The necessity and benefits of skills audits and training needs assessments

A quote by Scottie Sommers states… “Change is the heartbeat of Growth.” This is certainly true of organizations as they are continuously under pressure to change/adapt or face the risk of redundancy due to technological advancements, market demands, etc.

Key to that organizational change and growth is possessing the right skills for the right jobs in order to enable the growth. This means that organizations need to have knowledge about how well the core skills of its workforce is, to remain fit for purpose. It becomes vital that organizations are aware of the knowledge and skills possessed by its people, as this enables the organization to:

• Determine whether it can meet its goals;
• Determine areas for improvement;
• Be able to refine and define its recruitment needs and methods to ensure the best fit;
• Implement targeted training and development.

A skills audit is a process that helps an organization to identify existing skills within its workforce, as well as aids identifying skills gaps within an organisation, i.e. the identification of skills the organization will need in the future, to ensure its sustainability and success.  At conclusion of the audit, these two data sets are compared.

This analysis provides insight allowing the identification of specific training needs and the prioritisation of certain training interventions. This also paves the way for job role matching -whereby the right person is matched to the right job, based on the individual’s inherent motivational strengths, this ultimately leads to improvement in workplace performance and employee satisfaction.

A skills audit process entails more than just collecting and documenting information on the qualifications of the workforce, it is also an opportunity to determine whether employees possess the competencies and actual skills required, to enable them to fulfil their workplace roles effectively.

The audit also helps the organization to know the level of skill, of each employee, whether and/or how these skills are being utilised by the employees within their roles. This is especially important in order to ensure that critical skills are not lost.

This process further provides an indication of whether levels of the skills available require improvement; and if they do, an identification of the appropriate training methods or other remedial interventions required in order to address any skills gaps, which may exist in an organization, in order for the organization to meet its strategic goals.

Skills audits are without a doubt beneficial, as they enable managers to:

• Gain a clear understanding of employees’ skills and abilities;
• Take advantage of previously unidentified skills in the workforce;
• Plan for more effective recruitment and development activities;
• Place the right people, with the right projects and job roles;
• Redeploy employees to roles where they are better suited to use their full range of skills;
• Identify the most essential areas for skills improvement;
• Implement focused training and development efforts;
• Enhance career and succession planning activities with accurate information;
• Define the most urgent recruiting needs in securing the best applicants.

Anticipated outcomes of a skills audit include:

• Comprehensive and valid workplace skills matrices and skills development plans;
• Increased productivity by securing the right employees in the right places;
• Better use of organizational skills, leading to improved performance and greater job satisfaction;
• Improved organizational knowledge and skills;
• Varied work through cross-functional teams, consisting of employees from different departments;
• Increased opportunities for promotion as suitable, internal candidates can be easier identified;
• Better targeted training programs which ultimately lead to better returns for investment on training and development expenditure;
• More accurate internal employee selection, succession and placement.

This process needs not be a once-off exercise, but an on-going process for the management of organizational talent. However, prior to embarking on a skills audit, organizations need to determine the reasons behind implementing such an audit, the methods to be followed in conducting the audit and the manner in which the results will be utilised.

If the process is carried out in a well-planned, structured and well maintained method, it can prove to be highly successful and beneficial to the organization as a whole. All employees will no doubt benefit from understanding the skills and abilities they possess and the specific areas for development.

MISA has a number of skills development benefits, to enable MISA members to develop within their roles and within the motor industry in general, which include amongst others, the recently launched MISA Lunch and Learn Soft Skills series.

For more information on this and other educational benefits please contact the Training Department on Training@ms.org.za or on 011 476 3920.

References:

https://blog.logicearth.com/why-your-business-needs-a-skills-audit

https://www.cognology.com.au/learning_center/sawhatis/

https://skillsdbpro.com/necessity-skills-audit/