Best Practices for Employee Skill Assessments

Louder for the people at the back 🎤 Many organisations today seem to have shifted from being institutions that develop great talent to those that primarily seek ready-made talent. This trend overlooks the immense value of individuals who, despite lacking experience, possess a great attitude, commitment, and a team-oriented mindset. These qualities often outweigh the drawbacks of hiring experienced individuals with a fixed and toxic mindset. The best organisations attract talent with their best years ahead of them, focusing on potential rather than past achievements. Let’s be clear this is more about mindset and willingness to learn and unlearn as apposed to age. To realise the incredible potential return, organisations must commit to creating an environment where continuous development is possible. This requires a multi-faceted approach: 1. Robust Training Programmes: Employers should invest in comprehensive training programmes that equip employees with the necessary skills for their roles. This includes on-the-job training, mentorship programmes, online courses, and workshops. 2. Redefining Hiring Criteria: Organisations should revise their hiring criteria to focus more on candidates’ potential and willingness to learn rather than solely on prior experience or formal qualifications. Behavioural interviews, aptitude tests, and probationary periods can help assess a candidate's ability to learn and adapt. 3. Partnerships with Educational Institutions: Companies can collaborate with educational institutions to design curricula that align with industry needs. Apprenticeship programmes, internships, and cooperative education can bridge the gap between academic learning and practical job skills. 4. Lifelong Learning Culture: Encouraging a culture of lifelong learning within organisations is crucial. Employers should provide ongoing education opportunities and support for professional development. This includes continuous skills assessment and access to resources for upskilling and reskilling. 5. Inclusive Recruitment Practices: Employers should implement inclusive recruitment practices that remove biases and barriers. Blind recruitment, diversity quotas, and targeted outreach programmes can help ensure that diverse candidates are given a fair chance. By implementing these measures, organisations can develop a workforce that is adaptable, innovative, and resilient, ensuring sustainable success and growth.

If AI is part of the job, it should be part of the assessment! That’s the real signal in McKinsey’s latest hiring pilot: candidates are expected to use AI, and are assessed on how they work with it: how they prompt, challenge, adapt, and apply judgment to AI output. This is where the line between AI-readiness and AI-fluency becomes real. Experimenting with AI isn’t enough anymore. Hiring now means testing whether people can use AI critically, contextually, and responsibly...not just generate answers. The companies that win won’t just add AI to the workflow. They’ll hire for AI-fluency across roles and seniority, and back it with skills-based assessment that reflects how work actually gets done.

At a moment when AI is changing everything about the future of work, Deloitte’s latest Workplace Skills Survey (https://deloi.tt/4ffjqLk) found that 94% of the US professionals surveyed are concerned with the growing imbalance of corporate learning and development programs – particularly driven by the heavy focus on AI and technological proficiency. While the importance of tech skills cannot be overstated, these findings highlight a concerning neglect for essential human skills like adaptability, resilience, teamwork, leadership, and communication. In fact, 87% of workers view these skills as crucial to their career advancement and only 52% feel as though their organizations are currently valuing them over tech skills. To me, implementing robust mentorship and apprenticeship programs where employees can learn from others and further develop both human and tech skills are great opportunities for organizations to bridge this gap. At Deloitte, our modern approach to apprenticeships centers on fostering practical learning, connection, engagement for our professionals – key ingredients to a cohesive and adaptable organizational culture. With balanced learning and development programs, integrating equal focus on both technological and human skills, organizations can grow versatile and resilient leaders needed to navigate the complexities of tomorrow. 

