According to Gartner, 58% of the workforce will need new skill sets to do their jobs successfully. Employees are an organization’s most asset. Companies can create a great product or service, but organizations may not achieve their potential if they don’t have the right team in place.
What are the advantages of using skills inventory?
According to a Gartner study released in 2021, only 38% of technology organizations conduct an inventory of employees’ skills and competencies every year.
A skills inventory is an internal resource in which a company stores information about existing employees’ capabilities, experience (past and present), and goals as a tool for accomplishing the organization’s goals and objectives. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be as basic or complex as the corporation sees fit. It should ideally be a dynamic resource that is maintained and updated regularly. It is frequently kept in the form of a matrix and is updated based on employee development as well as skill improvement. This has numerous advantages, including:
- Enhancement of skills
Creating a skills inventory of team members can highlight each person’s area of expertise. Skill inventories make it easy to select the best resources for a given task. Assigning qualified people to projects and tasks that are relevant to their areas of expertise balances the workload and improves the quality of services and results.
- Planning career and succession
A skills inventory can be used for career planning by an individual or team to assess their present skill portfolio and identify opportunities for growth and development. This could also be valuable for recruitment and advancement. It can also facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer to aid in succession planning as employees move on to new possibilities.
- Training and development
A skills inventory allows companies to identify employee skill shortages and then give the necessary training. This is extremely valuable to corporations since it allows them to forecast and budget for any training initiatives. A skills inventory can guide an organization’s training; consider educating employees on the abilities the company requires by enrolling in a skills training program. Employees could also be trained for diverse jobs, functions, and responsibilities. Training for diverse jobs is an efficient technique to enhance the organization since it allows the team to expand efforts to meet demand in multiple areas. Using the inventory as well as employee interest, training can help the workforce by allowing them to learn from their colleagues while also expanding their own skill set.
How to create a skills inventory?
Many people underestimate their own skill set. A skills inventory provides a perspective of an organization’s capabilities. Here is a plan for creating and utilizing skills inventory.
- Identify the skills to include
The first step is to identify which skills to capture based on the organization’s strategy. They could be structured in technical, leadership, and soft skills. For example, listening skills are soft skills; negotiation is a leadership skill, and data analysis is a technical skill.
- Evaluate the current skill level
The next step is to assess these skills. Here are several methods for determining an employee’s skill level:
Testing: Employees are required to take a test to assess their knowledge and skills. This is reliable for evaluating an employee’s knowledge, but it cannot be applied to all skills.
Self-assessment: This is a good technique that allows employees to rate their skills and expertise. It addresses the skills inventory collaboratively, incorporating input from people and the organization. Employees can also specify the skills they wish to improve. For employees who are aiming for career growth, the EDLIGO platform offers the possibility to view the competencies required for a target position. Having a career path in mind, employees can evaluate themselves and see what skills they should develop for a certain position. Employees can also get recommendations on courses they need to take to learn the skills for the selected position
360-degree feedback: This is an efficient method for obtaining a clear overview of an employee’s skills and knowledge. Coworkers, managers, and any indirect reports providing feedback on an employee’s skill levels give a good indication of how they are performing. With EDLIGO Managers can perform an evaluation of each employee’s competency level based on indicators. Further, they can see the key experts of the team, look for future leaders and give training and feedback to employees.
AI and Machine Learning: AI has demonstrated exceptional pattern recognition capabilities in a variety of applications. For example, AI systems have demonstrated the ability to track non-obvious patterns in data to determine how long an individual is likely to survive at a company. Machine learning algorithms and data can predict employees with a high attrition rate, allowing the company to take the required actions to retain, engage, and motivate them.
- Establish a skill matrix
A skills matrix can be displayed in a variety of formats. EDLIGO AI-powered Talent Analytics solution is excellent for displaying a company’s capabilities matrix. Talent Analytics offers insights summarized in charts and dashboards, allowing for faster decision-making. Companies may easily design a skills matrix by evaluating talents and competencies on a scale.
- Make a plan to address skill gaps
AI can analyze employee performance data and match it to an organization’s predetermined skill gaps. Custom assessments and employee learning histories can be used to establish an individual skill baseline. This combination can be used to map out a personalized development plan for each employee. As more employees use the learning platform, it becomes better at anticipating their needs and interests.
