Use Cases

The problem

An organization’s information about the current skills, interests, and prior experience of the staff is fragmented across documents, HR systems, and spreadsheets. This makes it difficult for libraries to make system-wide plans about priorities. Nor can they identify staff with the expertise or best suited to respond to new needs from the user community. 

Leaders find themselves in a maze of phone calls, emails, or relying on managers’ memory for specialized training or growth assignments. Because of this, as libraries work to allocate professional development budgets equitably, leaders face challenges. They struggle to connect opportunities to staff interests. Additionally, they find it hard to align these opportunities with career goals. This is due to the absence of the right skills data.

Without current, standardized skills data, libraries may be unable to utilize their training budgets fully. They also miss out on key moments to engage staff ready to contribute to their libraries’ future. This makes the library less effective. 

The solution

Skilltype unlocks the hidden capabilities within organizations to meet new challenges head-on. Our Talent Audit allows for a deep dive into the areas staff are keen to explore. Identifying those eager to acquire skills critical for the library’s future, regardless of their current role.

leaders can also effortlessly pinpoint internal expertise in real-time, unlocking several advantages. This includes the flexibility to cross-train staff, assemble dynamic teams for special projects, pair new staff with seasoned mentors, and identify potential candidates for open positions.

Imagine discovering that staff in circulation also possess untapped expertise in electronic resources or collection data analysis from previous roles or coursework – insights not always visible on an org chart. Skilltype’s Directory and Talent Audit make starting this journey of internal talent discovery seamless, whether searching for specific skills like accessibility or browsing through the Skills tabs within Insights.

As new members create profiles on Skilltype, selecting from a library-specific controlled vocabulary encompassing skills, products/services, and job categories, the system continually refreshes these insights. This standardized data allows libraries to effectively locate talent across different departments, locations, and work schedules.

Furthermore, a library’s Talent Audit can reveal staff eager for growth through their selected Interests and training activities. Leaders may uncover individuals ready for mentorship or leadership roles, and can foster a culture of knowledge-sharing across departments. By exploring the Interested column details for a skill, libraries can identify staff keen on areas like Analytics, ready to apply their learning to real-world scenarios, such as analyzing data from recent library surveys.

In essence, Skilltype is not just a platform; it’s a bridge connecting libraries to their most valuable asset – their people – and unlocking their full potential in a rapidly evolving information landscape.

Sign up for a quick demo to see Skilltype in action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Skilltype’s talent platform uses real-time data to help information professionals and their teams identify, develop, and share expertise. The platform aggregates thousands of training resources, opportunities, and talent profiles of individuals, describing each with a controlled skills vocabulary to create a personalized career and organizational development experience.

Skilltype is used by library managers and their teams, along with communities, conference organizers, and vendors that train information professionals. Customers include libraries of all sizes ranging from 5 employees to 500 across North America, Europe, and Asia. Skilltype’s largest customers have thousands of data points being surfaced to help inform career pathways and organizational development strategy.

Skilltype indexes training resources and opportunities from over 100 conferences and training providers, enhances the records with our proprietary skills ontology, and delivers them to users through a personalized recommendation engine. We also partner with training providers who aim to grow and engage their communities using Skilltype’s tools.

Small libraries can be up and running in a day or two. Larger libraries may require more conversations and take up to a week or two. No implementation or professional services teams required. Just appoint a project manager to coordinate with our onboarding team on the timeline you set to roll it out across your organization.

Skilltype is priced on a per-employee basis. Most libraries sign annual or multi-year subscriptions, but we support shorter pilots for larger organizations with complex use cases. Skilltype also works with consortia to streamline your procurement process and offer discounts for Enterprise capabilities with additional features and premium support are available for organizations upon request. Contact us to get more details.

Signup for a quick demo to see Skilltype in action.