What’s the relevance of HR in the age of skills?

At its best, HR is a positive agent of change, yet the rapid development of AI, self-directed learning and talent marketplaces have tested the capacity of HR to respond in this skills-based environment. So, how well set up is the HR function to deliver in the age of skills?

To help us answer this question, we were delighted to welcome Asi DeGani, Director Skills and Talent Development, LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) as our provocateur for our latest Virtual Roundtable. LSEG has been on its own journey towards a skills-based organisation and Asi shared his invaluable experiences with attendees.

A clear need for career opportunities.

In 2021, LSEG experienced a major transformation. Over three hundred years old, the organisation completed the acquisition of a very different, agile and modern business; Refinitiv, with 19,000 employees, was one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure.

LSEG had only 4,500 employees, so was now taking on a much larger workforce. It wanted to create an organisation in which all employees felt engaged, rather than disconnected, by the acquisition. LSEG’s concerns over engagement seemed well founded when research found that:

• A lack of career opportunities was not only one of the top two reasons for leaving LSEG, but also the main sentiment appearing on the employment website Glass Door.
• Only 57% of LSEG employees believed that they could progress their career within LSEG.
• Only around half of colleagues felt that the career opportunities available were relevant.

Connecting skills with careers.

The response by LSEG was to create a transparent, skills-based career framework. This was aimed at creating a greater sense of connection with employees, who would then understand how their skills fitted within the organisation. In practice, this meant deconstructing all work into the skills that were needed to be successful. And it also required a shift of mindset. Rather than the business telling the employee what it needed to do for any given role, it needed to support the employee to develop the skills they needed.

Over a period of 12-18 months, the business developed a full career framework, which identified the work of around 25,000 employees in terms of around a thousand job profiles. For example, if there were about fifty software developers – then each may have a specific focus for their role and responsibilities but there would be common skills in their job profiles that could be identified across the organisation.

A marketplace for talent.

With the help of its partners, Fuel50, LSEG developed a skills-based talent marketplace called Career Navigator. Rather than create a specific career pathway for every single role, the system looks at skills and weaves a number of pathways for employees, in the context of what the organisation needs. Every job profile guides employees to several other relevant jobs that have a similar breakdown of skills, proficiency levels, and a description of responsibilities and purpose.

Career Navigator has six features

• Get to know yourself. To understand one’s own values and career priorities.
• Mentoring. Mentors are matched with employees for the skills the latter wish to grow.
• Plan your development. Setting development plans and backing them with actions.
• Networking. For future roles, employees can find someone already doing the role to talk to.
• Personalised learning. Recommendations for current role needs or skills to improve upon.
• Plan your future. A chance to look at other profiles and work out where to go next in LSEG.

Our View: What does this mean for HR?

LSEG’s skills story is fascinating for the thorough approach taken, the methodology around defining skills, and its relevance to careers for both the organisation and individual. So how can HR in any organisation stay relevant when it comes to skills?

In any skills-based organisation, HR professionals need to find a willingness to be curious, show imagination and take a step outside their own comfort zones in offering up skills-based solutions. The key lies in treating individuals as people, not human resources, and in giving them the chance to influence how the skills-based approach works for them. Being clear on the career strategy and the language that is used around careers (e.g. experiences vs. trajectories) is significant.

HR needs both to enable individuals to own their career and give organisations a clear career framework and marketplace that offers employees several future directions, rather than prescribing a single specific future path. And the other thing that stands out for successful HR practice is a genuine commitment and belief in career opportunities for all, allied with the ability to persist in making this happen.