What is a Human Resources Skill Matrix?

What if this is your first time working with human resources data? Naturally, your goal is for the endeavor to be
a success. How can you get started fast and complete on time with the necessary people and abilities in place?
Your closest buddy is the skill matrix or competence matrix.
A competence matrix, or a skills matrix, is a way to map the abilities needed and desired for a project or team.
These talents and skills are represented graphically in a grid. For a data-driven HR professional, this is a must-
have tool.

When a skills matrix is finished, it shows the abilities needed, the expertise that is already in the team, and the
skills that need to be added. It is the gap between knowledge and ability.

What is the purpose of a skills matrix?

Now that we've covered the basics let's move on towards the more practical parts. To what purpose is a
competence matrix being put to use? Generally speaking, there are two purposes.

Firstly, a competence matrix is a valuable tool for determining what talents are needed for a task or team. If you
want to use a skills matrix effectively, you need to know what talents are required to perform the job or project.

This activity aids in the identification of the primary responsibilities of the group and the requisite knowledge,
skills, and abilities needed to carry out those responsibilities.

It is also helpful to know what the team's strengths and weaknesses are. After determining the talents needed for
the project, it is time to look at the team's skills.

Each team member should be assessed for their talents in the following areas: business acumen, IT skills; data
analytic capabilities; and reporting capabilities.

If specific expertise is lacking, you may quickly add a new team member who has the necessary qualifications.
To secure an excellent result, do this before the job even begins. In most cases, it's a sign of a failed project if
you need to conduct a postmortem skills analysis!

Using a skills matrix has advantages.

There are several ways in which a skills matrix might assist boost productivity. In addition to the team, it
benefits the person, the company, and maybe even internal and external customers!

A competence matrix is mainly a tool for the benefit of the whole team. The team gets a brief look at both the
strengths and weaknesses of its members. Hiring personnel with the required abilities helps fill up the gaps in
these talents.

Because the team is much more conscious of its weaknesses, it can better prevent them from affecting its
performance.

The talents matrix also benefits the person in two ways. Firstly, it helps the person identify their strengths and
weaknesses and what they offer to the table. It is a great beginning place for educational and professional
growth.

In addition, it enlightens the participant on the abilities necessary for the group to succeed. The matrix depicts
the talents that a person is expected to do well in expressing expectations.

An overview of the organization's available capabilities and development opportunities is provided on a broader
scale. These are the areas where the company's learning and development money may best improve operations
and efficiency. Internal talent may be redirected using competence matrixes to where it's most required.

A better service is provided to the end stakeholders, the customers. There is no difference between whether
these customers are internal or external. To avoid potential snags, the teams are more conscious of the talents
that they are lacking.

Below is how to build an excellent competence matrix for your business.

A skills matrix is created by following these steps.

Determine which talents are needed for the project.

We begin by defining the necessary abilities for a project or team, the most critical step.

The creation of skill matrices by a manager or HR department is regularly used to increase team performance.
The manager's goal is to determine whether team members lack the necessary abilities to meet deadlines,
resolve internal conflicts, and avoid incurring additional expenses.

So you begin by assessing the essential skills and competencies required to finish a project. Your team members'
capabilities will also be based on this information, which means you won't have to evaluate a massive list of
unrelated competencies!

Assess the current skill levels of each member of the team.

The second stage is to assess the present skill levels of your team members. Asking them is all that is needed to
do this. A more rigorous approach is also possible. For example, you may test a person's immediate peers and
boss for their proficiency.

You'd want to know how well someone is at each skill. There are four ways to categorize this information:

1. There is no ability

2. The most basic degree of competence

The capacity to perform at a somewhat high level

4. The capacity to perform at the highest level

A 180 ° feedback instrument is a standard assessment tool. By questioning the employee, their colleagues, and
their management, a 180 ° feedback instrument evaluates an employee's abilities.

A tool like this is helpful since individuals aren't always good at assessing their abilities. Overconfidence may
be to blame. The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of a cognitive bias in which persons with poor aptitude
suffer from illusory superiority.

Alternatively, a 360-degree feedback device is much better. As a supplement to the primary instrument, this one
also considers connections with clients, direct reports and superiors.

It's entirely up to you how you decide to gauge a person's level of expertise. Alternatively, I've come across
firms that employ a 5-point system:

1. There is no knowledge or experience in this field.

2. There is a lack of information or expertise.

3. A reasonable amount of knowledge or experience.

4. Extensive knowledge or experience.

If you like to utilize these scales differently, feel free to do so!

3. Ascertain a person's willingness to work on the responsibilities that have been assigned to them.
In addition to the preceding stage, you'll need more than simply the ability to do the task. Work that you excel at
must also be enjoyable for those who do it. Generally speaking, this is the case, although quite possible that it
isn't.

Sometimes, a person's skills matrix may indicate that they're capable of doing critical work, but they're reluctant
to do it, and you'll wind up in a dead-end. To know whether someone has the following:

1. There is no desire to put this expertise or information to use.

2. Interested in putting this talent or expertise to use

3. You'll be able to put it all together after you have this information.

4. Include all data in the abilities matrix and execute the findings.

Create the competence matrix after you've figured out which skills you need and which ones you have. Using
this matrix, you can see which abilities you have and which ones you don't have. Using this method, you'll get
this template.

Templates for skill-based competency maps

The template below is built on a team that analyzes human resources. Data analysis, visualization, and business
acumen were highlighted as the six essential abilities needed to complete the project.

Next, we analyzed each team member's talents and interests. The resulting matrix is shown below.

It's easy to identify the team's strengths and weaknesses with the use of a skills matrix. Jonathan, Alden, Tracy,
and Sandra have strong business acumen, and Sandra is likely to serve as the team's interface to the IT
department.

Data analytics expertise is lacking in the team. In most cases, early analytics teams don't need extensive data
analytics. Internal business cases for analytics and automated strategic and operational reporting are often the
focus of these teams.

However, these analytical talents will grow increasingly crucial in the future. At this time, there may be a need
for data scientists with extensive analytic abilities.

It would be much better if it could be developed. It's a great indicator that someone is just starting but is willing
to learn and grow.

It might be difficult for analytic teams to obtain all the necessary expertise. Indeed, it's tough to find employees
who are both knowledgeable about HR and data analytics.

Many firms are employing keen learners since there aren't enough workers with the necessary abilities.

A template for a skills matrix

Many folks have requested an Excel template for a skills matrix, so I've shared the image above in both
PowerPoint and Excel. The presentation in PowerPoint is the most visually appealing. Editing of any file is
entirely unrestricted.

• PowerPoint template for a skills matrix

• Excel template for creating a skills matrix

See our HR analysis course for more information on using these and other data-driven tools to assist the HR
professional!