Author: Sinibali Jana

Leadership is a term that all of us use very often without completely understanding the meaning of it. When asked who is a leader, most people take a moment to pause and recompose their ideas to answer. Is it an absolute term or is it dynamic? Does it have multiple definitions or one binds to all aspects and all situations? Let us find out.

Who is a Leader?

A leader is a specific individual who is responsible for influencing and guiding a group of people towards a certain predefined objective or set of goals. A leader is required to motivate all the others following him. In order to do that, the leader himself/herself must be committed to the job that he/she wishes to accomplish. Without personal commitment towards an objective, a leader will fail to motivate his/her subordinates thereby leading to a failed outcome. The leader also has a clear vision and effectively communicates it to his/her subordinates.

People make leaders. Without people, the leader would not be successful. Hence it is important for the leader to cultivate support and form a group of subordinates. In order to do that, a leader has to have excellent persuasion and communication skills. A leader must also assert his/her credibility. A leader will only cultivate followers only if the followers believe in the credibility and capabilities of the leader.

Also Read: Difference between Leader and Boss

What Does It Take to be a Good Leader?

Every leader to be where he/she intends to be must have a number of qualities that he/she must possess. Even though has varied roles in varied scenarios, some generic qualities of a leader are a must.

• A good leader should be able to gain the trust of his/her followers. Hence honesty and integrity are one of the most important traits a leader must possess.
• Good communication skills are what makes or breaks a leader. If a leader is not able to communicate his/her ideas clearly, he would not succeed.
• A leader must himself be committed to the cause that he is promoting among his/her subordinates.
• A leader must have quick decision-making skills. Since a leader is responsible for leading and motivating a group, unsurity from his/her end disillusions the entire group.
• A leader must be empathetic. He/she must take into account the problems of his subordinates and address them with importance.
• A leader who is arrogant and treats his/her subordinates the same never succeeds. Hence, humility is an important character trait of a leader.
• A leader does lead and influence but he also has to make his/her subordinates important and accountable for themselves. In this case, the leader must practise delegation in authority and empower his/her followers.
• A good leader should be transparent about all the information to the followers/subordinates.

Are Leaders Born or Made?

For years immemorial this has been a raging topic of debate. Is a good leader born or made?

Is it possible for a person to take birth with all the skill-sets and qualities of a good leader? Or is it possible for a person to learn all the skills that a leader is supposed to have and emerge victoriously? Numerous researches and studies have been taken up and conducted to come up with a concrete result. However, there still remain areas which are debatable, on a majority scale it has been established that leaders are made and not born.

A leader should possess a number of behavioural, personality and attitudinal skills that drives him to be the proper definition of a good leader. Most of these traits are learnt through vicarious learning. Vicarious learning is subject to constant development and change. The personality or attitudinal traits that a person acquires depends on his environment, his experiences and his/her willingness to learn.

It is not most likely that a person will have high-end skills in delegation, team-building, or good-communication. A person can only learn them through years of experience. Only when a person is exposed to different scenarios and understands the need for these traits can a person actually put efforts to acquire them. A good leader is made by a person’s drive to personal development and accomplishment.

However, it has been established by behaviour theorists that leadership is not completely but ‘mostly made’. It can be said that a good leader is  two-thirds born and one third made. From a practical viewpoint, a leader has to work in various kind of scenarios. This will include, corporate organisations, educational institutions, intelligence bureaus and even military units. Leading these units can be significantly complex jobs and a person is not born with the traits to cater to these complex needs. Understanding these group dynamics play a major role in making these great leaders.

As already mentioned, assertiveness, risk-taking and empathy are the required characteristics to become a good leader. These are not inherent traits. Most researches show no relationship between genetics or heredity and for a person to have these skills. Through a person’s development either through childhood learnings, peer groups or adult self-development, a person acquires these skills.

However, intelligence is also an important parameter for measuring the effectiveness of a leader. Here comes the context of heredity. People generally have a significant amount of heredity contribute to his/her inherent intelligence. But even then there is a glitch in the matrix. A good leadership no wonder needs intelligence which is partly hereditary, but general IQ is not what is detrimental to it. A good leader needs social intelligence skills to cultivate humility and resilience in his lead and motivate his followers while also giving them a feeling that they are important.

