PLACING A GREATER EMPHASIS ON SKILLS IN HIRING AND ADVANCEMENT, IMPROVING EQUITY AND DIVERSITY IN EMPLOYMENT

Nearly 80 Business Roundtable member companies are participating in the Multiple Pathways Initiative, a multi-year targeted effort to reform companies’ hiring and talent management practices to emphasize the value of skills, rather than just degrees, and to improve equity, diversity and workplace culture. The corporate initiative supports efforts to address inequity in employment practices, including how people are hired and how they advance; and it will work toward eliminating unintentional bias that may prove to be a barrier to hiring and advancement.

Companies participating in this effort are implementing new recruitment and assessment strategies to better recognize and evaluate skills of all job seekers. They are also identifying upward career paths that employees can navigate by acquiring new and/or different skills along their career journey. And companies are developing and updating training programs to help employees gain the skills they need to advance.

COMPANY ACTIONS

Regarding the recruitment, hiring and promotion processes, some of the actions companies can take to address unintentional bias include:

  • Rewriting job descriptions to focus on the skills needed to succeed in the job.
  • Reviewing existing assessment tools and adopting new standard interview processes to screen candidates to determine the level of skills required to perform the job.
  • Developing and publishing transparent job advancement pathways for their current workforce that can be navigated by meeting specific training milestones and skill acquisitions.
  • Creating and using training modules that teach employees new skills needed to meet job advancement milestones. Training can be delivered through on-the-job experience (e.g., mentorships and apprenticeships), online learning platforms and/or partnerships with external education and training providers.
  • Recognizing and rewarding employees who complete credentials or certifications valued by the company.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The following principles guide the initiative, and companies recognize: 

  • Skills are as important as degrees or similar previously fixed requirements in hiring and promotion decisions.
  • Hiring practices should create opportunities for individuals from a wide array of backgrounds.
  • Employers should send clear demand signals regarding the skills needed in their workforce.
  • Upskilling and continuous learning are vital to helping employees obtain the experiences, skills, or certifications needed for professional growth.
  • Partnerships with relevant stakeholders are critical to building a skills-first approach that works for all.

WORKING GROUPS

Leaders including chief human resource officers of some of America’s largest employers have been working together with experts to catalogue best practices and develop resources for companies focused on core components of skills-based talent strategies—innovation, talent acquisition, internal mobility and measurement. Explore this work:

U.S. companies have traditionally relied on four-year degree requirements as a critical credential, particularly for white collar jobs, and a proxy for job candidates’ qualifications for roles. This practice has excluded many talented Americans, including employees of color, from hiring and promotion and has made it harder for employers to find a sufficient number of skilled employees.

Increasingly, U.S. companies are shifting their hiring and talent management practices to emphasize the value of skills, rather than degrees alone. Taking a more inclusive approach around educational credentials as a job criterion, where possible, can help companies meet their hiring needs and unlock new employment and advancement opportunities for workers from diverse backgrounds.

Company Success Stories

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PARTICIPATING COMPANIES

Nearly 80 companies are involved in this initiative, including:

Abbott

Accenture

ADP

The AES Corporation

Aflac Incorporated

Alliant Energy Corporation

Altec, Inc.

American Express Company

American Tower Corporation

Aon

Assurant, Inc.

AT&T Inc.

Bank of America Corporation

Baxter International Inc.

Bechtel Group, Inc.

Best Buy Co. Inc.

BorgWarner

CF Industries

Chevron Corporation

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cummins Inc.

Cushman & Wakefield

CVS Health

Dell Technologies

Deloitte

Delta Air Lines

Duke Energy Corporation

DXC Technology

Eastman

Edison International

EY

FedEx Corporation

Flex

Fiserv

Gap Inc.

General Dynamics Corporation

General Motors Company

Hearst

Humana

IBM Corporation

Interpublic Group

JPMorgan Chase

KeyCorp

Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Mastercard

Mattel

McKinsey & Company

Medtronic, Inc.

MetLife, Inc.

Moody’s

Northrop Grumman Corporation

PepsiCo

Pfizer Inc.

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Principal

Progressive Insurance

PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

SAP

SAS

Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.

State Farm

Steelcase Inc.

Synchrony

Target Corporation

Tractor Supply Co.

United Airlines

Verisk Analytics

Verizon Communications

Visa, Inc.

Vistra Corp.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

Walmart

Wells Fargo & Company

Western Union

Workday

World Wide Technology, Inc.

Xylem Inc.

Zebra Technologies

Zoetis 

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