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MuchSkills Methodology

Knowledge is power

This is a complete guide to increasing organisational productivity using the MuchSkills skills management platform. We start with some statistics on productivity in organisations before we go on to the MuchSkills methodology.

Click on any of the sections below if you want to go directly to one that interests you. 

Section 1

What research says about the link between efficient skills management, employee engagement and productivity

Section 2

Organisations live in a skills fog, says research

Section 3

The MuchSkills solution: What we do

Section 4

MuchSkills Methodology: Better skills management = increased productivity

What research says about the link between efficient skills management, employee engagement and productivity

On average, only 10% of employees in Western Europe are engaged at work. The figure is 33% in the US.

Source:
Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce, 2017

Efficient skills management leads to increased productivity

Firms that match their employees to their most suitable jobs are more productive, and their ability to do so depends on the quality and experience of their management*

Source*
Centre for Economic Policy Research - CEPR

Encouraging employers to make the most of their employees’ skills can improve productivity, reduce inequality, and contribute to economic growth**.

Source**‍
Better Use of Skills in the Workplace report, by OECD and the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research – 2017

Increased employee engagement leads to increased productivity

Productivity among highly engaged teams is 14% higher than that of teams with the lowest engagement. Employees who are not engaged cost their company the equivalent of 18% of their annual salary.

Source*‍
Source: Gallup – 2020

When everyone does their best work, you get 17% higher productivity, 20% higher sales and 21% higher profitability

Source**
State of the American Workplace – Gallup 2017 with 31 million respondents

Employee engagement process and ideas

Organisations live in a skills fog

​​Most organisations live in a skills fog. To understand what we mean by this, it may be useful to think over this question: "Why do we hire people?”
The simple answer is because we want their skills. Organisations do not hire people because of their looks or because they seem like nice folks to work with. We hire people because of the specific skills they have. But most companies suffer from a skills fog. They don’t know what skills individuals, different teams, departments or the entire company have. Even though people are a key resource and organisations spend substantial resources on them, most don’t have a system or process to understand the skills they have, spot skills gaps and are ill prepared to manage skills in a strategic way.
Don’t take just our word for this. See the results of a few studies below.

‍In 2021, the human capital research firm Institute for Corporate Productivity collected data from more than 1,300 HR and business executives across 80 countries for a research report titled Accelerating Workforce Readiness. The study found:

  • 53% respondents said insufficient data about the current skills and capabilities of the workforce is one of the primary barriers to building workforce readiness.
  • Only 15% respondents indicated their organisations are highly effective at analysing the gap between current workforce capabilities and future business requirements.
  • Only 18% of respondents said they currently have an employee skills database or inventory. Of them, 8% said their organisations have such a database only for critical roles, leaving only 10% that have a database with profiles for all employees.

Another report, PWC’s 2021 Future of Work and Skills Survey, found:

  • Only 23% of respondents strongly agreed they use workforce analytics to monitor and predict skills gaps. The same percentage strongly agreed that they analyse business data to determine near-term skills needed in the organisation.
Build strong and effective teams

“It’s imperative that businesses make investments in systems that inventory and maintain an inventory of current skills and that support visualisation of gaps in future skills."

PWC’s 2021 Future of Work and Skills Survey

MuchSkills: What we do

Our number 1 focus is to increase productivity, and productivity is all about assigning the right people and skills for the job. We help our clients by enabling them to easily see what skills they have – and start thinking about the skills they might need in the future – so that they can put the right people on the job and increase engagement and productivity.

How to increase employee engagement

MuchSkills Methodology:
Better skills management = increased productivity

MuchSkills Methodology - More engaged and happier employees

Step 1

Create a skills taxonomy – a job-wise list of all the skills your organisation needs to be successful today (and in the future). Read our handy guide here: What is a skills taxonomy and why does your organisation need it?

Smart and connected skills taxonomy interface
Employee skill self-reflection

Step 2

Map employee skills available in the organisation today (essentially create a skills inventory).  Employees reflect on their skills and strengths and on the MuchSkills platform they map their skills, expertise levels and interest levels.

Step 3

View skills visualisation for actionable insights. On MuchSkills, each employee’s unique skills are displayed in an attractive skills matrix that takes viewers – their co-workers or team leaders and managers – just a few seconds to read and comprehend.

Cute Unicorn Cat Illustration for MuchSkills

Teams that are aware of each other’s strengths relate more effectively to one another, boosting group cohesion and productivity.

Step 4

Using these deep skill insights, managers enable employees to do their best work by assigning the right person to the right job. Managers can also assemble skills-based teams in minutes.

60% of employees say the ability to do what they do best in a role is very important to them.

Source: Gallup

Individuals who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work, 8% more productive and 15% less likely to quit their jobs.

Source: Gallup

Step 5

Spot skill gaps via a skills gap analysis. MuchSkills users will be able to do the following real-time analysis: Spot skill level distribution across the organisation, ascertain how many employees have a particular skill, and create strategies for remedial action such as:

  • Learning and development or upskilling
  • Talent acquisition
  • Talent reorganisation.
  • Identifying recruitment opportunities

 For more details, read: Skills Gap Analysis: A complete guide

Companies that excel at internal mobility [because they follow a skills-based approach] retain employees for an average of 5.4 years, nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it, where the average retention span is 2.9 years.

Step 6

Implement best practices to further increase employee engagement and productivity by:

  1. Holding strengths focused one-on-ones regularly where managers help individuals understand what skills are required for a role, discuss their work focus, work with them to identify how best they can grow and flourish in the organisation, and develop and help plan their career graph.
  2. Creating skills-based teams using MuchSkills’ team builder. Remember, individuals who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work, 8% more productive and 15% less likely to quit their jobs, according to research.‍
  3. Investing in employee growth by assigning mentors or growth coaches where mentors and mentees are matched based on the needs of the mentee. Additionally, creating a robust learning and development program for all employees that includes classes, courses, workshops, micro learning and so on. Read our 8-step guide to successfully upskill your employees here.

The result – More engaged and happier employees

As more and more of your employees do what they do best and what they enjoy, the number of engaged employees will increase.
‍
For the organisation, this means higher productivity, increased sales, and profits.
The world’s best organizations have around 70% employee engagement.

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MuchSkills Methodology - More engaged and happier employees