The phrase “skills are the new currency of work” has become embedded in most HR strategies in recent years. However, the success of a skills-based strategy—particularly for leveling the playing field for marginalized communities—is contingent upon how an organization leverages its people data.

That was the consensus of a panel discussion at the Women in HR Technology Summit at the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas.

“Data doesn’t have all the answers, but it can help us ask better questions,” said panelist Katie Coupe, interim chief people officer at talent acquisition and management platform SeekOut.

Leveraging, leading with data for skills-based decision-making

To effectively build out skills-based decision-making processes, Coupe says, organizations must first do a deep dive into their workforce data across the employee lifecycle to spot potential biases. This can include dropout rates, candidate pools, leadership benches, training opportunities, and retention rates, for instance. Then, compare this to the skills roadmap an organization needs for future business success.

While this data-driven approach is often “unfun,” uncomfortable—as it can highlight that those perceived as top talent may not actually possess the skills the organization needs to prioritize—and can be unappealing to busy people teams, it’s an effort that increasingly needs to fall on HR, said panelist Sarah Morgan, vice president of people operations at digital marketing Level Agency.

“If it’s not HR, I don’t know who’s going to do it,” Morgan said. “HR has to take a huge role.”

However, Coupe noted, HR needs to secure buy-in for data-based skills-based decision-making from across the business.

“It won’t be successful if it’s just HR owning it, driving it and telling leaders what to do [to become more skills-focused],” she said. “It’s not uncommon for HR to be the drivers but when you have partners, it’s a lot more successful—and more fun.”

Removing the ‘value judgment’ from people decisions

Placing skills at the center of decision-making can be an equalizer for traditionally marginalized communities—like women, people of color and those in the LGBTQ communities, Morgan said.

Such communities traditionally will “keep our heads down, do our work and hope someone will notice us and tap us on our quiet little shoulder and tell us to come make more money and have more responsibilities,” she said.

“That’s not happening,” Morgan added. “It’s happening to the person who is hanging out with the boss, who is going to the happy hours that [traditionally marginalized workers] may not be comfortable with going to or can’t because of life circumstances.”

Basing decisions—from the very start of the hiring process through promotions to development and advancement opportunities—on skills instead of individual value judgments, Morgan said, “reduces that bias from brown-nosing,” creating better and more equitable opportunities for workers with the right set of skills.

As organizations seek to leverage that potential, it’s important to share the processes—and the data underlying them—with the workforce. For instance, Coupe said, creating more transparency around pay scales and processes “takes the mystery out of total rewards” and helps leaders bring “people on the journey” toward skills-based decision-making with them.

When employees don’t have access to the information about why hiring, pay or promotions decisions are made, for instance, they will create a story—which typically involves a villain and a victim, Morgan said. Traditionally marginalized communities will be inclined to place themselves into the latter category, which will drag down employee morale, drive up turnover and inhibit diversity and inclusion from flourishing.

“When workplaces are more willing to share the data they have, even when the data is bad—especially when the data is bad—it gives us a greater sense of comfort and psychological safety,” Morgan said.

Leveraging data-driven, skills-based decision-making, she said, helps employees “clearly identify the technical skills, the brain power, the emotional intelligence needed to advance,” and creates a “check-the-box” narrative.

It can be a boon for HR looking to streamline processes and align people with business strategy.

“It takes the value judgment out of it,” added presenter Dani Johnson, co-founder and principal analyst at RedThread Research.

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