Is the Skills Gap a Phony Excuse?

... lists of skills, experiences, academics and a list of desirable traits and competencies, are not job descriptions – they’re people descriptions.

I recently wrote a post partially agreeing with Paul Krugman’s contention that the “supposed” skills gap is more excuse than reality. I suggested that the reason why it is so difficult to fill the 4.1 million currently open jobs in the U.S. is laziness on the part of hiring managers. Emphasizing skills, experiences and academics when opening up new jobs, rather than describing the work that needs to be done, is a shortcut to missed opportunity and underperformance. HR and recruiting leaders need to take a good share of the blame on this score, since they let hiring managers get away with it.

Consider this: lists of skills, experiences, academics and a list of desirable traits and competencies, in whatever form, are not job descriptions – they’re people descriptions. I argue that it’s far better to define the actual work a person needs to do and the environment in which it is to be done (i.e., the intensity, manager’s style, resources available, company culture), before preparing these contrived lists of skills and experiences. From a practical matter, if you can prove a person can do the work, the person has exactly the level of skills and experiences required. Not surprisingly, this will be somewhat different than what’s listed on the traditional skills-infested job description.

Whether you’re an HR leader, recruiter or hiring manager, there are some simple ways to reduce the phony skills gap and start seeing stronger and more diverse candidates. They all start by asking these questions when preparing the job description:

What Does Job Success Look Like?

1. What are the most important things the person in the role needs to accomplish in order to be considered successful?
2. What are some of the big performance objectives the person needs to achieve in the first six months to a year?
3. Are there any big projects the person will be leading?
4. Are there any longer range issues the person would need to address or consider?
5. What would a person need to do in the first 30-90 days that would indicate they’ll achieve the longer term performance objectives?
6. What are some big changes or improvements the person would need to make?
7. Who does the person typically work with and how does the person need to influence or collaborate with these people?
8. What are some of the big team or management challenges the person would likely face?
9. What will the person be spending most of his/her time doing?
10. Any there any business or technical problems or issues the person would need to address right away?
11. What do the best people in the same role do differently than the average person?
12. Where does a person need to demonstrate the initiative or go the extra mile?
13. How are the most important technical skills actually used on the job?
14. How are the most important competencies (i.e., leadership, drive for results, team skills, problem-solving, communications) used on the job?

The answers to these questions describe the actual work required and what it takes to be successful in the role. For most jobs, 6-8 performance objectives will stand out as most important. These can then be put into priority order. During the interview ask the Most Significant Accomplishment question for each of the objectives to determine if the candidate has accomplished something similar. If so, you’ll discover an amazing secret about performance – it’s what people accomplish with their skills that makes them successful, not the skills themselves. (Here’s the complete field manual on how to prepare these types of performance-based job descriptions, how to conduct the full performance-based interview and how to assess the answers.)

Job-seekers can ask a slightly different version of these same questions during the interview to uncover real job requirements. Of course, you probably have some of the requisite skills or else you wouldn’t have been invited to be interviewed. Regardless, these questions will reveal the actual work required. You’ll then need to give an example of a comparable accomplishment to demonstrate you can do the work. This approach will also help you bridge the skills gap, even if you’re not a perfect fit from a skills and experience standpoint. More important, you'll know if you even want to do the work if the job is offered.

Clarifying expectations has been shown time and again to be the number one driver of on-the-job performance and job satisfaction. Just ask some of your best performers why they like their jobs for some instant insight. For more proof check out Gallup’s Q12 and Google’s Project Oxygen.

Many years ago, at some long forgotten trade show, one of the CEOs present asked me how much skills and experience did a person need to have to be successful. I suggested, “Enough to do the work.” It’s still true today.

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Lou Adler (@LouA) is the CEO of The Adler Group, a consulting and training firm helping companies implement Performance-based Hiring. He's also a regular columnist for Inc. Magazine and BusinessInsider. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), provides hands-on advice for job-seekers, hiring managers and recruiters on how to find the best job and hire the best people. His new video program provides job seekers inside secrets on what it takes to get a job in the hidden job market.