Employer Accelerator: Skills-Based Hiring for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

Small businesses are competing for talent in a labor market where traditional hiring methods are no longer working. 86% of U.S. small business owners report having few or no qualified applicants for their open positions, highlighting how difficult it is to find the right talent. Many employers rely on job titles, degrees or prior industry experience as proxies for skill, which narrows the talent pool and can contribute to longer vacancies, mismatched hires and higher turnover. At the same time, business owners and HR professionals are under pressure to hire quickly but lack practical tools to assess what candidates can do.

This Accelerator helps small businesses shift from credential-based to skills-based hiring. During two, 90-minute sessions, participants will learn how to identify the real skills positions require and redesign their hiring and onboarding processes to find, select and develop talent more effectively. The focus is on practical, usable tools that can be applied immediately to open positions.

The Accelerator covers: 

• Identifying and defining the skills needed for specific roles
• Writing job descriptions that reflect real competencies
• Designing a skills-based interview process
• Selecting candidates based on demonstrated ability
• Onboarding and developing new hires using skills-based practices

Price: $99 for both 90-minute sessions.

This program is open to organizations with 500 or fewer full-time employees. We encourage HR staff, hiring managers and/or senior executives to participate.

Employer Accelerator Dates and Times: (Please select one of the offerings below; content is repeated each training.)

Participants are expected to attend all sessions or review session recordings. All participants will be able to access on-demand learning to reinforce concepts and share takeaways with colleagues. Email foundation@acce.org with questions.