Skills Gap Analysis
A skills gap analysis compares the proficiency level a role requires for each skill against the level a person has demonstrated, and reports the difference so that development, hiring, and staffing decisions rest on a measured shortfall rather than an impression.
By Samantha, SkillsDB|Published |Updated
What It Is
A skills gap analysis is arithmetic on two records: a required level and an assessed level for the same skill and the same person. The required level, often called a benchmark, comes from the role and the person's level within it; a junior may need a 2 where a senior must reach a 4. The assessed level comes from a dated assessment, self, manager, or practical. When the assessed level sits below the benchmark, a gap exists; when it meets or exceeds it, there is none. Everything else is aggregation: the same subtraction run across a team becomes a coverage view, across a site becomes a risk register, across the organization becomes a workforce plan. The discipline lies in what feeds the subtraction. An analysis built on self-declared levels or on benchmarks nobody owns produces gaps that look precise and mean nothing. A skill with no recorded assessment is unassessed, not a gap, and should be reported as such.
Key Facts
- The formula is required level minus assessed level; a positive result is a gap, zero or negative is none.
- Benchmarks are set per skill, per role, and per level; the same skill can carry a 2 for one level and a 4 for the next.
- A skill with no assessment on record is unassessed, which is a different finding from a gap and is reported separately.
- Assessed levels come from dated assessments; a level typed into a spreadsheet has no method or date behind it and cannot support the analysis.
- Gaps are read at three altitudes: person, team, and organization, and each altitude calls for a different response.
- Completing training does not close a gap; a new assessment that meets the benchmark does.
The Three Kinds of Gap
| Kind | What it looks like | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| Individual gap | One person below benchmark on one or more skills in their role | A development plan with a target level, a resource, and a reassessment date |
| Team gap | Nobody on the team at the required level for a skill, or only one person, who becomes a single point of failure | Cross-training, a targeted hire, or a change to how work is assigned |
| Organizational gap | A skill the strategy needs that no role currently requires, or that few people anywhere hold | Adding the skill to role requirements, a build-or-buy decision, and a multi-quarter plan |
How SkillsDB Models It
In SkillsDB a gap is the distance between a grade and a benchmark on the same 0 (N/A) to 5 scale. Take a Customer Support Specialist career where Escalation Handling carries a benchmark of 3 at Level 1 and 4 at Level 2. A Level 1 specialist graded 2 by her manager sees, at Skills → career detail, self grade, manager grade, and benchmark side by side with a red badge on that row; a colleague graded 3 shows green, and one graded 5 shows blue for exceeding. Her manager sees the same red cell in the career's Skills Matrix and, during the next manager assessment, can set a benchmark for one person or a selected cohort by pressing B in the batch grading view, recording a stretch target without changing the career's default. She then opens the Upskilling view, expands Escalation Handling, and adds the attached course to her Learning Plan; the gap closes only when a later assessment records a 3. See Gap Analysis and Talent Development.
Related
the grid where team-level gaps become visible
the scale both sides of the subtraction are scored on
where required levels are defined and owned
where assessed levels come from, and how much each method proves
the SkillsDB feature
gap analysis at the organizational altitude
A gap is a number, not a feeling.
See how SkillsDB calculates every gap from a benchmark and an assessment, then shows you which ones to close first.
Book Demo