Getting to know someone, personally or professionally, takes valuable time that modern business simply doesn’t allow.
When recruiting new staff, or if business needs are changing and the only way forward is to adapt the roles of existing workers, finding out the skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses of every employee is vital so they can have the best possible impact on the business in their role.
While it is important do this quickly and cost-effectively, skills utilisation is vital for business success.
Many employees in small businesses are ‘under-utilised’. Whilst some companies are holding on to workers that may have become surplus to requirements, there are also many employees who boast skill sets that their employers are totally unaware of.
Too many businesses are not aware of the level of skill employees have and failure to make the most of the skills they have employed could put them at a competitive disadvantage to others that use skills more effectively
Skills utilisation is about using the workforce you have more effectively.
First and foremost you need to find out what those skills are and then match them up to your requirements. This can be done through:
- a thorough recruitment process, especially on assessment days
- through team building exercises
- personal audits
Recruit staff for a specific job, but make sure you learn as much as you can about them, as they may have other skills unknown to you that could provide you with that little bit extra, e.g. a foreign-speaking administrator who could assist on global project, sales staff who build websites in their own time who could assist in a face lift for the company’s site, etc.
Don’t write anybody off, as you may find highly valuable niches in unexpected places.
