Diversity issues often start during an age-old hiring process riddled with opportunities for conscious and unconscious biases to create an uneven playing field. The CEO of Credly, Jonathan Finkelstein, breaks down the critical role digital credentials and skills-based hiring play in creating a truly diverse and inclusive environment.
Organizations across all industries are taking stock of who they are and how they operate in the post-pandemic world. Coupled with the current movement for racial justice, which is shining a light on the continued lack of, equity, and inclusion in the modern workplace, companies are coming to terms with a gap between the values listed on their websites and the reality of life in their workplace today. They realize now that they must act with greater intention to achieve long-overdue organizational and systemic change.Â
Studies have repeatedly affirmedOpens a new window that diverse, inclusive organizations are more innovative, see higher profits, and consistently outperform competitors than those that are not. And employees and customers expect more than socially conscious statements. They want organizations to act in a socially responsible manner and to be on the front lines of societal change.
So, what is keeping business leaders from delivering on their stated values on equal access to opportunity in the workplace?
D&I issues often start during an age-old hiring process riddled with opportunities for conscious and unconscious biases to create an uneven playing field. Everything from a candidate’s nameOpens a new window and whether or where they went to school, to their years of experience and previous job titles, impacts our perception of a person’s qualifications.
Organizations that are addressing these issues are now taking a skill-based view on sourcing and evaluating talent. They are coalescing around a common skill-based standard for enabling this new and better way to recruit and hire. That standard currency is called “digital credentials.
What Are Digital Credentials?
Digital credentials are essentially the currency for every person’s human capital. They are verified, portable, and trusted proof of a person’s abilities and skills, and they can be used to connect people to opportunities in the modern skill-based economy. Rather than a paper certificate hanging on the wall, digital credentials allow professionals to bring their resume-worthy achievements – at just the right level of granularity or denomination – directly into environments where human capital decisions are made. Each credential is backed by verified data that provides insight into the context, effort, knowledge, and specific activities required to achieve that result.
Hiring managers and recruiters leverage digital credentials in both human- and machine-readable formats to make more informed, data-driven decisions and ensure they’re selecting the most qualified person for the job without introducing unconscious biases into the process. Skill-based credentials help two people with the same abilities to more equitably be considered for the same opportunity. Employers are creating diverse, capable teams within their organization by pairing digital credentials with skills-based hiringOpens a new window .
Building a Diverse Workplace Through Skills-Based Hiring
At my company, Credly, we are working towards broad adoption of skills-based hiring and talent management processes and are seeing a tipping point in the momentum behind the movement. The federal governmentOpens a new window and leading companiesOpens a new window like IBMOpens a new window and GoogleOpens a new window are making large-scale moves to advance the competency-based training, recognition, and hiring paradigm.
Digital credentials widen the available talent pool
Looking at hiring and recruiting through a skills-based lens widens your view of the available talent pool and helps identify qualified individuals you would have otherwise completely missed in a traditional approach. Skills-based hiring makes your organization more efficient, productive and better-positioned to succeed in the new world of work.
Digital credentials enable third-party verification of skills
In a world where organizations are relying on more and better data, trust in that data becomes paramount. Credentials in digital form bring third-party verification to previously unsubstantiated claims about skills and achievements. The historical approach of self-reporting perpetuates misrepresentationsOpens a new window and genderOpens a new window and racial disparities. In contrast, the new currency of digital credentials mitigates the risk of hiring someone for the skills they say they have rather than the skills they’re proven to have.
Digital Credentials Have the Potential to Create an Equitable Workplace
Building a more equitable workplace is attainable. With a skills-based hiring approach, every candidate is on an equal level of consideration. As the currency for human capital, digital credentials act as the source of truth for skills-based hiring – providing the means for professionals to advance in the workforce without bias by validating competencies in a trusted, secure way.
Even well-intentioned people find themselves captive to systems that perpetuate biases and exclusion. By deploying tools and approaches that center on proven skills, organizations can ensure they live up to their values and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Do you think digital credentials can help create a diverse and inclusive workplace? Share your thoughts with us on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window .