How to Create a Skills Matrix (Free Template Included)

For any company, it's imperative to keep track of its employees' skills, certifications, qualifications, and experience. It's sort of like an inventory of employee capabilities. Without it, you wouldn't know who to assign a particular project or task to and might end up underutilizing some employees while overburdening others.

But how do you map all these details? While there are many ways to do so, a skills matrix is usually the most effective. It's a visual representation of all the employees' skills and competencies in one place.

In this guide, we teach you how to create a skills matrix for your organization. There's also a simple, free template at the end that you can use to get started.

What Is a Skills Matrix?

A skills matrix is a tool that helps you track and visualize the skills, qualifications, competencies, and experience of your employees. It's usually in the form of a table or grid, with the employees' names listed on one axis and their skills on the other.

The intersections of these two axes show which employees possess which skills, making it easy for managers to identify the right person for a specific task. A skills matrix is also sometimes called a capability or competency matrix.

The best part about using a skills matrix is that it's not complicated. You don't need fancy software to make a skills matrix. A simple spreadsheet can also do the trick.

Components of a Skills Matrix

Here's what you need for skill mapping on a matrix:

• Skill or Capability: The main component in a skills matrix is the employee competency list. It could be anything like technical skills or a certification.
• Proficiency: The proficiency level shows how skilled an employee is for a particular skill. It is usually represented in levels such as beginner, intermediate, and expert. You can also use a numerical scale, like 1 to 5.
• Interest: It is an indication of the motivation level of the employee to learn or improve a particular skill. You can also represent this in levels, such as low, medium, and high.

When you put all this information on a grid, it becomes easy to see your organization's overall skills. It's also simpler to point out employees best for certain roles or gaps in your company's skill set.

How to Create a Skills Matrix: A Step-Wise Approach

Now, let's learn how to create a skills matrix in a few simple steps.

Step 1: Determine the Relevant Skills

The first step is deciding which skills you need for a project or a task. Whoever is creating the skills matrix should get input from managers and team leaders. It's best if feedback comes from someone who has done a similar project in the past or has experience in that field.

However, focus on relevant skills only. It's easy to stray off and add skills that aren't necessary. Keep the matrix focused on the most relevant skills for the task at hand.

Step 2: Evaluate Employee Skill Level

Now that you've listed the relevant skills, it's time to assess where each team member stands. It helps you understand who's a pro, who's learning, and who might need extra training.

Some ways to evaluate employee skills are:

• Self-Assessments: You can simply ask employees to rate their proficiency in every skill. They can mark their proficiency on a scale going from beginner to advanced.
• Manager Evaluations: Team leads or supervisors can provide a more objective assessment based on performance and past experience.
• Practical tests or assessments: If needed, you can conduct skill-based assessments to get a clearer picture of their actual capabilities.

Keep the rating system simple and consistent. A common approach is using a 1-5 scale, where 1 means "Needs Training" and 5 means "Expert."

Step 3: Gauge Employee Interest Levels

Not every employee will have the same level of interest or enthusiasm for every skill. Some may have a natural aptitude and passion for certain skills, while others may find them uninteresting or challenging.

For example, an employee who has moved from customer service to marketing may possess the skills for the former but may not be interested in using them due to their new role. Again, you can ask employees to rate their interest in each skill on the same 1 - 5 scale.

Step 4: Plot the Data

Now, you can plot all this information on a self-made spreadsheet or a template. Simply enter the names of each employee and their corresponding ratings for skills and interest levels.

Based on the data, you can identify three types of employees:

• High Performers: These individuals have a high proficiency rating for most skills and a high interest level. These employees are your top performers who can excel in various areas.
• Emerging Talent: Although they have a moderate proficiency rating for some skills, these employees boast a high interest level. They have untapped potential and may benefit from further training and development opportunities.
• Development Areas: These are the employees with low proficiency levels and/or interests. You'll have to provide them with additional support and guidance to improve their skills. Alternatively, you can assign them other tasks that align with their interests and strengths.

Step 5: Use the Matrix

Now, you can use this matrix to determine employee skills gaps and best-fit roles. You don't necessarily have to create a new skills matrix every time you start a new project. The same matrix can provide insights for many projects to come.

Pro Tip: Create a comprehensive skills matrix where you plot skills from every project you do. This way, you'll have a consolidated view of every employee's strengths and weaknesses, and you can extract data from it every time you initiate a new project.

You can download the free template here.

When to Use a Skills Matrix

Typically, you can use a skills matrix whenever you want. Maybe you're looking for the best employees for a certain project, or you want to see if you need to create training programs for your team to hone their skills.

Here are some situations in which you may use a skills matrix.

Product Management Skill Selection

A product manager has to coordinate many departments to keep the product pipeline going smoothly. For that, they'd want the best people for every role. They can create and use a skills matrix to make sure they've assigned the right people to the right tasks.

Board Skill Gap Analysis

The board members in the organization may want to allocate funds to employee development. However, they first need to know where to put this money.

They can use a skills matrix to find the competencies currently missing or underdeveloped in the company. The analysis can help them decide which programs to prioritize and fund when creating employee training systems.

IT Skills Assessment

IT is now an integral part of every organization. On top of that, it's a highly dynamic field where individuals need to keep upskilling to stay relevant.

Your organization may use a skills matrix to gauge the current and missing skills. You can then create technical skills training courses to bridge the gap. The good news is that creating these courses doesn't take too much time or effort.

An AI tool like Coursebox can simplify and speed up the process by letting you upload existing documents or files to create a course. You can then use the platform's AI to add quizzes and assessments to the course. 

Meanwhile, its AI grader checks the learners' answers to the criteria you provided, and the AI tutor chatbot acts as a real-time guide for them.

Best Practices for Creating a Skills Matrix

Do you want to make the most of your skills matrix? The following best practices will help.

• Keep It Focused: Only include skills relevant to the project or role to avoid clutter.
• Get Input From Multiple Sources: Combine self-assessments, manager feedback, and performance data for accuracy.
• Update Regularly: Skills evolve, so revisit your matrix periodically to keep it relevant. Employee interests and proficiency may also change over time, so it's important to stay on top of these shifts.
• Make It Accessible: Store it in a shared space so managers and employees can refer to it easily.

If you're creating a skills matrix for the first time, it's best to use a simple template like the one we've shared. You'll come across many complicated template options, but they can seem daunting and may defeat the whole purpose of creating a matrix in the first place.

Conclusion

You've learned how to create a skills matrix and which best practices to follow. However, a skills matrix is only as good as the data it contains, so keep updating the matrix periodically.

If you're using a color-based system, create a key and include it in the spreadsheet. As we've mentioned, you want the skills matrix to be accessible, and that's only possible if everyone can understand it. Most importantly, use the skills matrix to make informed decisions about recruitment, employee training, role assigning, and overall organizational development.