1.  Skills taxonomy

What is a skills taxonomy:

A skills taxonomy is a structured framework that categorises and organises skills within an industry or organisation. As the foundation of a skills-based approach, it creates a common language for identifying, describing, and grouping skills by type and proficiency level.

Why do you need it?

A skills taxonomy provides a structured way for organisations to understand and manage workforce capabilities, enabling smarter decisions around hiring, learning and development, and strategic workforce planning.

To learn how to create a skills taxonomy, read our detailed guide: What is a skills taxonomy and how do you create one?

2.  Set up ‘custom skills’

Custom skill categories are lists of all the skills the organisation needs to meet its business objectives and goals. All MuchSkills users can see these lists in the ‘My Skills’ section of the platform. Here’s how you can configure these lists/categories to ensure a smooth and effective onboarding experience.

a. Understand the purpose of custom skill setup

MuchSkills comes with a built-in skills taxonomy to inspire you – but you can edit, remove, or replace any part of it. The goal is to align the skill categories with your goals, whether that’s tracking leadership, technical expertise, industry knowledge, or even fun interests like games.

Why is this customisation important?

Tailoring the platform to reflect your organisation’s unique skills landscape is essential because a custom skill setup ensures that employees map their skills against the specific capabilities your organisation needs to succeed.

b. Start with existing MuchSkills categories and modify as needed

When users click on the ‘My Skills’ section, they will find built-in categories that are common across organisations such as:

  • Essential Human Skills (soft, cultural, behavioral)
  • Global Skills (common across organisations)
  • Technical Skills (20,000+ built-in software, programming, and technical tools)
  • Certifications
  • Specialisations (e.g., Dev & Tech, Cloud & Infra, Design & Product)

As an admin or manager, you can remove or rename skills or categories that don’t apply to you or add completely new custom categories too. 

c. Create skill categories unique to the organisation

In addition to the pre-built categories above, admins can create custom categories tailored to your specific context such as:

· Industry experience (e.g., Banking, Retail)

·   Engineering specialisations (e.g., CAD Modelling, Risk Assessment)

·   Customer knowledge (e.g., Experience with handling specific customer segments)

·   Product knowledge (e.g., Knowledge of the organisation’s own products or services)

Here’s how:

  • Go to ‘TEAM/ORG’ → ‘Settings’ 
  •  Click on ‘Manage Skills’ → ‘Create Skill Category’. 
  • Add a name for the category and choose if you want it displayed as a bubble chart or sector chart (see below for guidance). 
  • Add skills, a brief description of the skills, the department whose members should select the listed skill, and whether the skill is mandatory.

Now, when employees log in to create their skill profiles, these custom lists will appear in the ‘My Skills’ section, allowing them to select the skills relevant to them.

​​d. Import/upload your existing skill lists

If you already have a list of custom skills on a spreadsheet, you can upload them to MuchSkills in seconds.

Here’s how.

·   Click the three dots in the top right corner of the skills category box.

·   Select “Download CSV template” to get a ready-made format.

·   Fill in the CSV file with your own skills and their descriptions.

·   Once completed, return to the same menu and select “Upload CSV file” to import your skills.

Here are some pre-populated skills list templates you can download and customise: 

e. Choose the right visualisation

When creating a category, you choose how users map their skill level:

  • Sector chart (recommended for most categories): This maps beginner/intermediate/expert levels that employees can choose from. Sector charts are used in 99% of categories.
  • Bubbles: Used for mapping interest rather than skill level. Employees use this mainly to show that they are more interested in using skill X skill over skill Y or Z.

f. Support is always available

If you need help accessing templates or advice on how to structure your taxonomy, MuchSkills support is just a chat message away.

Watch the quick set-up video

We recommend that you watch this video to learn more about custom skills.

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