Best Practices in Skills-Based Management

BEST PRACTICES IN SKILLS-BASED MANAGEMENT A Talent Management Component “Recommendations for Implementing a Successful Skills and Competency Management Program” SUCCESSFACTORS / WHITE PAPER BEST PRACTICES IN SKILLS-BASED MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 3 What is Skills-Based Management? ...... 4 Phases of Building a Skills-Based Organization ...... 5 What Is A Skill? ...... 6 Best Practices in Skills-Based Management ...... 7

Phase 1: Pre-Implementation – Before the Program Starts ...... 8 Secure and Maintain Senior Management Commitment/Sponsorship ...... 8 Put Supporting Human Resource Policies in Place ...... 8 Identify Major Constituencies and Assure Value to Each ...... 9 Plan for Effective Change Management ...... 10

Phase 2: Implementation - Building the Skills-Based Management Program ...... 11 Establish a Skills Advisory Team ...... 11 Build Effective Skills Architecture ...... 12 Transfer Knowledge – Skills Management Enablement ...... 14 Incorporate Behavioral Competencies ...... 14 Attention to Detail – Attend to Small Groups with Unique Skill Sets ...... 15 Don’t Forget Management, Leadership, Team and Project Management Skills ...... 15

Phase 3: Deployment – Rolling the Program out to the Staff ...... 16 Establish a Realistic Skills Assessment Process ...... 16 Institutionalize the Skills Management Process ...... 17 Allow for Employee Empowerment ...... 17 Distinguish Between Skills Assessment and Performance ...... 17 Set Manager and Supervisor Accountabilities and Roles ...... 18 Align Courseware And Developmental Activities With Established Organizational Skills Models ...... 18 Capitalize on Skills Data ...... 19 Sustain and Maintain ...... 19

Summary ...... 20 About the author ...... 20 Appendix A: Skills-Based Workforce Planning Summary ...... 21 Appendix B: Project Planning ...... 23

2 SUCCESSFACTORS / WHITE PAPER BEST PRACTICES IN SKILLS-BASED MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Aging skill sets, retirement, new technologies, mergers, culture changes, budget constraints, and other factors put numerous companies at risk of talent loss and, as important, underutilization of people. Yet, many ignore the most fundamental solution to address the threat of under- qualified staff – establishing a skills-based organization. Whether competing globally or locally, an agile, properly skilled workforce will not only provide a significant return on investment, but also stimulate people to be more motivated, productive and fulfilled. And, most importantly, talent will be available to capitalize on growth opportunities. “Individual skills are In addition, it is found that a cross-trained staff is more nimble, corporate assets. In competitive, and efficient than a staff composed of specialists who total, they represent each have a single skill set. a company’s Establishing a skills-based organization is not as difficult as it may seem. In simple terms, two intellectual wealth things are needed:

directly tied to the • Talent management processes and practices that tie skills to the various elements of those bottom line. functions and link them throughout a chain from recruitment to succession planning. Superior skills are • A comprehensive skills library that reflects the proficiency and content standards of the organization. the weapons needed in the struggle to Building a skills-based organization starts by proving its value and return on investment. Skills achieve competitive identified as core to business goals are linked to positions and roles. Standards for incumbents clearly identify requirements for success. These skills standards flow throughout the organization in a advantage.” chain that includes recruitment, assessment, career development, training, performance, workforce planning, and succession planning, and assure that people understand what is required of them as they join the organization, conduct their assignments, identify career opportunities, and more.

3 SUCCESSFACTORS / WHITE PAPER BEST PRACTICES IN SKILLS-BASED MANAGEMENT

What is Skills-Based Management? Typically, Skills Management has been thought of as “skills inventories,” which have been around for decades. Ever since the first manager wanted to know the skills, abilities, talents, and other attributes of his/her employees to meet business objectives, various efforts have been made to capture this kind of information. But, then as now, collecting skills information, at least for the first time, was always easier than finding out what to do with it. The second time, of course, people lost interest because they did not gain any benefit from the first skills gathering exercise.

Skills-Based Management, on the other hand, is an approach that provides real and measurable benefits to the organization. It flows through the organization and contributes to the major constituencies of the business. That includes each individual employee, managers/supervisors, training management, human resources, and senior and line management by focusing on their specific human capital needs and obligations.

In simple terms, Skills-Based Management provides a “chain” of information based on a skills library at the core, that allows appropriate participants to make decisions about employee skills capabilities, recruitment of top performers, succession planning, resource management, career development, learning management, curriculum design, performance management and, most importantly, the organization’s ability to meet business goals. All of these processes are tied together to assure that the right skills exist in the organization and are maximized at every step of the way.

The Big Picture

Resource Management Right People Right Projects

Skills Workforce Management Planning Right People Skills Gap Right Jobs Analyses

Skills Library

Succession Training & Planning Development Plans for Identified the Future Training Needs

Career Development Career Paths

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Phases of Building a Skills-Based Organization There are three “phases” through which an organization must travel before reaching full benefit from a Skills-Based Management Program. They are skills identification, skills acquisition and skills application. Skills Management deals with skills identification and skills acquisition. Performance Management addresses skills application in the form of how people apply their skills on the job through their assignments, objectives and tasks.

