Congresswoman Elise Stefanik introduced the Advancing Skills-Based Hiring Act. This bill will support employers seeking to adopt skills-based hiring practices that prioritize applicants’ job skills and abilities over college degrees. Skills-based hiring is the practice of screening and hiring new employees based on the skills, capabilities, and talent they bring to the table rather than their educational background or degree.
Stefanik expresses, “While millions of Americans remain out of the workforce in the midst of a labor shortage, I am committed to helping employers broaden their applicant pool and identify talented workers who have gained skills outside of post-secondary education.” This act ultimately empowers employers to evaluate candidates based on their experience and not on their education. This hiring approach expands economic opportunity for the two-thirds of Americans who don’t have a four-year college degree. To strengthen their workforces, employers should also be able to use skills-based hiring by removing government barriers.
The Advancing Skills-Based Hiring Act will:
- Allow employers to voluntarily submit assessment validity evidence to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for proactive review
- Provide employers a safe harbor if the EEOC determines their use of an assessment satisfies the legal burden of being "job-related"
- Ensure employers can participate in this voluntary compliance initiative without risk by preventing the EEOC from using an employer's participation as a basis for future investigation and protecting the information an employer submits from being used against them
Implementing Skills-Based Hiring
There are several ways you can begin implementing skills-based hiring within your business. The easiest way is through a skills assessment or job audition. These tests are designed to determine whether the applicants have the skills necessary to perform various essential aspects of the job. Most businesses integrate these tests early in the screening process to ensure that they focus on candidates uniquely qualified to perform.
You may ask yourself how skills-based hiring is different from typical hiring processes. When business owners or HR professionals implement a traditional hiring process, the screening tools and tactics being utilized search for keywords on an application to verify that the candidate is suitable for the role. Ultimately, the traditional hiring approach uses education and previous job experience as a representation of talent. However, this approach has its disadvantages. Resumes are unreliable and don’t depict the candidate the way they should. Let’s face it, we’ve all revamped our resumes to make ourselves look perfect for the job. In addition, a degree doesn’t necessarily tell you if a candidate is capable of performing well.
Adopting skills-based hiring practices allows companies to achieve the following:
- Lowers recruiting costs
- Enables companies to close skill gaps
- Improves retention
- Increases productivity with people who are truly equipped to perform well
- Improves diversity hiring
- lowers turnover
Let's Start 2023 Strong, Together
This sounds like an excellent hiring process, right? However, we know what you’re thinking, it might take more effort than you would like. That’s where GMS comes into play. Our HR experts work closely with you to offer guidance on onboarding and training. We simplify the process. We can utilize skills-based hiring practices to attract your desired and needed employees. Julie Petro, GMS' Recruitment Specialist expresses, "Skills-based hiring is extremely beneficial to all business owners. There are a variety of transferable skills that can be taught and applied to many different positions. Hiring based on skills rather than education can open up a larger and more diverse candidate pool, increasing the chances of a more successful hiring process." Let’s start 2023 strong and partner with GMS. Contact us today.