If AI can now produce competent answers in seconds, what exactly are we assessing in our degrees? AI is already embedded in how students learn, think, and produce work. So, the question is no longer about its use. Rather, the real question is whether assessment is designed to treat AI as a liability to be controlled or as a resource to be used well. AI-integrated assessment does not mean looking the other way when students use AI. It means designing tasks where AI use is expected, visible, and evaluated. The shift is subtle but fundamental: from policing outputs to assessing judgment. Several practical design principles follow. First, assess decisions rather than artefacts. In an AI-rich environment, polished outputs are cheap. What remains scarce is the ability to frame problems well, choose appropriate tools, test assumptions, and decide when not to trust an AI response. Assessment can require students to justify how AI was used, why particular prompts were chosen, and how outputs were validated against disciplinary knowledge. Second, make the process evidence assessable. Short AI logs, annotated iterations, or structured commentaries can document how thinking evolved through interaction with AI. This is forensic reasoning about choices made, alternatives rejected, and risks managed. Used well, it turns AI from a shortcut into a cognitive amplifier. Third, build in authentic constraints. In professional settings, AI is used within limits, including ethical rules, organisational policies, incomplete data, and reputational risk. Assessment can simulate these conditions through ambiguous briefs, imperfect datasets, or explicit governance boundaries. Students are evaluated on how they navigate trade-offs, not how elegant the final output appears. Fourth, reintroduce dialogue selectively. Ask for recorded walkthroughs or live critiques, which allow students to explain how AI shaped their reasoning. The purpose is not detection but sense-checking judgment. Weak understanding surfaces quickly when students must articulate why they trusted or rejected an AI-generated insight. Finally, reward responsible AI use explicitly. Rubrics should recognise transparency, validation, ethical awareness, and the integration of AI output with human judgement. When expectations are clear, students learn how to use AI well rather than how to hide it. This approach develops genuinely transferable skills such as judgment under uncertainty, learning agility, ethical reasoning, and accountability. It prepares students for workplace realities where AI is normal, governed, and consequential. It fosters better feedback and stronger academic relationships by shifting conversations from suspicion to reasoned discussion. The irony is that AI-integrated assessment is not easier. It is harder. It raises the bar. We need to shift our thinking from compliance to using assessment to develop graduates who not only know how to use AI, but also when, why, and to what effect.

Building a learning culture is something you need to plan for, but it's not something that needs to cost a lot of time or money. A learning culture is an environment where continuous learning is encouraged and supported. It's where learning is part of everyday work, not just something done in formal training. If you are not sure whether your organization has an effective learning culture, start with some simple analysis. 🤔 Examine your current strategy. Does it clarify what a learning culture looks like in your organization? Is there a clear plan for shaping it? 👂 Bring in other voices and ask people for feedback on the existing culture. ⚖ Consider whether existing learning and development initiatives are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives. Does spending reflect this? Or does it reflect a more ad hoc approach? ✍ After analysis, the next step is to create a new plan or update the existing one, ensuring there is a learning and development plan for all roles, right across the organization. In this, it's ESSENTIAL to clearly define responsibilities for learning. ❓ As with any plan, you will have to consider resources and priorities. Be aware that building a learning and development culture doesn't have to be overly time consuming or expensive. 💵 When considering costs, take into account how people and teams can share knowledge and learn from each other, without paying through the nose for external supports. So, leverage internal expertise where you can... ...If machine operators are struggling with meeting OEE targets, figure out who has the knowledge internally to spend a couple of hours a week with them to mentor them on this. ...Or if office workers are struggling with time management, perhaps managers can coach them to develop these skills as part of their weekly one to one's. ⏰ When considering time, remember that micro learning can be built into existing platforms rather than taking days out of work for formal training.  📜 When considering content, don't make the mistake of focusing solely on technical skills. Make sure plans are holistic and include topics like leadership development and interpersonal skills. Include employees' learning interests that align to the organizational plans. 🚨 🚨 🚨 🤵 Leaders and managers- you play a key role in shaping a learning culture. You are in a prime position to promote learning that is aligned with organizational goals, people's needs, and make learning social and fun. 👩💼 You can set the tone by encouraging curiosity, supporting continuous development, and leading by example. Leaders are always learning too, and it's important to show this example to your team. #learninganddevelopment #learningculture #leadership #continuousimprovement #employeeengagement

Good news: Malaysia’s latest pulse data shows employers and markets still creating opportunities—and firms are investing in experience and skills alongside growth. That’s a rare, useful balance. Source: (link in comment) However, growth without skills is fragile. If companies scale without reskilling, onboarding and engagement suffer. So treat skills work as culture work. If you’re launching a growth push, pair it with an explicit skills path: who will teach, where the learning happens, and how progress is visible. Action plan (simple): when approving any new project or headcount, require a 1-page Skills & Onboarding plan: who mentors, first 30/60/90 milestones, and one metric to check after three months. Make those plans public within the team. When you name development responsibility and make progress visible, engagement follows. Good jobs are one thing. Good jobs where people grow and belong — that’s culture. Build both.

