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By Michael Gullan, CEO of G&G Advocacy
For years, job descriptions have defined how organisations are structured. Structuring an organisation by job titles worked well when businesses changed slowly, and employees were thought of as cogs in the machine. Globally, smart HR teams are focused more on skills, empowering employees to be agile, autonomous and perform beyond their duties.
A 2023 survey by Deloitte shows that less than 20% of business leaders believe work is best structured by job description, and more HR professionals and business leaders are becoming skills-centric. For example, an employee with excellent strategic skills can be deployed to work on client business while also forming part of an internal team tasked with optimising the overall business strategy.
Here are the reasons for this “exciting shift” towards a skills approach to structuring and hiring candidates:
1. Pressure to perform – When employees' skills match outputs, organisations can increase productivity and employee satisfaction.
2. Agility and flexibility – To survive rapidly changing market conditions, employees deployed for their skills, not just job descriptions, get results.
3. Skills and talent gaps – Focusing on the work employees can accomplish based on their skills opens possibilities and mitigates talent gaps as you can harness your existing resources instead of looking for external hires. It also inspires employees to learn and grow.
4. Increased diversity – Hiring employees for their skills rather than their experience or network facilitates diversity and a high-performing workforce.
