Employee skills are the cornerstone of a high-performing and competitive organisation.
According to a 2022 survey conducted by the Viavoice polling institute and consulting firm Les Temps Nouveaux, 83% of business leaders reported experiencing “skills shortages” within their organisation. The labour market has seen substantial changes over the past few decades. The rise of new technologies has transformed many professions. As a result, businesses must be agile and adaptable in the way they manage talent and expertise.
One of the keys to identifying the skills of tomorrow lies in supporting the development and career progression of your employees. This is where ‘skills tracking’ becomes essential: a tailored, personalised approach.
But what exactly is skills tracking? How can you implement effective support and evaluation for your talent? Which tools and methods should you adopt? With a skills tracking tool, the days of tedious and time-consuming HR processes are over!
What do skills tracking and management involve?
According to a study published in 2022 by the audit firm Deloitte, 77% of business leaders and HR professionals surveyed stated that professional skills must be adapted to meet the future challenges of an organisation. As such, individual know-how must be carefully identified and analysed. This is what we refer to as skills tracking and management!
From this mapping, you can develop new strategies aligned with your teams’ needs and the goals of your organisation.
Key steps for managing and tracking skills to build tomorrow’s capabilities:
- Identify the skills your organisation needs to achieve its performance objectives, working in collaboration with, for example, the managers of each department;
- Anticipate future skill requirements by considering the technological developments affecting each role and the wider market;
- Assess your employees’ expertise, strengths and areas for development using questionnaires or feedback;
- Develop individual upskilling plans tailored to each employee’s needs (training, coaching, mentoring, job shadowing);
- Monitor each person’s progress and development regularly, incorporating ongoing feedback;
- Adjust upskilling plans as needed, based on changes in the organisation and the evolving needs expressed by each employee.
The benefits of centralised skills management
Feeling overwhelmed by the steps involved in skills monitoring and management? Don’t worry – the process can be smooth, intuitive, and effective. How? Through centralisation! With a solution to assess your teams’ hard skills, each stage of the HR support process becomes easier to manage. By digitalising your processes, you enable centralisation – and this comes with a host of advantages:
A comprehensive and optimised view
With skills management software, all the essential information for tracking is accessible with just a few clicks on a single interface. You’ll benefit from a clear overview of each individual’s progress, the skills available, and those that need development. Say goodbye to the days of managing endless Excel files and folders! Certain tasks are automated, such as data collection (with automated feedback, for example). This saves valuable time, freeing you up to focus on more strategic, high-value tasks.
Additionally, you gain real-time insights into the progress of each employee. This gives you a comprehensive and consistent understanding of your teams’ progress.
Streamlined identification of needs
Centralising competency tracking information streamlines and simplifies the analysis of each employee’s needs. The software’s automation allows for easier identification of available skills and the evaluation of team requirements. The platform can pinpoint areas for improvement and cross-reference them with the organisation’s objectives. This provides a solid foundation for decision-making and engaging in discussions with each employee. Furthermore, with the centralisation and automation of management, both costs and error margins are reduced.
Seamless employee integration
The platform also allows all employees to access their career path. It engages employees and encourages them to be proactive in their development.
They can set their own goals and track their progress in real time. This digitised HR process also provides teams with a clear view of professional development opportunities. A significant advantage that fosters trust, retains your talent, contributes to their personal growth, and enhances their engagement. All while maintaining skilled and high-performing teams.
In short, managing employee skills in a centralised way means recognising their value—and being better prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.