Skills Matrix and Succession Planning

The Skills Matrix shows what capabilities exist in your team, where the gaps are, and who could step up if a key person leaves.

Step 1: Define your skills library

1. Go to HCM > Skills Matrix.
2. Click Manage Skills Library.
3. Add skills grouped by category:
   • Technical — e.g. "Azure AD", "Cisco Networking", "SQL"
   • Soft Skills — e.g. "Client Communication", "Project Management"
   • Certifications — e.g. "CompTIA A+", "ITIL Foundation"

Tip: Start with 20–30 skills that matter most rather than trying to be exhaustive.

Step 2: Rate employee skills

For each employee, open their profile > Skills tab and rate each skill:

• 1 — Awareness (knows the concept)
• 2 — Working knowledge (can do it with guidance)
• 3 — Proficient (works independently)
• 4 — Expert (mentors others, leads on this)

Employees can self-assess; managers approve or adjust ratings.

Step 3: View the heat map

The Skills Matrix dashboard shows rows = employees, columns = skills, colour-coded: Green (3–4), Yellow (1–2), Red (0 = gap).

At a glance you can see which skills are strong across the team and which are single-person dependencies.

Step 4: Gap analysis

The Gap Analysis tab highlights:

• Skills with only one person rated 3 or above
• Skills with zero coverage
• Skills below threshold for a role

For each gap you can: assign an LMS course, flag as a recruitment need, or designate a successor.

Step 5: Succession planning

1. Go to HCM > Succession Planning.
2. For key roles, click Add Succession Plan.
3. Mark the current holder and add potential successors ranked by readiness:
   • Ready now
   • Ready in 12 months (with development)
   • Ready in 3 years (long-term pipeline)
4. Link an LMS learning path to accelerate each successor's readiness.

Suggestions

• Annual review: Update ratings after performance reviews, especially after certifications or promotions.
• Management tool only: Use gap analysis for team decisions without sharing raw scores publicly.
• Performance review integration: Reference the skills matrix in HCM performance reviews to make development discussions concrete and evidence-based.

Where to go next

• Understand the whole module → How HR & Payroll (HCM) Works
• Next in this module → HCM — Add an Employee
• How to Set Up Multi-Country Payroll
• HCM — Request and Approve Leave
• See where this fits in the bigger picture → How a New Hire Becomes a Paid Employee