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The Vocabulary of Skills

Reference entries for the terms every skills program runs on. Each one gives you the definition, the facts you look up, one table that matters, and the long-form guide when you want the argument.

Skills

Skills Inventory

A skills inventory is the dated, per-person record of which skills each employee holds, at what proficiency level, on what evidence.

What Is a Skill?

A skill is a specific, observable ability to perform a task to a defined standard, expressed with a proficiency level so it can be compared across people and over time.

Competencies

What Is a Competency?

A competency is a named, leveled cluster of abilities, knowledge, and behavior a role needs to deliver a specific work outcome, written so an assessor can judge how well someone performs it.

A competency framework is the shared structure, spanning every job family, that names the competencies each one requires, levels them on a shared proficiency scale, and states the required level for every role, so that assessment, gap analysis, and development all read from one definition of good.

Skills vs. Competencies vs. Proficiency

Skills, competencies, and proficiency are three different kinds of record: a skill is a unit of ability, a competency is an outcome-shaped bundle of them, and proficiency is the measurement applied to either.

Proficiency

Proficiency Levels

Proficiency levels are the ordered steps on a scale that state how well a person can perform a specific skill, each step described by observable behavior rather than by tenure or self-belief.

Roles

Job Roles and Job Architecture

A job architecture is the structured hierarchy of job families, levels, and roles that attaches to every role the skills it demands and the proficiency level expected for each.

Matrices

Skills Matrix

A skills matrix places people on one axis and skills on the other, recording, at each intersection, the proficiency level the person has demonstrated, so that a manager can see coverage, gaps, and depth for a team at a glance.

Training Matrix

A training matrix maps each person to the training their role requires and records, per requirement, whether it has been completed, the date it was completed, and when it expires, so that coverage and currency can be read for a team, a site, or an audit.

Gaps

Employee Development Plan

A development plan is a dated commitment that names one or more assessed proficiency gaps, states the target level for each, assigns the learning and experience that will close them, and defines the evidence that will show the new level has been reached.

Assessments

Skills Assessment

A skills assessment is a recorded judgment of a person's proficiency level on a specific skill, made by a stated method on a stated date so the result can be compared and defended.

Platforms

Competency Management Software

Competency management software is a system that defines the competencies each role requires, records assessed proficiency against them with evidence, and produces the gap, training, and audit records that prove people are competent for the work they do.

Skills Intelligence Platform

A skills intelligence platform is the software that serves as the system of record for skills: it defines an organization's skills, verifies who holds them at what level, computes the gaps against roles, and connects those gaps to planning and learning.