Exploring What Skills Based Working Really Means Together with Municipalities

Skills insight as the key to internal mobility and future proof teams

The labour market is changing rapidly, and municipalities experience the impact daily. Hard to fill vacancies, an ageing workforce, and shifting competency demands make it more important than ever to fully harness the potential of employees. But how do you give employees more control over their careers? And how can organisations prepare for the future?

In collaboration with the A&O Fund Municipalities, we are launching a pilot in August with five municipalities to explore these questions.

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Why municipalities are joining the pilot

Skills based working offers a new perspective on workforce development. Rather than focusing on job titles and degrees, it looks at what people are capable of and eager to learn. For municipalities, this creates opportunities to:

• Give employees more insight and ownership over their career development
• Promote internal mobility by clarifying possible career paths
• Respond more effectively to labour shortages and changing demands
• Gain better insight into the skills needed now and in the future

In short, skills based working helps municipalities become more agile and resilient.

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What the pilot involves

In this pilot, a selected group of employees from five municipalities will map their personal skills passport. With support, they explore their ambitions and capabilities. Based on this, they receive insights into potential internal career paths. Which roles align with their current skills, and what development steps would help them move forward?

At the same time, the organisation gains a clearer view of existing and missing skills based on individual profiles. This helps HR and team leaders make more targeted decisions on recruitment, development, and internal matching for roles and projects.

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What we aim to achieve

This pilot is not just about helping employees grow. It is about learning what skills based working looks like in practice within a municipal context. Our concrete goals:

• Provide employees with greater insight into their development opportunities
• Explore how internal matching with roles, projects and learning can be more efficient and inclusive
• Support organisations in shifting from job based to skills based HR strategies

We will collect experiences, challenges and best practices to inform a broader implementation of skills based working across the public sector.

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Join the movement towards skills based working

This pilot marks the beginning of a broader movement toward more flexible, inclusive and future ready public organisations. Municipalities that step in now are leading the way and contributing to a new approach to workforce development.

Curious about what skills based working could mean for your municipality? Get in touch and join the conversation about the future of public work.

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