Skills Mapping: What Is It And Why Do You Need It?
How informed are you regarding the skills and competencies of your workforce? And if you were thinking that simply being able to point out employees who are organized or good team players is enough, you would be wrong. We are talking about quantifiable information that you can use to make data-driven decisions and effectively promote employee performance and development within your organization. If you don't have immediate access to such data, then the process of skills mapping is essential for the success of your business. But precisely what is skills mapping? In this article, we will answer this question as well as delve into the main benefits you need to know about.
What Is Skills Mapping?
Let's kick the article off by defining this term that has gained so much popularity in the business world lately. Skills mapping refers to the process of identifying the skills (technical and soft), knowledge, and capabilities of an employee within their role in an organization. Once this information is collected, it is then visualized using a skills matrix or, in other words, a visual chart. Presenting the data this way helps businesses compare available competencies with needed ones. As a result, it makes skill and knowledge gaps more visible so that leaders can take steps to improve their company's employee training strategy.
6 Main Benefits Of Skills Mapping For An Organization
1. Pinpointing Skills Gaps
Skills mapping can help you identify which skills or competencies are missing from your organization's arsenal, whether on an individual, team, or company-wide level. The skills your employees lack could be preventing them from performing their best in their roles and your company from achieving its goals. You don't want your hard work to go to waste just because of a few skills gaps that could have easily been addressed with training. Therefore, it's crucial that you know which areas require improvement and swiftly create a training plan to address them.
2. Creating More Effective Career Paths
To achieve higher levels of retention and satisfaction, employees need a purpose to work towards. Whether that is growth within their current role or a promotion, they need to know there is a plan in place for their future. Skills mapping can give you the tools to accomplish that by bringing to light not only gaps and areas for betterment but also an employee's strong suits. This information will be very valuable for creating a career development path that clearly outlines the steps each employee needs to take to advance their career in a way that best suits their strengths and weaknesses.
3. Monitoring Employee Development
Keeping track of employee performance provides tons of valuable data to the L&D department about the employee training strategy. For example, it highlights employees who need additional training, skills that must be added in the future, types of changes that need to be implemented to maximize training effectiveness, and much more. You can easily collect such data by performing skills mapping in fixed time intervals, such as every quarter or six months, and comparing the results. You can also use the skills matrix as a visual reference when providing feedback to your employees to help them better understand what steps they need to take moving forward.
4. Improving The Hiring Process
When you know the exact skills and competencies each position requires, it's much easier to source the right candidates for a job opening. Skills mapping can support the HR department in creating a job listing that is much more precise, as well as screening CVs with greater speed and efficiency. Ultimately, skills mapping not only streamlines the hiring process but also significantly increases its odds of success. Hiring people with the right skillsets minimizes the need for extensive training during onboarding and reduces the overall costs associated with recruitment.
5. Achieving Effective Resource Allocation
A significant part of being a good leader is knowing how to match staff with the right roles. Skills mapping will give you access to the capabilities of each employee so that you can assign them the right task or project and reduce mistakes. Additionally, you will be able to create teams with complementary skillsets, thus increasing productivity and efficiency. Skills mapping can also highlight potential successors for essential roles within the organization. By being proactive, you can ensure that the transition will be smooth when the time comes for someone to move on from the organization.
6. Fostering Employee Engagement And Satisfaction
As we mentioned earlier, skills mapping is a valuable tool for improving employee morale. For one, it keeps employees interested on a day-to-day basis, as it matches them with the role that best fits their knowledge and skills. Additionally, by identifying your staff's learning needs and aligning them with their goals for the future, you can create Learning and Development opportunities that perfectly adapt to their knowledge gaps, wasting no time in making them more efficient in their roles. All in all, skills mapping can create a supportive work environment that makes employees feel appreciated and supported by their organization.
Conclusion
Running a successful business means utilizing your human resources in the best way possible. And to achieve that, you need to know everyone's strengths and weaknesses and take the necessary steps to help them evolve. In this article, we discussed skills mapping, the most effective tool in helping you identify necessary skills and competencies within your organization and compare them with existing ones. This process reveals all the actions you need to take to optimize your company's employee training strategy and boost efficiency and employee engagement.
