Understanding Workforce Capability & Closing Skills Gaps

According to PWC many organisations discover they do not have sufficient understanding of their current skills and capability profile. In addition, PWC state it is crucial for CEOs to understand the current skills of their workforce to identifying current and future capability gaps. 

So, what is the solution? 

Organisations typically rely on word-based position descriptions, which results in skills and capabilities not being recorded in quantifiable terms, and generally leads to subjectivity and ambiguity regarding position requirements and how skills are to be captured and measured over the entire employee lifecycle. 

Given that words are so difficult to quantify transitioning to a ‘skills as measurable data’ approach is key to an organisation fast tracking its understanding of current skills and addressing current or future skills gaps.  

What is 'Skills as Data’? 

Implementing industry standardised data sets aligns an organisation’s capability management with industry best practice skills definitions and measures, and ensures all employees are benchmarked against a consistent language that promotes fair and objective assessments. 

Using a data driven approach across recruitment, performance reviews and self-assessments with a clearly defined ‘skills as data’ baseline will ultimately provide the organisation with a clear view on employee skills and overall organisational capability.  Any skills gaps within the organisation will be easily identified, and just as easily aligned with learning and development prioritisation. 

Implementing such an approach is easier than ever before, with many industries having established ‘peak bodies’ that publish standardised data sets including industry specific skills definitions and aligned position description templates. 

Should you wish to discuss how you can align our ‘skills as data’ approach to your organisation’s capability, please feel free to contact me directly. 

Regards Anthony.