The following guide does not consider any complexities or differences across organisations.
What is a Skills Audit?
A skills audit involves mapping current skills or competencies against those required in the future. The objective is to identify where the skill gaps lie in order for an organisation to meet its strategic objectives.
An audit can be undertaken for an individual employee or for workforce segments (such as grades, job types, business units or the organisation as a whole). It allows an organisation to identify areas where current skill levels do not meet the organisation’s requirements to achieve desired outcomes.
Skill audits help managers and HR plan future activities such as learning and development programs, recruitment initiatives and employee mobility. They can also be referred to as a competency audit or skill/competency analysis.
A skills audit is generally carried out by the organisation’s HR function, and it allows them to:
- Measure the skills and knowledge the organisation requires
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual staff or work teams
- Identify any skills gaps for individuals, teams and the whole organisation
- Determine the training and development needs of staff
- Support the process of restructuring or deployment
The Benefits of a Skills Audit
An organisation will benefit from a skills audit by:
- Obtaining a greater understanding of the skills an organisation currently has and the skills it will need in the future to deliver strategic outcomes – this will drive investment in Hr programs and initiatives
- Ensuring that training and development is planned, targeted and effective in meeting the needs of the business
- Prioritising training and development investments
- Better defining talent needs to help the organisation recruit the right people with the right skill sets.
Employees will benefit from a skills audit by:
- Talking through their training and development needs with their manager/supervisor;
- Helping them to recognise the skills they need to develop to perform well in their role
- Identifying suitable training and development opportunities that will help them obtain and grow the skills they need now and in the future.
Conducting a Skills Audit
The steps outlined below provide a guideline for how to conduct a skills audit.
The recommended solutions proposed as a result of a skills audit should link into existing HR programs (for example, enrolling an individual or team into an existing learning and development course) or trigger development of a business case to seek funding for new investments (for example an initiative to develop a mentoring program).
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Updated February 2022