Skills visibility: The essential first step in building organizational resilience

Welcome to The Talent Marketplace by Fuel50 – where we share exclusive insights on employee engagement, career mobility, talent retention, skills development, skills visibility, and more to support exceptional talent experiences and help future-proof your workforce.

In today’s fast-paced world, organizational resilience is the key to staying ahead, but how can organizations build it? As technologies evolve and market demands fluctuate, it is your people’s skills that will determine whether your organization thrives or falters.

The versatility of your workforce is what truly lies at the heart of resilience, and this is why fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development is paramount. The recent 3Sixty Insights’ report on How Skills Drive Organizational Resilience highlights three key elements for building resilience – skills visibility, identifying skills gaps, and bridging skills gaps.

In this article, we’ll explore why skills visibility is the crucial first step to creating a workforce for the future.

Why skills visibility matters

Skills visibility is all about understanding the skills and capabilities that exist within your workforce. It provides a clear picture of your employees' skills and how they can be aligned to strategic business goals. This clarity enables you to deploy the right people to the right projects, optimize resources, identify potential leaders, and make smart hiring decisions.

Here are some of the key benefits of skills visibility:

• Helps optimize resource allocation: By knowing exactly what skills are available within the organization, managers can allocate resources more effectively. Employees with the right skills can be assigned to projects that match their strengths, leading to increased productivity and better project outcomes.
• Enables more informed decision-making: Knowing the skill sets within the organization allows for better hiring decisions, ensuring new hires complement your existing workforce, fill in skills gaps, and enhance overall capabilities.
• Facilitates proactive succession planning: Skills visibility helps to identify potential leaders and ensure employees are prepared to step into critical roles, maintaining continuity and stability.
• Enables proactive talent management: Allows you to anticipate and address skill shortages before they become problematic. This proactive approach helps in mitigating the impact of employee turnover, retirement, and disengagement.
• Increases employee engagement: Employees are more likely to feel valued and engaged when they see their skills are recognized and utilized effectively. This visibility fosters a culture of continuous learning and development.

Tackle skills gaps head-on

Being able to identify skills gaps is a significant advantage of skills visibility.

A skills gap refers to the difference between the skills currently available in the organization and those needed to achieve future business objectives.

Recognizing these gaps allows you to implement targeted learning programs, ensuring that employees are equipped to meet evolving demands.

According to Tom Andriola, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Data and Chief Digital Officer at the University of California, Irvine, “The concept of a skills gap is always going to be there. The question is, what is your organizational strategy to continue to close those gaps when the target is constantly moving on you? And this is where a platform like Fuel50 becomes very, very powerful.”

Implement strategic reskilling and upskilling initiatives

Once skills gaps are identified, organizations can strategically address them. This includes reskilling and upskilling through personalized learning programs, mentorships, short-term projects, gigs, and internal mobility opportunities. Encourage clear goals, regular assessment, and feedback on your initiatives to ensure they are effective in closing your skills gaps.

Organizations like Johnson & Johnson recognize the importance of reskilling and upskilling to prepare their workforce for an unpredictable future. As Dr. Michael Ehret, Head of Global Talent Management, notes “We’ve all learned over the past couple of years that the future is impossible to predict. How do we ensure, whether it’s based on skills proficiency, agility or resilience, or adaptability, that our people in our organization are ready for the future?”

A skills-first approach builds a workforce fit for the future

A skills-first approach, driven by skills visibility is now the foundation for sustained success. Embracing this framework ensures your workforce is continuously evolving, adaptable, and ready to meet future challenges.

Leveraging skills-based platforms like Fuel50 empowers you with deeper skills visibility needed to close skills gaps and create a workforce that is truly equipped for the demands of tomorrow. Marianne Vinton, Senior Vice President of HR Transformation at Citizens sums it up to a tee:  

“Visibility to skills will create greater transparency to talent across the organization and opportunities for our colleagues to reskill/upskill in-demand capabilities to ensure we are able to meet tomorrow’s demands with success.”

Get your copy of 3Sixty Insights’ detailed report, "Ready for Anything: How Skills Drive Organizational Resilience," to uncover practical strategies and real-world insights on building resilience in today's world.