Unlocking the 5 Hidden Benefits of Skills Progression Frameworks

The modern workplace is ever-changing and competitive, making it essential for businesses to have a way to track and measure the skills of their employees. A skills progression framework is an effective way to do this, providing teams with a comprehensive view of each employee’s current skill set and areas for improvement. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of using a skills progression framework and how to implement one in your business.

Benefits of implementing a Skills Progression Framework

Using a skills progression framework brings several benefits to businesses of all sizes. Here are some of the most significant advantages:

Improved employee retention: By offering employees a clear path for professional growth, businesses can help to reduce staff turnover, improve loyalty, and create a sense of commitment to the organization.

Increased employee engagement: Through the use of tailored training and development plans, businesses can give employees the tools and resources they need to stay engaged and motivated in their roles.

Higher productivity: When employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed, they can work more efficiently and effectively, resulting in increased productivity and better business outcomes.

Improved customer satisfaction: By providing employees with the right skill set and training to deliver excellent customer service, businesses can ensure that customers are always receiving the best possible experience.

Increased competitiveness: By investing in their employees’ professional development, businesses can ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge to stay ahead of the competition and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Who should implement a Skills Progression Framework?

Creating, rolling out and maintaining a Skills Progression Framework takes effort. If you are in the early stages of your company with less than ~20-25 people, it is probably not worth it, because each team member is wearing many hats. This makes it near impossible to create role-specific skills frameworks (everyone does a little bit of everything). Once you have passed the 20-25 people threshold and you start having people responsible for one role (instead of individuals being spread across multiple roles like product management, account management, operations and content marketing), a skills progression framework becomes a strong competitive advantage.

How to Implement a Skills Progression Framework

Implementing a skills progression framework can be a daunting task, but it is essential for businesses that want to maximize the potential of their employees.

Here are some steps to help you get started:

1. Identify Core Competencies for each role: The first step is to identify the core competencies of your business and the job-specific competencies required for each position. This will give you a framework to work from when assessing employee skill levels and developing a training plan. Developing this framework

2. Assess Current Skill Levels: Once you have identified the core competencies, you can assess each employee’s current skill level. This will help you identify areas of improvement and weaknesses that need to be addressed.

3. Develop a Training Plan: After assessing the current skill levels, you can develop a training plan to help your employees improve their skills and reach their full potential. This doesn't need to be formal, it can easily fit into your current 1on1s by simply defining a few focus areas for each quarter.

4. Measure and Celebrate continuous improvement: Once a training plan is in place, it is important that managers actively measure and celebrate improvement. There is nothing more frustrating than going through all the hard work to setup a skills progression framework, just to see it fizzle out after the first kick-off. All the value lies in this last point! Quarterly self-assessments and continuous skills conversations are required to achieve the outcomes we presented above.

Conclusion

A skills progression framework is a great way for businesses to maximize the potential of their employees. It can lead to improved employee performance, increased employee engagement, and reduced costs of onboarding and training. If you want to get the most out of your team, implementing a skills progression framework is a great way to do it. If you want to get started with defining the core competencies of any role but want to save yourself weeks of work, check out our skills progression framework template generator!