Many organizations fail to close today’s skills gap because leadership doesn’t understand where the gaps even exist. The same can be said for employees, who may struggle to ask for help or are unsure of what skills they need to move up in their career. This is no small matter, as 90 percent of organizations will face skills gaps by 2026, according to International Data Corporation research.
3 Ways Benchmarking Improves Upskilling Programs
- It pinpoints which skills need improvement and which do not.
- It helps develop personalized re- and upskilling plans for employees.
- It helps employees and managers track progress.
To successfully reskill and upskill employees, leaders first need to understand exactly what their workforce is missing. Benchmarking and tracking skill proficiencies give employers and employees the ability to assess, measure and track their current skills objectively.
3 Benefits of Skill Benchmarks for Organizations
Benchmarking gives organizations a deeper understanding of team competencies, a way to proactively identify skill gaps and the ability to provide personalized development plans.
Assessing Skill Diversity
Employers must gauge individual team members’ skill levels to obtain insights into the range of competencies within their teams, ensuring comprehensive understanding and proficiency. When leaders understand this range of competencies, they can make data-driven decisions about resource distribution, project delegation and talent development.
Understanding Strengths and Areas for Improvement
Monitoring skill proficiencies enables employers to better understand their workforce’s strengths and pinpoint areas that may need more attention. Employers can use the results of an assessment to put in place precise training, coaching or hiring strategies to bolster workforce capabilities, avoiding unnecessary or outdated training efforts.
Assessment tools look different depending on the organization. I recommend something that allows an organization to identify trends and skill shortages and take preemptive steps to address deficiencies that may impede performance or business goals. Here are some examples of assessment tools.
360 assessments. These provide an indication of professional effectiveness across a range of competency areas. These surveys are completed by peers, team members and/or supervisors, so multiple stakeholders can provide evaluations of the participants.
Tech skill assessments. These tools immerse learners in realistic technology settings, such as a cloud, networking or coding environments, and measure the participant’s ability to complete common work tasks of varying complexity against an objective set of criteria. These assessments help evaluate the overall skills and capability of technology teams.
AI simulation. Generative AI gives organizations the ability to measure the efficacy of leadership, customer service, sales and a variety of human interactions in realistic virtual settings that mimic the everyday work environment.
Customizing Development Plans
Understanding each employee’s unique skill profile and career aspirations helps managers craft personalized development plans for individual employees. This approach boosts employee engagement by offering tailored feedback; it also helps set realistic performance goals and assigns tasks that encourage skill-specific development.
Individualized attention also increases job satisfaction, bolsters employee loyalty to the company and helps attract and retain talent. When employees feel heard and seen, it creates a nurturing culture that values continuous learning and views the personal growth of employees as integral to the success of the organization.
3 Benefits of Skill Benchmarks for Employees
Tracking benchmarks offers employees measurable insights into their performance, enables tailored learning paths and provides immediate feedback to correct mistakes and improve.
Quantifying Performance
Employees desire a clear and measurable way to gauge their skill levels and professional growth. Benchmarking, through check-ins or other ways, provides concrete evidence of an individual’s strengths and highlights areas that require further development.
This approach to skill evaluation empowers employees to establish clear performance objectives, track their progress systematically and demonstrate their professional development over time. By quantifying performance through benchmarks, employees can align their learning outcomes with organizational goals.
Personalizing Learning Pathways
This targeted and personalized approach helps employees focus their efforts on acquiring new skills where they are most needed rather than spending valuable time on areas they have already mastered. This tailored approach to learning maximizes the efficiency of the development process and enhances the relevance and impact of the training provided.
Delivering Immediate Feedback
Offering instant insights allows employees to quickly identify and address any gaps in their knowledge or skill set. This prompt feedback mechanism builds confidence in their abilities and accelerates the application of new skills in real-world scenarios.
Skill benchmarking is just one crucial step in ensuring a learning development program can be successful. Ultimately, fostering a culture of continuous learning and flexibility is critical for both organizational and talent success.
