Skills inventory

What is a skills inventory?

A skills inventory is a tool that HR professionals or employers can use to identify and document the skills available across their entire organization by learning about current employees’ talents, education, and experiences.

What are the organizational benefits of keeping a skills inventory?

Knowing which employees are proficient in specific skills helps employers better assign the right person to the right task. By creating a skills inventory, employers may uncover hidden talents of employees that may not have been required for their original role. Learning about their full range of talents allows employers to boost employee engagement by offering job versatility. A skills inventory also helps employers understand skill gaps, which can be helpful for planning training or recruitment efforts. Another benefit of a skills inventory is that it helps identify high-potential employees who can be further developed for succession planning and to fill critical vacancies. Skills inventories can also be used for professional development purposes in the form of career mapping, where employers can outline what skills are needed for employees to attain certain roles or promotions, allowing them to develop clear professional development goals.

Do skills inventories benefit employees?

Yes. Employees are more engaged when organizations invest in their future and take steps to develop their skills. Because of this, using a skills inventory for career mapping and succession planning improves employee retention. Skills inventories also enable organizations to align employees with tasks they will be successful at, improving engagement.

Resources:

• Skills Inventory and Analysis Form
• Webinar: Building Resilient and Versatile Teams to Weather Any Workplace Shortage