Skills identification is established by the creation of skills content and proficiency standards for job titles, and followed by skills “assessment” by the individual and manager. Skills acquisition is based on the establishment of development plans and the enrichment of those skills which must be developed. Skills application is “rated” in terms of accomplishment and in the context of performance.

Skills Skills Skills Identification Acquisition Application

• Employee Skills • Curriculum Design • Performance Mgmt Assessment • Career Development • Project Mgmt

Skills • Recruitment • Learning Mgmt • Resource Mgmt

Models • Succession Planning • On-the-job Training • Talent Mgmt & • Workforce Mgmt Library • Mentoring

Organizational success is based upon, among other things, having the right people in the right place at the right time. Although somewhat of a cliché, this only can happen when the “right” people are in the organization. And that starts with hiring the right people. That means having a good understanding of the skills required for open positions and making sure that people who are hired meet not only immediate requirements but have the broader set of skills for growth and development within the organization.

Succession planning is not merely a description of key positions that may have to be filled. It is the establishment of a process that recruits employees, develops their skills and abilities, and prepares them for advancement, all while retaining them to ensure a return on the organization’s training investment. Succession planning involves understanding the organization’s long-term goals and objectives, identifying the workforce’s developmental needs, and determining workforce trends and estimates.

5 SUCCESSFACTORS / WHITE PAPER BEST PRACTICES IN SKILLS-BASED MANAGEMENT

What Is A Skill? The most fundamental requirement to be defined before a skills-based program is implemented is determining what a “skill” means to your organization.

Skill vs. Competency: A skill is the ability to apply a learned function, process or tool; Behavioral/Cultural • Customer Service expertise and proficiency relating to a specific Skills shared by everyone in the • Teamwork area of knowledge that can be demonstrated, organization • Initiative measured and verified. A competency is a behavior, attitude or fitness that is exhibited Core Skills shared • Programming through action and performance; often relates by everyone in the • System Design specific job family • System Testing to a role and the way the incumbents conduct themselves in that role; the environmental conditions as influenced by people as they Tools, products & • C++ conduct their assignments. An effective other skills relating • Java to the incumbent • Project Estimating program often combines both skills and competencies to describe the requirements of a role, title or position.

In reality, a skill can be almost anything you want it to be as long as it meets the following criteria:

• Definable: A skill must be able to be expressed in a language that people can understand. If it cannot be described clearly and precisely, the ability to accurately demonstrate it on the job according to organizational requirements and individual expectations is open to interpretation. • Measurable: A skill must be able to be gauged quantitatively, or at least in some order of ranking, so proficiency standards can be assigned and assessed. • Verifiable: A skill must be able to be corroborated and confirmed in a consistent and impartial way throughout the company. Use of a common yardstick for defining and measuring skills is critical for acceptance and equity. • Trainable: Training and development solutions, including coaching and on-the-job training assignments, must be available in order for people to improve. Lack of training or development activities severely hinders a person’s ability to enrich a skill. • Demonstrable: People must be able to prove their skill on the job and demonstrate the various levels of proficiency. If a skill and/or its results cannot be observed in a working environment, it should not be considered. • Discussible: There must be sufficient material to permit a constructive dialogue between the individual and the manager. People have to be able to talk about skill development and prepare plans for improvement. Embarrassing or sensitive topics may not lend themselves to discussion. • Substantial: There must be some significance and robustness to the skill. It should not be something which can be learned in a few hours but rather something that can grow over time. • Valuable: The skill should have some value to both the individual and the organization. Aged skills that have no relevance within the company should not be part of a skills library.

The president of a unit of a major manufacturer insisted that all of his staff have a competency called “perception”. Although perception can be defined, there is no objective way to measure it or train employees to improve it. People could not figure out how to assess themselves in “perception” and essentially ignored it. In general, those kinds of “skills” degrade a skills program and must be avoided.

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Best Practices in Skills-Based Management Best Practices in Skills-Based Management is a set of refined policies, procedures, processes, techniques and methodologies that have been optimized for efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation and deployment of a Skills-Based Management program.

There are three stages in building a Skills-Based Management Program each of which requires the adherence to specific best practices. The first is Pre-Implementation where certain elements of the program are established to insure success. This includes communicating the benefits and value to participants, putting in place policies and procedures, identifying an appropriate tool, gaining commitment from key resources, establishing change management processes, designing an overall skills architecture, and other elements that ensure a secure foundation for moving forward.

The second stage is Implementation where the development of the skills architecture and other building blocks are constructed. This includes establishing the skills models and library structure, addressing title and role issues, setting skill standards, creating links to other systems, setting up reporting and assessment review relationships, and other housekeeping tasks which complete the construction of the skills program.

The third stage is Deployment where employees participate in the assessment process and skills data is utilized for the benefit of various constituencies of the organization. This includes communicating roles and responsibilities, training participants, and, most importantly, conducting the employee assessment. In addition, skills gap analyses, candidate searches, and other products of the assessment data are provided to the various stakeholders.

