Everest VP: ‘Skills are not a HR initiative, they’re a business initiative’

Everest Group is a global research firm that wants to help HR leaders understand “the now, the next and the new in HR technology”.

That’s according to the firm’s Vice-President Sharath Hari.

The idea is to use data, best practices and expert opinion to guide HR leaders in navigating “the complexities of change right now as well as prepare for the three to five years into the future”, he adds.

A major HR challenges that Everest noted from extensive conversations and research was around skills.

Skills is not a new topic”, but it is picking up now because  “the increasing scarcity for talent requires organizations to look at methods to get the right skills at the right places”.

“The half life of skills is changing”, with new roles coming up in the world of generative AI.

Plus, Everest Group research identified that employee expectations are changing; they no longer just want a job, they want a career, and they want their employer to support them in developing.

Plus, “the benefits of skills-based approaches are clear”. There are now proof of concepts from organizations (particularly large ones), which has also helped to overcome some of the previous skepticism around skills-first approaches, Hari shares.

UNLEASH was thrilled to sit down exclusively with Hari to chat about the what, the why, and the how of skills-first organizations ahead of him speaking at our upcoming HR show in Paris, UNLEASH World.

It’s not too late to grab a pass for the UNLEASH World show and get Hari’s insights on how to cut through the skills hype on Wednesday 16 October.

How to do skills-first well

A major challenge facing HR leaders right now is “how can I put the right skills in the right places so that we align with business goals and contribute meaningfully to organizational objectives”, Hari tells UNLEASH.

There needs to be a unified approach across strategy, operations and technology.

For Hari, technology is crucial to reaping the business rewards of skills-first approaches.

It can help with identifying what skills employees and candidates have, it can create the taxonomy, library or ontology of these skills, and it can act as an intelligence layer to “shed light on skills availability, proficiency, trends across the organization” to help organizations spot and resolve their skills gaps.

Ultimately, technology reminds HR leaders that “skills are not the end game” – they are the currency of work that enables employers to organize their workforce in a way that makes the most sense.

The good news is that there has already been a lot of advancements in tech tools so they can meet these buyer expectations – and more innovation is on the horizon.

According to Hari, there is innovating happening around skills architectures, such as “bi-directional integration” with other systems to share and harmonize skills data across companies, and personalizing experience for end users.

Hari is clear that while tech is an important piece of the puzzle, it is just one part of the full equation.

You could have the best tool out there, but if you haven’t changed your organizational mindset and culture to being skills-first, you are unlikely to reap rewards.

The whole organization needs to be on board with skills as the currency of work.

The successful skills-based organizations have business leaders as the driving forces,” notes Hari. “In these organizations, skills are not a HR initiative, they’re a business initiative.”

One way to get business buy in is to “identify a highly engage business leader to be the champion for the skills initiative in the organization”, he adds. Other organizations have Chief Skills Officers and centers of excellence around skills to spur this focus.

At the end of the day, Hari is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to becoming skills-first – “what works for others may not work for you”.

Hari shares the example of EPAM, Johnson and Johnson and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners – all of these have mature skills practices, but they also have “somewhat different approaches and areas where they are using skills”.

But what they have in common is that mindset that skills are “the foundational block for all decisions”.

The technology and processes they then layer on top are what works best for their style of organizations and their goals with skills.

Everest Group and UNLEASH World

Want to find out more about skills-first organizations and how to figure out what’s right for your organization?

You’re in luck, Hari and the Everest Group team will be at our UNLEASH World show in Paris.

Hari is excited to get on-site, and to have great conversations with HR leaders and vendors, “understand how the market is evolving and the success stories of organization”.

Not got your pass yet? It’s not too late, you can grab one here!