Unveiling the Foundation of a Skills Ecosystem: The Three-Legged Stool Metaphor

In the dynamic landscape of modern organizations, the pursuit of understanding talent is akin to navigating a labyrinth of data points, aspirations, and capabilities. Amidst this complexity, rumors circulate about forward-thinking organizations harnessing skills as the quintessential data attribute to decipher their talent population’s intricacies, embolden their workforce to cultivate themselves and pinpoint opportunities for optimal matching of individuals to roles.  

Yet, even as organizations increasingly embrace the concept of skills, a pervasive lack of clarity and confidence persists regarding the optimal approach. 

Building a skills organization that is scalable requires stability. Enter the metaphor of the three-legged stool to help provide context on how to get your organization foundationally set up to start the skills journey. It not only offers security but also furnishes a framework for comprehending how to construct a robust skills ecosystem.  

However, in our exploration of this metaphor, we extend beyond the conventional imagery, introducing a crucial component often overlooked: the seat – culture. This additional piece of the puzzle serves as a cornerstone, elucidating how the three legs collectively uphold the foundational structure. 

We’re sharing a sneak peek from our newest eBook, where we explore this Three-Legged stool structure for a successful skills journey.  

Take A Seat: Culture is the All- Important Foundation to Success 

Knowing Your Employee  

Building employees’ skill-based profiles is a piece of the skills ecosystem. Skills are about your employees not about the technology.  

Creating a skills-based job structure allows an employee to see the skills and gaps that they have in relationship to their current job. We see this as a common use case (that we’ve created a Workday solution for) from employees and organizations we work with on building a skill infrastructure.  

By exposing the gap to the employee, they have a natural catalyst to learn and earn a new skill. From an organizational perspective, knowing the talent pools capabilities informs how to develop, move, or acquire talent. It is also a great baseline measurement to understand the drive in the organization’s skill movement – how do you see engagement and changes within the baseline gaps?  

Now that you’ve gotten a taste, you may be asking:  

• What do you need to account for and think about as you approach the workbench to build your skills stool? 
• What does each leg need to be to successfully create that secure foundation? 
• We talk about the legs but what needs to be the piece that pulls it together?  

If these questions continue to linger in your mind as you navigate the complexities of building a robust skills ecosystem, don’t fret. Our comprehensive eBook is your roadmap to clarity and success.

Come into the Skills Workshop and learn how to build a secure and stable framework for your skills ecosystem. Together, let’s harness the power of skills to shape the future of work and unlock limitless potential.