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It's pretty obvious that a lot of companies are complaining about a shortage of skilled workers. But what's less obvious is that they often overlook qualified talent because they keep insisting on formal qualifications. These qualifications aren't always necessary for the job.
These individuals could have been doing the job for years if they had been assessed on their actual abilities. McKinsey (2022) highlights an important change here: US employers are adapting their strategy. They are increasingly filling positions based on the skills that are actually required. This gives them access to a broader pool of suitable candidates.
It has long been clear that qualifications say little about whether someone is capable of performing a specific task well. What really counts are skills. Those who understand them, make them visible and use them correctly will win.
But this is precisely where many recruitment processes fail – especially in Germany. Skill gaps remain invisible. Talent remains undiscovered. And the search for the ‘perfect’ application often ends up with the same profiles. Are we still letting degrees and certificates dictate our hiring decisions?
This is exactly where skill-based recruiting comes into play. It's an approach that is not only fairer, but also more efficient – when the right tools are used. Intelligent technology, in turn, can be used to analyse skills, anticipate needs and strategically place talent exactly where it is needed.
This article shows how companies can seize this opportunity: data-driven, future-oriented and systematic.
From CV to skills: the paradigm shift in recruiting
A CV is not a skills profile. Nevertheless, it still lays the foundation for countless personnel decisions – often out of habit rather than conviction. After all, what looks good on paper says little about whether someone really has the skills needed for a job.
But that is precisely what matters: in an environment where technologies are constantly evolving and there is a shortage of professionals, it is no longer enough to look for supposedly suitable positions on a CV. What counts is what someone can do – not what someone was.
McKinsey (2022) calls this change in perspective the ‘skills-first’ approach: companies define the skills that are truly relevant for each role – and tailor their search accordingly. Titles and degrees are becoming less important. What counts is whether candidates have what is really necessary for the job. Titles and degrees are becoming less important. What counts is whether candidates have what is really necessary for the job.
This perspective transforms everything: particularly in IT-related fields with rapidly changing requirements, this approach is not optional, but necessary. Our article on skills-based job advertisements shows how traditional job advertisements can be adapted to this new way of thinking.
Deloitte talks about the ‘skills-based organisation’ (2022): a structure that no longer thinks in terms of departments, functions and hierarchies, but plans, decides and controls based on skills. Especially in IT-related fields with rapidly changing requirements, this approach is not optional, but essential for survival. New roles are emerging, existing ones are disappearing – organisations that react too slowly are losing ground and attractiveness.
Nevertheless, many companies continue to work with job descriptions that reflect skills models that are years out of date. They use tools based on keyword matching rather than skills analysis. And they evaluate candidates based on degrees that are often irrelevant to today's jobs. The half-life of knowledge in STEM subjects must also be taken into account.
Therefore, change begins where companies start to systematically record skills – and align their recruiting strategy accordingly.
Identifying skill gaps: How companies can truly understand their staffing needs
Many companies invest an enormous amount of time in searching for talent – but far too little in understanding what skills they actually need. Often, it is not applicants that are lacking, but a clear picture of which skills are crucial for the company today and tomorrow.
According to Accenture (2023), this lack of clarity is one of the biggest obstacles to modern talent strategies. Without systematic skills analysis, recruiting remains a shot in the dark: positions are advertised without knowing which skills are actually missing – or which are available but not being used.
Skill gap analyses provide a remedy here. They identify gaps between existing competence levels and future requirements – both within teams and at the organisational level. It sounds technical, but it is highly strategic.
McKinsey emphasises that many companies greatly underestimate the existing skills of their workforce – or simply do not record them (McKinsey 2022). This is particularly true for career changers, hybrid roles or informally acquired knowledge, which often represent potential that traditional HR departments fail to recognise.
Competence analysis tools can change this. They enable the creation of individual and cross-team skill profiles, make existing qualifications visible and dynamically capture requirements. Modern systems go far beyond Excel spreadsheets: they work with ontologies, AI-based classification and self-assessments that are continuously updated.
But to ensure that such tools are effective, more than just software is needed. It is crucial to be willing to see recruiting not as a quick fix for a single vacancy, but as part of a long-term HR strategy. This means building data, sharing knowledge and distributing responsibility.
Tool-supported competence analysis: what modern HR tech can really do
Competence analysis is a data-driven process. But many companies still work with outdated methods: unstructured interviews, Excel lists, gut feelings. The result? Distorted self-images, incomplete job profiles and recruitment decisions that are built on shaky foundations.
The right technology has long been available. Modern tools for skills analysis structure abilities, reveal hidden talents and enable continuous comparison between the current status and the future target profile.
Accenture describes this development as a transition to a ‘skills intelligence’ architecture (Accenture 2023):
Software solutions that match internal skills with external job profiles, enabling targeted recruitment or training decisions. AI-supported systems recognise patterns, evaluate transfer potential and suggest suitable candidates, even if their CVs do not appear to match at first glance.
Deloitte also emphasises that such technologies improve precision and speed in recruiting because they focus on specific skills (Deloitte 2022). After all, when the goal is clear, the match can also be made on the basis of data. Those who no longer view an open role as a static position, but rather as a bundle of skills, think more flexibly – and recruit better.