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Phase 1: Pre-Implementation – Before the Program Starts Secure and Maintain Senior Management Commitment Senior management commitment and sponsorship is, of course, always critical. This dedication is sustained by consistently showing a direct relationship between skills attainment and the achievement of business goals. Performance and productivity are improved, loyalty is strengthened, and resources are efficiently managed. But, senior management wants to see bottom line results. When an identifiable and measurable program is in place that demonstrates benefits and value to the organization, senior management commitment will be assured. In short, a Skills-Based Management program needs to show results.

The CIO of a large insurance company was the champion of a major skills initiative. As the program was getting started, he abruptly left the company and the program stopped because there was a void in both leadership and accountability. Senior and middle managers felt no incentive to continue the process. Fortunately, the new CIO immediately provided motivation and support, tying skills responsibilities to each manager, and the initiative was a success.

Put Supporting Human Resource Policies in Place A Skills-Based Management Program needs to be supported by human resource policies and procedures that facilitate the use of the program. Promotions, raises and other policies that focus on rewarding employees for performance need to be very clear but should not be based simply on a person’s skills assessment. Rules governing promotion in place, selection and assignments of people, mobility, and related policies must be tailored to reflect the business needs of the organization. On the other hand, these policies need to consider employee skills development. In that respect, employee growth must be integrated into policies that encourage skills development.

An important policy has to do with resource management – the selection of people for assignments. A policy must be in place that protects managers from losing people who are critical to a unit’s success. If people can be pulled from one area to another without proper consideration and consent, the resource management element of the Skills-Based Management Program can be in jeopardy.

A large financial company put a time limit of two to three years (depending on the person’s level and criticality of assignment) after which a person can be entitled to re-assignment on their own initiative and/or be eligible for selection by other managers. This improved lateral movement and career development in general.

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Identify Major Constituencies and Assure Value to Each In a typical skills program, as well as in other human capital initiatives, it is important if not critical to identify all major constituencies and assure that each receives benefits for their participation. The primary constituencies in a skills program are:

The individual employee must have incentives and accountability for completing and maintaining his/ her skills assessment data. These incentives can include opportunities for new assignments, career development and others that can be identified by appropriate human resource policies. Supervisors and managers should have a forum for discussion on skills and career development. They should also have an opportunity to draw on the right people at the right time with the right skills for assignments. In addition, supervisors and managers need a skills-based roadmap when working with people regarding training, career development, and performance.

Employee

Supervisor Training Skills Program & Manager

Human Resorces

Human resources will benefit from resource management sources that have integrity and accuracy in terms of skill capabilities. HR will also have recruitment tools in the form of skills guidelines for open positions and the ability to determine strategic recruitment needs based on organizational strengths and weaknesses resulting from gap analyses and other skills-based queries. Training management will have data to design skills-based curricula, prepare strategic training plans and queries to identify people in need of training to fill open seats on short notice. Additional incentives and benefits can be identified based on policies, programs and other cultural and procedural elements that may exist in the organization.

Senior line managers in a pharmaceutical company enthusiastically initiated a skills program that met resistance at various stages of implementation. The program began to struggle until it was discovered that the human resources department was not an early participant and they saw the program as an unauthorized incursion on to their turf. The situation was addressed by making HR a partner and the program was fully deployed.

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Plan for Effective Change Management Change Management is designed to communicate to staff members about the expectations, benefits, and responsibilities of a skills management initiative. You must recognize the possible apprehension of people regarding security, confidentiality, promotional opportunities and salary concerns. This sensitivity is critical to success and elicits the cooperation and participation of all committed staff in this effort.

Many concerns are addressed in the process itself such as in employee empowerment regarding the total ownership and protection of their personal assessments, the emphasis on training and development, divorcing skills management from performance activities, ability to flexibly build their own skills profile, constructive atmosphere of manager meetings and much more. The communication is embedded in the implementation and deployment plan, and is a constant effort to assure people of the positive nature of the overall program.

Change Management is communicated in the following ways:

• Program announcement memos from senior management (mandatory). • Clear statements of benefits to participants (mandatory). • Initial meetings with managers and key personnel. • Interviews with a functional cross-section of people and subject matter experts during the data gathering phase. • Establishment of a Skills Advisory Team to review and approve content, policies and procedures. • Adoption of organizational culture into the data in the form of familiar titles, skills, and other elements. • Training workshop attended by intact workgroups. • Deployment coaching and general support from key organizational development and skills consultants. • Clear manager role and accountabilities in the skills program. • Use of credible and proven competency models. • Proactive involvement of HR and other constituencies with a stake in the initiative. • Skills acquisition policies such as reward for skills in short supply and cross train for areas with limited depth. • Create an atmosphere for success by piloting the tools, content and process, and incorporating changes resulting from feedback and observation.

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Phase 2: Implementation - Building the Skills-Based Management Program Establish a Skills Advisory Team Employee participation in the process of relating skills to positions and roles is an important element in establishing an acceptable skills-based organization. Formation of a Skills Advisory Team composed of subject matter experts and other representatives of the various functional areas not only helps establish realistic skill groups but also sends a message that employees have influenced both content and process.

