According to recent surveys, some Minnesota employers still face challenges finding workers with the necessary skills to fill open positions, despite the loosening labor market.

At the same time, many Minnesotans struggle to find family-sustaining employment, often because they lack the credentials to get hired into in-demand, career-path roles.

That’s where the Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator initiative comes in. The initiative is sponsored by the workforce development boards of Anoka County, Dakota and Scott Counties, Hennepin and Carver Counties, Ramsey County, Washington County and the City of Minneapolis, which are all Leading CareerForce Partners, in partnership with Goodwill-Easter Seals, the Twin Cities chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Minneapolis Regional Chamber and the St. Paul Area Chamber.

Shifting thinking

The Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator helps employers shift from credential-based to skills-based thinking when recruiting and hiring talent.

The initiative provides hands-on workshops for employers, workforce professionals and educators, who in turn help job seekers understand how to show they have the skills needed for positions.

In this way, the Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator addresses both sides of the workforce system: helping employers redesign hiring practices and helping jobseekers to identify and communicate the skills they have to employers, providing them with greater access to employment opportunities. 

The initiative is based on a nationally recognized model that strengthens workforce diversity, competitiveness and talent alignment. Skills-based hiring reduces unnecessary degree requirements and widens employer talent pools. The initiative provides employers with tools they can implement immediately – from more inclusive job descriptions to intentional onboarding – so they more easily find the workers they need. At the same time, Minnesota career counselors are learning how to help customers identify their skills and describe them to employers in a way that shows how the skills they have match employer needs.

One of the first steps employers can take is reviewing their job descriptions and making them more inclusive. This includes eliminating unnecessary education requirements, as well as reviewing language to make sure it is inclusive. For example, a recent review by ALS Consulting of national research into inclusive job descriptions found that there was a 42% increase in applications from women when masculine-coded language was removed from technical role postings.

Partnerships are key

Strong cross-sector partnerships are key in making the initiative work. Workforce development board staff work with employers in their area to raise awareness about skills-based hiring. Allen Mavis, Skills-Based Hiring and Employee Development Practices Facilitator with Goodwill-Easter Seals, leads the sessions for employers and workforce development board staff and other career counselors. Chambers share information with their members about the benefits of skills-based hiring and upcoming training opportunities.

Last year, nearly 900 employers and career counselors throughout the Twin Cities metro area engaged in the Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator through workshops and outreach presentations. Below is feedback from two Twin Cities area Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator workshop attendees:

“Before we got into this skills-based hiring class, everything we did was siloed,” explained John Johnston, VP of Manufacturing at Brooklyn Tool in Minneapolis, who attended the training. “It has allowed us to take the siloed approach away and really look at our labor force as a whole. What’s really best for the company is to have a diverse cross-trained employee base but that’s also best for the employee.”

“I think anyone, any employer, even if they’re further along on their skills-based hiring journey would be able to walk away with so much,” said Melanie Lugo, HR Generalist with Newtrax transportation out of White Bear Lake, about the value she experienced with the training. “They have tools, they have resources, they connected us with local organizations that can also help us build partnerships to be able to find people to fill positions in the future.”

A case for success

A case study by the Markle Foundation of the Skills-Based Hiring Accelerator outlined the program’s successes in its first two years as part of the Rework America Alliance, concluding that the program:

• Improved support to job seekers by equipping career navigators with a skills-based career-coaching model.
• Removed barriers to employment faced by job seekers by helping employers adopt skills-based hiring and talent management practices.
• Built a broad coalition of workforce practitioners and policymakers to further influence the system from multiple points – including the recent change to eliminate the 4–year degree requirement for most Minnesota government positions.

Looking forward

There are discussions underway to scale up the Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator initiative statewide and offer industry-specific seminars funded by a Drive for 5 grant to the St Paul Area and Minneapolis Regional Chambers, as well as discussions about deeper integration with education and credentialing systems. Additional research on outcomes and increased outreach to employers, career counselors and workers is also planned.

• Find out more about the Minnesota Skills-Based Talent Accelerator initiative
• Contact staff at a CareerForce location near you for help finding the workers you need