Identify and Upskill: Utilizing eLearning for Powerful Skill Gap Analysis

Identifying the skin gap analysis is very vital when it comes to firms from a training perspective. In other words, if they are not able to find out the exact skills that need to be delivered to the employees (via. training sessions), they can’t be upskilled. This in turn can impact the company’s sales and the employees’ knowledge will become obsolete. To understand these ground facts, let us look at some of the daily life examples and how they can be overcome through a skill gap analysis methodology incorporated into an eLearning platform -- explained hereunder:

Problems Various Firms Face While Training and How Skill Cap Analysis Can Help

Lack of Clear Understanding of Required Skills: Imagine searching for hidden gems in a treasure hunt and everyone scours the land, But, guess what, here’s a big unexpected shocker: there is no map!

Yep, you got it right, it will be a weird venture if the buried treasure is searched without any clues.

 Well, sometimes, even organizations when it comes to understanding the skills of different teams' needs come across the same type of challenge.

This situation is more like asking learners to master a topic but without any guidance -- totally off course!

An eLearning platform can serve as a solution in such situations as it could be understood through the tool where exactly do the employees lack the required skills (skill gap analysis) and how they can be upgraded accordingly.

For example: Suppose that certain IT newbies are equipped with basic knowledge of cyber attacks but they lack the capability to deal with advanced forms of cyber attacks. In such a case, eLearning training can be arranged so that advanced cyber-attack forms are taught to them. 

Then, assessments can be carried out through the virtual platform to understand whether they have comprehended the concepts thoroughly. Through this process, the eLearning algorithms will figure out where exactly do they lack the knowledge by utilizing the skill gap analysis techniques. Accordingly, further sessions can be arranged so that their knowledge can be enhanced as per the requirements.

The Ever-Changing Skill Seasons: Upskilling for trainees can turn out to be like changing seasons -- a tech can get obsolete any day. Elaborately put, some technology that was given high importance yesterday may not be so popular among all companies with the passing of time.

 So, firms have a big task on their hands and that is to find out which technology they are using currently can possibly become less used in the coming years.

That is, just like deciphering some kind of highly secretive message, they need to discern cryptic clues: figuring out all possible upcoming industry trends, roles, and candidates who would adapt to the new techs, and importantly, skill gap analysis. 

Without having any kind of clarity on these factors, training programs can be like a complex, tangled yarn ball -- with firms putting in lots of effort, but not seeing much progress.

For example: An IT company may want to upskill a bunch of IT professionals who have some decent background in databases -- that is, have a basic idea about handling data.

But here is the real problem, without any precise knowledge of the upskill process, they won't have an idea about skill gap analysis or on which data analysis topics the professionals must be upgraded.

This is exactly where an eLearning platform can help firms to decipher the kind of skill gap that exists in a team or in an individual with respect to what has to be taught further or how the existing problems have to be addressed by arranging for a training session.

The Jigsaw Puzzle of Skill Assessment: Talent evaluations are like grading a jigsaw puzzle and hence, each piece matters (each person's skill gap analysis matters). But traditional methods, sometimes, turn out to be like blindfolded attempts. 

Elaborately put, managers squint at scattered puzzle pieces (that is, employee resumes and performance reviews) and make their decisions for the training based on them. So, this process becomes more like trying to guess the Mona Lisa from a handful of brushstrokes -- sounds tricky, right? 

However, this recognition of talent can be done with the help of an eLearning platform which helps to determine how well an individual has performed after attending training sessions in the assessment tests. In other words, if the individual has the required talents, he should be able to perform well in the assessment tests and quizzes.

Otherwise, if the skill is not up to the mark after performing a skill gap analysis through the virtual system, then the next set of training sessions can be planned.   

The Magnifying Glass Approach: Managers need a systematic plan to see the big picture -- to under who lacks what. Hence, skill assessments should be precise, not blurry like a fuzzy photo.  Else, promotion will be of a Sudoku champ to lead a rocket launch team!

Assessments: Suppose in a retail store, the manager is keen to know whether the cashiers are doing their job properly or not. But instead of doing the guesswork, it makes sense to carry out assessments. In other words, the cashiers should have good acumen when it comes to handling cash; talking to customers, and if required, solving conflicts as when they arise. Here where again skill gap analysis found out through eLearning assignment evaluations will help to identify the knowledge gap that has to be imparted to the cashier.

Turbocharged Skill Engines: Traditional methods if not planned properly can, sometimes, be like building a sandcastle slowly using a teaspoon. To be precise, including all types of manual surveys, long-hour interviews -- asking numerous questions, and filling spreadsheets -- with all these, hours vanish! But as it is known, time has to be seen as gold! So high-end algorithms should be incorporated in the eLearning systems which can perform skill gap analysis and give swift results (reports) in a flash -- thus, proper real training, and less paperwork.

Simulations: Now think of a manufacturing plant with machine operators. When it comes to training and assessing their capabilities through old-type paperwork, won't it be a better idea to use AI-driven simulations? That is, the technicians will be asked to troubleshoot on virtual machinery using varied simulations based on various scenarios. The best aspect being: clues pop up and thus, gaps in skills can be figured out! The result owing to this is that the firms will have precise training plans that will happen with less breakdowns, and importantly, the production line will be smoother.

Conclusion
Skill gap analysis through the eLearning solution can help firms to understand where exactly do the trainees need help to upskill and how the employee's knowledge can be enhanced.

If you as a company want to include the feature of skill gap analysis in your learning system then you can approach VK Creative Learning.