What Is a Skills Assessment?

A skills assessment is the evaluation of an employee’s proficiency, knowledge, and abilities related to the skills required for a specific job or field. A skill assessment may consist of tests, examinations, simulations, interviews, or demonstrations to assess an individual’s competence and potential.

Why is skills assessment important?

Skills assessments are an important step in evaluating a candidate’s suitability and qualification for a specific job. They can be used at various stages of the employee lifecycle, including hiring, employee development, performance evaluation, and succession planning to objectively assess job fit and potential. 

By assessing skills employers can determine if a candidate would be a good fit for a job, where reskilling or upskilling may be needed, and which employees may have the potential to move into new and more challenging roles. 

How do organizations use skills assessments?

Organizations use skills assessments in various ways:

• Pre-employment screening. Skills assessments are used during the hiring process to assess candidates’ skills and qualifications, helping organizations make informed decisions when selecting candidates to fill specific roles.

• Training and development. Skills assessments can identify skill gaps and training needs among employees. Training can then be tailored to address those gaps.

• Performance appraisal. Skills assessments are used as part of performance evaluation to assess employees’ competencies and performance against predetermined standards or expectations.

• Career development. Skills assessments can be used as part of career development and succession planning to identify individual strengths and areas of opportunity for improvement. This can help facilitate career development discussions, and aid in aligning employees’ interests and aptitudes to organizational goals. 

Skills assessments are becoming an increasingly popular tool for organizations making a shift from being jobs-based to being skills-based. Almost 90% of executives today say that it is becoming more important for their organizations to define work, deploy talent, manage careers, and value employees. This can best be done through a skills-based approach.

What role does technology play in skills assessment?

Technology can be used both as part of the skill assessment process and to document and analyze skills data to identify trends, gaps, and areas of strengths and weaknesses among candidates and employees. Online assessment platforms can streamline the assessment process, provide instant feedback, and facilitate efficient evaluation and scoring. 

People analytics can then help leaders investigate the connection between learning activities and business results.

Read more on skills assessment: 

• Is a Skills Analysis Missing From Your Performance Reviews?

• Everything You Need to Know About a Skills Taxonomy

• How to Shift Your Organization From Jobs to Skills-Based