Even the required emotional intelligence is developed through various life-experiences of a person. Hence it rules out the idea that introvert or less-assertive people cannot be good leaders. Everyone can be a good leader as long as the person is open to learning, understanding and self-development. Leadership in itself is not a trait. It is a self-acquired quality of individuals.

Numerous great leaders once started from scratch. They did not come to this planet as a great leader. They learnt to be one. They had experiences, worked on themselves, believed in their causes and were determined to give them definition. That is what gave their leadership recognition. However, it is true that some individuals would be more brushed up in their leadership skills than the other. But it only portrays individual differences in capabilities. It does not portray the disadvantage by hereditary traits determined by birth.

Recruitment is ad integral part in Huma Resource Management. Recruitment is a hiring process where firstly the staffing and organisational needs of the company are identified. After that, a potential pool of candidates for the required staffing is attracted. The pool of candidates is generated by firstly identifying these candidates. These can be done by both internal and external sources. Next, the recruiter should attract these candidates to apply for the job. This can be done by extensive advertising in job sites, campus drives, reaching out to potential candidates from company database etc.

Recruitment is such an important process because it serves as a pre-math for selection. Recruitment is a deciding factor on the correct candidates being chosen in the selection process. Hence, attracting a better pool of candidates in the recruitment process proves to be extremely beneficial.

The process of recruitment largely varies due to the size of the organisation. A small or medium-sized firm may have only one person as a recruiter or a hiring manager. However, a larger company is most likely to have a whole dedicated team of recruiters to carry on the process effectively. A well-framed recruitment process helps both the company and the applicants. The company gets to generate a potential pool of candidates whereas the candidates get potential employment opportunities.

Sources of Recruitment

Recruitment by an organisation can be done by a variety of sources. They are as listed below:

Internal Source

Internal sources of recruitment can not only be effective but also economical. It is cost-effective for the company and ad also economises on a lot of time. Internal sources of recruitment mainly include promotions and transfers of employees intra-organisation. In addition to that intra-organisation employee referrals also largely contribute to the internal sources of recruitment. Utilising the company’s database to recruit former employees and candidates can also be a good choice.

External source

A company can recruit through external sources via employment agencies. This is the common and surest source of recruiting eligible pool of candidates. The company can also conduct campus drives in various schools, colleges and universities thereby facilitating recruitment. Apart from that, the recruitment procedure can be advertised in various media sources to have a greater reach and therefore attract a greater pool. Utilising various labour unions in the recruitment process is also something that the company can do.

E-sources

The e-sources of recruitment are gaining quick popularity in today’s times. Recruitment ads can be posted on agency websites. Also, online job boards can be used for the recruitment process. However, the chance of attracting a large number of unqualified candidates works as the biggest disadvantage in this case. Its easy availability and much higher reach still make it a popular option.

Purpose and Importance of Recruitment

Recruitment has a dynamic purpose and importance that caters to both the organisation and the candidates. The multifaceted importance and purposes of recruitment are what makes it such an important process in an organisation. The importance of recruitment are as follows :

Attracting Candidates

Even though recruitment does not ensure the final onboarding of the candidates in the company but it effectively attracts a large number of candidates to apply for the vacancies. This gives the candidates a potential chance for employment and also publicises the organisation among job-seekers.

Facilitates Selection

The selection process is undertaken to keep in mind the ultimate organisational needs. The candidates have to go through an extensive process of screening before they are finally selected. Hence recruitment provides a large option for the selectors to choose fro to cater to the needs of the firm.

The Success Rate of Selection

Since the recruitment process is already comprehensive, it takes present and future job analysis into account and then recruits candidates. This rules out the presence of under-qualified or over-qualified candidates reaching the selection process. This, in turn, increases the success rate of the selection process.

Meeting Obligations

Every organisation has legal obligations that it ha to meet. In addition to that, the social obligations also termed as corporate social responsibility is a big factor that organisations take care of. By recruiting candidates and maintaining the workforce composition, these obligations are successfully met.

Transparency

The recruitment process is largely undertaken to maintain organisational transparency. It is an effective measure by which complete transparency can be maintained. The transparency does not only cater to the organisation but also the employees. This means that in the organisation, the HR manager, field recruiters, clients, all of these entities are completely aware of the process and possess the same information. In addition to this, a transparent procedure also ensures that the candidates are aware of the status of their job application.

Confidence

Since recruitment is a transparent process, it ensures confidence in the organisation. Since the recruiters, clients and managers are aware and accountable for the entire recruitment process, all of them have directly or indirectly contributed to the result and are confident of the choice and satisfied by it.

