How one global company is spreading the skills-first message around the world
Conversations around AI often center on job displacement; it’s time to shift the focus from jobs to skills.
In recent times, there’s been plenty of discussion about AI doing away with jobs. The circular discussion reminds me of a 1980s TV sitcom: repeated, out of date and somewhat unsatisfying.
Sure, the potential for AI to change the workforce is profoundly new and fresh, but what matters in these times is not the job we have, it’s the skills we have.
After all, it’s our skills that make each of us unique in the workforce, and allow us to adapt, change and grow. Our job, on the other hand, is simply a title. And organisations need to recognise this about their own workforces.
Disruption is coming, in fact it is already here, and having a skills-based approach to workforces and work is the foundation for managing this change.
What truly matters in today's workforce is not the job title, but the skills we possess. Transitioning to a skills-first approach empowers organisations to create a better match between people's skills and their tasks.
According to Mercer’s recently released 2024 Global Talent Trends Study, nearly all organisations surveyed are planning changes to increase workplace productivity.
For many of them, this will involve leveraging technology to help create more engaged and productive workforces, and unlocking capacity by redesigning work, through transitioning to being skills-first organisations.
It's not an insignificant shift. Like all major transformations, a move to a skills-based workforce is cultural. It involves big changes in mindset and ways of working. But crucially, it's good for both organisations and their people.
It helps organisations become more productive, and if done right, their people will enjoy a better match between their skills and the jobs they are tasked with performing. In other words, greater job satisfaction!
With the acceleration of generative AI technology compounding the well-known fact that skills' shelf life continues to shrink, it's no wonder organisations are rethinking talent models, redesigning work, and doubling down on their investments in upskilling and re-skilling.
A case study in transitioning to a skills-first model
One company showing how to transition to a skills-based talent practice is Arcadis. With a 36,000-person workforce operating across 30 countries, Arcadis delivers sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.
As a core component of its 2024-2026 strategy, the company has embarked on a 'Skills Powered Organisation' (SPO) journey.
Leveraging an AI-driven talent intelligence platform, this approach involves Arcadis mapping its peoples’ skills, aspirations, and learning opportunities to better address skill gaps and improve the company’s ability to meet client needs and market demands. And in so doing, helping Arcadis recruit, retain and grow a diverse and dynamic workforce.
This is helping the company’s leaders to learn more about the skills needed in the future and make more informed decisions about whether to:
- ‘Build’ those skills through learning and career development.
- Bring them in through talent acquisition.
- ‘Borrow’ them across different parts of the globe or look to other means—such as technology.
Significantly, the use of the platform also enables more objective and transparent internal talent processes. Because in recognising and valuing Arcadians for their skills, experiences and future potential – rather than, for example, their background – it reduces unconscious bias and fosters greater inclusion and diversity.
This SPO approach also helps individuals better plan their next steps by having a greater understanding of the skills they have as well as the future skills they might need. It provides pathways to help people upskill and get where they want to be while ensuring they are aware and able to make the most of the opportunities available today.
Ultimately, this means more personalised development and growth plans, and more people having access to more opportunities – learning, networking and jobs – across the company to really take control of their careers, which is key to retention and career planning.
While the talent intelligence platform itself is a key enabler of its SPO journey, Arcadis is quick to emphasise that this is a human – rather than technology-led transition. The technology involved has been carefully configured by Arcadis to reflect the desired future state envisioned by its people, ensuring a collaborative and human-centric process that aligns with the company's culture and values.
All of this is being experienced by Arcadis in real-time. Already, the transition to the SPO approach is producing results. Following initial testing and a pilot earlier this year, Arcadis has been encouraged by the feedback it has received across the business. This success led to a significant global rollout in May, providing widespread access to growth and role opportunities for people across the business's 30 global locations.
As Arcadis’ SPO journey continues, it serves as an invaluable case study for other organisations considering a similar transition. While jobs have defined the past, skills represent an opportunity to better navigate the future of work. And amid all the talk of the threat it poses to people’s livelihoods, AI has a critical role to play in enabling organisations and their workforces to realise their skills-powered potential.