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This 28-page report offers practical recommendations for quantifying the impact of skills-based talent practices. Developed through a collaboration between Business Roundtable member company leaders and expert partners as part of the Multiple Pathways Initiative, participating companies include American Express, Chevron, Medtronic, Target, and Walmart, among others. One of the report’s key features is a framework of 10 critical questions organizations should answer to evaluate the impact of skills-based practices—each paired with suggested metrics. The questions are grouped into three categories: 1) practice adoption, 2) employee impact, and 3) business impact. For example, under practice adoption, one question asks: Are we actually hiring more people based on skills? A corresponding metric might be: the percentage of new hires without a 4-year degree out of total job postings that do not require one. Additional ideas are also explored. As a bonus, I’m resharing another Business Roundtable paper, Cultivating a Skills-Based Culture, which highlights early lessons from companies working to embed skills-based practices. A key takeaway is the need to clarify the “why” behind skills-based practices. Without a clearly defined purpose, these efforts risk being deprioritized or perceived as performative rather than strategic.
