Ep. 197: Clayton Lord, Senior Program Director at SHRM Foundation, Building a Skills First Future for HR

Recorded live at SHRM25 in San Diego, host Tony Buffum speaks with Clayton Lord, Senior Program Director at the SHRM Foundation, about the launch of Skills First Future, a new initiative designed to help HR professionals and employers embrace skills-based hiring and advancement strategies.

Clayton explains how the program provides a library of 500+ resources, a Skills Action Planner for personalized assessments, and SHRM’s new credential for skills-first professionals. He also highlights the importance of change management, the role of technology in skills mapping, and why incremental adoption can make a big difference for organizations of all sizes.

This episode shows why a skills-first approach is not just a trend but the inevitable direction of HR, and how leaders can take their first steps today.