Skills intelligence systems are the future

Competition for skills is getting more intense, and today’s employees have a deep desire to learn and grow. Seventy-six percent of employees say they are more likely to stay with a company that offers continuous training, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Leaders must help people thrive at all levels by strengthening their “power skills.” Functional skills like coding are vital, but power skills—such as critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, and creativity—open new doors, especially for upward mobility into leadership roles.

When companies focus on the skills their people need for the future, rather than certain degrees or job history, they also widen the talent pipeline. We all want to make our organizations more diverse, equitable, and inclusive—not just because it is right, but also because it fuels business success. According to McKinsey & Company, the most diverse companies outperform less diverse peers by 36% in profitability.

The technology that powers a skills intelligence system makes a company much smarter and more efficient when it comes to finding, hiring, and growing talent with diverse backgrounds. Leaders can make talent decisions based on data and insights, not biases or hunches. It levels the playing field for current employees by surfacing opportunities more equitably, based on the skills they have versus the people they know. It helps companies discover hidden gems: underestimated, high-performing employees who accelerate growth. And it challenges traditional hierarchical models of management by enabling leaders to quickly create skills-based teams and deploy them on the highest-impact work.

Companies with a skills intelligence system will develop higher-performing teams, a better employee experience, and more efficiency, productivity, and engagement. The system is the breakthrough: human-centered technology that transforms the way companies hire, reward, and grow their people. Unlike tools available today, it will remove the bias, friction, and errors found in traditional approaches. Companies can:

• Be smarter and more agile, hiring the right people based on the skills they have versus their degrees or job history
• Use skills intelligence to identify high-potential employees based on insights, not anecdotes
• Create dynamic career paths for each employee by surfacing new opportunities for skills development, roles, and experiences within the company
• Level the playing field for talent with rich, diverse backgrounds and capabilities