future success, and that sourcing for skills expands both the internal and external talent pool significantly.

By focusing on the skills required for a role and then aligning these to a person’s skills, employers are also bringing down unwanted attrition statistics, either by allowing people to retrain and learn new skills instead of leaving the organisation or by providing more fulfilling opportunities for people on entry into the organisation.

We also see employers starting to understand that skills-based decision-making represents the most authentic route to equality of opportunity. In most cases, a focus on skills will demonstrate a sincere organisational commitment to social mobility, as well as several other forms of diversity at the candidate sourcing stage.

Why is reskilling so important?

Skills-based decision-making also opens up the conversation on workforce reskilling, a form of internal mobility that is fast becoming an important tool for employers to retain loyal and capable people in the organisation.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the executives surveyed in the “2021 Global Human Capital Trends” report said that the ability of their people to adapt, reskill and assume new roles was one of the most important factors in their ability to navigate future disruptions. Employees worldwide should be thankful that employers are adopting these practices – the World Economic Forum further predicts that 50% of all employees will need to reskill by 2025 to respond to advances in technology.

As skills begin to take the stage in employment, it’s important that leadership recognises their power to transform the organisation's productivity and sense of wellbeing. In a recent article from McKinsey, hiring for skills was cited as “five times more predictive of job performance than hiring for education and more than two times more predictive than hiring for work experience.”

The study also found that leaders who chose to create their workforce based on skills-based decision-making are more likely to achieve higher performance overall, reduce the inherent biases in teams, engender a higher trust in management, and find themselves with a better company culture – all of which are by-products of people feeling successful in their role.

What are skills?

No surprises – we still separate skills into hard and soft skills.

• Hard skills are job-related knowledge and abilities that employees need to perform their job duties effectively - i.e. knowledge of web analytics.
• Soft skills are personal qualities that help employees really thrive in the workplace - i.e. emotional intelligence.

What is interesting, though, is that research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center has all concluded that 85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge.

Most people fail in their role because their soft skills are not aligned to the role and company. This is something employers most likely sense but have historically struggled to quantify because their decisions have been largely made on other features of a person's profile, other than their skills. In other words, skills haven’t been properly codified into the organisation's decision-making capability.

But skills-based organisations have the insight to understand the blend and granularity of soft/hard skills required for success in a role as well as the behavioural qualities that make them a good fit for present and future success within the business itself.

How do you become a skills-based organisation?

Becoming a skills-based organisation is a process of developing the ability for people in the organisation to make skills-based decisions when planning another person's future.

Crucially, it is not a top-down directive where management steps in to make decisions for people – rather, to make systemic change throughout the organisation means giving people a model where they make the decisions themselves, for the good of the individual they are considering, and the company within which they are operating.

When presented with a person, the choices made about their future should be made almost entirely based on their skills.

What are the common characteristics of a skills-based organisatiion?

We have put together some of the common characteristics in a skills-based organisation:

• Ensuring close alignment of people and organisational values. A skills-based approach demands that given the rapid pace of change, individuals should be closely aligned with organisational expectation. This ensures that when jobs and tasks change, the way in which they are completed will remain aligned with the culture.
• Embedding skills-based assessment across the talent lifecycle in a consistent way, so that the technical and behavioural skills that are important for success in the role are identified and measured from the recruitment process through to performance management. This requires a flexible but comprehensive way of describing roles and skills that can be embedded within each stage.
• Providing managers with the tools they need to identify, measure and manage the skills that are required for success in a role. This will enable them to take a more objective approach and to make skills-based decisions, which by definition will move them away from less relevant criteria for evaluating role performance.

In essence, creating an organisation based on skills is about iteratively remodelling the frameworks and conversations people have about other people. Each of these decision points become inflexions where the future success of the company and person is decided upon based on correctly identified skill sets and their suitability for the role requirements.

