How to Unlock Smarter Skills-Based Talent Acquisition

Skills-based talent acquisition is gaining traction. Organizations are redefining how they attract, assess, and develop talent, placing skills at the center to build more agile and resilient workforces, said Tara Amaral, principal consultant at Riviera Advisors, during a session at SHRM25 in San Diego.

Done right, a skills-based approach expands access for candidates, supports career development for employees, and equips organizations for future readiness. “This is not about advancing HR. This is about advancing the business to meet new or emerging business needs,” Amaral said.

Connect Talent Strategy to Business Outcomes

Skills-based talent acquisition is often lauded for increasing the pool of talent a business considers during recruitment, but the benefits can go even deeper, Amaral said. Skills-based hiring can allow an organization to hire talent that not only fits a current role, but also aligns with where the business is headed. But this alignment won’t happen by accident.

Too often, there’s a disconnect between why someone is hired and what they’re ultimately asked to do in their role, she said. Candidates may enter an organization with expectations, only to find their skills underutilized or mismatched. This misalignment leads to dissatisfaction, disengagement, and ultimately, turnover.

“Recruiting people based on skills is actually pretty easy,” Amaral said. However, “at the end of the day, you have to understand what you’re asking for, and the why.” For recruiters to truly drive business outcomes using skills-based hiring, they need visibility into long-term business strategy and goals.

To achieve this visibility, “it’s really important that there’s a cross-functional conversation about why we’re all collaborating on this need to hire people based on skills,” Amaral noted. “Your cross-functional partnership has to be very strong.”

A smart strategy can’t succeed in a silo. HR must collaborate with business leaders and stakeholders to address key questions, such as:  

• What are the jobs of the future?   

• Which roles are essential for maintaining operations?

• Which roles are driving the organization forward?

Redesign Roles from the Ground Up 

Aligning with broader business goals starts by rethinking roles from the ground up. Job descriptions do more than attract candidates — they shape expectations, compensation, and internal mobility.  

Before posting a position, ask:  

• Was there a talent conversation within the organization on why these skills are important?  

• How might hiring for these skills reshape other roles?  

• How do these skills align with where the business is headed? 

As Amaral put it, “It’s really important to make sure that, when you’re thinking about converting to a skills-based organization, that not just the talent acquisition function — but everything that goes upstream — is aligned, and everybody is working to a common good.” 

Incorporate People Data in Talent Decisions

HR teams should utilize people data — such as employee movement, performance trends, and engagement metrics — to identify high-potential talent and uncover skills gaps. This allows HR to guide reskilling efforts, optimize hiring channels, and create data-backed strategies for growth and retention. 

“Leverage and optimize the data you know about people,” Amaral said. “It will ultimately allow you to have people move within your organization and give you insights to people who are naturally curious.” 

To truly embrace skills-based talent decisions, internal candidates must be given equal footing with external applicants. “Let’s get smarter about the people, and give opportunities to the people, before we have to go spend money for people outside the organization,” she emphasized.  

Use Insights to Drive Smarter Hiring and Development

A data-driven approach can reveal valuable insights into your employee life cycle and highlight opportunities to adjust strategies. Whether you’re adapting to automation or shifting to remote work, it’s crucial to provide employees with development opportunities. Investing in internal development doesn’t eliminate external hiring, but it improves engagement, loyalty, and agility by optimizing the talent you already have. 

Secure Buy-In to Create Lasting Change

Skills-based talent acquisition demands buy-in across the organization. Start by engaging key stakeholders early and fostering strategic discussions to build alignment and momentum. 

“Within any organization, there’s usually a business leader who’s got a laser-focused vision about what they want to do and how they want to do it,” Amaral said. HR must communicate with that leader that they want to help them advance this program and get ahead of the curve. 

With the partnership in place, HR can initiate a small-scale pilot program. Establish clear metrics, benchmark performance against market standards, and prioritize building a process that is both scalable and repeatable before expanding to a full rollout.  

Cultural Alignment Is Essential for Success

Beyond leadership buy-in, transformation depends on gaining support from the broader organizational culture. Shifting from credential-based hiring to skill-focused decision-making demands transparency and open communication across teams. HR can foster trust and drive progress by celebrating small victories and using them to build momentum. 

“We as HR leaders have to be ready to be at the forefront of helping our organization, not just absorb the ripple effect, but to be really able to use it as a catalyst to pull us forward,” Amaral said. For meaningful transformation, HR must recognize the value of organizational and cultural readiness for career and skill development.

Aligning Talent with Tomorrow’s Business Needs 

Skills-based talent acquisition is a powerful tool for achieving organizational goals, enhancing agility, and building resilience. By aligning talent strategies with business outcomes, leveraging data, fostering employee development, and aligning organizational culture, HR can move beyond recruitment and contribute to strategic workforce planning and creating a future-ready organization.