Talent is everywhere. Yet, we are still failing to maximize human potential. Economic prosperity hinges on our ability to recognize and value all the ways people learn and grow. While we continue to invest in training and retraining opportunities that will lead to a stronger workforce and a thriving economy, we must also adopt tools and strategies that make this vision a reality.
The Problem: A Giant Blindspot in Skills Recognition and Workforce Connection
How can we maximize human potential if we don’t fully understand the skills we have, the skills we need, and how to get them? This challenge exists at all levels—affecting economic development strategies and small business hiring decisions alike. People are more than just degrees, and if we don’t capture and validate all learning experiences, we risk overlooking qualified talent.
But even when we train workers with relevant skills, we still have a major disconnect—ensuring that skilled talent is matched to high-wage, high-growth jobs. The real challenge isn’t just about training—it’s about connecting talent to opportunities that allow them to apply and grow their skills in meaningful ways.
People-First Practices: A Call to Action
To truly maximize potential, we need to rethink skilling, upskilling, and hiring with a people-first mindset. This means leveraging tools that help us better understand and validate skills across all learning experiences and ensuring that skilled talent can access better job opportunities.
1. Expand Skills Visibility and Connection to Better Jobs
We need a more comprehensive way to document and showcase skills. Employers should invest in skills-based hiring tools and talent platforms that allow individuals to demonstrate their full range of competencies, not just formal credentials. Platforms like Katch Skills enable users to capture informal and formal learning experiences—turning knowledge gained from books, trainings, volunteering, and real-world experiences into visible strengths that connect to high-paying, high-growth job opportunities.
Additionally, businesses must integrate structured pathways to employment, ensuring that training programs don’t just end with skills development but lead directly to job placements.
2. Bridge the Gap with On-the-Job Training and Incubators
One of the most effective ways to connect trained talent to jobs is through hands-on experiences. On-the-job training, apprenticeships, and incubator programs allow workers to refine their skills in real-world settings while demonstrating their capabilities to employers. Organizations across sectors should prioritize these approaches by:
Partnering with workforce development programs that offer practical training-to-job pipelines.
Creating internship-to-hire pathways for skilled workers without traditional credentials.
Establishing incubators that provide mentorship, skills application, and employer engagement to accelerate job placement.
3. Consider Training Programs for Contracting Needs
When determining internal needs, organizations should consider contracting with workforce development programs that are training emerging talent. Instead of looking solely at external vendors, businesses and nonprofits can tap into local workforce programs to fulfill project-based needs while simultaneously developing the future workforce.
For example, a nonprofit organization seeking to build out its Salesforce capabilities could partner with or hire from a local training program that develops Salesforce-certified professionals. This approach not only helps develop the future workforce but also invests in the local community and can be a more cost-effective solution. Additionally, businesses may find a long-term hire through such engagements, securing skilled professionals who are already familiar with their needs and operations.
4. Make Upskilling Accessible and Recognizable
Employers should offer continuous learning opportunities that cater to workers at all career stages. This includes paid apprenticeships, micro-credentialing programs, and tuition support for skills-based training. Partnerships with community colleges, technical schools, and digital learning providers can help make skilling opportunities more accessible and meaningful.
Additionally, businesses should embrace competency-based hiring and internal promotion practices. By recognizing employees’ demonstrated abilities rather than relying solely on degrees or years of experience, companies can unlock untapped talent and improve workforce retention.
5. Capture All the Ways People Are Learning and Growing
A significant barrier to workforce development is that we don’t fully recognize informal learning. Within businesses, employees grow their skills in many ways—watching industry-related videos, reading books, volunteering, or gaining insights through mentorship. If we only track formal training, we miss an entire layer of talent development.
Employers should implement tools like Katch Skills to capture these learning moments, creating a complete picture of employees’ strengths and helping businesses leverage the full spectrum of their workforce’s capabilities. This approach benefits small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies alike—it’s the only way to meet the growing demand for a qualified workforce across sectors.
6. Strengthen Cross-Sector Collaboration to Create Job Pathways
Building a skills-first economy requires cooperation across industries, education institutions, and government agencies. Employers should engage with training providers, and community organizations to co-develop skilling programs that align with labor market demands. More importantly, they should adopt a shared language around skills to ensure alignment between training providers and hiring practices.
Most importantly, economic development agencies should actively integrate skills-first hiring strategies into their regional workforce plans, ensuring that job creation strategies match the talent being trained within their communities.
People- First Tools
Katch is not a training program—it’s a platform that empowers individuals to capture all their learning moments and turn them into valuable, visible strengths. Whether through books, mentorship, on-the-job learning, or formal courses, Katch enables individuals to take credit for all the ways they invest in themselves and helps employers see the value of a broad range of learning experiences.
We partner with employers, workforce organizations, and training providers who are invested in building a skills-first future. By making informal learning count, we help businesses recognize hidden talent, empower workers to showcase their full potential, and ensure that upskilling efforts translate into tangible career opportunities.
What's Next?
Career and Technical Education Month is a time to celebrate progress—but also a time to challenge ourselves to do better. If we are serious about unlocking human potential, we must move beyond outdated hiring practices and invest in tools and strategies that truly support skills-first hiring, upskilling, and economic mobility.
The bottom line—whether for a small business, a Fortune 500 company, or a government agency—depends on valuing all the ways people grow and learn. It’s the only way to meet demand for a qualified workforce across sectors. The workforce of tomorrow is not just about degrees—it’s about demonstrated skills, continuous learning, and people-first practices. Now is the time to make that shift.
Comments