Skills and competences will trump degrees in the US: Recipe for effective Policy Dialogue

I have always had a fascination for the US but for some time now fascination has turned into disillusion. Last week however a heading in the news caught my eye: Trump stresses skills over college degrees. What is happening? I spent some hours at the internet to find out and the result might interest you as Open Space members.

On June 26th President Trump signed an executive order (EO) that will change recruitment practices of the federal government. College degrees will no longer be the norm for selection of job applicants. Instead the candidates skills and competences will be the basis for selection. A college degree may be prescribed only if the law says that it is necessary for a particular job.

The federal government is the largest employer in the US with 2,1 million civilian workers. Two-thirds of Americans do not have a college degree. So this new policy can have a big impact.

The EO is a result of the work of the National Council for the American worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. Trump established them two years ago to prepare Americans for the 21st century economy and the emerging industries of the future. This is policy dialogue at the highest level. At the table are CEO’s of big companies and presidents of universities and Community Colleges. Industry associations and trade unions participate as well as some governors and mayors. The president’s advisor and daughter Ivanka Trump chairs the Board, together with the Secretary of Commerce. The work of Council and Board is executed by working groups around specific tasks.

One of the tasks is modernizing recruitment and training practices. One of their reports highlights how employers in the private sector start to adopt new recruitment practices in response to a growing skills gap. The many case studies in the report can serve as a resource for the private sector to learn from as they prepare Americans for the future of work; but not only for the private sector. Recruitment practices in the public sector lag behind those of private companies. The Executive Order of 26 June aims to modernize the recruitment practices of the federal government. As the largest employer, the federal government can benefit from the experience in private companies such as IBM. IBM's executive chairman Ginni Rometty, explains: Last year, 15% of our new U.S. recruits had non-traditional educational backgrounds. We evaluated them based on skills instead of looking only at their degrees. We hired from new areas of the country, including under-served communities. This promoted more diversity in the applications we received. Creating a more inclusive and talented workforce is also one of the aims of the Executive Order.

The EO describes two actions to make recruitment based on skills and competences possible:

Firstly, a revision of all job classification and qualification standards for positions in the public service, so that job descriptions and vacancies describe the required skills and competences for a job. Secondly, the improvement of the use of assessments in federal recruitment processes including the development of new assessment methods. Assessment refers here to collecting information on a candidate to determine whether he or she has relevant skills and competences for a job. The methods of collecting information must be valid and reliable. Decisions can be about recruiting, promotion, placement, referral or entry into training programs.

The EO includes a time scheme: The revised classification and standards as well as the new assessment practices will go into effect within 180 days.

Modernizing recruitment and training practices is not an isolated task. All working groups of the Council and Board contribute to achieving one goal: preparing Americans for the 21st century economy. Each of the tasks would deserve a blog on its own. I will list them here in short as an appetizer:

·        Develop a campaign to promote multiple pathways to career success

·        Increase data transparency to better match workers with jobs

·        Measure and encourage employer-led training investments

Anyone interested can follow the work of Council and Board. Agenda’s, discussion materials, minutes and audio or video recordings of meetings are online. 

A video recording of the meeting on  June 26th gives a flavour of the dynamics in the meeting and the main themes addressed. You will observe Trump signing the Executive Order at the end of this meeting.

In contrast to all disturbing news coming from the US this example might inspire us in Europe, known for our long and slow policy dialogues. Here is a recipe for an effective policy dialogue. Ingredients:

·        A recognized urgent issue in society

·        A group of high level individuals with ideas and track records to solve the issue

·        A legal mandate from the highest political level with concrete outcomes

·        A budget to pilot ideas