Overturning a difficult context for recruiters: Winning with skills

With UNLEASH’s 12-13th October conference less than a week away, this on-demand session looks at what to expect at the anniversary event and how companies are facing up to talent acquisition challenges.

Giving a sneak preview of what to expect at UNLEASH World, Kate Graham, Head of Content Labs and Insights at UNLEASH, is joined by Mohamed Zaghou, Head of Product Marketing HCM at Cegid Talentsoft and Meredith Wellard, Vice President, Group Talent Acquisition, Learning and Growth at Deutsche Post DHL as they discuss current talent changes, how a skills-centric approach can help the talent agenda, and how to win the so-called talent war.

It’s not easy to understand skills as every individual [in an organization] might be very skilled and we barely know it. Mohamed Zaghou, Head of Product Marketing HCM at Cegid Talentsoft

Watch on-demand to:

• On this Road to Paris webinar get the latest from leaders in the talent field and understand how current trends impact their decisions.
• Understand more about why creating distinctions between hard and soft skills can negatively impact talent strategy.
• Get best practices from HR experts and learn how to avoid the talent crunch.

UNLEASH World is coming… Will you be there?

These days there is a lot more noise about solving well-documented talent struggles — the Great Resignation, struggles with hiring, and engaging talent effectively — by using a more skills-centric model. However, it seems that the understanding of skills is still evolving and not yet universally defined in a way that everyone agrees upon.

As Wellard said this is understandable: HR has moved from competencies and performance-based talent understanding to a more challenging talent environment. And, as Zaghou added, skills are just not that well-defined anyway. Yet, as Zaghou outlined, this shouldn’t put organizations off a skills-based approach as they can create a way for businesses to understand exactly what they need, how they can move forward, and how they can support the business strategy.

So, what is it that businesses need to know to start moving towards a skill-centric model? Well, for starters, Wellard explained that organizations need to expand what they might understand as skills, including soft skills and behaviors as part of the skills tapestry. In this way, they will not only get skills they need into their business that they need but perhaps didn’t know they needed — such as tenaciousness and creativity — but also boost diversity, too. However, to get the right kind of skills organizations will have to get a well-defined EVP, start to use data, and understand how skills interact with the employee experience of work.

Zaghou agreed, adding that when it comes to the skills framework, organizations must understand what success looks like in order to properly move forward. They must also get savvy to how data and technology can play a role and what organizational problems they’re trying to solve, too. Like Wellard, Zaghou added that the employee experience, when moving to a skills-centric talent model is key: if you’re understanding your workforce via the prism of skills, this information needs to be on the same platform that employees use other day-to-day utility

In this way, employers can ensure that they’re encouraging better retention, more diversity of opportunity, and a better understanding of the talent they already have. All wins in a difficult market.

What next?

To find out more about how to overcome struggles with talent and the nitty gritty of the skills-centric approach, you can join Cegid Talentsoft at UNLEASH World as they talk more about this contentious working structure.

To see the complete rundown of what is in store at UNLEASH World, including sessions from Cegid Talentsoft, check out our dedicated Event Hub.