How to Eliminate the Skills Gap in Your Organization

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 164,000 people left their jobs in June 2024. Some of these workers may have been the most experienced at their place of employment. So companies continue experiencing a widening skills gap affecting operations.

When these types of unexpected changes occur, organizations need to act fast. A prolonged period without qualified labor begins to stifle growth. Closing the skills gap takes careful consideration and planning.

This article provides tips on the best ways to eliminate a skills gap in your organization.

What Is a Skills Gap?

A skills gap is the difference between your employees’ existing and desired abilities. It’s the lack of skill needed to meet expectations. You may also find a huge skills gap between your top and second-best employee.

How you handle a skills gap depends on its root cause. Is there a disparity in education, training, or technological savvy among your employees? Or is there a lack of desire for someone to do better?

How to Close a Skills Gap

Your organization isn’t maximizing its potential when these gaps exist. It’s time for you to take action that pushes everyone to step it up. Here’s a proven approach to get you started:

Step 1: Perform a Skills Gap Analysis

The only way to identify where your organization lacks talent is to perform a gap analysis. You must first develop a set of job descriptions, including measurements for success. Then you should review where your organization has a skills gap in it.

You don’t need to wait until someone resigns to assess employees’ skills. You should work through this process at least once a year. One technique used to assess job performance is a S.W.O.T. analysis. That helps examine each employee’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Step 2: Devise a Plan to Fill the Gap

Now that you’re aware of the extent of the skills gap, make a plan to close it. Determine if training existing staff is a viable solution. If not, you may need to search for and hire new talent.

A S.W.O.T analysis also reveals employees in positions that don’t promote their strengths. This happens when your employee’s skills don’t evolve with the business and environment. Data breaches in recent years highlighted a cybersecurity skills gap in many organizations.

Step 3: Take Action and Reassess

It’s time to start training staff to improve their skills. And if you couldn’t find a particular knowledge base needed, you’re also seeking new talent. Working with a headhunter might be your best course of action.

After allowing ample time for your changes to take effect, reassess the situation. The skills gap may not close right away but you should notice a difference. If not, start over at step one until you find success.

Eliminate the Skills Gap in Your Organization

Even the best-performing companies find a skills gap exists from time to time. As technology continues to advance, training becomes a greater necessity. Follow these steps to eliminate any skills gap in your organization.

Did you find this helpful? Leave a comment on how well this plan worked for your organization.