How effective is your organisation’s skills gap analysis exercise?

A skills gap analysis is an exercise undertaken to identify the skills that an employee needs, but may be lacking in carrying out his or her job or to perform certain tasks effectively.

The first step in performing an analysis is to identify all the skills required by an individual to carry out his or her work.

This will make it possible to identify the critical and noncritical skills that are needed to carry out the particular role effectively.

A critical skill is one that is required to complete a task successfully. Noncritical skills enable a task to be completed more quickly or efficiently, or at less cost than would otherwise be the case.

There is a relatively simple method for determining whether a skill is critical or noncritical.

Quite simply, if an employee lacks a skill but completes a task satisfactorily, the skill is noncritical. On the other hand, if a person completes a task but the outcome is unsatisfactory, the missing skill is critical.

By applying skills  gap analysis    across the organisation, it is possible to find out which skill and knowledge shortfalls there are in an organisation. It is then possible to target training resources on those necessary skills that require the most attention.

This should result in the optimal use of resources in terms of improving the overall performance of the company.

For individuals, skills  gap analysis    can be used to produce personal development and training plans and support appraisals.

It can also be used to bolster morale by showing how they have progressed over time.

For a department, skills  gap analysis    can be used to identify which staff members have the most knowledge of particular aspects of the organisation as well as those with skill gaps.

Furthermore, it can assist in the recruitment process by identifying the candidate whose skills best match those needed to function effectively in a particular role.

For example, in an application of skills  gap analysis    to the role of a firefighter, the essential skills considered would be: critical thinking, oral communication, and the ability to work with others.

The following are some of the advantages of undertaking a skills gap analysis:

λA skills  gap analysis  can provide a critical overview of an organisation, allowing management to determine if staff have the necessary skills to meet organisational objectives or achieve a change in strategy.

λIt provides an analysis of skill gaps in an organisation, department, or role.

λAnalysis helps organisations to prioritise their training resources.

λAnalysis can help with recruitment and training, and it gives management a basis for deciding which staff should be retained and which are expendable.

While skills gap analysis has its own advantages, there are some disadvantages to it which are:

λConducting a skills  gap analysis    can be costly in terms of the required investment in paper-based assessments or software, as well as the time required from staff to participate and for management to evaluate the results.

λIt may be simpler and more cost-effective to ask line managers to identify skill gaps in their department, or simply to ask staff in which areas they need additional training.

λThe assessment can be subjective and open to distortion if staff do not answer questions correctly.

So whenever you embark on a skills gap analysis exercise, there is a need to consider the potential impact of a skills  gap analysis on staff morale.

Assessing an employee’s capabilities can create fear and suspicion unless the reason for the analysis is understood and communicated effectively.

Chiedza Kadare is an OD Practitioner. You can get in touch with her on WhatsApp/call +263 77 283 0986 or Email chiedza.kadare@gmail.com

Paul Nyausaru is an OD Practitioner and leadership coach. For all your OD interventions and leadership development training you can get in touch with him on WhatsApp/call +263774062756 or Email pnyausaru@gmail.com