Avoids Discrimination

A proper and legitimate recruitment process is based on merit. It is based on job analysis, attracts candidates based on the job description and screens them based on merit. The parameters for screening are mentioned at every step and the results depend solely on the merit of the candidate. This rules out the possibility of any candidate facing discrimination due to their race, caste, colour or personal connections. Recruitment adds fairness to the organisational procedure.

Job Description

Framing a proper job description is important for any organisation. In recruitment, the candidates are chosen based on the job description provided by the company. It is a detrimental factor in recruiting candidates. Hence recruitment helps in curating a proper job description which includes all the primary, secondary and tertiary aspects related to the particular job role.

Consistency

An inconsistent system of recruitment is most likely to provide biased and unstandardised results. To ensure fair judgements and selection of the right man for the right job, the recruitment process is kept consistent with standardised measures of screening at every stage.

An effective and well-framed recruitment policy will not just hire the right candidates for the job. It will heighten the reach of the organisation in addition to generating an eligible pool of candidates. Recruitment has present and future impacts that facilitate an organisation multi-dimensional ways. A proper recruitment policy shall ensure that the right person is onboarded for the right job with the company’s commitment in place.

In very simple words, productivity is just a term that is used to measure efficiency. In terms of economics, it means measuring the output that comes from the inputs provided. Technically productivity is defined as output per unit of input, labour, or capital.

A real-time example would be a bag manufacturing factory. Suppose, if 10 labours collectively produce 20 bags per day by employing all the resources, it would not be considered as very productive. However, if the same number of labours collectively manufacture 200 bags per day, productivity would be considered to be very high.

Productivity is an important context not just in the professional scenario. It is relevant in every walk of our life, every sector and hence it is very important to know how productivity can be measured. In economics, operations, factories, as well as service sectors. However, with tangible products as output, the measurement of productivity becomes a lot easier. However, with intangible output, the determination of productivity is a lot more complex.

In factories and manufacturing firms, the units of output can be divided by the labour or tangible inputs and the productivity will be measured. However, in any service, it is harder to find. So in some cases, the aggregate revenue collected by the employee is recorded. It is then divided by their salary to find a deduction of productivity.

Factors Affecting Productivity

There are a number of factors that determine productivity in an organisation. They are described as follows :

Selection of proper manpower largely affects productivity. Selecting the right employees for the right job leads to higher productivity. Also providing proper training to the employees for skill formation increases productivity.

Selecting and acquiring proper types of equipment and machinery in an organisation increases productivity. Availability of optimum, well-functioning and up-to-date machinery in the workplace ensures smooth functioning of labour and hence better productivity.

The floor area or space covered is a detrimental factor in productivity. The total area of different departments, including quality department, administrative block, affect productivity in the workplace. Apart from the floor area, the positioning or the location if these departments also play a major role.

The use of economic, clean and renewable sources of energy has also proved to significantly increase productivity.

Intra-organisational movement is also a significant influence on productivity. The movement of manpower and materials inside the organisation to a large degree affects productivity in the workplace.

Also Read: How to Measure and Improve Employee Performance?

Types Of Productivity

Productivity, broadly speaking is a consolidated term. However, it can actually be rather dynamic in its meaning. It can be differentiated on the basis of a number of factors namely, labour, capital and materials. Below listed are the comprehensive explanation about the three types of productivity.

Labour Productivity

Labour productivity, otherwise called labour efficiency, is characterized as genuine financial yield per work hour. Development in labour productivity is estimated by the change in monetary yield per work hour over a characterized period. Labour productivity and employee productivity are not the same aspects. Employee productivity is characterised as an employee’s yield per hour.

Work profitability is straightforwardly connected to improved ways of life as higher utilization.

This expansion in yield makes it conceivable to expend a greater amount of the merchandise and enterprises at an inexorably sensible cost.

Development in labour profitability is legitimately decipherable from changes in physical capital, new innovation, and human capital. When the increase in labour productivity is evident, in most cases the attributing factors are the above listed three. Physical capital is the instruments, gear, and offices that labourers have access to use to facilitate production and manufacturing. New developments are new techniques to join contributions to create more yield, for example, sequential construction systems or robotization. Human capital speaks to the expansion in training and specialization of the workforce. Measuring labour productivity also provides a huge and clear insight into the trends of these mentioned factors.

