The coronavirus pandemic and containment measures plunged the global economy into deep contraction. And while things have gotten much better now and most businesses have picked up, employers are reimagining how they hire and retain workers.

As companies continue to find ways to cut costs and counter competition from other organizations, they look for people who can think on their feet and often perform tasks beyond their job descriptions when needed. More and more recruiters are now trying to find people who not only have the necessary skills required to survive and fulfil the job responsibilities effectively but those who can wear multiple hats. Now is the time for multiskilled employees.

Companies are eyeing jack-of-all-trade workers due to their ability to handle several assignments. It’s not a surprise why adaptability and versatility is a desirable trait in potential workforce for most recruiters and why they particularly consider it when filling vacant positions.

To elaborate, an adaptable person will work under pressure, readily respond to changes, would happily work outside their comfort zones, and understand the shift in work priorities to meet a business. For instance, an adaptable project manager will integrate various moving parts of a project and deliver a quality product or service in a timely manner.

Interestingly, according to Ernst & Young, 150 C-suite leaders found that adaptability was one of the top five skills they felt they needed to succeed in the future.

The traditional recruiting process that solely relies on resumes and interviews fails to reveal if a job candidate possesses such traits. Luckily, this is where pre-employment talent assessments come to the rescue. And when gamification is integrated into hiring assessments, it’s a cherry on top!

Gamified assessments accurately unravel the characteristics and skills of an individual, so the recruiter can easily predict their future job performance. Things like a person’s ability to manage multiple workloads, deal with pressure, openness to ideas, suggestions, or constructive criticism and willingness to take risks can be assessed via gamified assessments – all of which are necessary to hire a multiskilled employee.

One reason for hiring multi-skilled employees is that these employees make for highly motivated and engaged workers. Research has shown that because they are versatile, they are always on the lookout for new dimensions in their own work, which prevents it from becoming monotonous. They can be fit wherever there are opportunities in the organization keeping them from being looking outside the company. Thus it results in greater retention.

Wipro Technologies and Infosys, the leading IT companies in the country, train their employees to turn into a multi-skilled workforce. They believe that when people are multi-skilled, they will likely need fewer people. This increases the hiring efficiency as well as reduces the attrition as workers tend to stay because they are given a variety of jobs to do and can see the growth potential in their jobs. Thus, today in the era of turbulence, what matters is not what you are good at, but what you can be good at in the future.