Every HRD has already been confronted with the difficulties of managing skills. As a central and strategic issue in human resources management, it is essential to look into the construction of an efficient and agile tool: the skills repository.
Where to start? How to make it an effective strategic management tool? We present all the steps to successfully build your repository.
The skills directory: how to get started?
If your company does not have a career management tool, or if you wish to improve your HR policy, the Strategic Workforce PlanningIf your company does not have a career management tool, or if you want to improve your HR career management policy, the repository will be your basic tool. A list of skills allows you to analyze your needs and to take a step back from what already exists.
You will be able to think ahead, anticipating the future skills that will be necessary for the development of your company.
To start your thinking, rely on external resources: starting from a blank sheet of paper can be discouraging and uncertain. Cristel Guillain, Head of Talent at Natixis, shares her experience with you. Read this success story and the video.
Build on existing content
Several contents are at your disposal:
- The ROME : the operational directory of jobs and professions, built by Pôle Emploi, is a valuable source: based on the jobs existing within your company, you will find job descriptions and the associated skills . This will save you invaluable time when building your reference system at skills.
- Job observatories : within the branches, the observatories are in charge of carrying out studies and analyses of jobs and providing companies with avenues for reflection. Do not hesitate to visit their website: you will find reference documents for skills specific to your sector of activity.
- The OPCO The operators of skills provide job descriptions and lists of skills . Do not hesitate to contact your branch OPCO.
Take a serious look at these databases that will save you time and quality in building your repository of skills.
However, don’t be tempted by a simple copy and paste: adapt these sources to the realities of your company in order to map the skills available.
How long does it take to do a mapping of skills ?
Depending on the degree of precision and the bases you will use, the time required to carry out a mapping is between 2 hours and 1/2 day per trade. This time can be greatly reduced. From the job titles, Neobrain generates a set of 12 skills that our customers can then refine according to their specific needs.
The Directory: the foundation for managing skills.
You have invested time in building your first Strategic Workforce Planning. Before deploying it, we advise you to check its consistency.
How to check the consistency of a skills directory?
The consistency of the information contained in the directory consists of checking several points, here are some examples:
- Is the name of a skill duplicated due to a formatting error (capitalization, spaces etc.)?
- Do all employees have an assigned manager?
- Do managers really exist as employees?
- Are all employees attached to a job?
How to use the catalog created in your HR management processes?
- Mapping the available skills allows you to identify the skills needed at a given moment but also in the long term: what are the skills to develop? Which ones will be necessary to face the evolution of the professions? Your skills repository is at the heart of your development policy. Strategic Workforce Planning.
- Take your place in the war for talent: your list of skills can serve as a basis for a competitive benchmark : what are your competitors’ practices in terms of Strategic Workforce Planning ? Use your thinking to identify the key skills in your industry.
- Dynamic talent management: thanks to this inventory, you will be able to identify a pool of potential within your organization, and launch an effective internal mobility policy: why seek to recruit externally, when your employees have valuable but sometimes unidentified skills ? Communicate your repository to your managers: they will realize that internal resources are a lever for development.
- A solid training policy: eventually, you will be able to link your repository to your training catalog: there are now many levers for increasing your training skills that we detail in our page“the new opportunities for increasing your training skills“.
How do you keep a skills directory alive?
To keep your directory alive and running, we recommend 2 activities: internal updating and external data sourcing.
Updating the directory
A static directory is doomed to failure. It is imperative to update it (at least once a year) based on several sources: feedback from your employees, changes in your corporate strategy…be reactive and attentive to internal developments. Should the repository be updated by modifying certain skills or adding others? Use reliable tools to avoid transforming your repository into a simple inventory of duplicate skills.
Our page on AI and its ability to improve the consistency of the mapping of skills will give you some tips: Collaborator Management Strategy.
External data sourcing
Thanks to the studies of the branch observatories, set up a strategic watch. What are the future key skills you need to have? What are your competitors’ practices? For this, you can use a tool like Neobrain, which enriches your repository by detecting the appearance of new skills.
Our last recommendation concerns the organization of your approach skills. We have observed, while working alongside many consulting firms, that it is imperative to formalize a team to govern these skills : we detail this team in the page“Governance of skills“.
