Say you are looking to recruit a traffic-light (or a stoplight…or a robot for South African readers). If we were to post a job ad for that traffic light, it might read as follows.
An exciting opportunity to direct traffic at one of the city’s most prestigious intersections. We provide 24/7 power supply and regular maintenance. You will bring the following:
50-watt LED lights in red, amber and green
A right turn arrow
Remote timing and sequence control option
Signal your interest by flashing three times
This recruitment strategy is based on a job-based analysis of what is required….the job is traffic light, and the question that remains is what kind of traffic light do we need.
If we were to take a skills-based approach to analyzing the requirement, we would start by asking what the actual output of the job is, or how the job function interacts with the world. In this case the job is to regulate the flow of traffic at the intersection.
We actually need traffic regulation skills.
So how can we meet this skills requirement? It could be a traffic light, but it could also be a roundabout or traffic circle. Or it could be two give-way signs. It could even be a traffic police-person.
By thinking about the required skills rather than the job requirements, we open up a far broader range of options, some of which may be better and/or cheaper than the original traffic light job. This is the power of skills-based recruitment strategy.