The most dangerous kind of feedback isn’t the harsh kind. It’s the kind that sounds fine but changes nothing. Leaders waste hours repeating the same points, wondering why nothing sticks. It’s not laziness on your team’s part. It’s that your words aren’t sparking movement. Here’s what separates feedback that shifts behaviour from feedback that disappears into thin air: 1. Trust before talk:  No trust, no change. People listen with half an ear when they feel judged. 2. Precision over politeness:  “Work on your communication” is vague. Try: “When updates are last-minute, the team scrambles. Sharing earlier would prevent the chaos.” 3. Show strengths before gaps:  When you acknowledge what’s working, people are more willing to improve what isn’t.  For example: “Your presentation was clear and engaging. Adding data at the start would make it even more convincing.” 4. Behaviours, not labels:  Telling someone they’re careless won’t change anything. Showing them the specific action that caused the mistake might. And here are extra ways to make feedback actually land: ➡️Pick the right timing. Feedback in the middle of stress or conflict rarely gets heard. Wait until people are calm enough to absorb it. ➡️ Frame it as a possibility. Instead of only pointing to what went wrong, highlight the potential you see. People lean in when they feel you believe in them. ➡️ Make it a dialogue. Ask “How do you see it?” or “What could help you here?” Feedback works best when it becomes a shared problem-solving moment. ➡️ Anchor to purpose. Connect the feedback to the bigger picture: “When reports are clear, the client trusts us more.” Purpose creates motivation. ➡️ Balance the emotional tone. A steady, calm delivery helps the person stay open. If you sound irritated or rushed, the message gets lost. ➡️ Close with next steps. Clarity comes from knowing exactly what to try next and when you’ll review it together. Feedback is either a lever for growth or a loop you get stuck in. The choice is in how you deliver it. When you give feedback, do you focus more on safety, clarity, or motivation? #feedback #difficultconversations #work

Training your team? That’s only half the job. The other half is building a culture they'll never want to leave. Leaders often face two risks when it comes to talent: 🚩 Not investing in people’s development enough → so they feel stuck, undervalued, and leave. 🚩 Training them well but neglecting culture → so they take their skills elsewhere. The sweet spot? Developing people AND creating a workplace where they want to stay. Here’s 6 ways to put it into action: ✅ Invest in growth: Provide training, mentorship, and assignments that expand their skills. ✅ Step back to let them step up: Avoid micromanagement. Trust them to take ownership. ✅ Make space for their voice: Encourage ideas, invite feedback, and recognize their contributions. ✅ Build psychological safety: Create an environment where taking risks and learning from mistakes are part of the process. ✅ Lead with empathy: See the whole person for who they are, not just their role. ✅ Create belonging: Make sure people feel safe, heard, and seen every day. People grow and stay where they feel empowered and seen. 👉🏼 Leaders, which of these practices are you already doing, and which will you start focusing on this week?

They had AI. They had assessments. But nothing was working together. When we first partnered with BIBF, one of the region’s most respected institutes, they weren’t behind the curve. They already had AI and digital assessments in place. But the challenge? Fragmentation. They were using multiple tools to assess technical, cognitive, language, and functional capabilities. Each system worked, but none worked together. The result? Logistical overload, slower workflows, and disconnected insights. We saw an opportunity to not just improve process, but optimize purpose. By integrating their existing infrastructure into a single, intelligent, AI-powered assessment ecosystem, we didn’t just upgrade efficiency, we unlocked intelligence at scale. Here’s what changed: - Faster deployment across programs - Unified platform experience for candidates and admins - Richer analytics powered by unified AI data - More targeted, skill-gap-aligned learning interventions - Mapped assessments across all levels and functions - Scalable, diverse, and fully customizable AI was already there. We just helped make it effective. Most importantly, the shift wasn’t from tools to tools.  It was from testing to developing real capability. It was great to hear this feedback firsthand during my recent strategic visit. The warm welcome from the client made the experience even more meaningful. If you're sitting on under-leveraged AI or siloed assessments, ask yourself: Is it helping your workforce move forward or just measuring where they are? Let’s talk about changing that.