If you are in the business of professional services, you already know, or should know, that your people are your most valuable asset. They are the backbone of your company; their work is your product – your brand. Let’s see a show of hands who believe their people feel like they are the most valuable asset of their company? Would your people agree? Seriously. Often there is a disconnect about what business owners believe their people think and feel versus reality; it might be worth an anonymous survey – perhaps facilitated by a third party – to find out. Unfortunately, that addresses only the people in your boat already, what about the never-ending quest to find more talent? Aneesh Raman, a VP at LinkedIn and Elyse Rosenblum, founder and managing director of Grads of Life, published an article on point in the MIT Sloan Review. They suggest focusing not on degrees but skills which has the byproduct of not only enhancing diversity but improving your business and enhancing retention. The authors write that often a business’ survival instincts compel many to choose stagnation over innovation, however there are some worthwhile nuggets that may compel business owners to think differently: > Gen Z and millennials value opportunities for career growth and skill-building, even more than they value work-life balance. > Internal mobility has become the second-highest workforce priority among C-suite leaders. > Businesses who take a skills-first approach can expand their talent pipelines by nearly 10x. > +45% of businesses on LinkedIn are now explicitly using skills data to fill open roles. > Companies have a nearly 7% higher retention rate at the 3-year mark among employees who have learned skills on the job. > Employee who make an internal move by their 2-year mark have a 75% likelihood of staying with the company. > Employees whose role has not changed have only a 56% likelihood of staying on with a company. business innovation brand retention recruitment legal
Thought Leadership
Your People Are Your Product, So Hire for Skills
In professional services, a skills-first approach widens the talent pipeline and strengthens retention.