The way we work has changed – now it's time to change the way we hire
By Tom Cornell
14/09/2023 11:00 AM
Too much talent is slipping through the net, says Tom Cornell, because recruitment techniques are not fit for 2023.
The past few years have been ones of change: in the way we work and in the way we educate and assess, and yet this transformation has had a limited impact on the way we hire. While the pandemic brought immense changes to the workplace and its culture, it had an even greater impact on the education system.
This is leading many to question how employers will decide between the 2021 and 2023 cohorts to ensure equity among the two. This argument underscores a greater issue we have with employability and equity: can businesses still rely on academic achievement to fairly represent the capabilities of an applicant?
Beyond academic markers
For years employers have been using the traditional CV and academic achievements as the primary way to separate candidates during the hiring process. While degrees and academic qualifications bring several potential benefits, often many of the attributes and skills associated with them are just assumed. Aside from specialist roles with non-negotiable skills and training such as doctors, teachers or scientists, for many professional jobs, an employer cannot assume that certain academic qualifications directly translate to the qualities of the candidate.
The issue surrounding assumed skills and capabilities also relates back to the traditional CV, where there is a huge amount of subjectivity when it comes to what is (or isn’t) presented, how it is presented and how it is then evaluated. The absence of indicators pertaining to specific skills or proficiencies in an application or CV poses the question: does the candidate genuinely lack them, or have they opted not to highlight them?
This, therefore, raises the question as to whether existing hiring practices rely too heavily on assumed skills, often leading to inappropriate hires and many suitable candidates being omitted from the process early on. And if so, how can we better assess talent and make more meaningful hiring decisions?
Towards a skills-based approach
Rethinking how we hire requires an overhaul in how we measure candidates' skills and attributes. Instead of assuming they can only be achieved through various qualifications, we should focus on testing for those skills from the offset. Adopting a skills-based approach to hiring replaces cursory CV screens with carefully crafted application forms (with defined scoring keys), biodata questionnaires and assessments.
This process isn’t about discrediting the value and opportunity that these qualifications bring, but rather assessing skills that have been developed over time, irrespective of whether these were nurtured through apprenticeships, early job experiences or further education.
Adopting a skills-based approach to hiring priorities a strong degree of consistency in what candidates present for assessment, as well as how it is evaluated. Doing so removes subjectivity and bias from the hiring process and instead applies a uniform approach to locating talent. When thinking about this in the context of students who didn’t achieve their desired university grades or are questioning its relevance, knowing that their employability will be assessed on the skills and potential they possess over a single-day performance can boost their job outlook.
Rethinking how we locate talent
The overreliance on outdated hiring practices also translates into a wider issue across all industries: the talent shortage.
Since the pandemic, the UK, like many nations, has struggled to find suitable talent across various sectors. Given that unemployment levels are still above pre-2020 levels, it is puzzling that so many businesses are struggling to secure talent. Now is the time for employers to reconsider their recruitment processes and move away from methods that no longer serve their business growth. Instead, they must acknowledge the numerous benefits that skills-based hiring offers businesses when locating talent.
This would cast a wider net and extend to those who may have been overlooked in previous HR systems, focusing better on the skills needed to match the job description when searching for the best fit. This is particularly true for younger candidates who will not have had the same opportunity for on-hand experience often desired by employers and so struggle to secure their initial job to improve their employability.
Especially those who studied during the pandemic now entering the workforce, educational disruption, coupled with limited opportunities for work experience, makes it harder for them to stand out in the traditional CV hiring process. Businesses that are serious about rethinking how they locate and secure talent must seriously consider, on a deeper level, what each individual can bring to the role.
To truly move away from outdated hiring practices, employers must shift their search towards aptitude and potential. Using job-matching technology and skills-based hiring algorithms, businesses are more likely to find a greater variety of suitable applicants and realise top talent they would have never secured with traditional recruitment processes.