🌟 Skills Based Organisation: Cultivating a Skills-First Culture 🌟

Skills Based Organisation: Cultivating a Skills-First Culture 

Imagine this scenario: You have spent months interviewing candidates for a critical data science role, finally found the perfect fit, and just as they are about to join, you are told that they will be shared with another department once a week through the company’s new talent marketplace. Frustrating, right? You need this person full-time. This is just one of the many challenges managers face when transitioning to a Skills Based Organisation (SBO). 

So, why does this matter? Its simple: while having the right tools and processes in place is critical, building a sustainable SBO is far more complex. The real transformation has to happen within the culture of the organisation. This is where theory meets practice—and where the biggest hurdles may arise. 

What Are Organisations Really Facing? 

Lets break down some common challenges we see with clients.  

Line managers are often the gatekeepers of skills. They may be hesitant to share their top talent with other teams, especially after months of training and onboarding. It’s a natural instinct to protect the team’s interests, but it directly conflicts with the agility and collaboration needed for an SBO.  

And it’s not just about managers, there is the technology piece too. Many organisations invest heavily in tools like internal talent marketplaces, project management platforms, or skill development systems. But here is the catch: tools are only as good as the people using them. How often have you seen an employee’s skills profile in a system that hasn’t been updated for a year? Or a talented team member who doesn’t show their availability for key projects? Even with the best technology, adoption often lags if the culture doesn’t support it. 

Employees may not update their skills regularly, either because they don’t see the immediate benefit, or they don’t have the time. Managers might not know how to use the data from these systems to allocate resources dynamically. Without real engagement, the tools become just another platform collecting dust. 

This is where culture and technology must align. Employees need to see how updating their skills and availability leads to real career development and growth. Managers should feel empowered to use these platforms to find the best talent, not just within their own team but across the organisation. 

Why Cultural Foundations Matter 

So, why do so many companies hit a wall when trying to implement an SBO? The problem often stems from a common misconception: assuming that culture will naturally adapt over time. But the reality is, even with the best strategies and cutting-edge tools, without a deliberate cultural shift, transitioning to a skills-first model simply won’t take hold. 

Transitioning to SBO is about creating a culture where everyone is empowered to evolve and contribute dynamically. It shifts how work is done, how employees engage with learning, and how they are deployed across the business, moving away from rigid role-based structures and embracing agile, cross-functional teams built around skills.  

What Kind of Culture Do You Need for SBO? 

In our first blog, we discussed our own journey towards becoming a skill-based organisation. In this blog, we hear from Natalie Hughes-Jacquemin, the Group Chief Talent and Learning Officer at Capgemini, who shares her insights on the pivotal role culture plays within SBO. 

“Culture change cannot be achieved if skills development is viewed as an isolated process. To create an agile, future-ready workforce, skills development must be central to the employee experience during an employee’s life cycle. At Capgemini, interview conversations focus on skills, regular check-ins calibrate on the next skills to grow in, with career paths and promotions linked to them. This needs to start at the top, emphasising governance around skills and ensuring access to quality learning resources” 

Core elements of a Skills Based Culture: Agility, Trust and Continuous Learning  

This cultural transformation is illustrated in the image below, which demonstrates how agility, trust, and continuous learning are intertwined to build a skill-centric culture. 

Agile and Adaptable 

Picture a situation where your best employee is needed on a high-priority project elsewhere in the organisation. Is your culture agile enough to encourage that shift? Agility must become a core strength, not a disruption. To make this work: 

• Embed digital tools seamlessly: Ensure your digital platforms allow employees to see where their skills are needed most, empowering quick decision-making. 

• Recognise agile behaviour: Acknowledge employees who demonstrate adaptability by shifting between roles as needed. Include this in performance reviews to reinforce its importance. 

Trust and Collaboration 

SBOs rely on cross functional collaboration. Cross-functional collaboration doesn’t work without trust. Teams must be built based on skills, not hierarchy. To build this level of trust: 

• Create transparency: Encourage employees to openly share their career goals and the skills they want to develop. Regular feedback loops between employees and managers ensure alignment with business needs. 

• Promote psychological safety: Employees should feel comfortable taking on new roles or learning new skills without fear of failure. 

Continuous Learning 

In a skills-first organisation, learning can’t be an afterthought. It must be woven into the fabric of daily work: 

• Provide learning opportunities within workflows: Create space for learning in everyday tasks, whether through peer learning, on-the-job experiences, or formal training. 