Among the responsibilities of the Skills Advisory Team are:

• Champion and take ownership of the Skills Management Process. • Set policy and standards regarding the organization’s skills management initiatives. • Address and resolve implementation and functionality issues. • Set process options and approaches, as well as roles and responsibilities. • Review and approve organizational data such as job titles, skills, proficiency levels and skill glossary definitions. • Assure consistent implementation and deployment throughout the organization. • Meet periodically to review and recommend changes in approach and content.

Depending upon the scope of deployment, the Skills Advisory Team may set policy and direction only. “Sub” or Unit Skills Advisory Teams representing each major functional area will be responsible for more detailed data review.

At the policy level, the Skills Advisory Team should be composed of knowledgeable managers and key individuals representing a cross-section of functional units. They should have enough authority to make decisions regarding policy and issues.

One large insurance company tasked their Leadership Council with policy and process oversight responsibility. This provided significant credibility and weight behind the skills program since the council was composed of many of the senior managers in the company.

At the functional level, unit level Skills Advisory Team(s) should be composed of managers and key individuals with detailed knowledge of skills and tasks within their function. They should have enough authority to make decisions regarding skills and proficiency standards. They may be asked to develop or modify skills definitions. Importantly, they have the experience and knowledge to assure integrity and accuracy of skills content.

Employee participation in the process of relating skills to positions and roles is an important element in establishing an acceptable skills-based organization. Formation of a skills advisory team composed of subject matter experts and other representatives of the various functional areas not only helps establish realistic skill groups but also sends a message that employees have influenced both content and process.

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Build Effective Skills Architecture A robust skills architecture in the form of a skills library, the key to building a thriving skills-based organization, is a template that contains the kinds of skills that typical incumbents should be able to successfully demonstrate on the job. They are usually prepared as a group of functionally-related jobs called a job family. In a sense, they can be called a skills-based job description.

Skills modeling is used to develop the organizational skills architecture. Care must be taken that the process does not become an end in itself. Jobs and roles can be over-engineered and the process can become cumbersome generating excessive numbers of skills that confuse and overstate requirements. There are numerous ways to build skills models. Many companies conduct a bottom up approach by identifying specific skills and knowledge and end up with a product that is comprehensive but very unwieldy in terms of numbers of skills and their classification. And, the focus is often the obvious – knowledge of tools, products, applications, and procedures.

A top down approach is a three step or three tiered process that first identifies the most common skills and knowledge that are required by everyone in the organization. As a rule, the top tier contains behavioral and cultural competencies shared by everyone. The second step is identifying the skills that are shared only by those in a specific function or job family. Finally, the precise skills that apply to the employee are added by the individual to build his/her skills profile. Normally, those are tools, products and other assignment-oriented areas of knowledge that vary considerably from person to person.

Human Resources Information Technology Category Healthcare

Benefits Management Applications Development Skill Group/ Electrical Engineering Job Family Pediatric Nursing

Systems Analysis Skills, Competencies, Java Certifications, Tools, Certified Neuroscience RN Products Financial Analysis 1- Training / Light Experience 2- Moderate Proficiency Proficiency Levels 3- Mastery & Skill Descriptions 4- Company Expert 5- Industry Expert

The most effective way is to start with a set of proven skills models that reflect industry standards. This is followed by a refinement and tailoring process that expresses the culture, technology and business goals of the company.

Effective job modeling looks at the core skills required for a series of functionally related positions called a job family. Those mainstream skills, shared by everyone in that job family, become the building block for each incumbent to assemble a skills profile – or, perhaps, a skills-based resume for internal use. The flexibility for employees to add to their skills profiles reduces the need for extensive numbers of jobs to be modeled. It is important to note that a skills library contains functionally-oriented skills groups that are not necessarily related such as purchasing and manufacturing. However, with a business function, there are series of related skill groups from which a participating employee can select skills that can be added to their core job family skill set.

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A good example of this approach is in the Information Technology area. An application development programmer can code and design programs and systems using a wide range of platforms such as mainframe, web, GIS, AS/400, Oracle, wireless, imaging and much more. The common theme here is application development. All of the jobs in the applications job family share programming, system design and system analysis among other mutual skills. A flexible job model allows each person build on the common skills and select sets of skills and tools that are specific to their unique assignments and development. Instead of having potentially dozens of job models for each type of programmer, you now have just one.

Application Development Shared Skills

Select Web Select Project Select Development Development Skills Management Skills Products & Tools

It is important to select skills that shape and influence specific results. This not only builds a road map for people to understand what is expected of them, it also provides a guideline for measuring assignment, team and unit outcomes.

A major payroll company decided to make all skills available to all people. Instead of focusing on areas of expertise, people were presented with so many skills to select that the average skills profile contained over 900 skills. People felt they had to show at least minimum proficiency in most of the skills. Poor skills modeling design along with inadequate instructions resulted in a useless set of data that benefited no one. The program was eventually dropped.

