What is a skills matrix?

What a skills matrix shows

Skills go down the side. Across the top go either people or job levels. In a team skills matrix, each cell shows how well that person has the skill today. In a role skills matrix, each cell shows how much of the skill the job expects at that level.

Every cell uses the same rating scale, for example from Novice to Expert, so a row can be read as one skill growing and a column as everything one person or one level needs.

What it is used for

Finding skill gaps: compare what a person has with what their level expects. Planning training and hiring: a skill nobody on the team has at the level the work needs is a gap to train for or hire for. Promotions: the next level’s column shows what someone needs to demonstrate before moving up.

How to make one

List the skills the work needs and group them into a few areas. Pick one rating scale and write down what each rating means. Fill in the rating each job level should reach. Then rate each person, ideally with a self-assessment and input from colleagues, and compare the result with their level.

Example

Read a row to see one skill grow from level to level; read a column to see what one level needs. Here the support skill is expected early on, while the account skills only become important from the middle of the ladder up.

Source: Customer success career path

Skills matrix vs competency matrix

The two names are often used for the same thing. When people do tell them apart, a skills matrix covers job-specific, often technical skills, such as triaging support tickets or forecasting sales, while a competency matrix also covers behaviors such as communication or leadership, and describes how they should show at each level.

Related

• Looking for skills to put in it? Browse every skill in the library
• More real examples: Software engineering career path · Human resources career path
• Other definitions: Competency matrix · Competency framework · Career ladder · Career framework