Leading from the front in the skills revolution

5 steps organizations should take when setting up a skills-based talent strategy
Traditionally, work was a place we’d go to, but now it has become more about what we do — from anywhere. It’s all part of a new talent equation of supply and demand based on skills being critical for success.
In the future, jobs will no longer be the corporate unit that everything is organized around. Instead, tasks will be divided between humans and machines, depending on who best suits each task.
We’re already seeing significant shifts in how we put skills to work. The first is a shift in how jobs are defined — from roles within traditional organizational hierarchies to a more dynamic model, where skilled individuals work across multiple project-based settings.
The next is a shift in work between humans and machines, as technology evolves to take over the more transactional tasks, and humans focus their skills on more unique and strategic aspects. This shift becomes less about humans using technology and more about how they interact with it instead. Simply put, technical skills become the “means to compete,” while human interpersonal skills become the “competitive advantage.”
These shifts will lead us to reshape how employees grow, navigate their careers and get paid. When done right, skills can drive organizational agility and unlock the power of people. Skills-based approaches are one way that companies are reinventing flexibility, from pay to skill to skills-based talent matching. This flexibility is pivotal to delivering the productivity and efficiency required by modern businesses, but there’s still some way to go.
Approximately half (47%) of companies report that they are yet to develop an approach to classifying skills at any level of their company, which is a minimal change since 2021.
The skills revolution is now
A shift to a skills-based talent strategy requires support across multiple sectors, from higher education to government and even between industries in the private sector around skills development. It also needs strong support from within a company, across senior leadership, finance and HR teams.
Below are five steps for companies to take when switching to a skills-based talent strategy.
Senior Partner and Career Business Leader, Asia, IMEA & Pacific
Related solutions
-
Skills-powered organizationsMercer helps advance your talent strategies for the new shape of work, starting with an assessment of your organization’s current skills to gain an understanding…
-
Future of work
Shaping well-being for tomorrow’s workforce with Dr. Andrew Tay
In this episode we discuss the well-being of university students and ways employers can prepare for and support the next generation of the workforce. -
Compensation planning: Adapting to the evolving labor landscape in 2025
March 2025, we collected info about how employers are planning and administering their annual compensation planning programs.
Related insights
-
Attract & retain talent
Strategic workforce planning
Mercer’s strategic workforce planning solutions provide a rational business basis to prioritize, develop and fund the people practices needed to support business… -
Skills-powered organizations
Talent assessment
Mercer helps advance your talent strategies for the new shape of work, starting with an assessment of your organization’s current skills to gain an understanding… -
Talent & transformation
Change management
Mercer’s change management consulting will help you design a purposeful and connected change journey with targeted interventions leading to greater commitment and…