Tallahassee’s Case for Skills-Based Hiring: What Chambers Everywhere Can Learn

Next ACCE Skills-Based Hiring Training Begins in January - Register Today 

As employers continue to struggle with hiring and retention, the Tallahassee Chamber (Fla.) is helping them rethink what qualifications truly matter. “We’ve been looking at and working on skills-based hiring really since COVID,” said Corrie Melton, vice president of membership and talent development at the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. “I’m not an HR person. I’m a chamber person. That’s why we partnered with one of our HR-member consultants to lead the workshops.”

Through a small-cohort workshop series modeled on ACCE’s training, the chamber has turned the concept of skills-based hiring into local action, showing businesses how to write clearer job postings, design fairer interviews and expand their talent pools.

For chambers across the country, Tallahassee’s experience shows how a community-led approach can make a national workforce trend practical. Their story highlights what’s working, what’s challenging and how other chambers can adapt the model to meet their own employers’ needs.

Inside Tallahassee’s Approach

Tallahassee’s work grew out of its participation in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management program. Employers had already identified which skills mattered most for critical jobs but lacked a way to apply that information in hiring. The skills-based framework filled that gap.

Melton said the chamber began by adapting ACCE’s training model. The team contracts with a chamber member who has HR and management experience to co-lead the sessions while staff facilitate discussion and logistics. “We wanted someone who could answer HR-specific questions and share real examples,” she said.

Each cohort includes about five employers from different industries, with at least two representatives from each organization. The program starts with an orientation and four workshops. The first session focuses heavily on rewriting job postings. “If they understand that piece really well, the rest of it makes a whole lot more sense,” Melton said.

The chamber initially charged $500 per employer, refunding half to those who completed all sessions and submitted a revised posting using skills-based language. After testing the model, the team plans to lower the cost to $250 without a rebate. “We have to charge something because we pay the consultant,” Melton said, “but we realized the rebate just confused things.”

To strengthen the program’s value, the chamber secured Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recertification credits and built an online folder of tools, examples and videos. A grant from Truist helped offset expenses related to the consultant and materials.

Beyond the workshops, the chamber reinforces the concept through its monthly Beyond the Basics lunch sessions and an e-newsletter. They also plan to organize alumni meetups. “We don’t do anything rocket science special,” Melton said. “We just try to keep it going and keep pushing it out there as a tool for our employers.”

What the Tallahassee Chamber Learned

• Smaller groups work best. Keeping cohorts to five employers creates space for discussion and peer learning. Participants often share examples from their own hiring challenges, which Melton said is “just as valuable as the formal instruction.”
• Employers appreciate the content but need time to absorb it. “They get it and they like it, but it’s a lot to change the whole process,” Melton said. The chamber encourages participants to start small, such as rewriting one job posting or improving onboarding before tackling broader changes.
• Having a practitioner lead the sessions builds credibility. Melton said she did not want to “teach HR people how to do their job,” so the chamber uses an experienced consultant who can provide real examples from the field.
• Offering SHRM credits also attracts HR professionals who need continuing education hours. It helps legitimize the training and connects chamber programming to recognized industry standards.

One local law firm that participated in the first cohort has already implemented skills-based hiring. They’ve also shared the experience with a peer administrator network, reinforcing how chambers can influence industry clusters through trusted relationships.

Lessons for Other Chambers

Tallahassee’s experience points to several takeaways other chambers can use:

• Start small. A five-employer cohort creates strong discussion without losing personal attention.
• Keep industry mix broad. Different perspectives spark creative solutions.
• Use local expertise. Partner with HR professionals who are already chamber members.
• Price realistically. Choose a single, modest fee that covers costs without creating hesitation.
• Provide follow-up tools. Offer templates, resource folders and peer connections to keep the learning active after the sessions.

Melton said even limited capacity can produce real progress. “With more capacity, we could do so much more,” she said. “But even now, employers are open to it. They just need someone to help them see how it fits into what they already do.”

Remaining Challenges

While the workshops are gaining traction, scaling adoption remains difficult. Many participants work in large organizations where hiring policies are set at higher levels. “Maybe they can make small changes in their department,” Melton said, “but to really implement it, it has to be a bigger conversation.”

The chamber also wants to find ways to reach executives directly. Melton suggested that a condensed session or executive briefing could help HR participants “sell it” to their leadership teams. Another challenge is capacity: small staffs often lack time to track long-term outcomes once cohorts end.

Even with those obstacles, the chamber sees potential for future growth. A healthcare-specific cohort is planned for 2026, leveraging existing relationships with local employers in that sector.

Next ACCE Skills-Based Hiring Training Begins in January - Register Today 

Skills-based hiring is not a new concept, but the chamber’s role in promoting it is growing. Chambers are trusted connectors and can bridge the gap between training programs and real employer adoption. Tallahassee’s example shows that progress can happen in small, repeatable steps.

“Employers think they’re already doing it until they really get in and see what it actually looks like,” Melton said. Her chamber’s method proves that the right local guide can turn that realization into action.