INTHEBLACK July 2025 - Magazine - Page 55
“We’ve got to first know what’s in our organisation — so what
skills we have — and map those skills to employees. Then we’ve
got to make sure that we have a clear mapping of skills to the
key roles we have in an organisation, so we can understand
what skills we need to develop among our employees.”
CYNTHIA COTTRELL, MERCER PACIFIC
skills we need to develop among our
employees.”
Organisations can then use skills
mapping to guide workforce planning,
which has historically stopped at headcount,
says Tahnee McWhirter, partner at HR
company HumanX.
“Skills mapping is looking at what your
organisation needs to create and deliver value.
It’s not just one long laundry list of skills — it’s
taking into consideration the impact of those
skills and how they interact.”
She says the skills an organisation needs
should align with its purpose and values.
“The next step is understanding what
the core skills for a business are, so what is
consistent across every role, and then
you can start looking at more team-specific
or function-specific skills.”
McWhirter says skills mapping requires
“a great learning and development or
organisational development specialist who
can dissect the skills in the team. That’s critical”.
She recommends organisations begin the
process by looking at existing systems.
“For example, you might have position
descriptions, documented workflows or
a capability matrix that needs a refresh — that’s
a really good place to start. A capability matrix
simply sets out all the skills or capabilities you
need in the team, and then applies different
levels of impact, from beginner through
to master or expert.”
A SKILLS-BASED APPROACH
The Deloitte survey found that while
skills-powered organisations were a relative
rarity — with fewer than one in five
organisations having adopted the model —
these companies performed better than
their counterparts.
They were more likely to innovate, display agility
and retain high performers.
McWhirter says having a clear picture
of an organisation’s skill requirements can help
in the critical areas of risk mitigation, succession
planning, future-proofing and innovation.
“If we have a change in direction or a new
strategic plan, for example, one of the first tools
we should refer to is the skills matrix, because we
need to know if we have a workforce today that’s
going to be able to execute for us in the future,
or if we need to upskill or bring in new talent.”
Focusing on skills rather than jobs is
appealing to workers, too.
“It can help you identify and map progression
pathways for your team, and that then has
the benefit of being able to provide team
members with development and growth
opportunities, also making you a far more
attractive employer,” McWhirter says.
The Deloitte survey found that many
organisations find it challenging to keep pace
with the constantly evolving skills landscape.
Recruiting for skills, rather than specific
experience or a qualification, can offer
a solution by broadening the talent pool.
According to Deloitte, “in an ever-evolving
world of work in which the half-life of hard skills
is shorter than ever, increasingly more important
will be hiring based on adjacent skills,
or foundational human capabilities such
as learnability”. These adjacent skills, such as
adaptability and problem-solving, are critical
in a dynamic business landscape.
Skills-based recruitment also “keeps the focus
on what’s important”, McWhirter says.
“If you stick to the skills matrix, you are
genuinely looking for the person who has
the capability to deliver in that role, as opposed
to their experience or someone who looks
good on paper.” ■
READ
an article on why
transferrable skills
are in demand
LISTEN
to a podcast
episode about
the skills shortage
in accounting
UPSKILL
with CPA Australia’s
range of short
courses
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 55