The advantages of the three tiered skills model approach are as follows:

• Surpasses industry standards • Provides significant flexibility • Assures skills data integrity • Immune to technology changes • Facilitates addition of development skills • Facilitates core skills migration • Sets standards for incumbents • Permits rational job skills comparisons • Requires limited maintenance • Reduces the number and type of skills groups required • Reduces the number and type of job titles required

It is important to select skills that shape and influence specific results and send a clear message regarding expectations. This not only builds a road map for people to understand what skills they need to be successful in their jobs, it also provides a guideline for measuring assignment, team and unit outcomes.

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A Word About Proficiency Levels Finally, an effective skills architecture requires a method to determine proficiency. A skill must be able to be measured and verified. This is typically done on the job by demonstration. (Best Practice: skills are assessed within the context of training and development and not performance; that is the function of the performance appraisal. If employees believe that promotion and/or raises are based on proficiency assessment, they often inflate their assessment and limit their opportunity for training while also raising the level of performance expectation.)

Associated with each skill is a skills description recommended on a scale from 1 to 5. (Any scale can be used.) A skill description can be unique or generic as long as it is consistent throughout the company. This “common benchmark” assures that everyone assessing their skill is using the same yardstick. This assures that skills data, whether used for skills gap analyses, workforce planning or talent searches, is reliable, rational, and useful.

Transfer Knowledge – Skills Management Enablement Since a skills management program in general and a skills library in particular evolve over time as skills content, technology, roles and other components change, it is imperative that the ability to update and maintain skills models be retained in the company. Part of the implementation process is the transfer of knowledge of job modeling to company representatives. It is the responsibility of the skills management professional, especially if he/she is an outside consultant, to teach as well as to implement. Company representatives, typically the systems administrator and project manager, must work hand in hand with the skills management subject matter expert.

Incorporate Behavioral Competencies A competency is a behavior that reflects aptitude in a non-technical area that can affect work performance and relationships. Competencies such as teamwork and client service send important messages to staff members. “High value” behavioral competencies that offer the greatest return must be identified. These shared competencies should be a part of everyone’s skills profile. It is best to select a critical few, no more that 5 or 6, since a large number of competencies dilute their importance and may send mixed messages. Avoid competencies such as demeanor, attitude and others that are subjective at best and can be negative and counter-productive at worst. Many competencies are reflected in work assignments and should be addressed in a performance context with discrete examples of how a particular competency contributed to the success or failure of a task.

A case in point is from a large insurance company that assigned 24 behavioral competencies to all employees, such as “adheres to their vice president’s directives” and “displays sound judgment in daily activities”, with an additional 24 for managers and supervisors. Objectivity was almost impossible and by the time people got to their functional and technical skills – the ones that they knew well and cared about the most – they lost focus. The resulting integrity and accuracy of the skills data was diminished in value regarding resource management, training planning, and other uses.

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Attention to Detail – Attend to Small Groups with Unique Skill Sets Every organization has pockets of people with unique skills that don’t always fall into traditional or common functional areas. Often they represent business functions that have a bigger corporate profile and influence than their numbers may seem to suggest. Servicing them by assuring that their skill groups are included in the overall skills initiative will pay dividends in the long run in terms of participation and support.

A major insurance company was implementing a skills-based resource management program for their large Information Technology department. Several small groups were out of the technology mainstream in terms of their skill sets. They were initially overlooked and complained to senior management of their exclusion from the process. It turns out that they reported directly to the CIO and performed critical technology-based marketing services to the company’s customers.

Don’t Forget Management, Leadership, Team and Project Management Skills “Management” skills form a critical part of any organization and its success rests on the grooming of new supervisors and leaders. The management cadre of any company makes it run smoothly and efficiently. It is important to introduce staff to management skills early in their careers. Management and leadership skills should not only be part of a manager’s skills profile, as seen in the example below, they should be linked to succession planning and executive development strategies. Leadership The company’s skills structure needs Building to have management skills as part of Conflict and functional (line) management, project Mgt Managing Teams management, team leadership and other areas. Also, the determination needs to be made where in the Staff Management hierarchy management skills begin Resource Planing and to replace and/or augment functional Mgt Organizing and technical skills as part of an incumbent’s job responsibilities. Managing Coaching Change & Counseling

In a telecommunications company, high turnover, employee dissatisfaction and frequent project failure was becoming evident. Investigation showed that people became accountable for management skills at the moment they were promoted to managers. By introducing management skills and appropriate training early as part of a skills initiative to people who displayed management potential as individual contributors or technical team leaders, those negatives began to change in a positive way.

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Phase 3: Deployment – Rolling the Program out to the Staff Establish a Realistic Skills Assessment Process The skills assessment process is where all the elements of a skills-based management program come together. The creation of a skills framework, the development of appropriate policies, the change management and communication process, the resource management process, and all of the by-products of the program such as queries, gap analyses, training planning, etc. are dependent upon the success of the skills assessment process. This is where the integrity of skills data is set and verified.

