skills repository: how to create it?

The creation of a repository of skills is one of the mandatory steps of the Jobs & Skills Management.

58% of them have built this matrix according to a myRHline study of 140 companies. What other information should you keep in mind?

• The larger the company, the more this tool is implemented.
• Only 16% say that this skills library is up to date.

Why this low use? Two reasons stand out:

1. The tree structure has not been integrated into the daily processes
2. Managers were either not consulted or do not use the data included in this nomenclature.

Therefore, how do you create a repository of skills that will win over the greatest number of people?

What are the elements of a repository of skills ?

This tool of the Jobs & Skills Management allows to describe precisely what is expected from the exercise of a profession, it is composed of 3 dimensions:

• The perimeter to which the skills are attached: the index of all the trades.
• The catalog of this knowledge according to their typologies: the categories of skills.
• The expected level of each skill: the level of attainment, which will be used in particular for development and mobility.

Our recommendations on the categorization of qualifications can be found on our"Categories" pageat skills.

Once all employees and managers have estimated their levels, the repository becomes the basis for the mapping of skills.

What are the obstacles to creating a repository of skills ?

Let's be transparent: if this tool has not become more democratic, it is because there are many reasons not to initiate the process:

1. Barrier number 1: "Our businesses are evolving too fast, we can't update it efficiently".
2. Barrier number 2: "Each entity does its own work, we don't have a common nomenclature".
3. Brake number 3: "Our current information system is not flexible enough but we can't change it."
4. Barrier number 4: "It's too much work for too little results."
5. Brake number 5: "If managers only used a quarter of what we produce for them ...."

All these obstacles legitimize a form of inertia but we must also testify to the benefits of companies that have initiated this approach with a complete matrix:

• Natixis. The French structure has increased internal mobility by 60% from the repository in less than a year. A successful bet in a context of talent shortage, especially since the cost of an external recruitment is on average 20K€ and its failure... 50K€
• Sage. In a context of transformation of its "On-Premise" software activity to Software as a Service, the French structure managed to develop 250 people initially before expanding to a larger scope.

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How can we distinguish between the position, the job and the trade in the reference system?

Upstream of the skill library, it is a question of defining the index of occupations. A certain form of freedom can be used in the level of association of the qualifications with the individuals who mobilize them, it is nevertheless a question of agreeing during its elaboration. 

Here's how not to confuse the concepts of "position" and "job":

• The position: it refers to an individual and therefore defines a work situation specific to a single person. This position is visible on the salary slip, there are as many positions as there are employees in a company.
• The Job: It is defined by a set of similar positions by their common purposes and activities. Consequently, a job groups together positions that require similar skills .
• The business line: unlike the job, the business line cuts across several internal organizations or business units. Technical mastery and similar purposes make it possible to group together benchmark jobs into a single profession.

Once this distinction has been made, you can build your foundation based on the three levers we will now develop.

What are the steps to create a repository of skills ?

Step 1: Define Objectives

Depending on the context, the company's skills approach may or may not benefit from the animation of its repository within an HRIS. Our experience highlights several objectives, which we share with you:

• Respond to a transformation that requires a very rapid evolution of your business. 
• Prepare for negotiations Strategic Workforce Planning which take place every 3 years and require the structuring of a management plan 
• Consolidate the recruitment strategy in the face of shortages of skills 
• Empower employees and managers in their development of skills and career management with an intuitive and sustainable tool. 
• Facilitate internal mobility through the implementation of an internal Talent Marketplace.

Step 2: Establish data governance

Your skills management solution is fed by the various HR actions (annual interviews, training, ...), yet the adaptation of your Strategic Workforce Planning tool also requires the creation of a team that pilots the updating and anticipation of skills.

To learn more about the constitution and functioning of this team we have dedicated a complete page to the Governance of skills.

Step 3: Collect the skills repository 

You probably have skills expressed within a directory or excel file, if it has not been updated three modes of collection of skills are possible:

Step 4: Describe the expected level for each skill

The idea is to guide each employee in their self-assessment with a meaningful scale. Here is one of the options:

• Level 1 → Beginner
• Level 2 → Partially autonomous
• Level 3 → Autonomy
• Level 4 → Able to train other employees.

Step 5: Prioritize the importance of skills 

The importance of the skills is undoubtedly not the same and it is possible to put forward the skills of the future for example thanks to a weighting.

• Importance 1 → The essential prerequisites for accessing the position
• Importance 2 → The skills important to perform
• Importance 3 → The "nice to haves" that form the high potential detection frame.

Step 6: Involve your employees

To make your repository come alive you need to evaluate your employees. The main difference between Neobrain and other solutions for managing skills is that it takes motivation into account. On the one hand, it reinforces the knowledge of the employees and on the other hand, it contributes to 88% of active users on our platform.

To start your process, we offer you a free initial audit.

Step 7: Make your repositories reliable 

Self-assessment is not enough to manage your skills daily. A talent management tool must allow all the modules to communicate to reinforce the reliability of the assessments: modules for annual interviews, performance reviews, training, etc.

The main reservation of HR teams is often doubt about the quality of the data. That's why we've put together a guide to get as close as possible to this: check out our page "The 5 best practices to make your repositories reliable" at skills. 

Many people are involved in the creation of this matrix. Recruiters and mobility advisors use the jobs and skills defined in their daily work. Similarly, the HR development team's training catalogs should be linked to the skills data from the repository for full consistency. Our final recommendation concerns the methodology used to ensure optimal adoption.