“The future organisation will be a skills-focused organisation”

By Krishan Deeljore

Organisation Development Consultant and Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Skills are no longer just a concept. They are nowadays a currency and sometimes even a rare commodity. Organizations that invest in defining, tracking, and applying skills strategically will be best positioned to adapt, compete, and thrive in the future of work.

The 2025 WTW Global Skills Survey, From Concept to Currency, reveals a global shift as organizations begin to embrace skills as strategic assets. With input from over 1,200 companies employing more than 21 million people worldwide, the report paints a clear picture: while many organizations are early in their skills journey, those that master the demand and supply of their employees’ skills and invest effectively in skills strategies are already seeing tangible returns.

Only 12% of companies surveyed globally have a process for capturing, tracking and assessing their employees’ skills across the whole organisation
Only 1 in 3 companies make use of technology to support a skills-based environment

What Defines a Skills-Focused Organization?

According to this global report, a truly skills-focused organisation consistently:
• Prioritizes learning and development to expand employee skills
• Aligns workforce capabilities with strategic goals
• Focuses on upskilling/reskilling rather than external hiring
• Responds flexibly in allocating talent where it’s needed

Interestingly, fewer organizations emphasized focusing on skills over job titles—indicating that traditional job structures still play a significant role in the way most companies manage their workforce.

The demand and supply of skills
Becoming a skills-based organisation involves balancing the demand for and supply of skills within your ecosystem by:

• Identifying the skills required to support strategic goals
  (The demand for skills)

• Upskilling and reskilling existing employees through learning and development opportunities
  (The supply of skills)

• Allocating talent where required for specific projects
  (Skills alignment)

The ROI of Skills Strategy

Companies that use skills effectively across multiple areas – like performance management, talent acquisition, and learning – are outperforming their peers. The report highlights:

• 2.0x increase in employee productivity
• 1.7x improvement in financial performance
• 1.5x better retention of key talent
• 1.4x stronger attraction and retention overall

These results highlight the business value of moving beyond isolated initiatives to integrated, skills-based strategies.

“Only 12% of companies surveyed globally have a process for capturing, tracking and assessing their employees’ skills across the whole organisation”

The Building Blocks: Taxonomies, Tracking, and Tech

Only about a third of organizations have a defined skills taxonomy, and fewer track or assess skills comprehensively. Those that do are significantly more likely to report effective use of skills across business processes.

Technology is also key: while most organizations rely on conventional systems (like learning management platforms), AI adoption remains limited but growing. Notably, tech-enabled organizations are nearly three times more likely to use skills effectively.

4-Step Call to Action

1. Define a skills strategy which is aligned with your business goals:
• Start by conducting an in-depth consultative Training Needs Analysis to gather primary data “bottom-up”

2. Ensure that you have a solid foundation in place in terms of job architecture:
• Key question: do you have the right organisation structure, levels and job hierarchy?
3. Build and define a skills taxonomy by capturing both the demand for and supply of skills in your organisation and leverage the right technology to build a seamless and integrated process.

4. Align your pay programs to address skill-related pay concerns (e.g., skills scarcity) and to support talent acquisition, skills development and retention:

• Positioning jobs at the higher end of salary bands
• Benchmarking roles at higher market percentiles
• Offering retention and hiring bonuses

Source: WTW 2025 Skills Survey

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