Skills data used for Employee Manager - Gap Analysis Employee talent searches, Skills Self- Supervisor & Discussion Training & strategic training Assessment Assessment Point Development plans, recruitment, workforce planning

The process should be simple and flexible. A recommended process is:

1. A tool generates a skills profile containing core and common skills shared by everyone in that person’s job family. 2. An individual builds upon that skills profile by adding his/her unique skills from lists available in the skills framework. 3. The individual assesses the proficiency levels for each skill using a common yardstick such as scaled skills proficiency definitions. 4. When completed, the individual notifies the Assessor (supervisor, manager, mentor, or coach) that the self-assessment is complete. 5. The Assessor will then assess the individual skills separately. 6. When completed, an Individual Skills Gap Analysis is produced that shows the differences in the assessments. 7. A meeting to discuss differences as well as development needs is held and an agreement on proficiency levels is established. 8. The skills and proficiency levels used in the various parts of the skills management process.

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Institutionalize the Skills Management Process Once deployment is attained, the skills process needs to be institutionalized. That means making it part of the human resource requirements of the organization where, at a minimum, each person is expected to complete a skills profile assessment. This typically occurs on an annual basis or when a person’s position changes through transfer, promotion, new assignments and, perhaps, new management. Institutionalization of skills management makes the process part of the fabric of the organization where employees anticipate and expect that a skills assessment will be completed on a regular basis.

Allow for Employee Empowerment Employee empowerment during the self-assessment process is another critical part. This means that a person’s selection of a level of skills proficiency as well as the addition of skills needed for development are protected. That is not to say that there should not be checks and balances by a supervisor, manager, mentor or coach. A “reality check” adds to the dialogue between the employee and manager, and helps point out areas for improvement and career development all of which should take place in a constructive context.

Failure was averted in one company when it became apparent that employees resisted the skills process and developed an obvious negative attitude. Investigation showed that whatever assessment the managers made overrode those of their staff. Fortunately, this was discovered after a pilot program and the process was changed. The new process allowed for the employee and manager to “agree to disagree” regarding proficiency levels.

Distinguish Between Skills Assessment and Performance It is important to understand the relationship between Skills Assessments and Performance Appraisals. A skills assessment is typically within the framework of training and development while a performance appraisal is in the context of delivery of objectives. Although skills should be discussed within the context of performance objectives, they are only measured in terms of how the contributed to the accomplishment of those objectives – not how the skills relate to a person’s job knowledge and the need for development.

Typically, the closest link between skills assessment and performance objectives is in the preparation of a development plan as a by-product of the performance appraisal. The most effective way to develop that link is to identify the specific skills associated with each objective. The skills that are identified should be part of the person’s skills profile associated with his/her role or position. If there are skills required for an assignment but are not part of the person’s skills profile, they need to be added and a proactive development plan should be prepared. This assures that a person’s assignment objectives do not contain skills that are out of the scope of his/her skills expectations.

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A major petroleum company decided to implement a skills assessment. Based on the employee total score by adding up the assessed proficiencies, people would be promoted or given raises. Needless to say, many participants inflated their scores whenever they could which frequently resulted in conflicts with their managers and supervisors. They ended up with meaningless skills profiles and development plans. A change in that policy was made where skills profiles and assessments were only used for training purposes.

Set Manager and Supervisor Accountabilities and Roles One of the most important factors in establishing a SBM organization is defining the role of managers and supervisors. In the vast majority of cases, manages are not trained properly in staff development including the purpose and use of skills programs. Not only should they receive training in staff development, policies and programs need to be in place to support them. Most importantly, managers and supervisors need to have clear accountability for staff development as a measurable performance objective.

One point that needs to be emphasized to managers is that a self-assessment is not part of the performance appraisal process. It is totally divorced from skills management with assessment taking place at a time different from the performance appraisal. This way, people are not focusing on promotion, raises and other elements typically associated with performance appraisals. (If employees think that their assessment is going to affect them in that way, they normally inflate their self-assessments which, in turn, degrade the integrity of skills data for resource management purposes.) However, the skills assessment process can act as an “early warning device” where potential problems linked to specific skills can be proactively and constructively addressed through training and development.

In one manufacturing company, the deployed skills program was not receiving the attention and support from managers and supervisors. Although they were encouraging verbally, they did not invest the time and effort needed. There was a complete turnaround when every manager was given a Performance Objective that required them to measure staff development and skills assessment.

Align Courseware And Developmental Activities With Established Organizational Skills Models An advantage of identifying the skills that an organization needs to meet its business goals is that an appropriate and effective training program can be designed that incorporates only those areas which contribute to organizational success. Typically, requests for training cover a wide area that often do not align with strategic goals. Eliminating training where aging or inappropriate skills are taught permits the use of those training dollars for more pertinent education. Therefore, designing a curriculum based on established organizational skills models assures a high degree of accuracy in the training that is available to employees.

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Once you have a skills and competency model defined for any part of the organization, it now becomes very easy to align and focus training and development programs to match that model. Some organizations create certification programs and other mastery programs which are designed to develop “level 5” skills and competencies. Others build learning tracks which correspond to skills families (i.e., project management certification program, database management program). Other training programs may be required and develop skills which are considered mandatory (i.e., food safety).

