3 reasons why skills intelligence is essential to organizational success

We are in a war for talent.

Every organization wants the best people, and "the best people" can feel like a finite resource. But the secret is, they aren't. You've already got the best people. By embedding skills intelligence into your organization, you can build a foundation that facilitates learning, closes skills gaps, guides career paths and ensures your people are working on the right projects for them. To win the war for talent, you only need to check your employee directory.

So if you already have the people to win the war for talent, then the question becomes, "How can I make sure my organization is using skills intelligence to propel our people forward?" You can do three things to answer that question, but first, you need to know what skills intelligence is.

What is skills intelligence?

Skills intelligence is curated and analyzed information on the trends and demands of people in the labor market. This data supports the growth of employees. Though, skills intelligence doesn't give you a straightforward answer that works for all employees. At its best, organizations use it to tailor training and career growth plans to each employee's needs.

Like how 37% of candidates said they'd be willing to take a pay cut (A PAY CUT!) for a chance to learn new skills, according to a recent study by PwC. When you use skills intelligence well, you create benefits for your people and your organization. And here are three aspects of skills intelligence that, if you focus on, you can build organizational success from the inside out.

1) Closing skills gaps

To close a skills gap, you first need to identify the necessary skills to maximize your organization's potential. You can then connect current employees to relevant learning for their roles and fulfills current and future business needs.

And to create accurate and meaningful connections, you need to analyze massive data sets, which is where skills intelligence technology steps in.

Skills intelligence technology can identify what skills your workforce possesses and where there are gaps. Then you can align the skills your people already have and the skills they want to develop to the skills your organization needs. As your people learn and grow, so does your organization.

2) Enabling career pathing

One of the biggest motivators for employees to switch careers is the opportunity to grow at a new company. By using skills intelligence to connect your employees' skills and how they can continue expanding their knowledge, you can show your people the room they have to advance within your organization.

When an organization invests in their people's advancement, retention becomes easier, employment brand gets a boost and talent attraction becomes easier. In a candidate's market, that might be the difference between filling open roles and not.

Skills intelligence technology also allows you to have even more personalized conversations with employees about their potential advancement because you can know what they can do, what they want to do and where both fit in your organization. All before you even schedule a development meeting.

3) Assigning projects effectively

As technology develops, so does the market — both at rapid speed. Being proactive about your skills intelligence sets you up to swiftly respond to ever-evolving market conditions. You can target the right opportunities to the right people with a few clicks.

Skills intelligence reveals the projects people are matched for and genuinely want to work on. When you have the right people on a project, business goals are easier to achieve with an optimized team.

So to evolve your organization to match the changing market, you have to start at the people level. People are what drive organizations forward. The insights provided by good skills intelligence technology can start conversations within your organization and provide a clearer picture of what your employees' skills can propel your organization further.