Capital Productivity

Capital productivity is the output per unit of estimation of fixed capital assets. In a socialist economy, capital profitability describes the effectiveness with which fixed capital stock is utilized. It is regularly utilized in the financial examination and in the detailing of creation plans and plans for capital consumptions, both for the national economy in general and for independent organisations or companies, professional associations, joint ventures or enterprises.

Information on the GDP and on national income is utilized in computing capital efficiency for the national economy all in all; for ascertaining the profitability of independent organisations information on the net as well as the gross output are put to good use. In segments where the yield is homogeneous (oil, coal, concrete), physical units are at times utilized in the figurings. Capital productivity is determined based on the parity valuation of the fixed creation resources (devaluation costs included), utilizing either the normal incentive throughout the year or the incentive as of the year’s end. Capital profitability is inversely proportional to the ratio of capital and output.

Material Productivity

Material productivity is feined as the amount of output produced in term of per unit input of materials. Materials, in this case, are defined as natural resources. It can be broadly differentiated from total productivity.

The capacity to make the equivalent or more yield utilizing less material assets is known as material productivity. Procedure inconstancy is at the base of materials overconsumption. It begins process wasteful aspects that bring about faulty production, procurement errors, faulty billing practises etc. In other words, it is a blatant wastage of resources.

Each business needs to see if its utilization of materials is changed in accordance with the base adequate levels, or, on a flip side, overconsumption is available. Numerous organizations set the base minimum level dependent on historical data or forecasted data of consumption. However, setting the minimum level should always be based on optimum consumption. R&G can help an organisation by baselining what that minimum level is, along these lines setting the measures. When this count is comprehended and shared by all the essential partners, the time has come to evaluate the deviations between real utilization and guidelines, and to make a framework for persistently lessening or removing the sources of those deviations, subsequently expanding material efficiency.

Productivity and its various types are extremely relevant in any big or small workplace. It helps to keep a proper check on resources and also works as an alarm for necessary changes that have to be made to make the best use of all kinds of availabilities.

An entrepreneur is the owner of the company. He is someone who sets up the foundation of the company. He brings in ideas, innovations and makes decisions in terms of running the company. He is the prime decision-maker. An entrepreneur is responsible for taking risks in the business. Risks include financial, operational, and other unforeseen contingencies related to the business. The entrepreneur is the true-leader of the company. His primary focus is on achievements and profits.

A manager, on the other hand, is an employee of the organization. He evades the element of any form of risk-taking related to the business. Instead, he is responsible for the smooth functioning of his subordinates. A manager may be responsible for a group, a specific department, or a region. He handles and manages all the administrative functions running under him and ensures the organizational goals and targets are met. He does not have to make binding financial decisions regarding the organization. A manager is employed to run an organization or company and does not have to decide upon its fate.

Let us find out what are the key differences between an entrepreneur and a manager based on some important aspects.

Difference between Entrepreneur and Manager

Position in the Company

An entrepreneur is positioned in a company as a visionary. He is the leader and the owner of the business. All the risks associated with the company are borne by him.

A manager, on the other hand, is placed in the organization as a salaried employee. He does not bear any risks.

Focus

An entrepreneur’s focus is primarily long-term. He is focussed on setting up the business,  sustaining it, and expanding it. His focus determines the existence and growth of the business organization.  He has long-term objectives and works towards reaching the same.

A manager is an employee who has short-term objectives in terms of the organization. A manager’s assigned job is to ensure the regular smooth-functioning of the company, and hence, his//her objectives and duties are not far-fetched.

Motive

An entrepreneur is motivated to set up his/her own venture. This means that his motive is to set up a new venture due to his own personal choices.

A manager, on the other hand, is motivated by the power his position holds. His only motive in the organization is to dispense the services that are assigned to him and prove to be a competent employee.

Element of Risk

The possibility of risk-taking is probably one of the most significant aspects of being an entrepreneur. In setting up a completely new venture, an entrepreneur poses himself/herself to the risks and uncertainties of the business. Whether the risks are related to the finances, legal operations, or profits, it is the entrepreneur who bears the full of it.

A manager does not have to take risks in the organization. He has a predefined set of duties and a limited job role that he has to dispense and then receive definite perks in return.

Income

The income of the entrepreneur is rather uncertain. His income from the organization depends upon how well the organization makes the profits. Setting up an organization from scratch has its uncertainties. That also makes the profit-yielding capacity very unpredictable.