The skills and competency model helps the training organization stay aligned, focused, and prioritized. It helps avoid purchasing and developing “too many” training programs for the organization. In addition, it avoids training investment in aging skills and those technologies that are being phased out of the company. Finally, even more importantly, it helps the training manager understand the impact of their investments by identifying how skills gaps are closed as training programs are adopted.

Capitalize on Skills Data A consequence of a skills assessment process is skills data that, if used properly, contributes to business planning and human capital management within the organization. Resource management – finding the right people with the right skills for the right job – is a particular beneficiary of the process. A gap analysis shows the difference among an employee’s skills assessment, the standard proficiency expectation for the skill, and the assessment of a manager, mentor or coach. This contributes to employee training, developmental and career planning. A team, unit or enterprise-wide gap analysis depicts strengths and weakness, and provides a road map for tactical and strategic skills improvement, as well as for the preparation of strategic training and recruitment requirements.

Skills data is of particular value when applied to Workforce Management, the ability to develop and maintain a skills-based, systematic process for identifying the human resources required to meet organizational goals and developing strategies to meet those requirements. Accurate employee skills data is used as input for Workforce Supply Analysis, the evaluation of current workforce resources, and Workforce Demand Analysis, evaluating the future workforce needs of the company – especially if an effective forecasting capability is in place as part of a skills tool.

Sustain and Maintain Tools, products, applications, technology, methodologies and processes change. The introduction of these new knowledge areas requires regular enhancements to the organization’s skills library and an update to employee skills profiles. If skills content ages and employee support wanes, the likelihood of a skills program to continue to provide benefit will diminish. It is imperative that both content and participation be the accountability of an on-going project team, and that the value and benefits be communicated on a frequent basis throughout the company.

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Summary Companies today are faced with fierce domestic and global competition. In order to compete effectively, superior individual and organizational skills must be in place and an agile and appropriate workforce must be available. With loyalty becoming less of a factor in keeping skilled employees in the company and competition for the most qualified people becoming more and more intense, keeping people challenged by providing new skills and opportunities is a critical aspect for their retention. By reengineering jobs, identifying aging, duplicate and excessive skills, conducting core skills migrations from aging skills sets to newer ones, and other elements of a Skills-Based Organization, your company will be positioned to succeed.

About the author: Steven Venokur is a founder and managing partner of People Sciences, Inc. He is a leading international talent management strategist, and has developed software tools, skills libraries and methodologies for 30 years, helping companies identify, assess, track and manage their skills and competencies to maximize the impact of their talent and success.

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Appendix A Skills-Based Workforce Planning Summary Workforce Planning is the systematic identification and analysis of what an organization is going to need in terms of the size, type, and quality of workforce to achieve its objectives. It determines what mix of experience, knowledge, and skills is required and implements steps to get the right number of right people in the right place at the right time.

2 Forest 1 needs Workforce 3 profiling/ Analyse analysis gaps Workforce capability and planning cycle 6 4 Monitor Develop and strategies evaluate 5 Implement strategies

Skills-Based Workforce Planning uses employee skills as a basis for: • identifying current organizational capabilities (supply) • forecasting future requirements (demand)

The steps to achieving Skills-Based Workforce Planning are: 1. Evaluate the strategic business plan and identify the priorities and core businesses that are required to implement those strategies. • Prepare “what if” scenarios to establish models of the future company. • Identify trends that may impact jobs. 2. Starting with the strategic business functions, identify the high density and mission-critical job families in the organization. (A job family is a series of functionally-related job roles or titles tied together by a common set of skills.) • Will the business be changing in the next 2 to 5 years? • If so, what new job families/skills will be required? 3. Establish skills standards for those job families using the skill groups in the SkillsPlex® Skills Library as models and tailoring each job family to reflect the unique skills of the company. Skills standards should incorporate both the current skill requirements and the forecasted skill needs of each job family. Job family standards are not only a list of important skills but also the proficiency levels on a scale from 1 (training or light experience) to 5 (industry expert) expected for a typical incumbent based on each role. • What skills are needed today for incumbents to be successful? • Will this job family be needed in the future? If so, how is the job family/business function expected to change and what new skills will be needed?

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4. Conduct an employee assessment process using skills profiles from the company’s completed skills library to determine the individual and organizational skills strengths and weaknesses. Typically, employee self-assessment is followed by the assessment of a manager, supervisor or coach. • Individual employee participation in workforce planning is geared to career development. • Entire job families contribute more effectively to strategic workforce planning. 5. Assign “loss risk” factor for each employee – the impact on the business function due to their loss through termination, retirement, sickness or other factors – taking into consideration their unique knowledge or skill, lack of backup, or other reasons. In other words, what would be the impact on the company if this person no longer is working? This is coupled with the business criticality factor to determine the overall loss risk value. 6. Several gap analyses are reported: • an employee skills assessment compared to the assessor’s assessment • an employee skills assessment compared to the standard proficiency for that person’s role • current unit and enterprise-wide gap analyses comparing total skill proficiencies to what is required today • current unit and enterprise-wide gap analyses comparing total skill proficiencies to what is required in the future • key talent summaries showing depth of talent and potential risk from loss. For example, if you have only one person who has knowledge of a business critical application or process, there is a high risk of business failure in that area if that person leaves or is unable to perform his/her assignments. The risk talent factor, which can be calculated by unit as well as enterprise-wide, should approach zero as a goal. 7. Conduct a critical analysis of the impact of turnover, retirement, aging skill sets, and other factors that impact the workforce. 8. Review key talent factors where there is organizational risk due to little or no bench strength if there is a loss of highly skilled employees. 9. Identify the methods to address workforce shortages through training, contract hires, outsourcing, and recruitment. 10. Identify misaligned and aging skills. 11. Consider Succession Planning needs, the process designed to ensure the continued effective performance of the organization by making provision for the development and replacement of key people over time. 12. Assess external supply. 13. Address termination requirements. 14. Incorporate career development activities as a workforce solution to improve individual and organizational skills, performance, and productivity. 15. Align reward/compensation programs to preserve essential talent. 16. Implement a workforce plan and monitor results.

