SkillsFWD teams unearth key trends and insights in skills-based hiring and LERs

In SkillsFWD’s recent webinar, Transforming the Future of Skills-Based Hiring: A SkillsFWD Showcase, the SkillsFWD project teams shared their innovative efforts to create learning and employment record (LERs) ecosystems for industries and users across the U.S. They also dove into recent learnings, upcoming plans and the overarching goals for each project. These are the top four insights that emerged across all seven presentations.

Many projects target user groups that include young adults and post-secondary students.

Several SkillsFWD project teams focus on LER creation specifically for young adults and K12 students. These initiatives aim to smooth the transition from school to work and help young people showcase their skills throughout their careers.

Arizona State University’s student employment marketplace pilot will help university students find jobs by creating a marketplace where they can connect with employers. When fully launched, it will provide students with a forum to showcase their skills and connect with on-campus employers.

Aspyr is rolling out digital wallets for students across their target region of central Ohio. Their initiative will make it easier for learners entering the job market to manage and share their educational and job-related credentials.

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education and Western Governors University partner with higher education institutions, including Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College, to improve access to high-quality jobs for students and alumni through their Indiana Achievement Wallet. They plan to scale the wallet to more populations by partnering with other public institutions across the state.

Projects strategically chose industries where LERs have the most potential to thrive.

The webinar also highlighted the importance of strategically choosing industries of focus for LER projects. Project teams determined their focus industries by evaluating the most in-demand fields in their regions, targeting industries where verified skills and credentials are crucial, and identifying which industries face the largest workforce shortages.

ColoradoFWD targets the state’s healthcare industry, addressing talent shortages and shifting workforce practices brought on by the pandemic. In the first six months of their project, they conducted a mapping exercise that identified more than ten use cases for key stakeholder groups and how each stands to benefit.

“When we're talking about behavioral health and direct care, there are a large number of different records of learning and employment: certifications, licenses, education, micro-credentials,” explained Kelly Page, a consultant on the project. “And so we really needed to identify where the value could actually be added and look at pain points for our employers in healthcare. It's all well and good for learners and earners to have verifiable credentials. But if the employers don't have it as part of their processes, then it's not really going to benefit the system as a whole. That was a really key insight that came out of our early discovery work.”

Every project emphasized the importance of gathering user data.

Collecting and analyzing user data was a major theme across all projects. Each team is working to understand how users interact with hiring and credentialing platforms and how to best meet their needs.

With an existing platform already in use across the state, the Alabama Talent Triad is now digging into user engagement data to gather feedback and identify areas of improvement. This will help them make the platform more comprehensive and user-friendly.

Over the next few months, Accelerate Montana will partner with the Montana Building Industry Association and the Blackfeet Nation to create a case study. They will meet with members of the tribal council and local employers to really understand what their current pain points are, what skills aren't currently recognized inside of their community, and how Accelerate Montana can bring those forward through credentials and smart resumes.

While all project teams agree that accurate data and actionable insights are crucial for these initiatives to succeed, some projects face challenges in collecting meaningful data and managing it effectively. 

Every project recognizes that LERs will only be effective if employers are actively engaged in their creation and deployment.

In order for these projects to be successful, the teams emphasized that employers must be engaged early and often. Each project is working to include employers as they develop platforms and technology for digital wallets and hiring sites, create processes for skills verification, and facilitate conversations around the benefits of skills-based hiring. 

In Pittsburgh, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) partnered with Vibrant Pittsburgh to engage employers in banking, their target industry. Banks, including major corporations like PNC Bank, make up many of the region’s largest employers. 

“The banking industry [in Pittsburgh] has indicated its willingness, ability and excitement to change how folks gain access to banking careers through a range of upskilling and skill validation mechanisms, no longer limited to just traditional bachelor's degrees,” explained Joel Simon, senior advisor at CAEL. “Ultimately, the plan is to move beyond banking into other high-growth and high-demand industries, including information technology, manufacturing, healthcare and others.”

The webinar showcased how SkillsFWD’s diverse projects are driving innovation in skills-based hiring practices and developing new LER solutions and ecosystems to facilitate its growth and adoption. As these projects advance, they create a blueprint to scale these efforts nationally and, ultimately, build a more robust and equitable workforce.