For those engaging down the path of transitioning into skills based organisations one of the key questions often raised by leaders is to identify if a list of skills will suffice as part of their skills library / taxonomy. But is that the real objective??
Assessed skills and binary skills taxonomies serve different purposes and offer distinct advantages. Here's a comparison of their reasons and use cases:
- Nuanced Understanding: Assessed skills provide a detailed understanding of an individual's proficiency level, capturing the depth and breadth of their capabilities. (these are assessed against organisational definitions removing bias and ensuring accuracy in the skills reporting).?
- Personalized Development: Allows for tailored development plans that address specific areas of improvement and leverage existing strengths. (recognition of elite skill levels, interest in skills and skills that are considered gaps and therefore in need of training).?
- Better Talent Allocation: Helps in assigning tasks and roles based on precise skill levels, leading to more efficient and effective utilization of talent. (High skill level + High Interest Level to compliment other factors used in talent allocation an example of which may be certificates or qualifications).
- Performance Tracking: Enables continuous monitoring of skill development and performance, supporting ongoing learning and growth. Skills based organisations use the skills assessments to track any ROI (Return on Investment) from any L&D initiative allocated. Success is the ability to reduce an individuals skills gap.
- Internal Upskilling/Reskilling: Identifies specific skill gaps and provides targeted training to enhance employee capabilities.
- Career Mobility: Facilitates career progression by aligning employees' skill development with career paths and opportunities within the organization.
- Talent Management: Enhances decision-making in recruitment, promotions, and project assignments by understanding employees' actual skill levels.
- Learning & Development (L&D) Planning: Informs L&D strategies by pinpointing precise training needs, optimizing budget allocation, and measuring training effectiveness.
- Simplicity: Binary taxonomies are straightforward, categorizing skills as either present or absent, which simplifies the assessment process.?
- Quick Decisions: Useful for making fast decisions where a detailed understanding of skill levels is not necessary.
- Initial Screening: Effective in initial stages of hiring or project assignments to filter candidates based on essential skills.
- Recruitment Screening: Quickly identifies candidates who meet the minimum skill requirements for a position. (In a fast paced world, the level of skill required by a hiring Manager is critical).
- Compliance and Certification: Ensures employees meet basic regulatory or certification standards.
- Basic Role Fit: Determines if employees have the fundamental skills required for a specific role, especially for roles with well-defined skill requirements. (However - it does not let us see the level of an individuals skills set).
- Simple Skill Audits: Conducts rapid assessments of the workforce's basic skill inventory but the insights are not detailed to the point where they can be used to inform high-level strategic decisions.
Combining Both Approaches??
In practice, combining assessed skills with binary taxonomies can provide an initial comprehensive view of an organization's skill landscape.??
Binary taxonomies can serve as a preliminary filter however the value of this process is significantly limited.?
Assessed skills offer deeper insights for detailed planning and development. This approach will ensure you are using accurate skills insights which you can trust to achieve your respective objectives.
In concluding, if you looked at a binary list of skills and how those insights can be used, you may quickly discover that the skills insights will not add much value for your use case and that you will eventually need to have skills insights which are generated via skills assessment.
