Over the course of the last two years, a behavioural shift has been observed across the global workforce with individuals starting to focus on the ‘why’ they work and not only the ‘how’ and ‘where’ they work. This has led to a complete deconstruction of the employee employer relationship.

Following this change, the hiring market has begun to shift away from looking only at degrees, diplomas, and past experiences of candidates, into emphasising their relevant skill sets and core competencies, in an effort to offer potential employees the value they seek in furthering their career aspirations, thereby answering the ‘why’. Since 2019, there has been a 20% increase in hiring managers, who don’t have a traditional four-year degree. Against the backdrop of a highly competitive talent market, stepping away from age-old methods of assessing skill sets and merits has led to an expansion of talent pools.

There is also visible change not only when it comes to the demand for certain skills, but also in the nature of occupational functions themselves. Apart from a new emphasis on competencies over credentials, there has been a fundamental shift in the way job descriptions are written to attract a larger talent pool. Today,talent leaders have been prompted to rethink the way they frame skill requirements as well as job descriptions, to make jobs more fluid and meet their talent requirements for a future ready workforce.

The modern recruitment process now calls for addressing the ‘mindset gap’ in traditional hiring, which has long been based on clear-cut, yet outdated job descriptions that no longer work. 

With the ongoing talent war and consequent deficit of new age skills among potential candidates, organisations have realised the need for highly skilled professionals who not only keep up with in-demand core competencies, but also ride the wave of change and disruption in the larger business environment. 

Breaking the job role ‘status quo’: Farewell to inflexible roles

When it comes to empowering a future-ready workforce, the focus must be on skills rather than just tasks outlined in job descriptions. The intention is to bring the right talent in and create an impact – be it in terms of productivity or agility. Identifying the right talent with the right skill sets means that individuals should no longer be categorised into specific roles or be saddled with inflexible job titles. Rigid job descriptions no longer appeal to modern workers who understand the value of continuous learning and collaboration to further their future careers.

To do this, HR and hiring managers must emphasise development and growth even more when hiring. High-calibre talent look for organisations that do not constrain them to certain functions, but rather support them in bringing about positive change and innovation at every level, throughout their career journeys. This proves to be a win-win for businesses as well.

Professionals who have their eyes set on growth will be ready to take the company forward, even in periods of turbulence and uncertainty. 

What to look for when building your talent pipeline? 

With the increasing degrees of automation across job roles, related responsibilities are changing. This change in job role expectations with the onset of automation is leading to workforce transformation, wherein automation of certain tasks is improving the overall efficiency and freeing the employees to focus on business critical tasks. . Therefore, rigid job descriptions and expectations are increasingly becoming obsolete.Following this change, employers now face an urgent need to find highly skilled candidates who are ready to adapt and evolve in this new working environment. 

This is where upGrad Placements is solving the evolving hiring challenges for employers, by offering a hybrid talent pool of professionals, who are ready to be hired at across all levels of the organisation – professionals who have invested their time and energy in upskilling themselves in the latest disciplines that are aligned with the current business needs and market demands. 

As such, companies that onboard them will remain one step ahead of the competition as a result of the professionals' evolved skill sets. The challenge, however, begins with gaining access to talent pools that are teeming with high-calibre professionals. This is where partnering with the right organisation plays a critical role in building a strong talent pipeline. Businesses need to bring their A-game when it comes to attracting and retaining talent, and in order to do so, the shift from rigid job descriptions and pivoting to what is known as ‘people descriptions’ is proving to be the need of the hour. 

Knowing business operations that drive the enterprise is never enough. Building a network of people who will tide through shifting job expectations is the differentiating factor.

In the face of a global talent shortage and the increasing pressure for businesses to grow in today's dynamic environment, it is these highly skilled professionals who will add value to the organisation in the long term. 

With upGrad Placements, businesses will find a talent pool of professionals who invest in continuous learning and who are agile and adaptable. 

Therefore, a mindset shift becomes a critical game-changer when it comes to hiring in 2022. High-calibre professionals are eager to learn and grow outside of their normal daily work routine, and are enthusiastic about the prospects of developing their career. When hiring managers do away with the pressures of stringent job descriptions and job titles, these professionals can bring your business to the next level.