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Appendix B Project Planning The purpose of a project plan is to prepare a roadmap for the establishment of a skills management program. This normally includes creating industry-standard job families containing job titles that reflect functional responsibilities and career-oriented, skills-based hierarchical relationships, as well as policies and procedures for implementation.

There are typically four phases to a project plan, but circumstances and considerations such as culture, established practices, and other factors can easily alter the plan.

A. Project Initiation 1. Identify Issues and State Objectives. Identify issues to assure that they are addressed throughout the Skills Assessment Program. State objectives and deliverables. 2. Prepare Announcement and Announce Program. Select program name. Prepare an announcement to communicate the program. Make sure it is from the senior manager and is supported by management commitment. Sample announcements and outlines, indicating benefits, are available. Establish continuing avenues of communication. 3. Collect and Review Materials. Collect organization charts, performance appraisal sample, job descriptions, employee handbook, policies manual, relevant skills data, training catalog, training history records, and other relevant materials. Review materials. 4. Identify Participating Units. 5. Interview Appropriate Unit Heads and Managers. Short interviews with unit heads and selected managers are suggested for two purposes: The first is to communicate to them about the purpose of the program and the second is to determine their expectations, support and commitment, as well as identifying issues. 6. Establish Skills Advisory Team. Committees of members of the staff provide an opportunity for their buy-in and feedback on jobs and skills and other elements of the program. 7. Present Program to Staff. 8. Establish Focus Groups. 9. Senior Management Checkpoint.

B. Data Gathering

1. Identify Job Families and Skill Clusters. Job families form the basis for skills and career management. Job families can be traditional hierarchical, work teams, customer-oriented and other types. Organize current, known job families. Identify new and unique job families. 2. Establish and Confirm Job Titles within each Job Family. Review current job relationship charts for each job family. 3. Interview Cross-section of Incumbents and/or Subject Matter Experts (SME). Interview a cross- section of employees to determine the skills they think a typical incumbent needs to be successful on the job and acquire perspective on issues and solutions. Interviews are normally 15 to 20 minutes. Conduct SME Focus Group Meetings to gather job content and skills regarding areas of expertise. 4. Senior Management Checkpoint.

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C. Refine Model & Build Skill Groups

1. Refine Core Job Families and Skills Clusters using SkillsPlex® Skills Models. Skills by job titles are developed for each job family. Skill clusters reflect series of functional specialties and can be attached to job family core skills to permit employees to build customized, personal skills profiles. Design and recommend title changes or additions including merging and renaming. CRITICAL POINT: Secure title approvals from Human Resources and Compensation . Construct title relationships charts (career-oriented, hierarchical relationships) for each job family. 2. Design and Develop Job Families and Clusters that are Unique to the Company. 3. Present Skills Data to Skills Advisory Team. 4. Assign Skills Proficiency Standards. After Job Family Skills Sets and Job Clusters are completed, then reviewed, modified and approved by the SAT, skills standards must be assigned to each skill. Skills proficiency standards reflect the level of competency which a typical incumbent is expected to demonstrate on the job. They are based on industry standards and tailored to meet organizational norms and cultural expectations. Skills are supported by glossary definitions or generic defaults. 5. Modify Skills Glossaries, if needed. SkillsPlex provides a skills glossary for many common terms. They can be modified at any time and new ones can be added. There should be a glossary for all core skills in job families. 6. Present Final Skills Data to Skills Advisory Team. Present final jobs data to SAT for review and approval.

D. Deployment 1. Develop/Review appropriate Process, Policies and Procedures. Program policies must be consistent with other Human Resources policies and procedures. Policies may include promotion, mobility, compensation, training/development, career and performance policies and procedures. An integrated process tying all elements and components of the program must be established.

2. Prepare Workshop and Training. 3. Populate the Skills Database. Enter completed data into the skills management tool. Job families can be constructed online or, if offline, skills data would have to be entered into the tool. 4. Conduct Pilot and Refine Data and Process. A pilot program should be conducted to assure the process works smoothly. Employees will enter their data to build their personal skills profile. 5. Senior Management Checkpoint. 6. Begin Full Deployment.

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