Skills libraries are no longer on the sidelines. They’ve become an essential part of professional services. And this trend isn’t slowing down.

The pressure to keep up with tech-driven changes is growing. According to Springboard, leaders face serious skill gaps, with 70% pointing to data analysis, project management, and AI issues. Hiring isn’t easier either—SHRM found that 75% of organizations report challenges filling full-time roles.

A comprehensive skills inventory helps solve these problems. It gives you a clear view of your team’s strengths and what they need to improve. If you’re training and reskilling employees or hiring new ones, it keeps your business ready to succeed. Here’s how to create a skills library and why it matters.

What is a Skills Library or Skills Database?

A skills library or database stores all relevant skills for an organization. It includes details like definitions, required proficiency, and related roles. It’s ideal for job descriptions and long-term succession planning. Other terms for a skills library include a skills database, skills booklet, employee skills inventory, skills taxonomy, and employee skills catalogue.

Simply put, a skills library tracks employee skills for specific roles and identifies growth opportunities.

Pairing an employee skills library with a skills gap analysis shows where your team can refine specific skills. This focused approach helps you build targeted training programs, support talent mapping and success planning, and ensure the right people are in the right roles.

How Do I Make a List of My Skills or Build a Skills Library?

Building a solid employee skills library is a practical step toward improving resource planning. Upland PSA turns it into a simple process. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Identify Key Skill Categories

Start by listing the specific skills your organization needs. Include technical expertise, certifications, languages, and other role-specific abilities. Also, build a soft skill list to round out your team’s competencies.

Make sure to cover all your bases. After all, PwC found that 74% of CEOs worry about finding the right skills, with 32% extremely concerned. Addressing these gaps should be your priority. With Upland PSA,  you can customize skill categories for your organization. 

2. Define Skill Levels

Assign proficiency and competency levels to each skill. For example, classify them as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert competency. Adding skill levels helps project managers quickly determine who’s the best fit for a particular task.

tool for data-driven decisions.

3. Populate Employee Profiles

Once the categories for specific roles and levels of job titles are set, add the necessary skills to employee profiles. Upland PSA integrates with human resource management systems, pulling existing employee data to save time and reduce manual input.

Assign skills and proficiency levels to all employees, including contractors. This gives you a clear and unified understanding of your workforce’s capabilities.

4. Keep the Library Updated

Precision is everything. Use one of these methods to keep your employee skills library up to date:

• Assign a resource manager or HR business partner to update profiles as employees gain new certifications, training, or experience. Employees can report new skills to the resource manager or HR team for updates.
• Allow employees to update their profiles. This reduces the administrative workload but requires employees to manage their information actively.

No matter what you decide, you’re in control. Upland PSA adapts to whichever approach makes sense for managing your team.

5. Match Skills to Projects

With a well-organized employee skills library, Upland PSA simplifies resource matching. Its search and ranking features allow you to filter employees by skills, proficiency, location, or availability. 

The system ranks candidates based on how closely they match project requirements, helping you quickly find the best fit. This ensures that tasks are assigned to the most qualified people.

6. Monitor Workload and Capacity

Resource planning doesn’t end with assigning tasks. Upland PSA helps you keep track of workloads to maintain balance. You can:

• Schedule work by the hour, day, week, or month.
• Monitor capacity in real time to prevent overwork or underutilization.
• Adjust assignments as needed to keep workloads manageable and ensure deadlines are met.

This approach to performance management also helps maintain productivity while protecting your team from burnout.

What is a Skills Inventory Assessment?

To create a complete skills library, you need a skills inventory assessment. It evaluates employee skills, including technical expertise, certifications, and soft skills. 

Employers use this to identify strengths and spot skill gaps. A skill gap analysis is often part of this process, ensuring the right people handle the right tasks while taking the time to round out other areas.

Why is it Important?

In professional services, a skills inventory assessment keeps teams competitive. It identifies strengths, pinpoints skill gaps, and maintains current certifications and licenses. 

According to the BLS, over 43 million professionals in the U.S. hold credentials, so knowing your team’s expertise is key. This makes assigning roles and matching employees to the right projects easier, increasing team productivity and business growth. 

Verified skills also lead to more brilliant, data-driven hiring, training, and succession planning decisions. These assessments make a real difference in professional services, where expertise drives success.

How Does it Work?

