Guide – how to run a skills mapping in your organisation

You can do a quick mapping in Skillhive in an hour: list the skills, invite people, and the results are ready once the ratings are done. A strategic mapping typically takes 2–4 weeks. It starts from a need, not from a list of skills.

For: management, HR and the project planning the mapping

Quick mapping

When you already know what you want to map (e.g. a team's skills or a new theme), create a mapping, add skills and invite people. See Building a skills mapping and Assessing your skills.

Strategic mapping step by step

  1. Define the need. Who are the skills being mapped for, and what problem is being solved? Typical needs include:
    • a situational picture for management to support decisions
    • targeting learning and training
    • sharing expertise
    • finding the right people for sales, projects or as trainers
    • internal mobility and job rotation
  2. Translate strategy into skills. Management discusses where the organisation is heading and then asks: what skills do we need to succeed?
  3. Run the definition as a facilitated process in Skillhive. A large workshop is difficult: in a group of more than five, interaction becomes harder, and flip chart lists easily remain disconnected. In Skillhive's guided discussion, everyone takes part during a week whenever it suits them. Management and key people spend at most an hour.
  4. Structure the skills. Decide the grouping logic: for example, strategic and shared skills as areas of expertise, and team- and role-specific detailed skills as mappings. The first draft is often easiest to make in a spreadsheet.
  5. Test and pilot. Bring the skills into Skillhive. The planner tests first, then key people and a pilot group. Collect feedback and adjust.
  6. Roll out. Invite the rest. Show examples: when one team tries it and leads the way, others join more easily.

Give teams ownership

When management and HR define the strategic skills, teams can run their own more detailed mappings in addition. They are supported with a template and guidance. A team's own mapping does not break the shared areas of expertise, and it can be restricted to be visible only to the team. This way the team sees together what its goals require, what is missing and where development should be focused. Ownership brings responsibility and engagement.

HR still has a role: it facilitates, supports, encourages and leads by example. The difference from the old model is that HR does not decide everything alone from the top.

To consider: visibility

Skillhive is built on an open model in which skills are made visible within the organisation, and most customers use it this way. Sometimes there are good reasons to restrict visibility. Individual skills cannot be hidden, so more sensitive expertise is best handled with certificates or in restricted development discussions. Decide on visibility before rollout, and pilot if the matter concerns you.

Need help?

Intunex supports the planning and rollout of skills mappings with ready-made models, and together a strategic mapping has typically been completed in 2–4 weeks. Skillhive customers receive support and peer learning meetings where customers exchange experiences. Get in touch through the skillhive.com/osaamiskartoitus page or at info@intunex.fi.