Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed an executive order to expand upon Ohio’s ambitions to be a national leader in skills-based hiring practices.
According to DeWine, the push toward skill-based hiring places more emphasis on specific coursework, skills, experience, and training while de-emphasizing earlier qualification standards expressed in academic degrees.
DeWine said that this executive order increases efforts to find the greatest applicants, regardless of their academic background.
“The State of Ohio has been at the forefront of recognizing the importance of hiring a diverse workforce based upon the skills they bring to an employer. Today’s Executive Order furthers Ohio’s nationwide-leading work with unique initiatives to further our efforts to recruit the best talent regardless of academic degree,” DeWine said.
The executive order adds three additional initiatives to the state’s effort, including designating a recruiter for career technical education programs, reviewing classifications where a job position requires an academic degree, and adding resources on application portals.
The initiatives added in the executive order include:
- The Ohio Department of Administrative Services will designate a coordinator to work with Career-Technical Education programs to identify and recruit program graduates for vacant positions with the State;
- The Ohio Department of Administrative Services will also conduct a comprehensive review of all classifications where an academic degree is required by statute to identify where job modernization could be accomplished through amendments to the statute;
- The Ohio Department of Administrative Services will formalize and enhance its policy on skill-based hiring, adding components including a job matching tool on application portals; ensuring agency, board, and commission compliance with the administrative rule; and reviewing current minimum qualifications which are position specific or preferred in hiring practices to ensure they are not stated in terms of academic degrees
According to Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, “Focusing on skills and abilities rather than degrees allows employers to prioritize what really matters for job performance.”
“By shifting the emphasis to specific skills and competencies relevant to the role, employers can identify candidates who possess the necessary capabilities, regardless of their educational background,” Husted said.
Additionally, DeWine mandated delivering a report on these reviews within 180 days.
According to the press release from DeWine, Ohio was one of the first states in the country to establish skill-based hiring practices through Ohio Administrative Code 123:1-07-04.
As of 2018, there have been 20 states who have established skill-based hiring practices, such as Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mike DeWine” by Mike DeWine.
