Glossary
Key terms and definitions for skills-based organizations.
A
360-Degree Feedback
A feedback process that gathers input from an employee's manager, peers, direct reports, and sometimes customers. Provides a comprehensive view of performance.
Adjacent Skills
Skills related to a person's current skill set that can be developed relatively quickly. Often form the basis for career path recommendations and lateral moves.
Agile Workforce
A workforce able to rapidly adapt to changing business needs through flexible skill deployment, cross-functional teams, and continuous learning.
Assessment
The process of evaluating an employee's skills and competencies. May include self-assessment, manager assessment, peer feedback, and objective testing.
Attrition
The gradual reduction of a workforce through resignations, retirements, or other voluntary departures. Often expressed as an annual percentage rate.
B
Behavioral Indicator
Observable actions that demonstrate a competency at a specific proficiency level. Used to make assessments objective and consistent across the organization.
Bench Strength
The depth and readiness of successors for critical roles. Often measured as the number of "ready now" and "ready soon" candidates for each key position.
Build-Buy-Borrow-Bot
A strategic framework for addressing skill gaps: Build (develop internally), Buy (hire externally), Borrow (use contractors/consultants), or Bot (automate with technology).
C
Calibration
A process where managers collectively review and align their performance ratings to ensure consistency and fairness across teams and departments.
Career Lattice
A career framework that allows for both vertical and horizontal movement. Unlike traditional ladders, lattices recognize that valuable career growth can occur in multiple directions.
Career Path
A sequence of roles an employee can progress through, defined by skill requirements at each stage. May include both linear and non-linear progressions based on skills.
Competency
A combination of skills, knowledge, and behaviors that enable effective job performance. Often categorized as core, leadership, functional, or technical competencies.
Competency Framework
An organization's structured definition of competencies including descriptions, proficiency levels, and behavioral indicators. Forms the foundation for assessment and development.
Continuous Feedback
An ongoing approach to performance management where feedback is given regularly throughout the year rather than only during annual reviews.
Critical Role
A position with significant impact on organizational performance and strategy. Critical roles are prioritized in succession planning and require strong bench strength.
D
Development Plan
A structured plan outlining specific learning activities, experiences, and milestones for developing required skills. Often called an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
Digital Dexterity
The ability and desire to use existing and emerging technologies for better business outcomes. Increasingly important as organizations undergo digital transformation.
Durable Skills
Skills that remain relevant over time regardless of technological change. Also known as soft skills or human skills. Includes communication, critical thinking, and collaboration.
E
Emerging Skills
Skills becoming increasingly important due to technological, market, or industry changes. Identifying emerging skills helps organizations prepare for future needs.
Employee Engagement
The emotional commitment and connection an employee has with their organization. Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and likely to stay.
Employee Experience (EX)
The sum of all interactions an employee has with their employer, from recruitment to exit. Encompasses physical environment, technology, and culture.
F
Flight Risk
An employee likely to leave the organization voluntarily. Identifying flight risks through predictive analytics enables proactive retention interventions.
Future-Ready Skills
Skills that will be essential for success in future business environments. Organizations invest in developing future-ready skills to maintain competitive advantage.
G
Gig Work
Short-term, project-based work assignments. Internal gig platforms allow employees to take on projects outside their regular role to develop skills.
Goal Alignment
The process of ensuring individual employee goals support team, department, and organizational objectives. Creates line of sight from daily work to strategic priorities.
H
HCM (Human Capital Management)
A comprehensive approach to managing an organization's workforce, including recruitment, development, performance, and retention. HCM systems provide integrated HR technology platforms.
High Potential (HiPo)
An employee identified as having the ability, aspiration, and engagement to rise to higher positions. HiPos often receive accelerated development opportunities.
Human-in-the-Loop
An AI approach that combines machine intelligence with human judgment and oversight. In HR, ensures AI-driven recommendations are validated by people.
I
Inferred Skills
Skills identified through AI analysis of work history, projects, and outputs rather than explicit self-declaration. Helps create more complete skill profiles.
Internal Mobility
The movement of employees within an organization to new roles, projects, or locations. Skills-based mobility matches employees to opportunities based on capabilities.
J
Job Architecture
The structured organization of roles within a company, including job families, levels, and career paths. Provides clarity on how roles relate to each other.
Job Evaluation
A systematic process for determining the relative worth of jobs. Used to establish fair compensation structures based on factors like skills, responsibility, and impact.
