Using the SFIA framework and SFIA career planning tools makes it simple to create targeted action plans for quick and practical career planning. SFIA is an excellent framework to help answer two very critical questions:
- What skills do we have? Or, what skills do I have?
- What skills do we need? Or, what skills do I need?
When used effectively, with answers based on reliable quality data, the next logical step is a Skill Gap Analysis. This is a vital risk mitigation measure for all organisations, providing the information for generating an organisational plan that addresses the skill gaps through interventions such as training, mentorship and recruitment.
Without the ability to precisely determine what skills you have within the workforce (current state), and identify skills are required to meet business needs (future state), then clearly performing a gap analysis is virtually impossible. It becomes an especially challenging task when viewed from the top down, often resulting in unnecessary restructures, recruitment and engaging 3rd parties.
Capturing the skills we/I have and the skills needed
Consider however, each individual actually having their own personal journey towards their future state, based on their unique SFIA skill profile (current state). Then being able to visualise the skill requirements of their future state, be it a current, or desired job. At SkillsTX, we believe that visualising the gaps is the best way to present the journey towards the future state as shown here:
Having this capability allows individuals, in consultation with their leader, to make career defining decisions that address the visible skill gaps. Significantly more empowering and effective to allow skill training actions to be chosen based on need rather than just want. Too often we hear reports from training participants that their training was ineffective, didn’t help them perform their job and indeed. Sometimes it has proved nothing more than a disruption to the working week.
Taking this to the next level of efficiency and effectiveness requires the mapping of interventions to the SFIA skills being addressed. Many market leading training providers have seen the opportunity and have already mapped their training portfolio to SFIA.
If we are able to automatically identify skill gaps then why not map these gaps to the interventions that addresses them?
This immediately changes the conversion to be focused on the interventions needed to MAKE A DIFFERENCE. For individuals it means moving constructively towards their individual career goals. Collectively for the organisation, it means mitigating risk and getting much better value from their learning and development budget. A win-win if ever there was one!
How much more productive is it when the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) also matches the WIIFU (What’s In It For Us).
In addition, it means being able to prioritise and rank interventions based on:
- The number of skill gaps they address
- Whether the SFIA mapping has been professionally validated
Thus providing for even more efficient action planning.
Visually representing the action plans enhances the individual’s experience. Being then able to view the plans at an organisational level ensures the alignment between both the WIIFM and WIIFU.
The employee perspective
What the employee sees:
Our Planner interface allows an employee is able to analyse skill gaps between their profile and the requirements of their current and/or their desirable (future) job description. With the skill gaps clearly visible a person can then produce a plan that addresses and closes the gaps. This can be with either customised actions, or by selecting from predefined actions, (usually training courses). This ensures that the interventions are precisely targeted and valuable in their personal journey towards their desired future state.
The organisational perspective
What the organisation sees:
Through our SkillsTX Analytics we provide instant insight into the percentage of individuals who have an action plan and the status of the actions. More detailed analytics allow deep dive into specific actions giving the ability to group actions to achieve greater efficiency.
Find out more about SkillsTX Action Planning and how you could benefit, by contacting us