In practice, several tool categories have established themselves:
- Competence mapping systems that structure skills and match them with job profiles
- Matching algorithms that automatically check candidates for skills
- Workforce planning tools that reveal skill gaps in real time and simulate strategic scenarios
Haufe (2023) mentions solutions such as Dynaplan, SmartPlan and Visier, which enable forward-looking personnel planning based on skills. The big advantage is that these systems can be integrated with existing ATS and HCM solutions – provided that companies are willing to take their data quality seriously.
Because the truth is that tools cannot replace strategic thinking. They only reveal what would otherwise remain hidden. Interpretation, decision-making and prioritisation remain the responsibility of HR – but on a completely different data basis than in the past.
Skill lists ≠ skill intelligence
A common misconception: Competence analysis means recording as many skills as possible in a database. But it's not about quantity, it's about context. Tools that only count what's in CVs add little value. Skill intelligence systems, on the other hand, recognise connections: Which skills are interchangeable? Where is there potential for development? Which skills complement each other in a team context?
Smart matching: How technology strategically accelerates recruiting
Following on from the previous chapter, keyword scanning of CVs has had its day. Today, finding top talent requires more precise methods – and, above all, more intelligent matching methods. In a labour market that is transforming faster than traditional job profiles can keep up with, one thing matters above all else: a good fit in terms of skills.
According to McKinsey (2022), the skills-first approach not only improves the quality of applications, but also speeds up the filling of vacancies. Companies such as IBM, Unilever and the US government are demonstrating how significantly more qualified candidates can be reached by dispensing with formal degree requirements – because matching is reduced to real skills.
Technology plays a key role in this. Matching algorithms not only analyse whether certain skills are available, but also how they fit in with the company's strategy, team structure or learning ability. The best tools make suggestions that go beyond obvious matches – they identify transfer potential and promote internal mobility.
Greenhouse (2025) also emphasises that companies that combine skill matching with a clear vision not only establish more efficient hiring processes, they also retain talent in the long term. After all, more precise hiring reduces turnover, minimises miscasting and boosts performance right from the start.
Internal talent also comes into sharper focus. Modern matching systems can be used to make development paths visible for existing employees. This ensures that recruiting becomes part of a continuous talent strategy – not just a reactive process in response to new vacancies.
For many HR departments, this means less administration and more strategy.
When the system provides suggestions based on skills rather than titles, recruiting can once again focus on what really matters – personal conversations about potential, not certificates.
Making skills visible: How transparency strengthens internal mobility
Skills only have an impact when they are visible – to HR, to executives and to the employees themselves. Companies that systematically maintain and make accessible skill-based profiles gain a new level of internal mobility.
What is often still dependent on individuals today (‘XY is good at analysis’) is systematised by digital skill platforms and made available to everyone. Employees recognise their own development paths, executives see potential for internal appointments, and HR can target training needs.
This transforms not only personnel development, but also the organisation's self-image: away from rigid career ladders and towards fluid competence networks in which development, role changes and project work can be dynamically mapped.
Cultural change and change: thinking skills-based as an organisational principle
Anyone who is serious about skills-based recruiting must change more than just the application form.
And skill-based recruiting does not end with onboarding. After all, skills are not only a selection criterion – they are an organisational principle. Those who deploy people according to their abilities must also create structures that enable development. When skills are placed at the centre, the understanding of leadership also changes – away from evaluating ‘past performance’ and towards developing future abilities. It affects processes, mindsets – and above all, culture.
This puts traditional leadership models to the test. After all, if you promote people based on their skills, you also have to deploy them where their skills really make an impact – regardless of hierarchy, department or career path.
Deloitte (2022) describes the ‘skills-based organisation’ as a new operating system for companies. Instead of career levels, silos and rigid role models, what counts are learning ability, project orientation and potential. HR becomes a strategic interface: it identifies, promotes and places talent where they can make the greatest contribution.
But this can only succeed if companies are prepared to take responsibility. Away from pure recruiting – towards coordinated interaction between personnel development, workforce planning and executives. After all, skill-based systems thrive on the cooperation of specialist departments, the maintenance of data and decisions based on competence profiles.
In practice, this means actively shaping internal mobility, enabling skill-based career paths and developing a more precise understanding of who can really do what – regardless of job title or department. This transforms not only recruiting, but the entire talent management process.
What does this require? Trust in data. Clearly defined responsibilities. And leadership that not only hires people, but also deploys them strategically. Leadership in a skill-based organisation means making responsibility visible, promoting potential and consistently supporting development.
Because tools alone do not change anything – they only show what is possible. Ultimately, skill-based recruiting is also a question of leadership.
Conclusion: Skill-based recruiting requires attitude, technology – and consistency
Competency-based recruiting is not just one method among many. It is a change of direction. One that affects not only processes, but also the self-image of HR, leadership and the organisation as a whole.
Those who focus on skills rather than qualifications open up access to previously overlooked talent. Use technology to make these skills visible and usable, thereby gaining speed, precision and future viability.
And those who are prepared to draw conclusions for their own structure and culture will recruit – and lead – more successfully in the long term.
But this cannot be achieved as an afterthought. It requires a commitment to clarity: about actual skills requirements, about existing potential – and about what an organisation is prepared to transform.
Sources
- Accenture (2023): Re-focus your talent lens: Abundance awaits
- Deloitte (2022): The Skills-Based Organization
- Greenhouse (2025): Workforce planning during uncertain times – and how HR tech can help
- Haufe (2023): Software und Tools zur strategischen Personalplanung
- McKinsey (2022): Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce
