A business will not thrive, let alone survive, without a great product. However, it pays to remember that other crucial elements impact an organization’s success.
Human resources need to be top of mind for leaders, as it is the people of an organization that makes it thrive. Companies need to attract and take care of their employees as they are the lifeblood of the company. They make it possible for it to function and achieve its goals.
Considering this, as a manager, you need to think of ways on how to effectively lead your people to work towards your company’s targets. You need to determine the skills your employees require to take the business to the next level. This is where an HR skills gap analysis is particularly useful.
In the simplest words, an HR skills gap analysis is a method of comparing the workforce’s current skills and the skills they need to reach key business goals. This is conducted to help organizations plan for growth and overcome skill deficiencies.
If you are not familiar with this type of analysis, you can begin working on it for your company by following these steps:
STEP 1: Identify Your Goals
Before anything else, you should pinpoint the goals your organization is trying to achieve. You need to be as clear and specific as possible with this. Doing so will enable you to determine exactly what resources you need. Consequently, this will make it easier for you to fill the gaps in your company.
Take note that these goals can be for the whole organization, for individual teams, or a combination of both.
STEP 2: Pinpoint the Key Skills Needed
The next thing to do is to identify the skills your team has to have to hit this target. These skills must include both hard and soft skills. Furthermore, they must be made in consideration of the company culture you want to build.
If you do not know where to start, asking your employees about the skills they feel they are lacking can help. You may also ask them about the proficiencies they wish their teams possessed.
STEP 3: Assess Your Team’s Current Skills
After identifying the must-have skills, it’s time to assess what expertise your team members actually already utilize.
If you have a small organization, you can do this by creating a skills list for each team member. Then, compare their skill level to the level that you need.
If you have a larger organization, you can refer to existing documents such as performance reviews and manager assessments.
STEP 4: Craft a Plan to Bridge the Gap
Now that you have a list of the key skills you need and those that you already have, it’s time to strategize how you will bridge that gap.
To give you an idea, here are some commonly considered solutions when it comes to closing the skill gaps in your organization:
- Scaling the team up or down accordingly
- Launching training programs to develop the employee’s skills
- Internal hiring and retraining
- Restructuring your workforce
Conclusion
An HR skills gap analysis can give you a clear idea of whether or not your organization is indeed ready and able to take on your company’s goals. Furthermore, it can help you develop a plan for filling the gap between your current skill sets and those that you will need down the road. It is for this reason that you must devote time to creating this analysis. Rather than stepping blindly into an unknown future, analyzing gaps in your human resources will help you understand where you’re headed and how you can get there efficiently.
Looking for HR assistance in Alberta to set your organization up for sustainable success? Involvi has you covered! We pride ourselves on providing practical, compliant solutions that exceed our clients’ human resources needs. Allow us to do the same for you—get in touch with us today to get started!
