FRAMEWORKS
- why use them?
“How
to achieve a 90% improvement in people resource
management and 20% reduction in training
costs” (Norwich Union on implementation
of DTI’s backed SFIA protocol) plus, “optimising
the performance of every individual and team
to achieve desired business results, by up
to 52%” (McKinsey War for Talent Study,
2001)
An
essential part of Human Capability Analytics
and workforce re-alignment is the ability to
measure and benchmark skills and capability in
a consistent and relevant manner. In the past
organisations have tried various approaches to
skills measurement and categorisation with very
variable results.
Skills
databases have generally failed for organisations
because there has been no industry standard for
them to follow and they have been reliant on
individuals to maintain their own profiles. Where
they work well is when the following conditions
are met:
-
Use
industry recognised and accepted standards/protocols
(e.g. SFIA).
-
Managed
centrally but populated remotely.
-
Verified
by incumbents’ line managers.
-
Audited
for compliance to standards/protocols.
-
Integrated
with training and resource management.
-
Adopted
by partners and suppliers.
-
Linked
with individual utilisation.
-
Updated
both periodically and on each and every change
in circumstance.
-
Managed
under the supervision of HR and bought into
by legal/company secretary.
Ergon & InfoBasis
are currently working to promote standards-based
approaches to workforce skills through affiliations
to the major workforce standards agencies on
both sides of the Atlantic. Working with key
industry bodies and leading sector training-providers
in Europe and the USA, mean we have an increasing
global presence in this developing aspect of
human capital management.
It is agreed that skills frameworks are powerful tools, but are best exploited
when built into the fabric of an organisation - used at every appraisal,
project assignment, hiring review and board meeting.
The
benefits of skills databases using industry
standards:
- Thorough,
consistent and timely view of people capability.
Improvement in people resource management for work:
o Planning
o Resourcing
o Balancing
- Creation
of virtual competency “resource pools”,
regardless of where people are located.
- Road
map for career planning for individuals.
- Alignment
of:
o Skills gaps with approved training
o People, skills and strategy
- Ready
made process for reorganisation and competency
relevance with individuals competitively rated.
- Better
control of suppliers and partners by helping
make skills and their costs more transparent.
- Better
control of non-discrimination compliance.
- Institutional
investors are beginning to demand that Operating
and Financial Reviews should include information
on human capital management key indicators and
competencies.
- Commercial
comparisons of people/services are easy and precise – ‘eggs
are eggs’
The
main torch bearers of skills frameworks have
been Government, the military and the professional
bodies in areas such as IT (SFIA), Accounting,
Financial Services etc. There is a currently
a major drive from Government being spearheaded
by the DTI Sector Skills Councils and E-skills
initiative, and the Intellect Code of Practise
(Commitments 9 &10). For more information –
ICT Technical Skills
British Computer Society (BCS) - Industry Structure Model (ISM) -http://www.bcs.org.uk/ism
National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) - IT Skill Standards
- http://www.nwcet.org
SFIA Foundation - Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) - http://www.sfia.org.uk
CompTIA - Tech Career Compass - http://tcc.comptia.org
Office of Government Commerce - Intellect Code of Practise – www.intellectuk.org
IT User Skills
e-skills
UK: IT User Skills - http://www.e-skills.com/ITusers
DTI
Sector Skills Councils - http://www.ssda.org.uk
Police Service Skills
Police Skills Standards Organisation - http://www.psso.co.uk
Financial
Skills
Financial Services National Training Organisation - http://www.fsnto.org/online/system/
Cross Sector
Australian government's - National Training Information Service
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