Why skills?

- You might ask yourself, why are skills so important? Aren't job titles enough? Whilst it's true that skills and skills-based organizations are at the top of the list of priorities for many HR and learning leaders, it's for a good reason. Rules and job titles only tell us so much about how work gets done. The nature of work is constantly changing. Think about the role of a journalist. There are core skills that make up that job, but aspects of it have evolved over the past three to five years. Today, a journalist is likely working with the following, rapidly changing video software, data analytics, digital file management, and so on. When we talk about work in terms of skills, we have a more granular picture of what's needed for tasks to be accomplished. We can build a picture beyond broad job titles to better understand what skills a workforce has. It gives us a common language to define what type of candidates a company requires. As a project manager in one setting could be something entirely different in another one. Traditionally, we might have added senior in front of a title to represent the depth of expertise, but again, it's subjective. Likewise, years of experience isn't the best qualifier to rate talent. An individual can be 10 years in a position, but if they haven't been exposed to industry advances they may be lacking critical skills. When we structure workaround skills it opens up many more possibilities for internal mobility. Individuals are no longer slotted into positions according to title as so many skills are transferrable. Consider the journalists we spoke about earlier. Their expertise in videography might mean they could transition into marketing or learning development, if interested. Previously, their job title might have limited their scope. Fun fact, when you search for a job on LinkedIn you can now search by skill. Head over to LinkedIn now and give it a try. Search for a skill you know you have and want to use and see what jobs come up for you. (light music) There's a lot of power when you use skills as a base for workforce planning and development. However, as with all power, there is a great responsibility. It's easy to get caught up in trying to measure and categorize everything to no real end. As with anything to do with people, remember these decisions about a skills strategy impact individuals. This type of organizational transformation needs to be for the benefit of all.