In a changing job market, successful employees and businesses are shifting from a job-based mindset to a skills-based mindset.
Key Details
- The Great Resignation is causing some companies to re-evaluate the way that they divide work among employees. Some are shifting to a skills-based approach, according to a Deloitte survey.
- Though only one in five businesses are making major changes in this area, the businesses that have shifted to skills-based approaches are seeing greater success than those that haven’t changed their approach.
- Rather than dividing work into jobs—which give a broad workload to an individual—companies are dividing work into projects and tasks.
- Nearly 70% of workers say that they prefer the skills-based workload and believe that the method will give them a better work experience.
Why it’s news
Almost 90% of executives agree that skills are becoming increasingly important when defining the workload and managing employee talent. Almost all plan to move toward a skills-based organization in the future, yet fewer than one in five are actually implementing these ideas in a meaningful way.
Over half of employees surveyed feel that their employer values degrees over actual skill in work-related areas.
Companies that are implementing skills-based approaches are seeing great successes. Deloitte found that these companies are 63% more likely to achieve their goals.
In addition to achieving goals more quickly, these organizations are more likely to retain employees, have a positive work environment, and are likely to cultivate a good reputation as a place to grow and develop.
However these same businesses were only 52% more likely to innovate, 49% more likely to increase efficiency, and 47% more likely to create an inclusive environment.
Though a majority of executives agree that skills-based approaches to work could be the future, there are obstacles in the way of completely changing the way businesses run. Tradition is one of the main obstacles.
Businesses also have some difficulty keeping up with changing skill needs within the business. It is also more difficult to determine proper compensation for employees based on their skills rather than a traditional work output method.
Currently, for many employees, proof of a verified skill is left behind when transitioning from one company to another. If the focus on skills-based employment changes, employees would need to be able to take that data with them when they leave a business.