Leveraging Skills for Success with Lightcast

With a large number of available positions and an oversaturated job market, finding the best fit for open roles can be challenging, especially if you don’t have insight into your organization’s skills.

That’s why companies are paying closer attention to job seekers’ skills, and making that the center of their talent acquisition and retention strategies to pave the way for strategic hiring decisions that best support the company and the candidate.

Elizabeth Crofoot, Senior Economist and Principal Researcher, and Jason Bartusch, Vice President of Strategy and Growth at Lightcast, discuss the transition to skills-based hiring and Lightcast’s role in it. They draw from that insight to offer tips on transitioning to a skills-based organization and of AI’s place in that process.

Watch the full conversation on demand below, or read on to get the key takeaways.

How did you both get into Human Resources?

Few kids dream of working in HR when they grow up, but many find their way into the field and develop a passion for it. Both Crofoot and Bartusch have unique journeys into HR.

Crofoot is a labor economist by training and transitioned to HR where she found her passion for educating HR leaders about the labor market.

“I started my career at the Bureau of Labor Statistics producing our national compensation data and transitioned to the Conference Board where I worked with HR leaders on talent shortages," remembers Crofoot.

Bartusch wanted to be a college administrator at first and got his start in higher education working at the University of Washington and Columbia University. He moved to staffing and recruiting after an interview with Robert Half, with whom he spent a couple of years. He even started his own staffing firm, which was not successful but gave him a valuable learning experience.

Bartusch's first HR tech job was as a small payroll reseller. In that role, he gained experience in selling payroll and time attendance software solutions. That led to further opportunities in HR tech until he found his current position at Lightcast.

How did you end up at Lightcast and what drew you to the company?

Lightcast was originally two companies, Burning Glass Technologies and EMSI, that merged into Lightcast in 2021.

Crofoot had experience analyzing data from both Burning Glass Technologies and EMSI at The Conference Board research group. She saw the merger as a unique opportunity that aligned with her skills and passions for labor market analytics and knew she wanted to be a part of it.

Bartusch was familiar with EMSI from his time working at CareerBuilder. He too became enthusiastic about the Lightcast merger, particularly their contributions to the HR tech space, and joined them to be a part of their partner program.

What is Lightcast's methodology and thought process around skills?

Lightcast collects and analyzes global data on people and jobs, using skills as the primary lens to understand the labor market. This helps employers make informed decisions about their talent acquisition strategies.

“At Lightcast, we aggregate people and job data from all around the globe,” says Bartusch. “Our employers use that data to help them make informed talent acquisition and talent management decisions through the lens of skills.”

Lightcast created and open-sourced their first skill taxonomy in 2019. This taxonomy emphasized defining jobs at their most granular level to understand the relationships between roles and individuals. Skills help employers see how those roles and individuals align so they can create better paths for growth and career development.

Why is the industry focusing on skills now?

Crofoot believes that a contracting labor market and demographic shifts are causing the change. Employers need practical ways to deal with a more limited labor supply. Skills-based hiring gives a clear and actionable path to address these talent shortages.

“Retiring baby boomers and fewer high school graduates mean our labor supply is becoming more limited, making skills more critical than ever,” observes Crofoot.

Bartusch builds on this observation and notes that the shift to skills-based hiring has been accelerated by the multiple crises employers have faced over the last 15 years, including the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. A focus on skills gives employers a fast and flexible way to fill that talent gap and prepare for future changes.

What tips do you have for organizations transitioning to a skills-based approach?

Crofoot’s answer? Start small, then scale.

Choose a handful of key roles to focus on skills-based hiring, then expand after those prove successful. Make sure your skills-based hiring aligns with your broader business strategies. Strong oversight and change management practices are needed to get organizational buy-in and ensure a smooth transition.

Bartusch draws from his background in HR tech and emphasizes how technology can help manage and grow skills-based hiring initiatives. He advises that technology can automate many routine and repetitive tasks like updating job descriptions. That allows HR teams to focus on more important strategic initiatives.

How is AI impacting skills and talent management?

AI is the HR buzzword of the day, but the technology and its use carry real promise for talent management. AI makes it easier for employers to focus on skills during the hiring process. Crofoot sees the opportunity to use AI to analyze unstructured data and make it more accessible and useable. This can be especially useful in creating personalized learning and development (L&D) programs tailored to employees’ specific needs.

Bartusch observes how AI can optimize productivity by automating routine tasks. AI can also support decision-making processes and generate content, which frees up time and bandwidth for HR teams to focus on strategy. Using AI intelligently not only makes HR teams more efficient, but it helps them make more effective, informed decisions.

"AI can assist in intelligent redeployment,” says Bartusch. “It's about using artificial intelligence to modify individuals' daily work habits so they can focus more of their time on where it matters and less on things that AI can handle."

How does the size of an organization affect its approach to skills?

Larger organizations can afford to invest in specialists who are really good at doing specific things. Smaller organizations require jack-of-all-trades employees who can wear many different hats and do them well. Yet, they both benefit from skills-based hiring differently.

Crofoot explains that larger organizations can focus on granular and foundational skills, and have the resources to make internal career pathways for them. That allows them to build a wide pool of skills across different roles and departments, which support the goals of both the employee and the organization.

Bartusch highlights the different needs smaller organizations have. Smaller companies can benefit from a skills-based approach by focusing on niche skills, particularly where they overlap with emerging technologies.

Key takeaways

Here are Crofoot and Bartusch's takeaways about the benefits of skills-based hiring and how organizations can implement it successfully:

Importance of skills: A focus on skills-based hiring helps employers make better decisions when hiring and stay competitive
Transition to skills-based hiring: Start small, then scale, and align your skills-based hiring initiatives with broader business strategies
AI in skills management: Identify routine tasks you can automate, and create personalized learning and development programs

Curious about how your organization can benefit from skills-based hiring to navigate future disruption? Explore our Skills Snapshot offer to get a glimpse into your skills data as well as actionable insights to help you take the next step.

Kasey Lynch

Kasey is a content marketing writer, focused on highlighting the importance of positive experiences. She's passionate about SEO strategy, collaboration, and data analytics. In her free time, she enjoys camping, cooking, exercising, and spending time with her loved ones — including her dog, Rocky.