How prioritizing skills over education could improve your organization

By Mae Strehlow

The trendlines are clear: Holding a bachelor’s degree today doesn’t mean what it once did. Years ago, having a four-year college or university degree opened doors to exclusive career opportunities. But for a variety of reasons, more employers are now looking beyond academic achievements when it comes to candidate evaluation. In fact, 45% of U.S. companies surveyed said they were dropping bachelor’s degree requirements for some positions. Here in Canada some organizations are following suit. For instance, Ontario recently eliminated post-secondary requirements to become a police officer.

Many employers are embracing skills-based hiring, which puts more emphasis on candidates’ skills instead of traditional markers, like college and university degrees. Here are five benefits a skills-based hiring approach can have on your organization.

Larger candidate pool

Many companies traditionally excluded candidates without a bachelor’s degree during the initial sifting of applications. More and more employers, however, are rethinking that strategy. (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates famously did not have four-year degrees.)

Create specific criteria to evaluate candidates instead of ruling people out based on prerequisites that may be of lesser importance. For example, a graphic designer may be self-taught, but their talents and skills could exceed those of a college/university graduate. Your new strategy could bring new possibilities for your organization.

Present new hires with onboarding gifts, like branded tech organizers and quarter-zip sweatshirts. Especially for employees beginning their careers, this warm welcome can show you’re invested in their future.

Opportunities to diversify

By expanding your candidate pool, you’ll find more opportunities to diversify your workforce. By hiring people without a degree, you’re already changing the makeup of your team. By adding people with different life experiences and backgrounds, you’re also bringing in new ideas and new perspectives.

Because potential employees come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, and each has their own history, some companies create training programs with pathways to employment. This is a way to ensure candidates have the necessary abilities, skills and competencies to succeed—even if there’s no degree on their resumes. New hires from your training program are bound to get a kick out of earning a company-branded pennant and graduate pen—like college/university grads might receive.

Enhanced productivity

Eighty percent of employers are more interested in a candidate’s experience than their education. Experience shows exactly what the candidate can do. And when an organization knows what somebody is capable of—instead of just what school they went to or degree they earned—new hires can hit the ground running. Skills-based hiring can lead to more productive and efficient teams because everyone involved can meet expectations.

Improved morale

An efficient and smooth-operating team is often a happy team. Adding employees whose skills fit best, regardless of their education, minimizes disruptions. When highly skilled employees work among other highly skilled employees, it often creates harmony.

Employers can also put more stock in a candidate’s ability to fit into the company culture and consider other positive attributes that would benefit the organization. Like a recipe, leaders can add ingredients they are missing to make the team the best it can be.

Better employee retention

Changing demographics, the pandemic and other factors have contributed to slightly declining higher education enrolment among domestic students in Canada. That’s had a ripple effect in the workforce and can make finding degree-holding candidates more challenging. By using skills-based strategies, you can more easily find the right candidate for the right job. When employees feel they’re a good fit, they’re more likely to stay in their position.

Foster good working relationships by routinely showing appreciation for employees and celebrating work anniversaries. For example, an embroidered tote can mark six months and a leather padfolio can be a gift at the one-year milestone.

Tearing through the ‘paper ceiling’

By putting less emphasis on a job candidate’s college/university degree—and breaking through what’s been referred to as the “paper ceiling,”—you open new possibilities for your organization. Adopting a skills-based hiring approach can expand candidate pools, diversify your workforce, boost productivity and morale, and improve retention.

Mae Strehlow

Mae Strehlow has 23 years of importing and merchandising experience at 4imprint—and 15 years in international and domestic retail before that—bringing nearly four decades of expertise to the promotional products industry. Over the years, she’s worked across a wide range of product categories, but drinkware is where her true passion lies. Mae thrives on product development, whether it’s creating exclusive private label lines or collaborating with suppliers to turn market trends into practical, successful solutions. She loves the challenge of refining shapes and styles to meet the unique demands of the promotional products industry. She believes that transparency, collaboration and a shared commitment to success—both internally and with 4imprint’s vendor partners—are what truly sets 4imprint apart.

All marks are the property of 4imprint or their respective owners.

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