'Clear working model' also needed to handle internal mobility
A people executive is urging employers to put greater priority on individuals' skills over experience to boost internal mobility in the workplace.
Linda Jingfang Cai, former global VP of talent development at LinkedIn, said employees are getting discouraged by a lack of opportunities in internal hiring, such as transferrable skills, even if they prefer looking into internal roles.
"As it stands, our labour market still values experience and pedigree over skills. As talent leaders, we have to evangelise the shift from valuing our people' experience to valuing their skills," said Jingfang Cai, who is now a Workforce Insights board member.
"We need to make it easier to assess and demonstrate skills and adopt equitable compensation practices that are based on skills."
According to Jingfang Cai, employers should also start asking themselves if their culture and processes to determine if they are encouraging internal moves and if employees are aware that they can access internal toles.
There should also be "clear working model" between teams most likely handling internal mobility, the people executive added.
Skills-first hiring is a growing trend across workplaces globally, where employers put more premium on skills over educational qualifications.
In Singapore, the trend is starting to take a hold of workplaces as a recent government report showed more employers are willing to consider applicants' relevant experience and skillsets over academic qualifications.
The state's Ministry of Manpower is also urging more employers to implement it in the workplace.
"We encourage more employers to adopt skills-based hiring and tap into transferable skills and experiences," MOM said.
Jingfang Cai went in further on building a skills-first workplace culture in this report.
