A new report shows just 12% of employees say their organization does not face skills visibility issues.
By Gillian Manning
While organizations look outside their current talent pool, employees largely feel the talent is available from within, according to the new Skills Visibility Report from the employee training platform TalentLMS.
Of the 964 managers surveyed, 90% said they have a good understanding of their direct reports’ skills. Whereas, of the 536 surveyed employees, 69% said their manager has a good understanding of their skills. More than half of employees (56%) indicated that the discrepancy in visibility has held back their career growth. And while 90% of managers said they support their direct reports in developing new skills, 60% of employees said they receive support from their manager.
Further, 75% of managers reported that their team’s skills are fully utilized, meanwhile 49% of employees said their company underutilizes their skills.
This has led to lower interest within organizations, as 31% of employees said they would consider leaving their company because of a lack of skill development opportunity and 40% said it’d be easier to find a new job than move internally.
“The gap isn’t skills—it’s visibility into them,” said Dimitris Tsingos, CEO of Epignosis, parent company of TalentLMS. “Companies are rich in talent but poor in insight. Organizations need a clear view not just of employees’ existing skills but also of their foundational knowledge, which is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI. Those that build that clarity gain speed, make smarter decisions, and unlock the full value of their workforce.”
The survey also found:
- 42% of employees said managers only address skill gaps only when performance issues arise;
- 61% of respondents said employees are expected to keep their skills up to date on their own; and
- 18% of respondents said their company uses a centralized system to track skills, while most rely on performance reviews (59%) and manager observation (56%).
Solutions suggested by survey respondents include conducting regular skills assessments (47%) and enhancing manager training to more effectively identify and track capabilities (46%).
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