Shifting from Degrees to Competencies to Determine Qualifications

An Additional Option for Degrees as Qualifications

First, I cherish my active partnerships with K12, community colleges, and universities. I have been an adjunct instructor for 6 colleges and universities for over 20 years. As an employer, my educational partnerships help me achieve long-range talent goals. I still believe these to be a strong, viable solution moving into the future.

Unfortunately, broadly speaking...

• Many at the instruction level (teachers) are not keeping up to change the curriculum to meet the demands of today's business.
• Among my business colleagues, it's time to stop focusing so much on the degree...knowledge and skills are definable and/or measurable and can be obtained in more ways than just a degree. We have excluded far too many good, qualified people because they don't have a piece of paper.

We want the best so we ask employees to have 4-year degrees from the best colleges. But is that always the best option?

New graduates have the paper, but we often find that they lack the ability to problem-solve, critically think, or communicate beyond texting. In fact, most employers find that the top skills to teach new employees are:

• How to get along with each other...
• Showing up to work on time...
• Turning in quality work by the deadline...
• Accountability - that performance impacts pay and even employment...

We tend to assume that these should have been taught early on - but they are not.

We are finding this across all generations and having a degree does not automatically solve it. Getting a degree does not necessarily make anyone smarter - they can pass tests, they can get the paper and meet accreditation. However, once they get to the workplace, employers must then often RETRAIN (or should I say initially train if it was never taught). Instead of hitting the ground running, the new graduate has only begun the training.

Granted, this is not the case all the time. Some institutions are better than others at preparing students. My points are:

• There are more ways than the degree alone to learn the required performance proficiencies, behaviors, and KSAs.
• A college degree does not guarantee success.
• Let's find additional ways to identify, measure and develop competence and qualification in addition to our partnerships with the K16 institutions.

Expand the Pool by Removing the Degree Requirement

When we shift to a focus on competencies, we can get past the barrier to entry. We focus on the required functions to be performed, expected behaviors, and bodies of knowledge, skill, and ability (old school KSAs) rather than just the paper. The key, however, is to find ways to (a) define, (b) measure and (c) assess the competencies for consistency. Once you do, you can incorporate a competency-based requirement (instead of solely a degree requirement) as your entry point.

While we have typically asked for "a 4-year degree or equivalent", we can instead define what we are looking for and indicate that there are multiple ways to demonstrate proficiency, including achieving a 4-year degree, years of experience (or osmosis for all we care). Because we can measure and test, we can ensure that they demonstrate the right performance, behavior, and KSAs. This can expand the external candidate pool AND create an internal applicant pool - as I offer professional development, I can offer courses in each competency to create career paths without requiring the individual to go to school in addition to the training we put them through.

This approach helps to expand the available workforce, reduce barriers to entry into skilled positions, and open the doors for individuals in lower positions to graduate to higher positions without having to quit work to earn a degree. This reduction of barriers can further assist populations that have otherwise struggled to pull out of tough socioeconomic struggles and find their way to higher earning potentials while employers benefit from a deeper and wider talent pool. It's a win-win.

Finding Solutions to the New Exemption Requirements

As state and federal overtime rules change, more people will become ineligible for exempt level classification. By shifting to a competency-based classification, you may have more individuals become eligible for positions that were once only for degreed individuals who are equivalently classified. As employers, we have largely used the 4-year degree as the primary basis for the professional exemption status. Using competency-based models, you can promote individuals into exempt-level positions more often without the degree by demonstrating proficiency in specialized bodies of knowledge, skill, etc. (so long as you still meet the minimum thresholds on salary). (Be sure to check with your legal counsel for questions about exempt and non-exempt status for your positions if you have questions.)

Start Small - Maybe With 1

Your initial thought of overwhelm will most likely begin as you consider how to create a model for every position in your company. Instead of eating the proverbial whale all at once, let's begin with the first bite. Consider which position you can begin with - which job may be the easiest to segment apart, define its core competencies and functions, and then define and measure. From there, consider how to measure and assess performance, behavior and KSAs within that position for new candidates and develop curriculum for new employees and ongoing training. As you learn from one, incorporate your lessons learned into a second position and move on from there. Incorporate managers and current incumbents in those positions to define, measure and assess your expectations. Be sure to take a step back periodically to assess your progress and how it is working so you can make adjustments along the way.

The key is to consider new ways to do it. As a whole, we are using practically the same model of job design and employee selection that has been used for more than 6 decades. It's time to become more strategic and modernize your selection process to meet the current demands of business and your talent.

Here's to your success!

Dr. Wade

[email protected]

www.wadelarson.com

"Be the Leader in the Room"

Come see me in Wenatchee on December 12th at the AVHRA 2019 Employment Law Summit! More details at https://avhra.shrm.org/events/2019/12/2019-employment-law-summit