
Big Interview | Become an 'organisational influencer': Whitecroft Lighting's Head of HR on improving female representation in engineering

In the last couple decades, we have experienced an evolution in Human Resources practices, where HR’s focus has shifted from being “the custodian of the people” to “creating business outcomes”. Accelerated digital transformations have reminded us that there is a person at end of each process and that change needs to be managed with a human focus, understanding changing mindsets, behaviours, and expectations. CEO’s and senior leaders have recognized the importance of building a strong and positive culture, and how this can help their organisations become more agile and resilient while dealing with constant change.
Business models are continuously evolving due to advanced technology. This has tremendous impact on skill requirements. Filling skill gaps continues to be a critical business goal for many organisations, and attracting and retaining the right talent with in-demand skills will continue to be one of the biggest differentiators for organizational success.
We are experiencing the rise of skills-based organisations where large scale “skills transformations” are taking place. In Fosway’s HR Realities Research 2022, 95% of surveyed organisations rated “availability of skills” as the most significant business challenge to business success. Skills transformation is now considered as one of the key initiatives that many organisations are prioritizing and looking for solutions redeploy, upskill, or reskill their employees to future-proof their workforce.
Traditional talent management practices are not helping to solve today’s problems. There is a growing need for AI driven and agile skills frameworks so that organisations can link people’s growth to relevant skills using an AI driven marketplace for opportunities, roles, projects or temporary assignments. LinkedIn data suggests that both employees and employers are starting to use skills as a shared language in the job search. More than 40 percent recruiters are now explicitly using skills to screen and search for candidates on LinkedIn. According to recent Global Talent Trends report organizations that excel at internal mobility are able to retain employees for 5.4 years on average, nearly twice as long as those that struggle with it, where the average retention span is less than three years.
In the light of these market trends, there are four key areas that need to be considered while embarking on a skills transformation journey and make it the driving force of your talent management strategy.
In conclusion, organisations can become more adaptable and flexible in managing their talent when they have real time visibility on their talent and when they can predict future needs. Only then, they can execute a robust talent management strategy and hence create a future-ready sustainable workforce.