Why hiring for potential is the new normal

Throughout most of my career in recruitment, the idea of hiring people for their potential has been uncommon. Many businesses are used to sticking to more rigid criteria.

But as skills shortages show no sign of slowing, the idea of hiring people with the potential to learn the skills they will need has become far more attractive to employers.

In Hays’ most recent What Workers Want survey, which received over 5,100 responses from employers and professionals, a huge 80% of firms told us they would now consider hiring candidates based on their aptitude, with the intention of upskilling them in-role.

Almost the same percentage of employers (77%) who responded to the survey said they are concerned about skills shortages in their organisation, while 60% of workers were also worried.

Employers have realised they need to work hard to find unexpected talent and step away from relying on the same recruitment pools they have always targeted. It’s also positive that the importance of having plans and resources in place to help new and existing staff learn is being recognised.

It’s a shift in the recruitment landscape that’s driven by necessity, and also creates opportunity – both for the employers to bring in talented people they might not otherwise have looked at and for workers who are looking to take a new career direction.

For employers who are prepared to ‘hire for potential,’ almost three-quarters of the professionals we surveyed (74%) said they would consider applying for a role even if they didn’t have all the required skills. This was most often the case amongst people early in their career, with 80% of those aged 18-24 saying they would apply. Interestingly, 61% of 55–64-year-olds also said they’d go for a job they would still need training for.

The big challenge for employers is that once they embark on this type of recruitment, it is essential to have resources in place to support the learning and upskilling required.

Investing in learning and development can boost recruitment and retention

60% of employers told us they are providing learning resources to current employees to address their organisation’s skills shortage. Unfortunately, only half (50%) of professionals said they were satisfied with the learning resources their employer provides and only 33% said they had a career development plan in place that involves specific learning.

To close that gap, start by ensuring continuous learning is ingrained in your culture to help both attract and retain good staff. There are many ways to support continuous learning, from investing in formal training to allowing employees the time to shadow colleagues or attend industry seminars.

Next, make sure your learning resources are up to scratch. Employees have the appetite and openness to learn new skills but often don’t feel they are receiving the right learning resources from their employer or the time to undertake training. Work with employees to put structured learning plans and resources in place which are aligned to their professional goals and your organisation’s skills requirements.

And it’s all well and good investing in learning opportunities for your staff, but unless you’re measuring success, how do you know it’s working? Setting clear learning objectives and putting regular catch-ups in place with team members can help ensure visibility of newly learned skills being applied by your team.

Make sure to let potential candidates know about your upskilling opportunities. It’s a tough hiring market for many industries now so make sure you’re promoting your willingness to take on less-skilled candidates in your job ads or when in discussion with your recruitment professional, as this could help broaden and diversify your talent pool.

There is an onus on employees to make the most of the learning opportunities available to them. Upskilling includes both formal learning, such as in a classroom, and micro-learning such as reading industry blogs or shadowing.

For professionals, make it clear to your employer how you are applying your new skills. Similarly, don’t be afraid to apply for roles where you don’t quite tick all the boxes.

If you can show you’ve successfully upskilled before, then employers are willing to consider you.