Job Family
A grouping of jobs sharing similar functions, skills, and career progression paths. Examples include Engineering, Sales, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources.
Job Level
A tier within a job family indicating the scope, complexity, and accountability of roles. Common levels include Individual Contributor, Manager, Director, and Executive.
K
Knowledge Transfer
The process of sharing knowledge from one part of the organization to another, or from departing employees to their successors. Critical for preserving institutional knowledge.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value demonstrating how effectively an individual or organization is achieving objectives. KPIs evaluate success and drive performance improvement.
L
Leadership Pipeline
A systematic approach to identifying, developing, and preparing future leaders at all levels. Based on the model that each leadership level requires distinct skills.
Learning Path
A curated sequence of learning activities designed to develop specific skills or prepare for a role. May include courses, projects, mentoring, and experiences.
LMS (Learning Management System)
A software platform for delivering, tracking, and managing learning and development activities. Often integrated with skills and performance systems.
M
Mentoring
A developmental relationship where a more experienced person guides a less experienced one. Effective for transferring tacit knowledge and accelerating career growth.
Microlearning
A learning approach using small, focused content modules typically lasting 3-5 minutes. Effective for just-in-time learning and skills reinforcement during the flow of work.
N
Nine-Box Grid
A talent assessment matrix plotting employees on two dimensions: current performance and future potential. Used to identify high performers and development needs.
O
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
A goal-setting framework defining Objectives (what to achieve) and Key Results (how to measure progress). Popular for creating alignment and focus across organizations.
Onboarding
The process of integrating new employees into an organization. Effective onboarding accelerates time-to-productivity and improves retention.
Opportunity Marketplace
See Talent Marketplace. A platform connecting employees with internal opportunities including roles, projects, mentorships, and learning experiences based on skills.
P
People Analytics
The use of data analysis and visualization to gain insights about workforce trends, patterns, and outcomes. Enables evidence-based HR decision making.
Performance Management
A continuous process of setting expectations, monitoring progress, providing feedback, and evaluating outcomes. Modern approaches emphasize ongoing dialogue over annual reviews.
Proficiency Level
A rating scale describing mastery of a skill, typically ranging from beginner to expert. Common scales include numeric ratings 1-5 or named levels.
Pulse Survey
A short, frequent survey to gather real-time feedback on engagement, well-being, or specific topics. Enables organizations to track sentiment and respond quickly.
R
Reskilling
Learning entirely new skills to transition to a different role or career path. Often necessary when jobs become automated or obsolete due to technological change.
Retention
An organization's ability to keep employees and prevent voluntary turnover. Retention strategies focus on engagement, development, compensation, and work environment.
Role
A defined position characterized by specific responsibilities, required skills, and expected outcomes. Different from job title, which may vary across organizations.
S
Skill
A specific, learnable ability developed through training and practice. Skills are the building blocks of competencies and roles.
Skill Gap
The difference between current skills and skills required for a target role or future need. Can be measured at individual, team, or organizational levels.
Skill Inference
Using AI and machine learning to automatically identify skills from resumes, work history, projects, and other data sources.
Skills Taxonomy
A structured, hierarchical classification of skills within an organization. Provides a common language for discussing and measuring capabilities across the workforce.
Skills-Based Organization (SBO)
An organization that uses skills as the primary currency for talent decisions, including hiring, development, mobility, and workforce planning.
Stretch Assignment
A project or responsibility that challenges employees beyond their current capabilities. Accelerates development by providing hands-on experience with new skills.
Succession Planning
The process of identifying and developing potential successors for key leadership and critical roles to ensure business continuity and leadership pipeline strength.
T
Talent Marketplace
An internal platform connecting employees with opportunities (projects, gigs, roles, mentorships) based on their skills and interests. Enables skills-based internal mobility.
Talent Pool
A database of qualified candidates identified for potential future opportunities. May include internal employees and external candidates.
Total Rewards
The complete package of compensation, benefits, development opportunities, and work experience offered to employees. Goes beyond salary to include non-monetary rewards.
U
Upskilling
Learning additional skills to enhance performance in a current role or prepare for advancement. Unlike reskilling, upskilling builds on existing capabilities.
W
Workforce Analytics
The application of data analysis to understand workforce composition, trends, and outcomes to inform strategic HR decisions.
Workforce Planning
The process of analyzing current workforce capabilities against future business needs to identify gaps and develop strategies to address them.
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