About Spotted Zebra

At Spotted Zebra we open the door for everyone in the organisation to make these skills-based decisions. We have designed our products and applications so that each stage of the talent lifecycle (sourcing, developing, retraining and retaining) can benefit from decisions that are based solely on the skills that are right for the role and company.

We have been able to make these products and applications by taking the expertise of organisational psychologists and combining them with the ingenuity of software engineering. The results so far are incredible. We are showing that giving people a powerful but simple decision-making model empowers them to create teams and cultures where people perform at their best – benefiting everyone involved.

If you'd like to review your strategic workforce plan, our experts are available for a Skills Strategy Lunch and Learn. Click here to learn more and reserve a session for you and your team.

FAQs

1. What specific strategies can employers use to effectively reskill their workforce in response to technological advances and changing business needs?

Employers can use several strategies to reskill their workforce:

• Skills gap analysis: Identify current skills and compare them with the skills needed for future roles. This helps pinpoint the exact skills employees need to develop.
• Continuous learning culture: Foster a culture that values and encourages ongoing learning and development. This can be done through incentives, recognition, and providing time for learning.
• Customised training programmes: Develop and offer training programmes tailored to the needs of the workforce. This includes online courses, workshops, and hands-on training relevant to their roles.
• Mentorship and coaching: Pair employees with mentors or coaches who can guide them in developing new skills and applying them effectively in their roles.
• Internal mobility and job rotations: Encourage employees to take on different roles within the organisation to develop a diverse skill set and gain broader experience.
• Partnerships with educational institutions: Collaborate with universities, colleges, and online learning platforms to provide employees with access to courses and certifications.
• Use of technology and learning platforms: Implement learning management systems (LMS) and other digital tools that offer flexible, on-demand training resources.

2. How can organisations quantify and integrate soft skills into their decision-making processes to ensure they align with job roles and company culture?

Organisations can quantify and integrate soft skills through several approaches:

• Behavioural assessments: Use tools and assessments to measure soft skills such as emotional intelligence, communication, and teamwork. Examples include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ-i).
• Structured interviews: Implement structured behavioural interviews that focus on past experiences and how candidates have demonstrated key soft skills.
• 360-degree feedback: Collect feedback from peers, supervisors, and subordinates to get a comprehensive view of an employee's soft skills.
• Skill matrices and competency models: Develop a framework that outlines the key soft skills required for each role and how they align with the company culture. Use this framework to evaluate and develop employees.
• Performance metrics: Establish performance metrics that include soft skills, such as collaboration, adaptability, and problem-solving, and incorporate these into regular performance reviews.
• Training and development programmes: Offer programmes specifically designed to develop soft skills and measure improvement through assessments and feedback.
• Employee surveys and feedback: Regularly survey employees to understand their perception of their own and others' soft skills, and use this data to guide development initiatives.

3. What tools and methods are available to managers to help them identify, measure, and manage the skills required for success in various roles within a skills-based organisation?

Managers can use a variety of tools and methods to identify, measure, and manage skills:

• Skills intelligence platforms: Tools like Spotted Zebra can help track and analyse the skills within an organisation.
• Competency frameworks: Develop and use competency frameworks that outline the specific skills required for each role and level within the organisation.
• Performance management systems: Implement systems that integrate skill assessments into regular performance reviews and development plans.
• Surveys and assessments: Use self-assessments, peer reviews, and manager assessments to gather data on employee skills.
• Skills inventories: Create a skills inventory that catalogues the skills of all employees. This helps in matching employees with roles that suit their skill sets.
• Workshops and training programmes: Organise regular training sessions and workshops focused on skill development, both for hard and soft skills.
• Talent analytics: Use data analytics to identify skill gaps, predict future skill needs, and measure the effectiveness of training programmes.
• Individual development plans (IDPs): Develop personalised development plans that outline the skills an employee needs to develop and the steps they will take to acquire them.

By employing these strategies and tools, managers can create a dynamic and skilled workforce that is well-equipped to meet the evolving demands of the organisation.