The use of AI will provide insights based on the massive amount of data it has collected and analyzed, making it easier to create personalized learning programs. With access to these insights and data, companies will be able to gain a better understanding of the employee’s behaviors and predict needs by recommending and positioning content based on prior behavior. Personalized adaptive learning is a powerful way to engage today’s workforce; the challenge for L&D is to make sense of the data and leverage those insights to drive business value.
Companies should collaborate with senior leadership to develop a strategy to address the skills inventory’s revealed weaknesses while also capitalizing on the positives. They can drive actionable outcomes from the skills assessment’s findings regarding the company’s current capabilities. Organizations can discover that they have essential individuals who can coach and develop employees in specific skills. They may also discover that investing in an external expert, software, or other training solutions is worthwhile.
How Can a Skills Inventory Be Used for Strategic HR Planning?
Companies must have the expertise necessary to fulfill their objectives. Companies that identify skill shortages should employ specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals to help organizations achieve business success through their people. Here are a few examples of how a skills inventory might help with strategic HR planning and learning and development.
- Employee retention
A company that develops a skills inventory on a proactive basis can secure employee retention. The results of the skills inventory should provide more prospects for advancement. One of the most important reasons for employee retention is advancement opportunities, and skill inventories can help organizations decide what types of development opportunities to offer.
- Internal mobility
A skills inventory provides an overview of an organization’s capabilities. This encourages internal mobility by allowing employees to collaborate across departments and projects. It also allows organizations to save money as the reliance on third-party vendors is reduced since employees have the necessary capabilities. It also aids in the identification of skill adjacencies, or the learning of employees’ talents in areas closely related to their existing role. For example, if a social media manager specializes in promoting content on Twitter, they will most likely soon learn how to promote content on Facebook.
EDLIGO enables organizations to offer a superior employee experience through structured and targeted career devolvement and mobility opportunities (Opportunity Marketplace). Companies can align employees’ career aspirations with business goals, stimulate personal growth, promote talent diversity for improving business outcomes, and boost employee growth and satisfaction with AI-powered Talent Analytics.
- Talent acquisition
Tracking internal employees’ skills will allow companies to hire qualified candidates to fill any skills gaps in the organization. Hiring managers can make data-driven decisions regarding who to hire during the hiring process. Companies can also acquire talent that will be valuable in the future.
- Strategic workforce management
A company can strategically position and model itself to fulfill current and future organizational goals. For example, if a corporation determines that data analytics is a high-demand skill in their market, they can ascertain whether their current workforce possesses such skills. If not, they can teach employees to gain these abilities and recruit talent for important areas. They can also determine whether contingent employees might be useful for any immediate needs.
- Learning and development
A skills inventory can guide an organization’s training and development; consider educating employees for the capabilities the company requires by enrolling in a skills training program. Employees could also be trained for diverse jobs, functions, and responsibilities. Using the inventory as well as employees’ interest, training employees to be multiskilling can help team members by allowing them to learn from their colleagues while also expanding their own skill set.
By leveraging the advanced talent intelligence system EDLIGO, Capgemini identified individual skill gaps and provided custom training plans for each employee. As a result, they witnessed a remarkable 10% increase in employee engagement and boosted training resource utilization by 200%. Capgemini not only improved individual performance but also prepared their workforce for future success in the ever-changing technology landscape.
When the skills inventory is constantly updated, it can be a useful tool for planning learning and development, recruitment, and workforce optimization initiatives. Adopting a process for keeping inventory up to date and making it accessible to the appropriate people can help you make the most of it.
When organizations visualize their employees’ competencies and skills, it is easier for them to match their training objectives with the overall goals of the company. This ensures that their employees are happy and motivated, and it also helps them develop the skills that the company requires to grow.
With EDLIGO Talent Analytics organizations can analyze workforce data, manage people skills and contribute to the design and implementation of HR and L&D programs. EDLIGO assists organizations in digitizing their competency assessments, developing a platform for employees to better understand their competencies as well as the skills they need to develop for advancing their careers.