Talent placement means matching the right skilled people with the right roles. A shift from jobs to skills will help you reach that goal in a time of constant change.
Rather than looking at work in terms of “fixed, static jobs,” skills based organizations reimagine work “in terms of a dynamic landscape of skills that can be nimbly deployed” as work evolves, according to a Deloitte study. The result is skills based hiring.
A McKinsey Global Institute Survey found that 87% of companies worldwide are either experiencing or anticipating skills gaps, which result in lost productivity and competitiveness. As much as 39% of current job skills will be outdated or transformed by 2030, per the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report prediction. This highlights the need for skills based hiring.
Skills based hiring allows organizations to meet changing needs while opening opportunities to a wider pool of candidates, whether from within the existing workforce or from outside hires. This article will examine how becoming a skills based organization can boost talent placement and organizational performance.
“Workforces traditionally revolve around jobs: specific roles and titles with associated responsibilities within a static organizational structure,” reports the World Economic Forum. That model of work comes at the cost of rigidity and resistance to change.
The alternative is to focus on skills for talent placement. According to Deloitte, “A [skills based organization] is about continuously accessing and using the skills of the workforce at an atomic level – not by broad groups of jobs but by the specific enumerated skills that people possess.”
The focus must go deeper than technical expertise, since today’s skills will soon be obsolete, especially in the AI Age. It is just as important to track human qualities including curiosity, adaptability, integrity, and other people skills. These can help organizations identify good candidates for upskilling or new assignments as requirements change.
The traditional jobs-based approach to talent placement can put unnecessary barriers between people and work. Job descriptions often insist on four-year degrees or a specific career path without considering alternative qualifications.
Half of the American workforce gained their skills through on-the-job training, trade schools, military service, and certificate programs, according to the New York Times. In addition, the proportion of high school graduates enrolled in college has been declining for at least a decade. By contrast, around 40% of recent college graduates are “underemployed,” many working in jobs that don’t require degrees.
Focusing on skills and replacing outdated requirements can expand opportunities for job seekers and improve outcomes for employers. Technology companies like Apple, Google, and IBM are leading the way by filling positions with candidates who have non-traditional credentials, including coding bootcamps and certificate programs.
The results have been impressive. According to Forbes, 90% of companies who hire based on skills report fewer hiring mistakes, while 94% have found that skills based hires outperform those hired based on degrees or years of experience.
Identify the skills needed. The starting point for skills based hiring and talent placement is to develop a “skills framework” or inventory of skills (1) required to perform each role, and (2) available in the workforce.
The effort is already underway. Half of the organizational team leaders in a worldwide Mercer survey reported that they have established a “skills library”, and almost 70% of them have identified the most important skills in their departments.
The next step is to identify individual employee skills and proficiency levels.
Identify the qualifications needed. Organizations must identify the qualifications appropriate for each skill and ways to test proficiency. Some roles will require traditional credentials, such as engineers and accountants.
But many of what the New York Times has called “middle-skill jobs” will be appropriate for a non-traditional approach. Leaders can expand the talent pool and increase opportunity by removing unnecessary degree and work history requirements.
With the pace of change increasing, organizations must also promote ongoing workplace learning. Existing skills will need to be refreshed, and new skills will become essential. Using the skills framework, organizations can identify the right individuals for training – including those whose talents and interests go beyond their current roles.
Skills based hiring can bring greater agility to organizations in times of change and talent scarcity. By focusing on the skills needed for success rather than outdated career paths, organizations can become future ready.
If you would like to tap further into TEP’s expertise in skills based hiring and talent placement, please contact us.
Copyright © ️2025 by Dr. Vic Porak de Varna. All rights reserved.
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