As businesses work to meet market demands such as net-zero targets and the rise of AI, could skills-based hiring help businesses bolster their capabilities? During our latest HR Lunchtime Debate, hosted in partnership with workforce data insights provider SHL, four panellists explored the pros and cons of skills-based hiring, as well as other approaches that could help close skills gaps.
1. Develop your current workforce's skills
Employers should support current employees in developing their skills, stated Ruth Cornish, managing director of consultancy Amelore. She related how one of her clients had been struggling to find the right people for their open vacancies. To address this, the client set about identifying existing employees who were interested in learning a new skillset.
Providing employees with secondments or extra work-based projects can also be beneficial, added Gillian McKenna, chief people officer of Generation, an NGO that specialises in skills-focused employment. She said: “Gigs and secondments is something we’ve started within our own organisation, allowing people who have an interest within another functional area, but perhaps have never worked in, say marketing or communications or data [to try something new]. It gives them a chance to do project work. Not only do they bring expertise from their existing function and role, they’re also learning new skills that enable them to develop for the future.”
Read more: Skills gap to worsen by 2035, research suggests
2. Invest in robust workforce planning
Businesses should plan job roles well in advance, Cornish advised. “Most HR leaders are uncomfortable with, and don’t do, workforce planning. It is missing in action,” she said.
“People talk about how they’ve got vacancies and they can’t attract people. But if you’ve got to the point where you’ve got a vacancy, you’re way behind where you should be. You should [have been] anticipating [that vacancy] three years in advance.”
Businesses are not able to plan and have a strategy if they don’t know their own skills data, stressed Salome Jansen Van Vuuren, SHL’s senior solutions architect. “What we are seeing in the HR space is that they don’t have confidence in the skills data that they have,” she said.
“You can’t act on something if you don’t have the knowledge. Understanding that internal screenshot allows you to plan, from a talent acquisition perspective, where those gaps are, and how you fill them.”
3. Try skills-based hiring
Hiring managers should avoid rejecting a job candidate because they don’t fit every requirement, McKenna emphasised. “Identify and offer candidates opportunities at interview or during assessment processes to demonstrate they have the right skills, rather than asking traditional interview questions.”
Managers should also identify the specific skills needed for a role, before advertising the vacancy, added Alice Burks, director of people success for HR software provider, Deel. She said: “Skills-based hiring is about prioritising hiring for specific skills that have been identified prior to taking that role to market. You know what those competencies are, and then you build your talent acquisition strategy, in terms of approach and interviewing practices, to help the identification of those specific skills and requirements.”
Read more: The skills mismatch problem
4. Be flexible
Offering flexible working options is crucial in closing skills gaps, explained Burks. “If you are mandating full-time work from an office, you’re immediately reducing your talent population who could be a fit for that role,” said Burks.
Business leaders should also be flexible about recruiting people from different industries, added Van Vuuren. She highlighted that globalisation has increased the talent pool, but that employers need to be informed about exactly where they can draw new talent from.
“Understand the different industry skills you can tap into,” she advised. “If you’re not finding the talent, broaden your talent acquisition beyond just that industry, and leverage off the skills and the strengths of other talent pools.”
5. Understand your employees' aspirations
Managers should also be sitting down with employees to understand what they want out of their career, said McKenna. Cornish agreed. “One of the more controversial things about career mapping which employers don’t like, is that a person might not stay with you forever. Understand what would make people stay.”
Burks added that business leaders should invest time in ‘stay’ interviews. She said: “We all know about the exit interview, but by doing stay interviews with top talent, and a diverse, cross functional range of individuals, you actually get a sense of what retains them.”
This article was published in the May/June 2025 edition of HR magazine.
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