2 Responses

1. Link it to business objectives…

   Hi James; you're right the managers should own it themselves but if they see little point in it and don't fully associate it with achieving business objectives it will be forever put on the back burner.

   What I did was really engage my most Senior Stakeholder (in my case the Head of Customer Accounts) and got him to understand how it aligned to business successes.  He then championed it and was, I guess, very clear and directive about how he wanted people to use it.  There were 4 levels of management below him and he ensured that everyone was shoulder to shoulder on the messages about using it and also that people were held accountable for completing it.

   I did lots of engagement around it and ran various education sessions to help people understand how it aligned to real business successes e.g. the bottom line.

   It may be obvious to say but it's also important that you do something with it.  If the managers perceive that nothing ever happens as a result of updating the matrix then, of course, it will be forgotten.  So, you must very clearly sign-post what is happening with it and if you deliver L & D repsonses as a direct result; you must be clear how it links to the skills matrix.  Similarly other people using it must also clearly show that it links to the matrix.  Hope that helps.

2. Thanks Clive…

   Some good advice!