Many organizations often try to hire the perfect workforce. However, as business grows and the scope of work transforms, the hires who initially seemed all but impeccable, start falling short. When this situation goes unchecked, it has adverse consequences for the business. To fix this, skill-gap analysis comes in handy.
As the name suggests, skill-gap analysis is used to identify the strengths that employees possess, as well as weaknesses they develop. Once this is done, appropriate measures can be taken to fortify the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses.
Since skill-gap analysis is a common business function, it is important to know how to measure employees’ capabilities using skill-gap analysis, so that all-round efforts can be taken in the right direction to improve the quality of the workforce.
At Saransh, our business experts list out positive employee traits that are beneficial to an organization and explain the role that a skill-gap analysis exercise plays in nurturing such employee traits for best overall results, as follows:
Leadership Skills
Most employees that fare well in any business setting are those that have the capacity to be pro-active about work and take an initiative to steer themselves, and their peers, in the right direction. This applies not only to managerial level employees, but executives at all levels. Naturally, since all of this culminates into leadership skills, it is crucial to identify those with great potential to lead, as well as to plant a seed of leadership skills in those that do not organically possess it.
With skill-gap analysis, those with an inclination towards leadership roles can be identified and encouraged, as well as those that lack such traits can be oriented towards developing a thirst for leadership, so that the workforce is on the same page when it comes to understanding how to lead, support and team-build for best professional outcomes.
Technology Skills
Many jobs require high technological skills. In fact, even the most basic jobs these days require at least some level of technological skill, such as the ability to use MS Word, MS Excel, online Zoom calls, standard Enterprise software, etc. In the digital age, technology changes fast and, therefore, employees must also possess the ability to stay updated about the tech that is relevant to their work.
Skill-gap analysis helps identify the grasp that employees have over technology and their ability to keep themselves updated. Wherever it is found that an employee lacks critical knowledge about latest tech, appropriate training programs can be provided so that they are able to deliver their best at work. Similarly, wherever an employee shows promising technological intellect, an attempt can be made to further enhance the knowledge, so that both the organization and the employee benefit from the same.
Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills pertain to how an employee interacts with others in a company. An employee’s ability to bond with their colleagues is of utmost importance, because without feeling comfortable with peers, the employee may not be able to perform at optimum levels. Further, interpersonal skills also translate into how transparent, honest and ethical employees are in professional spheres and their ability to behave appropriately with both superiors, as well as subordinates.
With skill-gap analysis, gray areas in employee-conduct can be identified and fixed using appropriate sensitization and communication workshops.
Generic Skills
Organizations expect employees to have well-rounded professional personalities. How an employee dresses, the kind of language they use, the motivation they spread at the workplace; all these personality traits count as “generic skills”. While these may seem of secondary importance, they are actually crucial employee traits and, therefore, all organizations must use a magnifying lens to see which aspects are lacking in their workforce and how they can be imbued with the right social skills.
Skill-gap analysis can be useful to identify the gaps in employees’ personalities and those that are found to be lacking can be molded accordingly, so that a professional standard is maintained at the workplace and a benchmark for what employees in the organization should strive to achieve can be set.
Skill-gap analysis digs into the workforce’s mental make-up and provides an opportunity to upgrade critical aspects of their professional personality, which, in turn, helps the workforce to prosper. At the same time, this exercise also allows the organization to benefit tremendously, since a skilled and properly trained workforce directly augments the organization’s growth.
If you wish to know more about various measures that can be taken to improve employee standards, reach out to us on info@saranshinc.com. We will be happy to assist you.