Building a Skills Taxonomy
A step-by-step guide to creating and maintaining your organization's skills vocabulary
Learn how to build a comprehensive skills taxonomy from scratch, including skills extraction, hierarchy design, governance, and ongoing maintenance.
Duration
4-6 weeks
Steps
6 phases
Category
Foundation
Step-by-Step Guide
Audit Existing Skills Data
Review current job descriptions, competency models, and HRIS data to understand your starting point.
- Export all job descriptions from your HRIS
- Collect existing competency frameworks if any exist
- Review training catalogs for skill references
- Interview HR business partners about common skill discussions
Duration: 1 week
Select Industry Framework
Choose a foundation framework (SFIA, ESCO, O*NET) or build custom based on your needs.
- Evaluate SFIA for IT/technology roles
- Consider ESCO for European operations
- Review O*NET for US-centric organizations
- Assess custom taxonomy if industry is specialized
Duration: 3-5 days
Extract Skills from JDs
Use AI-assisted extraction to identify skills from job descriptions and role requirements.
- Run NLP extraction on all job descriptions
- Categorize extracted skills by type (technical, soft, domain)
- Identify skill synonyms and duplicates
- Map extracted skills to framework categories
Duration: 1 week
Design Taxonomy Hierarchy
Create a structured hierarchy with domains, categories, and individual skills.
- Define 5-10 top-level skill domains
- Create 3-5 categories per domain
- Add individual skills under categories
- Define skill relationships and adjacencies
Duration: 1 week
Define Proficiency Levels
Establish consistent proficiency scales with clear behavioral indicators.
- Choose 4-5 proficiency levels
- Write behavioral indicators for each level
- Create assessment criteria for each level
- Document examples for common skills
Duration: 1 week
Establish Governance
Create processes for taxonomy updates, ownership, and quality control.
- Assign taxonomy owner and stewards
- Define change request process
- Set review cadence (quarterly recommended)
- Create documentation standards
Duration: 3-5 days
Expected Outcomes
- Unified skills vocabulary across the organization
- Foundation for skills-based matching and analytics
- Clear proficiency definitions for assessments
- Governance process for ongoing maintenance
Related Capabilities
WeSoar features that support this playbook
Ready to implement?
Our team can help you execute this playbook in your organization.