Within your organization, everyone has different skills. As you assign tasks and consider professional development paths, you should have a firm grasp of skills lacking within each department or team. With an organized skills matrix, you can offer the right opportunities to the right people.

Employee skill matrix tools help you find the gaps in your team. The skill matrix offers a visual aid to help you see what kind of talent you have available when you are ready to assign responsibilities on a project. You will also be able to see what skills an employee should improve to be more successful within their professional capacity for the company.

What is Skills Matrix Software?

HR managers, team leaders, department heads and project managers use skills matrix software to catch weak points or exceptional proficiencies in their teams. A skill matrix is split into columns and rows that list the employees and their professional skills relevant to the company. For example, you might list certifications, training, job roles and past project experience for each employee within your matrix grid.

The clarity offered by a skills matrix tool can have a major impact on your department heads’ hiring and recruitment process. It may also record the interest level of employees in each area, helping you determine if anyone is a good candidate for future training opportunities.

Why Use Skills Matrix Software?

With a quick glance, company leadership can determine professional standing when looking down the road towards a future project, future niche offering change or company development project. Team management is easier when leadership can access an automated grid layout that showcases all the details of their teams’ relevant abilities and proficiencies.

Some companies use skills matrix software to ensure a certain number of employees are qualified to do a certain task within each department. In these cases, a minimum threshold could be set, showing any areas with a shortage of required competency.

A competency matrix is similar to a skill matrix but focuses on something different in terms of measurement. When looking at competency vs skill matrix models, it’s important to understand those differences and overlaps. First, consider the difference between competencies and skills:

Skill: A simple “yes” or “no” about whether a person has knowledge and experience in a specific area.

Competency: The level of ability (or inability) the person has within that specific area.

Skill matrix tools are typically better at providing a large-view, or granular, insight into what skills your team has on the most basic level. A competency matrix gives a much more detailed report of what employees are proficient at certain tasks.

Skills Matrix Example
A skills matrix might also include past experiences along with current situations, like working remotely or being able to oversee a certain project element. It does not rate how well the employee can do a task or their level of experience for each skill. For example, a skills matrix could include listing all of the languages a software developer is familiar, but it won’t define how fluent they are in each one.

Competency Matrix Example
On the other hand, a team competency matrix should examine exactly how knowledgeable and skilled each member is when it comes to the specific task mentioned. These ratings are given assigned values that could be based on measurements from self-assessments combined with supervisor assessments. In other words, an IT professional who helped build the company’s security infrastructure should not have the same competency rating as the newest hire with some college coursework experience in programming.

A competency rating can be assigned to color-code each skill listed within a combined matrix model. By combining both models, companies can have an even clearer picture of how capable their team is with specific tasks or skills. If employees have spent years overseeing production lines, writing JAVA script or working remotely, then those areas would show a high level of competency. If an employee has some prior experience with a certain task, they may only be partially rated for that skill until they have a chance to display their competency to management.

A skill matrix is beneficial for employees as well as company leadership. Management can gain a lot of insight by using the employee skill matrix chart. Leaders can place employees where they are most likely to succeed and provided with opportunities to grow as professionals.

Best Practices When Using a Skills Matrix
To get the most out of the system, employers need to implement each best practice. Skills matrix best practices include:

• Defining specific skills relevant to the company
• Clarifying skill matrix levels (competency)
• Noting individual strengths and weaknesses
• Compiling all data in the skills matrix tool
• Pinpointing needed skills qualifications and certifications
• Identifying gaps where skills need to be developed or refined
• Updating and maintaining your skill matrix for employees

Skill Matrix Dashboard Features
Certain features will make a skill matrix more valuable and effective for the company. Some of the best skill matrix dashboard features include:

• Intuitive skill matrix dashboard design
• Integrating well with other programs
• Scalability that easily grows with the company
• Granular and detailed vantage options for clarity
• Reporting and recorded history to see individual progress
• Consistent features that fit cross-department use
• Easy to update and maintain with automation features

Ultimately, the skill matrix should allow managers or company leaders to access information quickly and easily while on the job. The skills matrix platform should empower employees to see how they fit in the company and where they can expand skills needed for higher levels of success.