The “skills-based” concept is now spreading across people processes. The reality is that skills are the tip of the iceberg.
With a greater focus on skills and practical experience rather than generic credentials and job titles, candidates need to be able to explain how they “activate” their competencies to obtain results, meaning what distinguishes competence from performance and outcomes. This is not new, but it has become more prominent with skills-based hiring methods which leverage tools such as situational tests to assess candidates’ decision-making, problem-solving and collaboration skills in a hypothetical scenario. However, these tests are usually presented to short-listed candidates. In the initial interview, recruiters would ask questions such as “Can you describe a situation when you had to deal with …” or "Can you detail the steps you took to address the challenge of ...". Hence, the more proactive and effective applicants are in the first interview to clarify their activation strategies, the more likely they are to stay in the game.
Skills’ activation involves the use of competencies coupled with personal strategies and behaviors in a practical setting. It is about how a person goes about achieving a result. In the same scenario, the path to the outcome is realized individually, based on personal approaches to work and relationships, values and interests, mental models and beliefs, not only hard knowledge and know-how. Everyone applies reasoning, communication and problem-solving at their level, but also through their own lens and in their own way.
This is what lays beneath the surface, and which takes intent and introspection to uncover, because the elements listed above are intertwined. If you are not ready yet to venture into that deeper level of self-knowledge, but still want to leverage all what the skills economy has to offer, you can discover your own recipe for achieving results with a few practical tools. These will make it much easier for you to present yourself and build an interesting narrative that can serve multiple purposes.
1) Build your own competency framework
Lists of competencies alone won’t help you put your best foot forward. If you want to understand how you use competencies in concert and your activation strategies to achieving results, you are better off applying a structured approach.
You do not need to start from scratch. You can use existing frameworks or templates and tailor them to what is relevant for you. What is important is to get started and not limit yourself to what you currently know or that is in the direct scope of your occupation.
What are the benefits?
First, you will gain understanding. You will notice that, while there is common ground in terms of skills definitions, there is no standard taxonomy. Each type of skill has a function though. Typically, occupational skills are enabled by transversal skills and enhanced by innate abilities. Are you a good communicator? Great! How? In person? In writing? As a Trainer? As a speaker? On Social Media? How does this ability support you in your job? Where do you apply it to achieve particular results? If you want to understand your competencies and how you use them in combination to produce certain outcomes, a structured approach greatly helps.
Second, you will gain clarity. Equipped with more knowledge, you will be able to differentiate complex competencies from activities and use both purposefully as you explain your activation strategies. In fact, it has become commonplace to find roles, activities or entire processes listed as skills in jobs descriptions and recruitment platforms. ‘User adoption’ for example, is not a skill, nor a process. It is the outcome of different processes which involve a whole range of skills such as communication, training, change and project management. When you make distinctions, you can better define and assess your set of skills.
Third, you will gain mastery. Nothing matches the production of our own creation when it comes to mastering a topic. You will gain flexibility and latitude of action as a result, setting yourself up for success in the skills economy.
2) Examine real cases
Putting in writing your achievements is a good entry point, it is helpful to explain projects or activities where you have obtained good results. To uncover your activation strategies though, you should take a step further, by analyzing the context, the challenges and opportunities, because this is what tells how you reflected, made decisions and took action in the situation.
3) Uncover your “secret sauce”
Once you have clarified your activation strategies in different contexts, you can zoom out to recognize the common thread in your ways of thinking and modes of action. Chances are you will discover some innate abilities in the process. That’s your secret sauce, and with the help of your competency framework, you will be able to translate it into competencies and modes of action, to put together your narrative.
In a nutshell
The “Skills-based” concept has a dual component to it: on the one hand, it is a micro approach aiming at pinpointing requirements and sourcing the precise set of skills needed to fulfill them. On the other hand, it calls for a macro perspective, as competencies never stand alone, they must be “activated” in concert with other skills, knowledge and know-how. It requires a conscious intent to uncover and articulate our “activation” strategies.
If you need support in this endeavor, our competency framework was designed to be practical and memorable, precisely to facilitate its strategic use.