Learning

How to Plan Your Employment Assessment Strategy for 2023

Organizations in every industry are struggling to find candidates with the right skills to fill critical job roles. While many attribute this to “Great Resignation,” the problem has been growing for the past decade.

According to Deloitte, US companies have seen a growing shortage of candidates with in-demand skills for the past 10 years. Organizations deployed new technology and implemented digital transformation initiatives to maintain their competitive edge in the marketplace. So, the skillsets required for many jobs changed, but many candidates’ skills did not keep pace.

This has created a skills gap because applicants do not have the required abilities for available positions. The problem has become so critical that 71% of CEOs believe a skills shortage will be their biggest business challenge this decade.

Business leaders are looking for ways to bridge the talent shortage, and many have decided upskilling, and reskilling employees is the best solution. In fact, a 2021 World Economic Forum report predicts that over half of all employees worldwide will need to reskill or upskill by 2025.

Upskilling and Reskilling

Upskilling means providing employees with training that helps them learn new skills so they can improve their performance in their current job or prepare them to move to a similar role. Verizon, Marriott International, Walmart, Google, and McDonald’s are just a few companies that have invested in upskilling programs.

Reskilling means providing training that helps employees move into a different job or pursue a different career path. For example, a market research analyst who wants to transition to a data science career probably has the required research skills but needs training in other areas.

Upskilling and reskilling programs take many forms, but most offer employees training to improve existing skills and provide assistance with obtaining a high school diploma or college degree. They also allow employees to learn new skills so they can assume additional job responsibilities, qualify for higher-level jobs, or move into management. 

Business leaders worldwide are looking for ways to incorporate these initiatives into their hiring strategies for 2023 and beyond, and many have identified employment assessments as an essential component.

How Employment Assessments Facilitate Upskilling and Reskilling

Most organizations have been navigating the talent shortage during the past few years. So, they understand the importance of planning for future talent needs and building a talent pipeline. These are some of the steps they are taking.

  • Create Skill Maps to Identify Knowledge Gaps: A skill map is a visual representation of staff’s abilities across an organization. By creating a skill map, HR and Learning/ Development managers can identify current skill gaps and forecast future skill sets their organizations will need. Employment assessments help them identify staff strengths and weaknesses so they can develop personalized training plans for each employee.
  • Use Job Skills Assessments for Staff Development: Developing validated job skills assessments is not easy, and it is also time-consuming and expensive. So, businesses partner with industry-leading skills testing solution providers such as eSkill. The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM includes a library with hundreds of validated employment assessments. HR and Learning Development teams can use pre-prepared tests or build custom job skills assessments that include questions from various areas. They also have the option to add proprietary questions if desired.
  • Create Personalized Training Programs: By implementing the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM, HR and LD leaders can create employee development programs that build on employees’ current knowledge. By analyzing staff skillsets, they can easily see which skills each employee has mastered, determine where they need additional training, and develop personalized training programs for each employee.
  • Identify Employees with Potential: Employment assessments help HR teams identify employees ready to take on more responsibility so they can provide them with the training they need to move to the next level. It also allows them to zero in on employees who are almost ready for a promotion and give them the training they need.

Use Employment Assessments to Build an Internal Talent Pool

In 2023 and the future, organizations will implement flexible workforce strategies such as upskilling and reskilling that focus on in-demand skills development instead of training for fixed roles. This will help them build an internal talent pool that will help them outmaneuver shifts in the economy and changes in market demand.

Organizations will also focus on reducing the time and money they spend on hiring and training. Many eSkill clients have reduced recruiting and employee development costs by 70% and time-to-hire/promote by 60%.

Do you want to learn how employment assessments can help you retool your hiring and training strategy for the future? Contact us to request a demo.