Is it time companies prioritised skills over experience?

Many sectors are facing a recruitment crisis, as 1 in 5 employees plan to change their job during the next 12 months. But could the way in which companies attract and hire new talent be contributing to employment issues?

Currently, many businesses prioritise candidates with a strong track record in a particular role or industry. However, shifting the focus towards skills rather than experience could widen the talent pool and help companies to fill critical staffing gaps as quickly as possible.

What are the benefits of hiring an experienced employee?

Although most employers claim to value skills and experience equally, in reality many professionals find it hard to break into new industries – particularly if they’re young and lack on-the-job training. And it’s understandable why many companies lean towards candidates that have held similar roles in the past, or have been educated to a certain level.

There are several benefits to recruiting someone with extensive industry experience. These include:

Proven track record – there’s less risk associated with an experienced employee, as they’ve shown they can do the job before. employer references also help to validate their performance in previous roles.
Deep industry knowledge – the longer someone works in an industry, the greater knowledge they accumulate. So you’re getting a lot of value in one person by favouring someone with a long track record.
Capable under pressure – someone who’s been in their field for a number of years will have experienced many real-world scenarios connected to their position, which makes them capable of making effective decisions when they’re under pressure.
Established connections – an experienced employee often comes with a ‘little black book’ of industry contacts that can prove very useful in certain sectors or job roles.

However, these advantages don’t guarantee that your new hire will be a successful addition to your company. Sometimes experienced employees can become set in their ways or unwilling to listen to others’ ideas – which can impact team morale and general productivity.

How can skills-led recruitment strengthen company performance?

With recruitment programmes coming under pressure in several sectors, many organisations are starting to see the limitations of putting experience first. In a recent HR News article, 67% of employers admitted that experience-based recruitment has reduced the size and diversity of their talent pool - exacerbating skills shortages within their company.

While candidates that are new to the industry might not have the depth of knowledge or a strong portfolio of contacts, there are significant advantages to hiring someone based on their skills:

Wider talent pool – there are many routes into each industry, but prioritising experience stops candidates from non-traditional backgrounds from being shortlisted. By focussing on skills, potential employees without a certain education level or similar previous role are still eligible for consideration, and their skillset may prove a better fit than someone who ticks the right track record boxes.
Complements existing skillsets – a good team is built by attracting people with diverse but complimentary skills. And recruiting based on experience could mean that new hires’ skills overlap with your existing workforce. By focussing on capabilities first, you can identify what skills your organisation is missing and focus on finding people with those particular strengths.
Willingness to learn – someone with a good attitude and helpful set of skills may be less experienced, but hiring a blank canvas has its benefits. Someone new to the industry has a hunger and willingness to learn, meaning you can shape them in line with company processes and policies, as well as encouraging them to bring new ideas to the table
Potential to add greater value – putting skills first can result in a ‘rough diamond’ making it through to final selection, however this can play to your advantage. Your company has an opportunity to invest in someone whose professional value increases exponentially over time; often at a much lower starting salary than someone who’s been in the industry for several years.

How can your business move to a skills-based recruitment process?

There are many ways in which your business can make the physical act of hiring someone less biased towards experienced candidates – from changing requirements on your job descriptions to introducing blind CVs. However, to make recruitment truly skill-focused, you first need to change the way you view and manage your existing workforce.

Many employers don’t have clear visibility over their current skillsets, which makes it very difficult to hire new people based on what strengths they can bring to the business. Without any formal record of the skills and qualifications your existing staff possess, it’s not easy to identify gaps and weaknesses that need addressing.

One straightforward way to understand your existing capabilities is to invest in online staff management tools where you can log relevant skills and record tasks that your employees are responsible for undertaking.

By improving your knowledge of existing skills, you can start to prioritise areas that need strengthening – basing future job specs around those missing skills to bring them into your workforce as quickly as possible.

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