Skills-based hiring has long been an HR mantra, yet execution never followed suit
Good morning!
It’s one of the most talked-about buzzwords in HR today: skills-based hiring. For years, HR leaders have advocated for assessing candidates based on their skills instead of the degrees listed on their resumes.
Yet despite numerous claims of implementation, many organizations lack the necessary tools or processes to follow through, resulting in what a recent study refers to as an illusion of progress.
Approximately 53% of employers state that their organizations do not have standardized hiring practices, per a report based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. hiring stakeholders and job seekers. This means there are no consistent criteria, evaluation frameworks, or interviewer training to facilitate a meaningful transition to skills-based hiring, the report notes.
A major obstacle is interviewer readiness. Hiring choices are frequently made by non-HR staff, but almost one out of five receive no training for conducting interviews, the study reveals.
“Not training someone to conduct an interview is a fairly high-risk practice because many issues can arise,” says Cheryl Naumann, Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Phoenix, pointing out that untrained interviewers may inadvertently ask inappropriate questions that weaken the hiring process.
Without structured evaluation frameworks or adequate training, interviews can rapidly veer into subjective—and potentially biased—judgments. Interviewers might prefer candidates who attended the same school or have a similar communication style, confusing familiarity with suitability, Naumann explains.
For skills-based hiring to be effective, organizations first need clear definitions of the qualifications they’re seeking. Naumann suggests beginning with the roles a company hires for most often, then identifying the necessary skills and proficiency levels. Gathering input from various parts of the organization—including current employees in those roles—can help establish more precise benchmarks.
Next, organizations should figure out how to measure these skills in a quantifiable way. Many companies still depend on candidates’ self-reported skills, Naumann notes. Instead, they should decide if interviewers need standardized questions or if candidates should take skills tests—while making sure to comply with state laws that regulate pre-employment assessments.
“Many interviewers are asked to conduct interviews because they excel at their own jobs, not because they’re skilled at interviewing,” Naumann adds. “But those steps and training are the small, crucial details we need to build competence and achieve the outcomes we’re aiming for.”
Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Live Media