For years, organisations have been striving to shift toward skills-based hiring, development and workforce planning. Yet despite the strategic importance of skills, the data behind them remains fragmented, inconsistent and often unreliable.

As Joan Beets and guest speaker Etan Bernstein from Velocity highlighted in the recent KennedyFitch webinar “Solving the Skills Taxonomy Conundrum: How Can Technology Help Make Talent More Visible and Mobile?”, the problem is not the ambition – it’s the infrastructure.

Skills Are Becoming the Operating System of Work — But the Data Isn’t There Yet 

Today’s HR systems still struggle with broken or incomplete skills data.
The challenges include:

• Fragmented definitions across systems, vendors and countries
• Static taxonomies that age quickly
• Weak validation mechanisms
• Self-reported information with no real-time updates

With inconsistent or unverifiable data, HR teams hesitate to make decisions based solely on skills. As a result, the industry widely discusses skills-based HR—but only few organisations feel confident enough to execute it.

Why Verifiable Digital Credentials Change Everything 

The webinar introduced a powerful alternative: verifiable digital credentials.

Rather than asking employees to repeatedly re-enter qualifications, certificates or achievements, individuals receive digital credentials issued by trusted institutions, stored on secure, shared infrastructure.

These credentials are:

• Verified (not self-reported)
• Portable (owned by the individual)
• Machine-readable
• Instantly usable across systems

This means HR systems can consume trusted skills data, not re-collect it. Employees gain ownership and transparency, while organisations gain accuracy and efficiency.

What Trusted Skills Data Enables for HR 

When HR can rely on accurate, verified data, the shift from administrative work to strategic talent decisions becomes real.

1. Faster, cleaner sourcing and screening

Especially in compliance-heavy or regulated industries, verified credentials reduce manual checks and administrative bottlenecks.

2. More transparent internal mobility

With a clearer, validated view of skills and capabilities, employees become more visible for internal roles, gigs and projects.

3. More inclusive, human-centered talent decisions

Non-linear career paths, international experiences and informal learning finally become visible – enabling AI and HR teams to match talent not just on job titles, but on capabilities, potential and attributes.

4. Broader, more diverse talent pools

Verified credentials reduce gatekeeping caused by inconsistent documentation, making global and alternative talent sources accessible.

A Practical Path Forward: Start Small, but Start 

The message from Joan and Etan was refreshingly actionable: complexity shouldn’t stop organisations from moving forward.

Their practical guidance:

• Pick one use case where credential checks cause friction (e.g., licence verification, mobility in critical roles)
• Connect new credentials to your existing taxonomy, rather than redesigning everything
• Involve legal, privacy and works councils early
• Build with an ecosystem, not in isolation

And most importantly, begin asking your HR technology and service providers:

“What are you doing with verifiable digital credentials and skills data portability?”

That single question signals that trusted skills data is now a strategic necessity – not a future aspiration.