Master skills management to boost performance (and more)
Improving knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills within a company is essential to ensure that the skills of its employees match the needs of its organisation. This is what we call skills management !
Although the task may seem tedious, it's actually quite simple to optimise your HR onboarding to keep your employees happy. Let's take a closer look! 🕵🏼♀️
Skills management: definition
Skills management is the way in which a company manages its human capital- in other words, its employees - and ensures that the skills of its teams match the resources needed to achieve its objectives.
It is the key tool of a well-functioning organisation that seeks to adapt, improve and develop its performance. The human resources department therefore has every interest in looking into this subject.
The challenges of skills management
By anticipating changes in your employees' skills, you are in a position to find quick and effective solutions when needed. By managing skills strategically, you will be able to identify the right person (talent) with the right knowledge for a specific problem, or to identify gaps in your skills.
What are the objectives of skills management?
Motivate your staff
One of the best ways of motivating your employees to excel is to show them that they have the qualifications required to continue their efforts, or to prove to them that they have the ability to do so.
The personal satisfaction derived from an additional qualification is a guarantee of better performance. This is because :
- by opening up professional prospects
- by increasing your employees' range of skills,
- or by refining their skills by specialising in a specific area,
they become true experts in their field.
Matching skills to jobs
Within a company, it is vital to anticipate the profiles of your future employees and train them accordingly. Because certain skills are becoming obsolete, good skills management will help you avoid major economic and technological shocks .
You can draw up a forward-looking employment and skills management model (GPEC) aimed at :
- reduce recruitment difficulties
- develop employee skills
- counter a problem of age pyramid,
- develop individual and collective skills,
- develop professional mobility,
- adapting to and managing the consequences of technological and economic change.
Aiming for operational performance
To achieve your annual objectives, you need to use optimum resources. What we mean by optimal is above all the idea of using as few resources as possible (including costly ones), while maximising the achievement of your objectives.
Skills management is therefore a major asset, because by training your employees you can not only reduce your costs in the long term, but above all ensure that your performance continues to improve.
This creates a virtuous circle within your company, to the benefit of your bottom line.
Reduce recruitment costs
As well as helping you to recruit the right people for the right job, skills management helps to reduce your recruitment costs.
Recruiting a candidate for a vacant position or when you feel the need to do so actually requires a lot of financial outlay, unlike training an employee already working for your company. You can identify the skills your company needs and find the resources you require in-house.
Steps to effective skills management
1. Identify skills
Essential skills
Come up with a list of the skills that you feel are best suited to your company's needs and that all your employees have in common. Don't hesitate to involve all your teams in the process, managers and employees, in order to enrich your list and create unity within the organisation.
Organise a dedicated meeting or discussion group where you first present your choices to the rest of your company; this will be useful if you forget or simply to refine your research.
The people working alongside you are best placed to help you and define your target needs.
Establish standard profiles
Depending on the different departments in your company, establish standard profiles that will be adapted to each of them. For example, IT skills for developers or SEO skills for copywriters.
To do this, contact the most experienced profiles in your company's departments, so that you have a clear and precise idea of the skills required.
Soft skills
Remember to differentiate between expected skills and personal skills. An employee's soft skills are something you absolutely must take into account, and they are a real asset: the ability to manage stress, quality of communication, empathy, patience, etc. Given the rapid renewal of skills, soft skills are essential for career development.
2. Identify the company's needs
Take care to limit the gaps between employees' current skills and those required to carry out an assignment. This stage is fundamental for targeting the skills to be adopted in the event of a specific need or even for a given period.
Depending on the objectives and/or tasks to be carried out during the week, month or year, list the different skills your employee will need.
Identify the various factors that are a source of change, such as :
- new technologies
- new practices
- new systems
- current events.
3. Define how to assess skills
It's up to the manager to identify and develop an employee's specific skills. To identify training needs, you can use appraisals, observe your employee on a daily basis or take advantage of individual interviews to identify together the skills that need to be acquired.
Don't hesitate to use the daily scrum method or weekly interviews to talk to each employee and identify any shortcomings or areas for improvement.
4. Measure with a tool
Skills management does require a certain amount of rigour and time, between drawing up a list of skills, the associated profiles and training. Fortunately, you can use software to make the task easier.
🛠️ ServicesRHOnline is a software package for managing skills, interviews and training plans. ServicesRHOnline is easy to use, allowing you to guide follow-up interviews with your employees and alert you to their progress. Employees can assess their skills and enhance them so that they can target their future training more effectively.
How do you organise your employees' skills? Tell us in the comments!
Article translated from French