Future of Work
Future-Proof Your Company With the Workforce Skills You Need
Practical tips and strategies to identify, develop, and retain the capabilities your business needs to thrive today—and tomorrow.
July 24, 2025
Grow Your Future Workforce with a Skills-Based Approach
Nearly 40% of the skills people rely on at work today will soon be outdated or replaced.
For HR leaders, it’s a wake-up call. Talent strategies need to move faster, or the business may fall behind.
While advances in AI and automation are certainly speeding up the pace of the problem, the skills gap goes beyond just new technology.
For example, in the engineering industry, experienced experts are retiring faster than fresh talent is stepping in. In healthcare and pharma, breakthroughs in treatments, research, and diagnostics are evolving so rapidly that training struggles to keep up.
Staying ahead means building a workforce skills strategy that not only fills immediate gaps but also develops lasting capabilities.
Here’s how to get started.
Spot the Workforce Skills That Will Move Your Business Forward
Closing the skills gap starts with understanding what your business truly needs.
This requires identifying the capabilities that will drive your strategy and recognizing the gaps between today’s talent skills and tomorrow’s demands.
How do you find out what skills you already have and which ones you need next? The best starting point is your business objectives.
Ask yourself these key questions:
- Where are we now as a business?
- Where do we want to be?
- What skills will get us there?
- What skills do we currently have?
- Which ones are we missing?
Once you know the gaps, you can decide whether your current team can grow into those skills or if you need to bring in new people with the right capabilities.
“I advise my clients to develop a clear skills philosophy that includes a committed plan for upskilling and reskilling their people to meet future demands,” says Ashish Sinha, Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry.
“The organizations I work with aren’t just changing how they hire. They’re transforming their entire talent management mindset through a skills-first lens,” he adds.
Hire for Potential, Not Just Past Roles
More organizations are realizing that experience alone doesn’t guarantee the right fit.
Shifting the focus from past roles to skills unlocks access to a wider, more diverse talent pool—and helps build a workforce ready for what’s next.
But while leaders see the value in this change, many feel unprepared to act on it.
Nearly 40 percent of HR leaders say skills-based hiring is critical, according to Korn Ferry’s Talent Trends 2025 survey. Yet only 17 percent feel ready to put it into practice.
So how can you sharpen your focus on skills when hiring?
Try these practical steps:
1. Rethink Job Postings to Highlight Workforce Skills
Move beyond checklists of degrees and job titles.
Lead with the core skills the role requires, such as agility or adaptability. This approach reaches candidates who can deliver, even if they took non-traditional paths.
2. Make Skills a Clear Part of Your EVP
If skills matter to your business, say it clearly.
Reflect this in your employee value proposition (EVP) so candidates with the right capabilities and mindset know they will be valued in your organization.
3. Pair AI Tools with Your ATS for Smarter Screening
Integrate AI tools with your applicant tracking system (ATS) to scan thousands of resumes quickly. This helps you identify the best skills-based matches, not just familiar job titles.
But smart screening is only the first step. To become a skills-based organization, you need to embed a skills-first mindset across your entire talent strategy. This means rethinking rewards, promotions, performance management, and capability development with skills at the center.
“The clients I work with are shifting not just talent acquisition but their whole approach to talent management through a skills-based lens,” says Tracy Bosch, Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry.
Want to better connect your talent and development teams to find and keep the right people? Read our article: Smash the Silos—Best Practices for Aligning TA & L&D
Keep The People You've Worked Hard to Find
Hiring the right skills is just the start. Retaining those people, especially in today’s competitive market, is what truly sets you apart.
Holding on to skilled talent gives you more than continuity. You keep the knowledge that helps others grow and build a stronger foundation for reskilling and upskilling across your workforce.
Here are three ways to help your best people stay and thrive:
1. Offer Flexibility That Fits Their Lives
Flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a deal-breaker for many workers.
More than three quarters of professionals say their employers have introduced hybrid work policies. But flexibility isn’t just about where people work anymore. It includes when and how they work, plus personalized benefits that suit their lives.
Companies offering this full-circle flexibility—what Korn Ferry calls Hybrid 360—are more likely to keep people engaged, loyal, and performing at their best.
Those that don’t risk losing talent to more inclusive, forward-thinking employers.
2. Give People Purpose and Room to Grow
People stay when they connect to something bigger than their daily tasks. A strong sense of purpose and knowing their work matters can be just as powerful as a promotion.
Link individual roles to the broader mission. Recognize contributions. Foster a culture that values meaning as much as metrics. “A purpose-driven environment with opportunities for growth boosts retention,” notes Sinha.
3. Make Internal Mobility Real
Career development isn't a straight line.
It’s about discovering what’s possible—across roles, functions, even mindsets. Give people room to move sideways or step up, wherever their growth takes them.
Organizations with active internal mobility programs see 41% higher retention rates, LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report reveals. These programs show people there’s a future for them right where they are.
Leadership & Professional Development
Help your people exceed their potential, so they can unlock yours
Grow the Skills That Will Shape What’s Next
Your business can’t just keep pace. It needs to lead. That means investing in your people and helping them grow the skills they’ll need next.
Employees are clear about what they want. More than two-thirds say they would stay with a company that offers advancement and upskilling—even if they don’t love their current role, according to Korn Ferry’s Talent Trends 2025 report.
The message? Prioritize learning if you want to keep your best people.
Start with skills adjacency and help employees build capabilities that are closely connected to what they already do.
“By nurturing adjacent skills, employees can transition seamlessly, keeping the organization dynamic and resilient,” says Sinha.
And remember, upskilling can’t be a one-time initiative. A true culture of continuous learning is woven into daily work—through structured programs, regular coaching, and a shared commitment to growth at every level.
Try these ways to bring that culture to life:
1. Build Learning Agility into Everyday Work
Encourage curiosity. Give people space to experiment, learn from mistakes, and try new approaches. When work shifts faster than job descriptions, agility is essential. It keeps your workforce relevant.
2. Spot and Support Growth Potential Early
Don’t wait for big moments to develop talent. Invest in high-potential employees early in their careers. “Early development provides growth opportunities, building a resilient and adaptable workforce,” says Korn Ferry consultant Naomi Sutherland. “Strength comes from starting sooner, not later.”
3. Make Skills a Leadership Priority
Upskilling will not gain traction if left to HR alone. Leaders must own it too. When senior teams invest in long-term development—not just short-term wins—they send a powerful message. People’s growth truly matters.
Build a Future Workforce Strategy That Drives the Business
To create a workforce ready for what’s next, you need more than process tweaks. You need a holistic talent strategy that connects business priorities, workforce planning, and employee development.
A mature TA function can make all the difference. Whether you choose recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), use a partner for executive search, or build your TA capability in-house, the right support helps you hire and grow the people who will drive your business forward.
Want to understand how to assess and develop the critical skills your workforce needs? Download our Skills Assessment Framework Guide and start building a workforce strategy built to last.
Related Insights
