The Value of a Professional Skills Assessment

A key career management tool, skills assessments help companies and their employees better manage professional success. It meets the needs of those who want to thrive and companies that seek high performance. It's a valuable tool for identifying talent, skills, and boosting performance to an optimal level—the foundation of any organization's success.

1- The goals of skills assessments
Skills assessments offer companies and employees the chance to increase individual motivation for collective efficiency through:

• Developing a professional strategy;
• Developing key skills within a job/role;
• Supporting a mobility or internal promotion process;
• Building a realistic training plan.

2- Advantages for the employee
A skills assessment allows the employee to understand their role and become an active participant in their professional development. It's also a way to maintain motivation and helps find renewed energy in their career. The positive consequences will be felt by the company, both in terms of the employee's work quality and their social relationships in the workplace. They'll gain the often crucial assurance of being well-positioned in the company, and with that stability, they'll work better, be more productive and more present, leading to increased productivity and reduced absenteeism.

3- Advantages for the company
Skills assessments help companies better organize the forward-looking management of jobs and skills and promote career management and professional mobility for their employees.
This allows them to best manage the qualities of each employee, giving them, where appropriate, more autonomy or responsibility by assigning them to a position better suited to their skills acquired during their career. Skills assessments allow the company and its employees to continuously evolve positively in a constantly changing environment.

4- How skills assessments work
A skills assessment typically takes 10 to 12 weeks, consisting of in-person interviews. The average time commitment is 20 to 24 hours. Session scheduling is arranged with the consultant during the preliminary phase. Alongside these interviews, which are central to the process, the participant undertakes research and gathers information to develop a strong and successful professional project. At the beginning of the assessment, a personality test identifies job predispositions and specifies resources and areas for improvement.

A summary document is provided to the employee and the company at the end of the assessment, defining or confirming the professional project. Skills assessments must be provided by specialized firms external to the company: the company cannot organize these for its employees itself. On the one hand, skills assessment support requires expertise based on in-depth knowledge of professions and human relations. On the other hand, external consulting allows the company to have a more objective opinion of the employee and their aspirations, and allows the employee to feel more at ease expressing their questions and desires.


Philippe Montant CEO ExeKutive.biz