The income of a manager of a company is certain and fixed. A manager in an organization is a middle or high order employee. Hence, he/she is a salaried employee on the company’s payroll. As a result, by the end of each month, a manager receives a fixed amount as remuneration as well as promised perks that come with his position.

Innovation

An entrepreneur has to take necessary decisions in terms of the innovations in the organization. The business is the entrepreneur’s brainchild. Hence the decisions regarding product offerings, product development, etc., are made by the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur decides ways by which the evolving demands in the market can be met.

A manager does not have to make any innovative inputs into the organization. A manager, however, has the responsibility of carrying out the decisions taken by the entrepreneur. Hence, it can be rightly said that a manager puts the entrepreneur’s idea and gives them shape in the real world. He/she is responsible for the proper execution of these ideas.

Characteristics

A successful entrepreneur is supposed to have a number of characteristic traits. He/she should have great leadership skills. He/she should be ready to take risks and have an extremely innovative bent of mind. In addition, an entrepreneur should be analytical and patience. He/she should be a good speaker since it is the entrepreneur’s ides to sell his/her business idea to the world and find an establishment.

A manager, however, can have a few inter lapping qualities as that of an entrepreneur. But in essence, to be a good manager in an organization, a person needs to have adequate knowledge in management theories and other aspects. He/she, in most cases, must also have prior practical experience in his field of the job to be hired.

Approach

An entrepreneur’s approach to work is more informal in nature. Since he/she is not directly related to the operations and daily execution of tasks, the necessary formality is averse in the entrepreneur’s case.

A manager, on the other hand, is extremely formal in his professional approach. He/she is responsible for administering a coordination a group of employees around him. This requires the manager to maintain a degree of formality and professionalism in his operations.

Decision-making Process

The decision-making process of an entrepreneur is largely intuitive. He/she employs his innovation, ideas, motivation, and natural drive into making decisions for the organization.

A manager, on the other hand, abides by rules and analyzed data. He/she follows proper protocol and hence takes decisions which are calculative and analytical in nature.

From all the above-stated information, a summary table of differences between an entrepreneur and an employee is drawn. It mentions the various bases of difference along with relevant information.

All the above differences have made it clear that there is a significant difference between manager and entrepreneur. Needless to say, both have considerable importance in any organization. It should, however, be noted that their roles cannot be juxtaposed. Both possess specific skill sets and work on different avenues to keep the growth and daily operation of the organization steady.

Job enrichment is a subset of job design and a by-stander with job enlargement. It is a vertical restructuring of a job role. It is a tool used to motivate the employees by enabling them to learn new skills and acquiring new experiences. It serves as an antidote to employee monotony that occurs due to the repetitive nature of jobs. It attempts to increase employees’ autonomy over its job and also allow him/her the room for feedback and participation. The idea of job enrichment largely emerged from Frederick Hertbergz ‘Two Factor Theory’. It is a process of motivation where newer sets of dimensions are added to pre-existing jobs.

Different Ways of Job Enrichment

The primary essence of job enrichment is to increase the job satisfaction of the employees. This is done by vertical enlargement of the job profile known as job enrichment. This means increasing the control of the employee over his job. Upon having heightened control, the employee feels more responsible, more accountable and freer to take risks on his activities. All of these factors attribute to better job satisfaction which in turn lead to better productivity. Here are some of the ways by which job enrichment can be carried out:

Job Rotation

One of the most effective ways of job enrichment is by rotating the employees in various jobs. This will allow the employees to learn new skill-sets and acquire new experiences. Job rotation can be an extremely useful tool in providing motivation to the employees.

Complex Tasks

The employees can be assigned with more complex set of tasks. This will give them a sense of entitlement towards their job since they will be handling the job from the start to the end. They will find more meaning in their professional duty and that would give them the motivation that is required.

Formation of Autonomous Teams

Job enrichment can be both on an individual and group level. Formation of such teams would help the enrichment on a group level. In such groups, the employees should be given the freedom to decide upon the operations, evaluations, etc. In some cases, they may also e give the freedom to choose their own team members. This will provide heightened motivation for their work.

Increasing Participation

Increasing the participation of the employees in the higher-level management processes can work as an effective motivator. A company with a very strict hierarchy is likely to make the employees that their voices are unheard. Hence letting the employees have a say in strategic management can, in turn, lead to job enrichment.