1. Define Key Competencies Needed

Begin by identifying the essential skills and competencies your organization requires to meet its current and future objectives. This includes technical skills, soft skills, certifications, and emerging capabilities relevant to your industry or strategic goals.

2. Gather Employee Skills Data

Collect data on employee skills using self-assessments, surveys, interviews, manager and peer evaluations, and performance reviews. This multi-source approach ensures a comprehensive and accurate picture of the workforce’s skill levels.

3. Rate Skill Levels

Classify employee skills into proficiency levels such as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert. This rating system helps to quantify competencies and facilitates easier comparison and gap analysis across teams and departments.

4. Identify Competency Gaps and Strengths

Analyze the collected data to detect skill gaps and areas of strength within the organization. This insight supports targeted training, recruitment, succession planning, and strategic workforce development.

5. Use Tools to Organize and Maintain Data

Use specialized software platforms or HR systems (e.g., Upland PSA) to centralize, update, and manage the skills inventory. These tools can automate notifications for certification renewals, track training progress, and facilitate talent searches and succession planning.

6. Continuously Update the Inventory

Treat the skills inventory as a dynamic resource by regularly updating it to reflect new hires, completed training, promotions, and evolving organizational needs. This ongoing maintenance ensures the inventory remains a valuable asset for decision-making.

What is a Skills Sheet Used for in Professional Services?

Staff want growth. Deloitte found that 64% say they’re more likely to join and stay with organizations that value their development. Meanwhile, 66% of executives face pressure to progress on this front.

Skills sheets make this possible by focusing on individual strengths. In hiring, they focus on practical skills like client management. The goal is for new hires to hit the ground running. 

They’re also helpful in instances like small team planning. Combined with a skills matrix, they show team strengths clearly. This makes it easier to allocate resources and improve performance

Skills Libraries and Future Workforce Trends

Skills libraries help professional services keep pace with workforce trends. They make it easier to align team skills with your future needs. The bottom line is to plan ahead and stay competitive.

In-Demand Skills Require Better Tracking

Technology is rewriting job roles. It’s making skills like prompt engineering in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and digital transformation essential. That’s why, according to the World Economic Forum, 44% of workers’ skills will be outdated by 2027.

Skills libraries provide a straightforward way to track and manage these changes. They identify gaps, flag which employee skills need development, and help businesses focus on reskilling and upskilling where it counts. They also help ensure employees gain the right skills at the right time.

One-Size-Fits-All Training is Out

Workers expect training that fits their goals, and that expectation is only projected to grow. Skills libraries help by matching learning programs to your employees’ individual training needs.

This keeps them engaged and prepared to meet challenges head-on. According to PwC, 74% of workers are open to retraining to stay employable, so personalized development is key right now.

And it matters even more in professional services. The BLS reports higher attrition rates in this industry compared to others. Holding onto great talent and helping it grow is how you stay ahead.

Bridge Generational Gaps with Skills Data

Employee skills libraries can close these gaps by identifying shared competencies and tailoring development opportunities. For example, Gen Z may bring fresh perspectives and strength in emerging technologies, while more experienced colleagues offer deep subject matter expertise and institutional knowledge. 

Combining skills data and generational insights can create better collaboration and knowledge transfer. Ultimately, you’ll have an adaptable, resilient workforce to tackle future opportunities head-on.

Support Digital Transformation with Predictive Insights

For digital transformation to work, you need skilled employees in the right roles who can make the most impact. Skills libraries, combined with predictive analytics, help you achieve this.

According to Salesforce, more than a third of professional services firms expect 75% or more of their revenue from digital channels in the next three years. Skills libraries help teams adapt to this shift.

On top of that, professional services aren’t slowing down. In May 2024, the sector added 32,000 jobs.

This increase outpaced the 12-month average of 19,000 new jobs per month. As the sector grows, businesses need a clear view of their strengths, competencies, and gaps. It’s the only way to take advantage of growth opportunities.

What is a Skills-Based Approach to Workforce Planning?

We’re seeing the focus change from jobs to skills in professional services. It’s clear why, too. We need a diverse range of new skills to keep up with the pace of technology. We’ve also been facing widespread skills shortages. Springboard found that:

• Over 75% of leaders in financial services report a lack of skilled talent.
• 73% of technology leaders highlight similar challenges.

An employee skills database helps solve these issues by showing what’s missing and where to focus your training. A skills-based approach to talent management offers flexibility and a deeper understanding of competencies:

• Employees can focus on their strengths.
• Teams can adapt to shifting project needs.
• Businesses improve training, resource use, and outcomes.

