Skills mapping for effective talent development

People’s skills are key to business success. Assigning tasks to the right person maximises their potential, yet 48% of business leaders report worrying skill gaps. Upskilling your team is essential.

Managing this can seem daunting, especially in teams with dozens or even hundreds of employees. However, a well-planned skills mapping exercise can create a clear and engaging training path for your team. In this press release, we’ll explore what skills mapping is and provide actionable insights to help you upskill your employees effectively.

Skills mapping is the process of evaluating your employees’ current skills, identifying gaps, anticipating the skills your business will need in the future and visualising all this information to guide training and development.

This analysis highlights your team’s and company’s strengths and weaknesses, showing where skills can be improved and which training will be most effective.

Beyond understanding your employees’ talents, skills mapping offers several other advantages.

1. Identifying skill gaps that hold you back

Skills mapping reveals not only individual skill gaps, which can be addressed with training, but also larger gaps that may require new skills, additional team members or fresh perspectives. Discovering these gaps isn’t a setback – it’s a starting point to refine your talent strategy. Addressing major skill gaps can drive breakthroughs and give your business a competitive edge.

2. Visualising your company’s path

Skills mapping helps analyse whether your team’s current skills align with your business strategy. By comparing goals with existing capabilities, you can identify who can drive results, who needs additional training and how to allocate resources most effectively to boost business performance.

3. Uncovering hidden generalists and specialists

Skills mapping helps identify both specialists, who have deep expertise, and generalists, who bring diverse skills. Most businesses need a mix: specialists for specific tasks and generalists for flexible, unexpected challenges.

For example, an instructional designer is essential for creating educational projects, while a generalist could cover multiple roles with minimal additional training. Before hiring new generalists, use skills mapping to see what your current team can already handle.

4. Creating individual skill development plans

Once you understand your business goals and your team’s skills, skills mapping makes upskilling easier and more effective. You can design personalised training for each employee or select a single programme that benefits the entire team and drives business growth.

Two approaches to skills mapping 

Collecting and assessing skills for larger teams can be challenging. To simplify this, two widely used frameworks exist: the Capability Matrix and the Competency Matrix.

1. Competency Matrix

The Competency Matrix complements the Skills (Capability) Matrix but focuses on a broader perspective: an employee’s ability to successfully complete specific tasks rather than just their skill level. While the Skills Matrix measures knowledge and technical proficiency, the Competency Matrix assesses how well an individual can apply those skills in real-world situations, take initiative and adapt to challenges.

1. Define key competencies: Identify the essential competencies required for your business processes. These can include technical expertise, problem-solving, leadership, collaboration, adaptability and decision-making.

2. Assess each employee: Rate employees based on their ability to perform tasks that rely on these competencies. A common scale is:

• 0 = Unable to perform the task
• 1 = Can perform with guidance
• 2 = Can perform independently
• 3 = Demonstrates mastery and can coach others

3. Add context: Enhance the matrix by including:

• Potential for growth: How ready is the employee to take on higher responsibilities?
• Flexibility: Can the employee handle multiple roles or adapt to new challenges?
• Impact on business goals: How critical is this competency for achieving strategic objectives?

• Helps assign the right tasks to the right people based on actual capability, not just skill.
• Reveals hidden generalists and high-potential employees who can step into different roles.
• Provides actionable insights for succession planning, personalised training and team optimisation.

By combining the Competency Matrix with the Skills Matrix, organisations get a full picture of both the current skill set and the practical capability of their workforce. This dual approach allows for smarter resource allocation, more effective training programmes and a stronger, more adaptable team prepared to meet future challenges.

2. Capability/Skills Matrix

The Capability Matrix, also known as the Skills Matrix, is a practical tool for understanding your team’s current skills and identifying areas for growth. At its core, it’s a structured table that lists the skills you expect or wish your employees to have, alongside an assessment of each individual’s proficiency.

1. List the skills: Start by identifying all the skills relevant to your team and business goals. Include both technical (hard) skills and soft skills, such as communication, leadership or problem-solving.

2. Rate proficiency levels: For each employee, assign a rating that reflects their current level of skill. A common approach is:

• 0 = No knowledge or experience
• 1 = Basic/general understanding
• 2 = Can perform tasks independently
• 3 = Expert/advanced knowledge

You can also add additional criteria to enrich the matrix, such as:

• Interest level: How motivated is the employee to develop this skill?
• Training priority: How urgent is it for the employee to improve this skill?
• Frequency of use: How often the skill is applied in their role.

• Visualise the data using colours, charts or graphs for quick insights.
• Keep the matrix updated regularly to reflect new skills acquired and changes in team responsibilities.
• Use it as a foundation for personalised training plans, team allocation and strategic hiring decisions.

By consolidating all employee skill information into a single, accessible table, you gain a clear overview of your team’s capabilities. This allows you to spot skill gaps, plan targeted training and ensure that the right people are assigned to the right tasks – maximising productivity and supporting business growth.

Which Skills Matrix is right for you?

In fact, both matrices are useful, but sometimes one fits better. If your industry changes rapidly and new skills are needed, a Skills Matrix shows missing or outdated skills to update. If your goal is to allocate tasks and upskill your team, a Competency Matrix highlights top specialists, flexible generalists and provides insights for building a strong team.

Both frameworks can also support measuring corporate learning ROI when paired with a unified skills assessment system.

Tips for successful skills mapping

Using a template helps, but many businesses still get unclear or irrelevant results. To avoid this, consider these tips based on our experience with multiple skills mapping projects.

Perform a skills assessment

Start by assessing each employee using a structured template like the iSpring Skills Matrix. Questionnaires, project reviews, past experience and practical tests (easy to run via an LMS like iSpring LMS) help get a complete picture.

Ensure objectivity

Use multiple sources: retest employees if needed, gather feedback from managers or colleagues and combine insights to accurately reflect competencies.

Focus on relevant skills

Assess only the skills that matter for your business goals. Including unnecessary skills complicates the process and distracts from key priorities. For example, evaluate development skills for a software team, but include sales skills if you plan to expand into that role. This approach allows targeted upskilling and can help promote internal talent efficiently.

Include both hard and soft skills

Modern employees need strong technical abilities as well as soft skills like communication and adaptability. Include both in your matrix to get a complete picture of your team’s capabilities.

Limit the number of employees initially

Start small to ensure accuracy and manageability. Begin with one department or a small group of employees to test your matrix. Once you’re confident in the results, expand it to cover the entire team.

Use skills management software

To handle large teams efficiently, consider using skills management tools instead of manual tracking. Modern LMS platforms, like iSpring LMS, can automate everything from questionnaires and tests to detailed analysis. Simply create assessments, and the system will quickly reveal skill gaps, helping you plan targeted training and improve overall team performance.

Reskill your team effectively