Transparent feedback

In most cases, we see that the quality team of an organisation tracks employee performance and points out the mistakes. However, if the feedback process is more employee-directed meaning that the employees have more control over tracking their own performance, then it would lead to effective job enrichment.

Steps in Job Enrichment

The followings are a rough sketch of the steps might be implemented for job enrichment:

Survey

The first and foremost step is conducting an extensive survey in the organisation. It should be first understood the areas of improvement. The areas where the employees are dissatisfied should be found out. Implementation of enrichment without a proper survey would only lead to developmental work in areas that do not require it leading to ineffective job enrichment.

Deciding on the Approach

There can be a number of approaches to implement job enrichment. Hence, it is important to decide on the right approach. Choosing a drastic approach would not only be cost-ineffective but also poses the risk of operational failure. Hence, a complete paradigm shift in the workplace scenario is not a safe option. Instead an optimum task-force should be appointed to implement job enrichment on grounds of operational profitability as well as job satisfaction of the employees.

Curating the Program

After analysing the different approaches, a final program for implementation of job enrichment should be created.

Communicating the Program

After designation of the program, there should be clear communication. All the levels of management, as well as the employees, should be well communicated about the plan of action. In addition, the employees should be given enough participation and their feedback should also be taken into account.

Advantages

The followings listed are the advantages of job enrichment:

• Job enrichment enables the employee ton to learn new skill-sets and enrich himself.
• With learning new skills, he is prone to new jobs and hence can potentially acquire new experiences.
• It is one of the best motivational drives for the employees of an organisation.
• A workplace with motivated and skill-enriched employees can be regarded as a healthy working environment.
• Since due to job enrichment, the employees are motivated to be participative, it improves their decision-making process of the employees.
• By increasing the job role and participation of other middle and lower-level employees, job enrichment reduces centralisation of power.
• Job enrichment inculcates a sense of accomplishment in both the employer and the employee.

Disadvantages

Even though job enrichment can be generally attributed to positive outcomes in an organisation, there are a few disadvantages that should be noted.

• Employees are given way too much control under this approach. However, the credibility of the employees is not always tested. Whether the employee can make full use of the control in his hands or not is debatable.
• A lot of employees work well and prove to be productive when they are under direction. Given the autonomy of actions, it may affect their productivity.
• A degree of ego clashes and complexes may also emerge in the organisation since the superiors may feel that they are losing their hierarchical position.
• Job enrichment comes with added responsibility upon the employees. This may, in some organisations be a tool of their exploitation due to overworking.

Job enrichment is a two-sided sword. However, it obviously does more good than harm. If it is used by unscrupulous management, it may lead to exploitation of the employees. However, if it is systematically implemented, it would lead to a workforce of highly motivated and driven individuals who are satisfied with the work they do.

It is for the organisation to decide the right approach of job enrichment in alignment with the other needs of the organisation. A well-enriched set of jobs will only lead to higher levels of productivity.

Looking for highly talented employees for your company? Register here on our platform to find them.

Employee Skills Matrix

A Skills Matrix is rightly known as a Competency Matrix as well. It is a visual instrument that allows an HR professional to observe, analyse and map out the various skills and competencies of the employee in an organisation. This matrix is essentially used to find out the required and available skill-set of the employees. For curating a team for any specific project, a skills matrix comes in very handy. For an HR professional with a data-driven mindset, this proves to be an important tool.

In a properly framed skill matrix, namely, three aspects are shown. These are the required set of skills in the employees, the existing set of skills in the employee, and the skill set that is missing in the employees. Ideally, it is used for a small or medium-sized group or team. However, it can be potentially expanded.

Whenever utilized accurately, the Skills Matrix offers a solid review of the information and aptitudes accessible inside a group. It can let you know whether you have the right stuff important to complete explicit errands. In the event that the group is inadequate in certain important aptitudes, we call this an abilities hole. This makes it a basic instrument for any human asset supervisor putting together their choices with respect to the information.

In the left side of the matrix, the required skills in the employees are listed. In the top row, the names of the employees are mentioned. In the intersection of these rows and columns, the proficiencies and skills of the employee are mentioned by level.

