INTHEBLACK December - January 2022 - Magazine - Page 40
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT
Transferable skills
STORY HELEN HAWKES
40
DEC 2022
JAN 2023
SKILLS IN
DEMAND
Whether you are planning a career move or just starting out, learning
to identify and build on the transferable skills already in your arsenal
will help you to put your best foot forward.
The disruption of the past few
years has shifted dynamics within
the employment market.
Wellbeing, flexibility and soft
skills have moved up the list of
priorities in recruitment. Against
this backdrop, factors such as
the Great Resignation and skills
shortages have created challenges
for recruiters. Most significantly,
although many employment
opportunities are available, recruiters
are struggling to match the available
talent with the vacant roles.
According to Deloitte Insights,
many countries are now seeing
an increasing mismatch between
the skills workers offer and
those that employers need. As
these mismatches intersect with
longer-standing demographic
trends and newer trends for earlier
retirement, they will continue to
shape the experience of workers
and employers for years to come.
SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS
For hiring managers who feel they
cannot get the “right” person for
the right job, it may be necessary
to start thinking laterally.
More specifically, identifying
transferable skills in current staff
– and in potential new recruits –
can not only expand the pool
of applicants, but can also pay
INTHEBLACK CAREER, ELEVATED SPECIAL EDITION
dividends for companies in crossindustry knowledge and expertise.
Bernard Poon FCPA, a partner
at EY and a CPA Australia
director, says that, in recent years,
it has been difficult to get the
right accounting graduates and,
currently, it is also challenging to
find experienced hires.
“Graduates have more choices,”
he says. “The accounting field
is not always perceived to be as
attractive as other professions,
and yet a lot of entrepreneurs,
for example, started with an
accounting or commerce degree.”
In the case of graduate hires,
Poon says EY is exercising a
more flexible approach. “We
prefer people with the right
accounting and finance skill set,
but we are considering graduates
from different backgrounds such
as engineering or mathematics,
as long as they have a high level
of intelligence and the ability to
work in a team environment.”
Poon says that, in thinking
laterally, companies may need
to put new hires through more
training processes. However, it can
be even more effective to partner
them with a mentor, he says.
“On-the-job training by a senior
staff member is definitely more
beneficial to the candidate.”
IDENTIFYING ALIGNED SKILLS
By role-mapping – listing the
core skills and the peripheral skills
needed for a position – employers
may be able to broaden their
pool of valuable candidates, says
Shivani Gopal, CEO of women’s
leadership and education network
The Remarkable Woman.
“For example, someone who has
worked in sales has strong skills
around relationship and crisis
management that may be able to
be utilised in other roles,” she says.
“An employee who has worked
in law and does well with detailed
processes and procedures could
excel in an operational role.
“Similarly, you might find
someone for a finance-related
position by considering, among
other things, their ability to
problem-solve.”
Blind job-matching removes the
bias, says Gopal. “You are hiring
people for skills rather than titles.”
“Looking at what an employee
could be in the future, rather than
relying too much on where they
have come from, is also a shift
in focus that can pay results,”
says Edwin Trevor-Roberts,
CEO of Trevor-Roberts, a career
management firm that helps
organisations build thriving work
environments.
