Businesses may find closing the skills gap as simple as providing new development opportunities, internal training or improving leadership skills.
Our top 3 steps to consider to fill your skills gap
1. Personal and team development
Firstly make a list of key skills and experiences possessed by employees who excel in various roles. This will allow you to use them as a benchmark for assessing other employees and new hires. Identifying which skills can be taught will help close the skills gap. The right training can help you close the gap between your current and needed skill levels, redirect your strategy to provide current employees with the skills to bring them up to expectation. Or perhaps they are better suited to a different role, you may have to consider hiring new qualified talent who match the skills and experiences you have highlighted.
Which leads us to number 2…
2. ‘Hiring for skill gaps’
Secondly, if the gaps are just too great and can not be filled with training it’s time to bring in new skills and knowledge. Poorly written job descriptions manage no one’s expectations. Make sure you build the right foundation, this shouldn’t be a rushed job (we can help with this).
Modify your hiring process to enable you to screen for the skills and knowledge you need. Consider using psychometric tests to ensure personalities and motivations are a good fit.
Providing the interviews with a consistent structure will reduce biases and ensure the criteria for a new hire are clearly in line with the requirements needed. Competency-based interviews can also be helpful – we can provide guidance here.
3. Succession planning
Anticipate gaps before they arise. Identifying key employees who can step into a role with the right training and leadership can be invaluable. Additionally, we can provide advice here too.
Skills gap analysis may be time-consuming but the effort will lead to valuable long-term gains. Having a clear understanding of the skills you need to grow as a business will help you hire the best people. Therefore enabling you to make your business a success well into the future.