How Upland PSA Helps

Upland PSA makes workforce planning much easier. Its skills-matching and ranking tools quickly find the right talent for the job, allowing teams to balance workloads and stay efficient.

The integration features with human resource management systems keep your employee skills database updated. This helps businesses stay ahead of the curve and deliver better client results.

Should I Build a Skills Catalogue?

A well-organized skills catalogue can set your organization apart. It helps manage workforce competencies and availability, ensuring projects meet client expectations.

Why a Skills Catalogue Matters

1. Centralized Tracking: A skills library organizes team expertise, making it easier to assign the right resources to the right projects at the right time.
2. Quick Identification of Skills: From technical certifications to language proficiency, a catalogue removes the guesswork and ensures you respond confidently to client needs.
3. Alignment with Industry Trends: Deloitte reports that 80% of executives believe focusing on skills rather than tenure or networks reduces bias and improves fairness.

• • 75% agree it democratizes growth opportunities for employees.
  • Yet, only 23% of leaders prioritize skills in workforce planning, according to PwC.
  • This gap highlights the need for tools like a skills catalogue.

Benefits for Employees

1. Employees feel valued and motivated when companies invest in their development.
2. Research by TalentLMS and Workable reveals that:
   
   • 71% of employees want more frequent skill updates.
   • 80% expect companies to increase investment in upskilling and reskilling.

Avoid Surprises

A skills catalogue prevents last-minute issues, such as discovering an unavailable key resource. It also keeps team strengths aligned with projects while efficiently managing schedules.

Focusing on skills benefits both the business and its employees, creating a culture of fairness, growth, and readiness to meet client demands.

What Skills Should You Track?

A strong team starts with knowing what each person brings to the table. According to the World Economic Forum, 44% of workers’ skills will change in the next five years. 

Your team can handle what’s next with the right skills mapped out. In professional services, there is a diverse range of skills to be mindful of.

Technical Skills

• • Specialized skills like AI and machine learning help firms handle complex tasks, deliver better results, and keep clients happy.
  • Cloud computing and integration make it easier to make real-time decisions. Teams need these skills to work together.
  • Data analytics skills are crucial for delivering clear, actionable insights. Clients expect nothing less.
  • Cybersecurity expertise keeps client data safe and ensures compliance. Ignoring this isn’t an option.

• Enterprise resource planning skills help streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies. These are key for scaling up successfully.

• Automation skills cut down on manual tasks and let teams focus on bigger priorities. They improve efficiency across the board.
• Programming languages, software tools, and industry knowledge are essential.

What are the 7 Soft Skills?

Now’s the time to focus on building a soft skill list. Deloitte predicts that by 2030, two-thirds of all jobs will require these competencies, growing 2.5 times faster than other roles. Soft skills like adaptability and emotional intelligence are becoming essential as workplaces evolve.

Other Elements to Include in Your Skills Database

• Certifications that meet your client’s needs. They can make a real difference in building trust in professional services. PMP-certified professionals earn 26% more than those without it. The bottom line is that credentials add value and open doors in this industry.
• Work preferences, including openness to travel or certain types of projects. Aligning work preferences with employee strengths keeps people happier and gets better results. Engaged employees are up to 17% more productive, says Gallup.
• Experience from previous projects and industries is a valuable addition to your skills library. PMI found that organizations using proven project practices waste 28 times less money. Including this experience makes sure your team applies what works, improving efficiency and results.

Tracking these competencies with a skills database gives you a clear picture of your team workforce capabilities. It also helps you assign the necessary skills and people to the right roles.

Why Use Tools Like Upland PSA?

A good tool is half the work, and Upland PSA proves it. It simplifies workflows, reduces errors, and centralizes project data, making resource management and planning more manageable and effective.

Upland PSA goes beyond basic resource management capabilities with features that address common challenges:

• Assign the right people with the right skills
• Match resources to projects
• Track billable hours and forecast revenue to keep projects profitable.
• Anticipate future resource needs and make sure your team is ready.
• Generate insights that help leaders make smarter staffing, competencies, and profitability decisions.

Upland PSA bridges the gap between your team’s core skills and your firm’s goals. It puts your resources to good use. It allows you to make data-driven decisions and gets results you can count on. It pushes your team to grow. Interested in learning more? Catch Upland PSA in action today.