Five ways hiring managers can help to create a culture of employability
Create a culture of employability at your organization with these insights.
Five ways hiring managers can help to create a culture of employability
In 2020, the World Economic Forum estimated that one out of every two workers in the world would need re-skilling (training to acquire new skills needed to change jobs) over the following five years.
According to projections from the Future of Jobs Report, companies will need to incorporate new job roles into their organizations in the same time frame: e.g., data analysts and data scientists, AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning specialists, business development professionals, etc.
In all, ten mostly new professions will represent a workplace demand estimated at nearly one hundred million people.
New technical skills, backed up by essential soft skills
These staggering figures illustrate the scale of the challenge that is now facing all business sectors and companies of all sizes. In order to keep a competitive advantage, and to survive the emergence of new players, they have no choice but to adapt and transform in order to remain agile.
The pandemic has added to this, accelerating the transformations already taking place, particularly in the digital space. More than ever, the question arises as to the need to adapt technical (hard) skills and improve behavioral (soft) skills to maintain employees’ employability.
Such an approach is even more important given that employees are also voicing that expectation. According to the Great Insights 2022 study conducted by the Great Place To Work Institute, employability is one of their primary concerns.
Nearly one in two employees state that they will need to upgrade their skills and/or pivot job role in the next five years, but almost a third of them do not feel that they have benefited from specific career development support over the past year.
The study also reveals that training and development programs are becoming one of the defining criteria when choosing to work for a potential employer. With this in mind, here are five ways you can create a culture of employability at your organization:
Five ways hiring manages can help to create a culture of employability
- Future Proof your Talent Pools: The best talent pipelines are those that are nurtured. Building a talent pool takes time and requires a well-orchestrated strategy which focuses on the long-term aims of the business, as well as the immediate needs. Cultivating conversations with potential candidates for roles that may not yet be fully formed enables hiring managers to be future focused. This coupled with insight from team managers across the business as to what values, skills and personality will be the best fit for the team, can help hiring managers to make informed decisions to attract top talent.
- Move to Skills-Based Hiring: Avoid restricting your candidate pool by only focusing on qualifications. Adopting a skills-based approach to hiring opens your talent pool, giving you a wider reach and the ability to attract candidates outside of your usual recruitment network. In the US, “LinkedIn has seen a 21% increase in job postings advertising skills and responsibilities instead of qualifications”. This strategic approach can result in a more diverse and multi-skilled workforce, and even help to improve retention rates.
- Use Psychometric Insight: Psychometric assessments supply detailed, data-driven insight into the values, personality, skills and potential of candidates. There are two forms of psychometric tools - personality and aptitude tests - which together can provide a comprehensive overview of a candidate. With tools such as Role Assessment, a custom employment assessment can be created to meet your roles’ requirements, and its results generate a fit-to-role score that aids in your decision making.
- Evaluate Talent Retention Strategies: From quiet quitting to quiet thriving, today’s employees are making their feelings on employability known. Gen Z’s priorities are focused on a work-life balance where active steps in creating a culture of wellbeing and inclusion are sought after. Today’s candidates want organizations who echo their values and aren’t afraid to speak up or move on if they don’t align. Take time to review your company brand and values. How do you present yourself? Are you actively living your values? How are you working to upskill and retrain your teams?
- A shared culture of upskilling and reskilling: The future-of-work challenge cannot be met solely by improvisation. The whole organization, from employees through to top management, needs to subscribe to a culture of “employability” so that each person takes ownership. Executive management sets the course and shares a strategic direction and its implications for the development of job roles. Line management then implements that strategy by identifying development areas for its teams and by working with employees to determine their own employability.
Employability must be embraced across business units to future-proof organizations. Priorities have evolved, technology has marched forward, and organizations can no longer afford to wait and see what skills gaps will develop in the future. Taking steps to reflect on your organization’s employability approach can help future-proof your talent pipeline and address the growing skills gap. For more information on employability, download our whitepaper - “How to Put Employability at the Heart of Corporate Strategy.”