Skills Matrix Levels

As mentioned, proficiency and interest are two important parameters of the Skill matrix. “Proficiency” means an employee’s existing credibility in a field. “Interest” shows his/her drive to learn more and develop. High proficiency is no wonder a positive parameter but it is only useful when it comes with a high level of interest. Following described are a few levels in the Skill Matrix:

Proficiency level 0

An employee with a zero level has no skill in an area and cannot be put to activity. The focus is on the introduction of basic concepts to the employees.

Proficiency level 1

An employee with a proficiency level of 1 only possesses the basic concepts of a skill. The focus for this employee would be on the development of those basic skills.

Proficiency level 2

At this level, the employee, not only has basic concepts of skill but also has some practical knowledge about the same in the professional field. At this point, the focus is on acquiring new experiences and extensive training.

Proficiency level 3

Level 3 employees are experts of middle-order. They have the relevant knowledge, skills and experience. Hence they can carry out the activities on their own with average competence. Occasionally, intervention from professionals might be needed. There is however room for development and new experiences.

Proficiency level 4

Employees marked at this level are experts in their field. They do not need help from other professionals. In fact, they are the ones who help other employees with queries and developmental needs. They generally focus on strategic management and problem-solving in their respective domains.

Proficiency level 5

Employees at this level are highly skilled. They work in strategic management. They are experts in problem-solving, coaching and helping other employees.

Interest

Interest has a binary level. It is either 0 or 1. 0 signifies that an employee has no drive or motivation for development and learning. 1 signifies that an employee is highly driven to develop his skills and increase his core competencies.

Skills Matrix Benefits

A skill or competency matrix has varied uses. Also, it does not just benefit the team that it is applied to. It also benefits the organisation, the individual employee, the final stakeholders/clients etc. Below described are the benefits of a skill matrix:

Team

The matrix is most beneficial to the team it is being applied to. With the help of the matrix, all the members of the team are on the same page. It effectively showcases the missing skills which can be attended to by hiring new employees or extensive training of the current spots. It shows the team its strengths and weaknesses and how they can impact the productivity of the team.

Organisation

On a broader perspective, the Skills Matrix analysis benefits the organisation. It gets a clear picture of the Human resource it possesses. It also helps the organisation to allocate its resources for the required training and development process.

Individuals

The skills matrix provides a two-fold benefit to the employees in the team. TO begin with, it makes the employee aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses. The awareness makes it a starting point for a learning process. Also, the requirements shown in the matrix makes the individual employee clear as to what the team/organisation expects or demands of him as output.

Stakeholders/Clients

The increased productivity and efficiency of the team means better output in terms of service. In that sense, it ultimately benefits the stakeholders of the organisation, be it internal or external.

Steps to Create Skills Matrix

The framework of a competency matrix is specific and requires some systematic steps to its creation. The steps are described as following:

Assessment of required skill-set

A Skills Matrix is generally created by an HR professional to assess and increase the productivity of a team. It is also done to prevent intra-team mishaps like conflicts. Hence, the first step would be to list down or assess the required skills necessary for a particular project. These skills would be the foundation upon which current employees would be assessed, new employees would be hired and training and developmental programs would be undertaken.

Assessment of the employees’ current skill-set

The second step in the creation of the matrix is very important and comprehensive. It includes the assessment of the current skill-set of the employees. This can be done by taking direct information from the employee or by asking his colleagues, supervisors, examining reports, etc. Since only asking the employee might not provide an accurate result due to bias, the 180 degree or 360-degree feedback method is used. Upon assessing the skill and experience of the employees, they can be divided into the levels of proficiency as decided by the organisation.

Assessing the interest of the current employees

Based on the skills of the employees, they will be assigned tasks. High proficiency would not ensure high output. The employee must also be interested to implement and develop his skills in his activity in the organisation. Hence assessment of the employees’ interest is very important upon which they will be divided into a 2-point interest scale in the matrix.

Incorporation of the insights

Once all the data has been gathered, they should be incorporated into the template of the matrix and analysis has to be made of the same.

Responding to the result

The last step is the evaluation of the matrix. Here the HR should analyse the data related to each employee. The employees should also be given a chance to make suggestive inputs. If there is any error, they should be rectified immediately. The fact that each employee is assigned to the right job should also be evaluated.

A skill or competency matrix has emerged to be an important tool in a data-driven workplace scenario. In a situation where analytics are taking over rough data, a skills matrix has proved to be a boon to the HR scenario. It has not only benefitted the employer but also the employees as well as the final clients. The multiple benefiting nature and technical approach of this analysis is what had made it so relevant and important in recent times.