How to Identify Gaps in Your Organisation

With skills shortages accounting for soaring numbers of unfilled job vacancies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s never been more important for business owners to identify gaps in their organisation and anticipate a response to these where necessary. Let’s run through some key steps to take to identify organisational gaps and mitigate risk for your business:

Prioritise company goals

The first step to take in identifying gaps is undergoing a thorough evaluation of your company goals – prioritise these and ask yourself which specific roles and skillsets you’ll require for their successful delivery. By evaluating the efficacy of your business protocols and processes about current progress made towards key goals, you should be able to immediately identify any major problems, targets, or potential gaps to focus on.

Speak with your staff

Once you’ve made a thorough evaluation of processes and goals, it’s time to get the opinion of your staff on the ground: What are their own perceived strengths and weaknesses? What’s their existing level of knowledge? What are their own goals, both personally and for the future of the business? What weaknesses do they identify in the organisation? You may decide to target a sample of your staff or address your whole workforce using an email questionnaire. Try to focus your discussion with staff on company goals and priorities. 

Speak with your managers

Verify any findings gathered from your staff using feedback from line managers and supervisors, who will also be able to provide their take and opinions on potential gaps in skills and company processes. Take all feedback from both staff and management on board, and don’t be surprised if these contradict each other. The most important thing is to find the most common and potentially serious gaps in your business.

Provide relevant training

Once you’ve identified areas to improve through feedback and skills testing, offer your staff the relevant training they need to bridge any potential gaps. Proper training can go a long way in empowering your workers and boosting their existing skillsets to the desired level. If possible, try to use training schemes which provide some form of the award upon completion, such as a data literacy skills certificate.

Consider hosting interviews

If a significant skills gap remains, your business requires an intensive overhaul or you need extra help for a specific project, consider using interim management services to hire new blood and find a suitable cover manager for the job. Hiring expert-level interim managers can make the process of restructuring or repurposing your business much smoother and easier. When conducting interviews for new roles, focus on candidates that display the specific skills you’re currently missing in your organisation.