7 Ways to Hire the Right People Through Skills and Abilities Tests and More

Technology is changing fast, and companies are keeping up by strengthening their hiring process to find digital-savvy employees. Some ways to do this are by conducting skills and abilities tests and researching the best soft skills interview questions and answers. But many more hiring strategies will help you attract and recognize top talent.

Just how rapidly is technology evolving? According to McKinsey, we are in the thick of the digital era characterized by detailed data, speed, and scale. These pave the way for greater business innovation, as seen by the arrival of the cloud and 5G, which boost network speeds and remote capabilities. Other notable tech trends include virtual research and development, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning.

With such head-spinning developments, how can employers like you hire employees with the right skills when such relevant skills keep evolving? While automation was seen as a threat to manual labor, advancements in AI are now affecting high-skill jobs. For example, some companies use the AI chatbot ChatGPT instead of hiring writers. Social media managers constantly adapt to emerging platforms to capture and communicate with their target market, promoting business resilience. 

Also read: What Are the Top 5 Ways to Attract Talent? Read JobStreet’s 2023 Survey Results!

Employees form the backbone of your company, their skills and knowledge making up your business's lifeblood. Their adaptability is crucial in helping you pivot your business, future-proofing your company. Here are the other reasons why you need skilled employees:

Heightened job performance 

Constantly updating your employees' skills answers your business needs and improves their work performance. With boosted competence, workers are more efficient, producing better output and results. They also make better decisions, which trains them for leadership positions in the future.

Faster innovation

Knowledge of the latest tech trends allows your employees to formulate fresh ideas and techniques for innovation. This propels your business to the next level, ensuring you're ready for the future as you stay ahead of the competition.

Business adaptability

When employees are skilled, your company is equipped to withstand disruptions in the industry, economy, and technology. With reduced skill gaps, you improve productivity while avoiding turnovers that cost time, money, and company resources. 

Better  company branding

An organization that offers upskilling is always an attractive perk for jobseekers. According to the Decoding Global Talent report, 61% of Filipino employees are willing to learn and upskill on the job and on their own. Professional development opportunities also boost employee retention; when workers feel like they're growing and adding to their skills, they are more motivated to work and stay in the company. 

Also read: Discover the Top 10 HR Trends 2023: Focus on Employee Welfare, Tech Assists

Re-evaluate your hiring process to see what you can improve and change to get the right people. Here are some strategies you can adopt:

1. See the jobseeker's potential.

You may be used to hiring people for the skills they possess or their past achievements. But because foresight is the name of the game, try seeing candidates for what they can do for your business. Does their current skill set have the potential to grow with the company? Can their competence be developed while you take your business to the next level?

Also read: What Are Effective Recruitment Strategies? We Share Some Of Them With You Now!

2. Consider skills and abilities tests.

You can always find out a candidate's skills by looking at their resume, but learning their skill level is entirely different. While there are online skills assessment tests for free, it would be better if you design your skills and abilities test. This way, you can customize it according to your needs and preferences. The key is to always look for context. Where and how were the skills applied? What were the results? These questions let you gauge just how "skilled" the applicant is.

3. Assess soft skills.

Soft or transferable skills let you assess if the candidate matches your company culture. All the must-have soft skills are still necessary—communication, time management, self-awareness, conflict resolution, etc. But if future-proofing is a priority, look out for adaptability and teamwork. Employees must be open to change and collaboration, which are the tenets of business growth. 

4. Ask behavioral questions.

You may have to rethink your strategy if you're used to free-flowing conversations during the interview. Structure your job interview to let you see how candidates use their skills. One way to do this is by asking questions based on their behavior. Ask about specific instances and examples of past behavior, which can predict how they will handle the same situation in the future. For example, if you want to test a candidate's customer service skills, you can ask, "Tell me about a time when you had a difficult client. What happened, and how did you deal with it?" Dig deep into how they faced and overcame the particular challenge.

5. Be situation-specific.

This is your chance to see if the candidate is a good fit for your company. Take note of your organization's unique challenges and situations, and weave these into your job questions. If your company is made up of primarily remote employees, ask about the candidate's ability to work independently. If teamwork is critical in your operations, ask questions that reveal the candidate's work ethic and thought processes when collaborating. 

6. Emphasize reskilling.

While upskilling helps employees gain new knowledge and skills related to their current job, reskilling equips them with competencies that let them take on new roles. By making constant learning (and reskilling) part of your work culture, you're more likely to retain employees, making them essential partners in business transformation. Start by ensuring all your team members are tech-literate and integrating learning into your workflow. This way, employees are not pressured to simultaneously learn an entire skill chunk. With a learning culture, they can upgrade skills in increments and at a friendlier pace.

Also read: Learning And Development Plan: What Is It And Why Is It Important?

7. Build a culture of developing talent.

Based on the Decoding Global Talent report, over half of Filipinos think automation is out to get their jobs. Some companies also think this way, laying off old employees to hire upskilled ones. But with the fast pace of technology, you will need more time to be able to employ to stay competitive. Instead of letting go of people, we suggest upskilling and reskilling your current workforce to boost engagement and productivity. Investing in your employees will secure both their jobs and your company's growth.

Also read: ​​What Is An Exit Interview? Talking To Leaving Employees The Right Way

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