• Return to our Main Site

    • Action plan

    Figuring out what new roles can plug skills gaps

    Medium effort

    Medium impact

    Getting the team in place to navigate changing circumstances or manage increasing demand is a crucial part of business planning. However, it can be hard to see the woods for the trees. If growth is putting pressure on your team, it’s easy to only hire reactively. Stepping back and analysing what the business needs can make a big difference.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Conduct a skills gap analysis to figure out what you need and measure what you have

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Exploring your company’s goals, what’s needed to get there and the future of your industry will help you tease out where the gaps are in your current workforce.

    Conducting a skills gap analysis

    Use our free skills gap analysis checklist to determine the key skills missing from your organisation.
    2

    Review the company structure your peers use to identify roles or functions that could lead to expansion

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Looking at similar companies, particularly those that are bigger than you, can point to gaps in your own team and what you might need for the next stage of your growth.

    How to do a competitive analysis

    A competitive analysis helps businesses to understand who competitors are and what makes them different.
    3

    Work with employees to see if their roles can be reshaped to plug skills gaps

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Upskilling existing employees increases job satisfaction and retention. It’s also likely to be cheaper than going out to market. That means it’s worth balancing upskilling with hiring when you’re looking to plug skills gaps.

    4

    Look at your network to identify prospects and get advice

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Peers can explain what key hires helped them navigate a particular challenge or empowered the next stage in their company’s growth. Looking at your network to see who’s available can be inspirational.

    Building a network from scratch

    Building a network allows you to access advice and guidance from other business leaders and experts. Use our checklist to get started.
    5

    Develop job descriptions for the skills gaps you need plugging and plan a recruitment timetable

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Now you’ve done the footwork, you can create job descriptions that specify exactly what’s needed. Writing them for all the roles you need to fill in the next 12 months and setting a timetable provides a useful planning tool.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Recruitment plan created

    Recruitment plans set out your hiring expectations for the next 12 months

    Why this metric?

    Knowing what key hires you need over the next 12 months makes financial planning easier and gives you time to look at upskilling team members or finding external candidates.

    How do I start tracking?

    Review the recruitment plan when doing your financial forecasting.