Ten years after the Burning Glass Institute coined the term “upcredentialing,” or the phenomenon in which organizations increasingly required four-year degrees to fill jobs, employers are rethinking this paradigm. One-third to one-half have ditched these edicts and instead are now focused on finding people with the right aptitudes, skills, and motivation to contribute.
For employers, though, working within this new framework can be difficult. Without a proxy like a four-year degree, what should hiring teams use to evaluate applicants? The World Economic Forum and other skills-first advocates have suggested establishing a global taxonomy to provide “a universal language for skills.” Others have proposed government-run skills matrices and incentivizing employers to use them by offering public funding.
These options may sound useful, but could become harmful if not implemented thoughtfully. Indeed, they could lead to the same problems associated with degree requirements: employers struggling to find people who check all boxes, and a society that devalues and excludes individuals who do not fit the taxonomy. It is also likely the workplace will evolve faster than a taxonomy, making it difficult for a top-down system to keep up with changing needs.
To find the right person for a job, employers must understand an applicant’s uniqueness. This work is difficult, and while there are no short cuts, employers can build a culture and systems to simplify the task.
Build a bottom-up culture that honors each person’s unique capabilities
First, employers can start with a set of principles that apply to recruitment, hiring, and talent development. These principles include, but are not limited to, openness to new sources of talent and skills acquisition, a deep belief in each person’s ability to contribute, and an appreciation of the opportunity employers have to help their workers self-actualize, or build new skills and find new ways to contribute.
Employers and employees win when these principles reign. Organizations have a more engaged and productive workforce, and workers are more satisfied and less likely to leave.
It is clear this approach works because some businesses are doing it by creating pathways within their organizations that help individuals discover their aptitudes and acquire new skills. Tia Bradley-Davis was a college dropout making hoagies when she heard Intuit was hiring. She got the job, and her Intuit managers quickly noticed her aptitude. Within three years and because of a company apprenticeship program, Bradley-Davis earned a management role. She has now been with Intuit for 18 years and continues to find new ways to contribute because her employer values her aptitudes.
Fintech startup Super.com also uses a system that tries to identify aptitudes and values. This approach is embodied in the experience of one of the firm’s investors, NBA star Stephen Curry. Pro scouts dismissed Curry as too short and too skinny. But the Golden State Warriors saw something and drafted him. Curry, of course, led the Warriors to four NBA championships.
The lesson? Credentials sometimes do not accurately reflect passion, talent, or aptitude.
Raise the veil on what skills and aptitudes are important
Employers also can improve their hiring outcomes by being more transparent about the types of applicants they seek. As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) has pointed out, “people want to know which jobs and skills are most in-demand by employers. However, only a limited amount of the information about employer demand available today has been validated by employers.”
The USCCF is building a platform, JobSIDE, that helps employers raise the veil on the types of skills and aptitudes they need.
Using JobSIDE, applicants can easily look up what employers say are their most in-demand jobs and understand the traits and experience applicants would need to succeed in them. JobSIDE also helps educators and workforce development professionals as they try to align their education, training, and credentialing offerings with the jobs employers need to fill.
Supported by the Charles Koch Foundation, JobSIDE is now in the beta testing stage.
Use technology to help understand the full scope of an applicant’s abilities
If this taxonomy-less framework still sounds daunting, technology can help.
Tools include learning and employment records (LERs), digital records that offer a lifelong record of a person’s learning, experience, and growth. While resumes are short, these searchable records contain everything from a first retail job (where applicants surely learned interpersonal skills) to degrees and training. LERs help employers understand the whole person and identify individuals with a range of aptitudes. State government officials, who, as employers, have led the dropping degree requirements movement, are early LER adopters. The U.S. Chamber Foundation also provides resources for organizations implementing LERs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is another tool. Small businesses that do not have access to big databases must search for candidates online themselves, a time-consuming task. Tools like Workable save effort by scanning job sites. AI even can conduct interviews. Virginia Tech psychology professor Louis Hickman found AI-based interviews present a win-win: applicants can fully articulate their qualifications and passion for a job, while employers save time. Additionally, Korn Ferry Global Operations Executive Colleen Fullen says AI-based workforce tools reduce hiring biases. “You don’t have anyone looking at people’s names or what school they went to,” she noted.
Top-down skills taxonomies may save time or offer short-term solutions, but a principles-based approach will create value over the long term and have lasting benefits for both workers and their employers.
