Do you know what skills mismatch is?
It is what happens when there is a gap between the skills candidates have and those required by the labour market or by available positions. In other words, we have a skills mismatch when people do not have the right or adequate skills to meet companies' needs or the requirements of job vacancies.
According to joint data from Unioncamere and ANPAL (Italy's chambers of commerce and national labour policy agency), skills mismatch affects as many as 68% of technology companies. It is a problem we at ESSE I face every day too: as we have mentioned in previous articles, we are constantly looking for good programmers but often can't find them, precisely because of that "gap" that stops us from expanding and stops job seekers from finding a suitable place in the labour market.
Information technology itself, and therefore coding too, has tried in recent years to remedy this.
Among the most popular HR tools today are those that use artificial intelligence. Solutions which, by processing information gathered through digital questionnaires, try to select the ideal candidate. But the list of solutions that should, at least on paper, help choose candidates optimally is a very long one.
In this sea of offerings, the one that intrigued and interested us most, and which we have recently started using in recruitment, was built by one of our technology partners: Artémat.
This "laboratory where ideas and projects come together to encourage creativity and experimentation on interconnected systems" (as they describe themselves on their website) decided to digitise a long-established and widespread personnel selection method: the "in-basket" method.
What is it?
The in-basket is an exercise developed and first introduced in the early 1950s by Leland Bradford, an American economist and business consultant.
Used during personnel selection or in corporate training programmes, its main purpose is to assess a candidate's or employee's organisational, time management, problem-solving and decision-making skills. Essentially, it is a "concentrated" simulation (to be completed within a clearly defined time), but an entirely realistic one, of the work an employee or collaborator would do if hired.
How does it work?
Typically it works like this: the candidate is taken to an equipped area and placed in a position to make decisions and face challenges as if in a real work setting. This lets observers assess both hard and soft skills – not only specific expertise but also decision-making, organisation, time management and problem-solving – helping companies find talent and helping talented people show their worth.
An example to make the idea clearer?
Suppose ESSE I is looking for a software engineer. The candidate, Marco Rossi, receives a series of files by email: project documents reflecting typical situations he might face on the job. Marco will have to solve technical problems, optimise existing code and make decisions about updating libraries and code security. At the end he will be assessed on his actions and decisions, and will receive feedback on his skills and abilities in software development.
As we said, Artémat decided to "turn this method into bits".
And it didn't just make it "intangible", it also made it installation-free, since it can be used through an ordinary browser and an internet connection. Want to know what they called it? Web InBasket!
What is Web InBasket?
As the Web InBasket website puts it, it is an innovative proprietary Artémat platform for managing recruitment/assessment processes in line with the natural evolution of digital transformation in companies. The experience and know-how built up over the years by Artémat's experts made it possible to design and develop digital HR environments and tools that can innovate and improve recruiting, employer branding, talent acquisition and assessment processes.
We wish Artémat the very best, and this is neither flattery nor, worse, an advert (they don't pay us!). We simply appreciate useful, high-quality work by colleagues with whom we share not only a passion for coding but also our roots (we are all Calabrian).
With Artémat we also share a common vision focused on solving real problems, always sustainably and – we would add – harmoniously.
You can take a look at the Web InBasket project here: https://www.webinbasket.com
And if you request a demo, tell them we sent you.
