Degrees are losing their lustre as the sole measure of competence. And it’s no surprise. With organisations across most industries identifying skills gaps and an inability to attract talent as their biggest barriers, people are starting to recognise the true value of skills as currency.

While many employers still require a formal education,  it is no longer all about having the right degrees from the right universities. It’s about having the right skills for the right role. Here are 5 reasons why I think this approach is a winning strategy.

1.   You can unlock untapped potential

By valuing skills more than degrees, you could unearth a goldmine of talent right from within your own ranks. This is because shifting to a more comprehensive assessment of skills and capabilities could significantly broaden your talent pool.

In short, talented, driven, experienced people could be flying below the radar because they don’t meet rigid degree requirements. And by embracing a skills-first approach, you have the opportunity to tap into this hidden reservoir of potential within your own organisation.

2.   You could boost your bottom line

Hiring based on skills is five times more likely to lead to good job performance, as opposed to hiring based on education. This statistic alone speaks volumes about the potential for boosting your bottom line by prioritising skills.

When you focus on skills, you align your hiring process with what the job really needs. By looking at candidates’ practical abilities, you’re more likely to find people with the exact skill set required for success in their roles. This translates to improved job performance, increased productivity and higher employee retention rates

On average, unplanned succession can cost companies up to 150% more than retaining a skilled employee. This statistic does not include the loss in productivity experienced as a new hire finds their feet. It doesn’t factor in the cost of the loss of institutional knowledge. Nor does it account for the time and resources required to find the right candidate.

An efficacious internal skills development and recruitment programme reduces the costs associated with unplanned succession, while retaining institutional knowledge, which in turn drives productivity, and the bottom line.

3.   You can mobilise your team

Another major bottom-line-booster is that prioritising skills will help you to mobilise your workforce.

Think of it this way: Replacing an employee is expensive. Very expensive. The cost of recruiting, onboarding, and training adds up fast.

But by focusing on upskilling and mobilising your existing workforce, you can hire from within your organisation. Instead of starting from scratch with new hires, you’ll be tapping into the skills and knowledge already present within your team.  You’ll also be able to deploy the right people with the right skills where they’re needed, with confidence.

4.   You can make your workforce more diverse

By shifting the spotlight from degrees, job history, or previous job titles to the essential question of whether a person has the right skills for a specific role, businesses make serious headway in creating a workplace that embraces diversity.

This is because a skills-first approach opens doors for people who have the necessary capabilities, even if they don’t tick all the traditional boxes.

By not getting hung up on prerequisites, businesses create an inclusive environment where everyone is able to grow and develop. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what fancy qualifications you have – if you’ve got the skills, you’ve got a fair shot.

5.   You’ll be leading the change

The way I see it, there are two types of businesses in this ever-changing landscape: Those who are playing catch-up and those who are setting the pace.

When you shift to an employee-centric skills-based approach, you’re able to upskill and reskill continuously, ensuring that your employees are agile, happy, and highly productive.

Curious about Kepler + Co’s strategies and technologies for cultivating a versatile, proficient workforce that positively impacts business outcomes and drives the bottomline? Download our quick guide which highlights seven common pitfalls and provides practical solutions to overcoming them.

Darren Lang is a curious and lifelong learner who qualified as a Chartered Accountant thinking that the degree would make him super successful. But he soon realised that practical application and skills mattered more than qualifications. With this, Darre

n took everything he learned about the biggest challenges L&D and HR were facing as well as the increasing importance of skills in the workplace, and founded Kepler + Co, a global technology player, helping organisations adopt a skills-first approach. Kepler’s software identifies and assesses every single technical and behavioural skill across the organisation, mapping the right content to the right people at the right time, optimising spend, improving retention rates, enabling internal hiring, and succession planning. Kepler has grown to be a leading global organisation that is driving the change to a skills-based economy. Every employee has untapped potential. As Darren says, “You’ve just got to know how to find it.”.

*1 World Economic Forum: Future of Jobs Report. 2023

*2 McKinsey & Company: Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce. 2022