Skill Management

Skills and competence management refers to the systematic approach to managing the skills that employees need for their jobs — from defining the required competencies, through assessing their current level of knowledge, to the targeted development of areas where knowledge is lacking. Unlike traditional course tracking, which merely documents which courses have been completed, competence management focuses on the question: Can a person actually do what their job requires?

Why it matters

Job profiles are changing faster than ever before, regulatory requirements demand robust evidence rather than mere certificates of attendance, and organisations must increasingly allocate development budgets to areas where there are actual gaps. Effective competence management lays the foundation for this:

• Transparency regarding which competences are present within the organisation and where gaps exist

• Targeted development, as training is linked to specific competence requirements rather than generic catalogues

• Substantiated evidence for compliance and audit purposes, particularly in regulated sectors

• Career transparency, as promotion and role changes are tied to clear, comparable criteria

The basic logic

Competency management is based on three interrelated components: This comparison can then be used to identify suitable learning content, conduct well-founded development reviews and — depending on the sector — manage recertification cycles or compliance documentation.

1. Skills — individual, clearly defined abilities, usually with several proficiency levels

2. Job Profiles — role profiles that specify which skills, at which level, are required for a particular position

3. Alignment — the ongoing comparison between the required target profile for a role and an individual’s actual current status, usually supplemented by self-assessment and/or confirmation by a manager

Classification

Competency management is therefore not an isolated reporting feature, but the link between organisational requirements (roles, compliance, strategy) and individual learning planning. It shifts the focus from “Has the Course been completed?” to “Is the competency present — and how is this verifiably confirmed?”.

Objectives

1. Standardise competence requirements — clearly and consistently define, for each role, which skills are required at what level (job profiles rather than individual interpretations)

2. Provide transparency on the current situation — highlight which competences are actually present within the organisation, including gaps between target and current profiles

3. Design training management to meet actual needs — tailor learning programmes specifically to proven needs rather than generic course catalogues

4. Make evidence of competence robust — move from pure self-assessment to verified, versioned certifications (particularly for audit and compliance purposes)

5. Ensure continuity — for skills relevant to operational processes (regulatory or technical), implement automated re-certification instead of manual tracking

6. Link skills development to career development — tie role changes and promotion to transparent, comparable criteria

Benefits

For the organisation

• Reduced compliance and liability risk through auditable evidence

• More efficient use of the training budget (targeted rather than broadly distributed)

• A better basis for HR and succession planning through visible skills gaps

• Less manual administrative effort through automated allocation, reminders and recertification

For managers

• An objective, comparable basis for assessment within the team (staff comparison)

• Well-founded development discussions based on concrete competence levels rather than gut feelings

• A clear picture of who is ready for a role and where further development is needed

For employees

• Transparent, traceable criteria for further development and promotion

• Recognition of existing or externally acquired skills (e.g. via equivalences or skill import) rather than mandatory retraining

• Active involvement through self-assessment in the verification process

Use Cases

Use case 1: Role-based skills development & career planning

• Skills gap analysis: Compare target skills from job profiles with users’ current skills → targeted training allocation

• Talent/career reviews: Structured discussions between employees and managers based on job profile levels (e.g. Associate → Manager); Promotion linked to defined skill targets

• Staff Comparison / Staff Pool: Managers compare skill levels within the team and identify development needs

Use case 2: Reliable skills validation

• Post-training assessment (e.g. healthcare): Learners self-assess after a course (e.g. “Risk Identification”), and Supervisors confirm the transfer of learning to practice

• Retail leadership programmes: Assessments become joint development discussions rather than mere evaluations — both parties set career goals together

• Audit/compliance evidence: Versioned, traceable assessment history for regulatory audits

Use case 3: Compliance and certification management (re-certification)

For skills with expiry dates, automated via target groups and a scheduler rather than manual tracking:

• Healthcare: BLS/ACLS refresher training for nursing staff (2-year cycle)

• IT: Maintenance of AWS, Cisco and Microsoft certifications (3-year cycle)

• Construction/Production/Logistics: OSHA and occupational health and safety certificates (annual)

• Finance: AML training for financial advisers

• Legal/Finance in general: Continuing professional development requirements for professional qualifications (3–5 years)

• Corporate compliance: GDPR, information security — recurring company-wide

Use case 4: Practical skills development

• Onboarding journeys: Skill progression across phases (introduction → basic → advanced → expert → 1-year review)

• Mentor–trainee models: Complex competencies broken down into observable sub-tasks, validated by a supervisor

Module & Prerequisites

Skills management is handled via the optional add-on “Skills & Competency Management” — not included in the core licence scope; must be licensed separately. Core concept: Skills are bundled into job profiles, assigned to users and linked to training content → automatic comparison of target competence (role) versus actual competence (user).

Basic architecture

General steps for setting up skills management

1. Apply for a licence with the “Skills & Competency Management” module activated

2. Navigation Manager

3. Assign skill/job profile reports to the “Compliance” category and check access rights for these reports

4. Enable “Competency Notifications”

5. Set up cron jobs for “Skills Termination” and/or “Skill Expiration”

6. Create the “All Employees” menu (required for skill import or “Staff Comparison”)

Steps for setting up the skills/competency workflow

1. Enable “Skills & Competencies” in Licences

2. Create skill scales

3. Create skills

4. Create skill structures

5. Assign skills to the skill structure

6. Create a job profile template

7. Create a job profile

8. Assign the skill structure and skills to the job profiles

Course Administration