• Personalise learning paths: Use AI-driven platforms to suggest courses or experiences relevant to an employee’s current and future roles. 

Capgemini’s Cultural Shift Framework: Making SBO a Reality 

Adopting a skills-first culture takes time and planning. It’s about making small, meaningful shifts throughout the organisation. Our framework connects vision, cultural foundations, drivers, and influencers to build a lasting skills-based environment. 

1. Vision: Defining The Future with Skills 

“Vision” is a buzzword, but what does it mean in SBO? It’s not just about explaining why skills matter; it’s about showing their impact on daily work. Leaders must clearly define the end goal and actively develop their own skills. To do this:  

• Define the desired culture: Design the culture needed to support your goals. Ask key questions like: What kind of behaviours would we see in practice for agility and collaboration? What does skill development look like in daily practice? 
• Communicate the vision clearly: SBO can be complex, so keep everyone aligned with town halls, video updates, and workshops. Share success stories from employees thriving in this model to make the vision real and relatable! 

2. Cultural Foundations: Building The Bedrock for Successful Cultural Change 

Cultural foundations shape everything—from visible behaviours to hidden drivers of engagement and motivation. But do we really consider what’s behind it all? To make a real impact, organisations must: 

• Define your skills strategy: Don’t dive in without a plan. Align skills development with your long-term goals, and make sure everyone knows how it benefits them. This clarity should be communicated across all levels so that employees understand the personal and professional benefits of engaging in the skills-first transition. 

• Encourage desired behaviours: Want an agile, upskilling machine of an organisation? Build behaviours like continuous learning and sharing. Host peer sessions, lunch and learns, or start an internal blog to build a culture where agility supports meaningful learning and growth. Make knowledge-sharing a habit!  

• Reinforce core values and behaviours: Recognise and reward behaviours that support a skills-first culture. Set aside time for upskilling and tie it to performance reviews. Just look at Google’s '20% time' policy (Forbes,2023), —by giving employees space for personal projects, they’ve created a vibrant, skills-focused culture.  

• Promote continuous feedback: SBO is a long journey that evolves, so why not set up feedback loops for employees and leaders to gauge the skills-based model's effectiveness? When employees see real results and opportunities for improvement, don’t you think they’ll be more likely to engage? 

3. Cultural Drivers: Shaping The Desired Skills Centric Culture 

Tools alone won’t drive change. To create a lasting skills-first culture, ask yourself: What else is needed? 

• Align digital tools with culture: Ensure employees see new technology as part of daily work, not extra effort. Integrate skill-tracking and talent mobility platforms into regular workflows, aligning them with talent management so employees can clearly see how their skills drive career growth. 

• Empower employees to use data: Make data on skills progress transparent and accessible. Empower employees to track their own progress and take ownership of their development using visual tools that show how they’ve grown and where they need to focus next. 

4. Cultural Influencers: Champions of Promoting Desired SBO Culture 

Leadership alone can’t drive this transformation. Middle managers, HR, and employees must all act as champions of change: 

• Prepare middle managers as change enablers: Equip them with hands-on training in skills-based tools and how to weave them into daily operations. Involve them early in the SBO journey so they can understand and trust the shift, allowing them to lead by example with confidence. 

• Engage HR as cultural architects: Ensure HR is supporting the skills centric culture via the practices and processes they hold such as performance management, career development and onboarding.  
• Empower employees to be skill influencers: Identify employees who can model the desired behaviours and promote a skills-first mindset across the organisation. These influencers help drive the cultural shift from the ground up. 

Conclusion 

Transitioning to a skills-based organisation (SBO) isn’t just about restructuring—it’s about cultivating a culture where skills thrive and individuals flourish. But as you reach the end of our blog, you’re probably wondering: how do you make this shift tangible? Start by measuring progress through employee engagement, feedback, and skills assessments. Are your initiatives like peer learning and internal mobility driving real impact? 

A skills-centric culture demands continuous learning and commitment at all levels. By embedding and measuring this approach, companies don’t just adapt to change, they lead it, fostering greater agility, innovation, and employee satisfaction 

Be sure to follow our SBO blog series, as our next post will explore how technology, including Gen AI, accelerates the transition to SBO! 🚀