March 28, 2020 Employee Competency and Skills

5 methods to assess employee competency and skills to build a workforce for the future.

Businesses need to be able to quickly adjust to changing environments and so do their employees. To ensure that the changes go smoothly, you have to have a good idea of which competencies your employees are lacking in and which they are proficient at. Using this information, you’ll have the ability to organize seminars and training programs in an effort to fill those gaps that are present in skills and knowledge. Here’s a quick look at a few ways that you can assess those competencies and skills.

Give Them a Test

Even if your employees are highly skilled and have degrees like a bachelor of graphic design, you should test them periodically. This is a pretty efficient and traditional method of assessing their theoretical and technical knowledge. That being said, since tests of this nature are given in “laboratory” conditions, they won’t give you a complete idea of whether or not your employee will be able to use that knowledge in a real-life setting. Use these tests, but only once in a while. Otherwise, when it comes to realistic conditions, you may find yourself disappointed.

Team Feedback

When it comes to building a workforce for the future, you might consider using feedback from teams. There might be a bit of subjectivity to what team members will say, but it’s far more objective when compared to relying on the feedback from a single person. Ask your employees to share feedback on their coworker’s performance, just be sure to stress that personal feelings should be ignored. See if they’re able to perform their duties at a high level.

Self-Assessments

There are assessments that everyone should take, and one of them is the self-assessment. You can send each of your employees a questionnaire to be filled out. On one hand, it’ll show their self-perception and abilities, while on the other hand, such a subjective point of view may or may not help you. If their evaluation goes too far in one direction or the other, it might not be overly helpful. Because of this, if you issue self-assessments, they should be used in conjunction with another one that’s more objective.

Get Feedback From Clients

Customer feedback is a type of real-life testing. The only difference here is that your employees’ actions will be assessed after they’ve performed them. It’s a great way to see how they work, while also communicating with your clients and learning more about the needs they have. This is a fantastic opportunity, but you need to ensure that your employees already have sufficient skills before testing them in this way.

Real Situations

One of the most efficient methods of assessing skills and training is practice. However, what if you just can’t risk it and leave it until the time for assessment comes? What if your employees fail in this type of assessment? Will you be able to take that risk? To ensure that they’re up to the job, it’s much safer to begin with alternative methods. That being said, if you’re positive that your staff is highly qualified, put them into these types of situations to both check their proficiency and challenge them.

It’s up to each business owner to choose the methods they’ll use. Typically, combining more than a single one will be highly recommended. Depending on the skills that you have a need to test and your specific conditions (resources, time, etc.), you might choose one of those methods we mentioned above or go with one of your own creation that’s been tailored to suit the needs and style of your business.

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