Stop the Wave of Turnover with Skills-based Hiring

The format of job postings has not evolved in decades, even though the nature of work has drastically changed, especially in the last few years. In what seems like a race to replace quality hiring with efficient hiring, applicant tracking systems and recruiting practices continue to overlook non-traditional candidates who do not hold college degrees or typical industry certifications. As a result of stale hiring perspectives and automated processes, many organizations are experiencing challenges attracting the right talent, which has resulted in skyrocketing hiring costs. Hiring the wrong person for the job increases turnover, often due to a poor person-job-environment fit.

Who created your job descriptions? Was it the employee who works in the position or a combination of Human Resources (HR), managers, and legal departments? If the latter is the case, your job description could be the reason for increased turnover. When job descriptions are created without the input of those who perform the work, unnecessary, outdated tasks and requirements may be included. If the description does not align with the actual skills and abilities needed for success in the role, it can lead to a poor job-person-environment fit. Essentially, you may be hiring the wrong person to do the job.

Job descriptions often overcomplicate jobs, distracting many from applying, but most importantly, they can mislead candidates and delay hiring, causing lost productivity. If you are a recruiter, you know the objective of recruiting is to find an employee with direct or emerging skills for the position. Unfortunately, matching job skills are commonly overlooked during the hiring and interview process.

The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) recently published an article focused on the benefits and opportunities of focusing on updated skill-based hiring titled, “How Alternative Credentials Can Help You Find Employees.” Written by Kathryn Tyler, SHRM’s article highlights the need for hiring applicants who have obtained skills and abilities through direct, experiential learning, not always in the form of a college degree or traditional industry certification. With alternative credentialing on the rise and the traditional avenues of skill-building changing, how can hiring managers and HR keep up? One way is an updated job description approach, starting with skills.

Creating job postings and descriptions through a new lens focused on skills reduces poor job-person-environment fit, lowers turnover, increases productivity, and improves employee engagement. This is because experience and alternative credentials commonly include applied skills, often more functional than skills learned in academic settings.

With recruiting and hiring costs rising, what steps can your organization take to attract talent in today’s saturated job market?

The first step is to thoroughly inspect each job role and compare the tasks performed with the corresponding job description. Do they match? Are the core skills clearly outlined? Are non-relevant requirements included? Is your language exclusive? If you find after taking a look that your job description needs updating, we are here for you.

grit & flow guides organizations through the steps of renewing job descriptions and updating hiring processes. Using data analysis techniques to determine the precise knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for success in each job role, we integrate organizational tools to identify and update external job postings and internal job descriptions. We are passionate about organizational success and uniquely skilled in uncovering the "unwritten" aspects of the workplace and environment that can negatively impact productivity and outcomes unrelated to skills.

grit & flow's team are experts in designing interviewing processes that support the skill-based hiring of diverse and experienced candidates. Hiring errors happen when applicants with the right skills are overlooked because they may not have access to the traditional education and degrees that HR and hiring managers seek. grit & flow effectively trains managers and HR professionals to build awareness in recognizing transferable skills and alternative credentialing.

Our approach includes training on identifying candidates with non-traditional skills through a refreshed approach to conventional hiring that increases the number of diverse candidates with alternative perspectives and thought processes that drive organizational success. grit & flow’s established methodologies of inclusive practices help organizations break from traditional recruiting methods to create new procedures that drive job seeker engagement and attract more uniquely qualified applicants.

Today’s hiring atmosphere requires innovation to attract talent, and grit & flow is your conduit for creating competitive organizations that enable all to thrive.

grit & flow will host a workshop on September 14, 2022, for human resource professionals and managers to learn more about creating inclusive job descriptions. Derived from intensive research and real-world application, the workshop will introduce participants to a detailed checklist of areas to verify you are making an inviting and well-aligned job description and advertisement for your open positions. Register today on Eventbrite.