Say 👋 Goodbye to Spreadsheets.
Skills Matrix Software That Doesn't Break.
Stop building static grids in Excel. Visualize your team’s capability dynamically. Spot experts, identify risks, and find the right person for the job instantly.
Trusted by 400+ Global Organizations
The Employee Skills Matrix. Just Better.
Skills Base brings every critical data point into a single, unified view. See proficiency, interest, targets, and gaps side-by-side without toggling screens, empowering you to make holistic talent decisions instantly.
Skill Level
Track current expertise on a standardized scale.
Manager Ratings
Validated data to ensure complete accuracy.
Proficiency Gaps
Instantly identify deficits against required role targets
Interest Level
Gauge employee passion to apply skills.
Role Targets
Specific proficiency benchmarks for every job profile.
Recommended Training
Actionable learning paths to bridge specific gaps.
Stop guessing with spreadsheets
Manual grids break the moment you update them. Move to a real-time and dynamic skill matrix.
Spreadsheets
- Instantly outdated
- Nightmare to filter or pivot
- No visual gap analysis
- Data security risks
- Difficult to share securely
Skills Base
- Always up-to-date
- Filter by anything (Location, Role)
- Click to drill down into profiles
- Enterprise-grade security controls
- Instant sharing with stakeholders
“Our Skills Matrix on a spreadsheet was difficult to update, prone to errors, and not scalable for the company’s growing needs. Skills Base has significantly reduced the time required for project kickoffs. What used to take us three days to assign engineers to projects now takes only 30 minutes.”
Jay Canfield,
Director of Professional Services
Any Slice, Any Scale.
Create custom matrices for any segment of your organization. Filter by Individual, Team, Role, Location, or Organization across four distinct dimensions.
Custom Skill Matrix
Visualize skill strengths & gaps using the specific levels defined by your organization.
Team
Role
Location
Org
Individual
Custom Competency Matrix
Track progress as a percentage relative to achieving the target level for a role.
Team
Role
Location
Org
Individual
Custom Interest Matrix
Empower employees to rate themselves against their full job profile. Great for establishing a skills baseline.
Team
Role
Location
Org
Individual
Custom Capability Matrix
Aggregate headcount based on skill level to identify capacity hotspots and risks.
Team
Role
Location
Org
Individual
AI for Skills Matrices
From data to decisions, instantly.
A matrix full of numbers is only useful if you can act on it. Skills Base AI reads your matrix in real time — answering questions about who has what, surfacing patterns you’d miss manually, and flagging the gaps that need attention before they affect delivery.
- Lens AI
Matrix Pattern & Gap Intelligence
Lens monitors your matrices continuously: detecting coverage gaps, single points of failure, and skill concentrations that create risk. You see what your matrix implies, not just what it shows.
Skills Management
Everything you need to manage skills at scale.
Skills Base is a complete skills management system — not just a reporting tool. Every capability your organization needs, connected in one place.
01
Track
Skill and certification tracking in one place. Maintain a single source of truth for your workforce data — always current, always verified, always trusted.
Skills Tracking ->
02
Model
Build a skills taxonomy that’s uniquely yours. Define the language, structure, and proficiency levels that reflect how your organization actually thinks about capability.
Skills Taxonomy ->
03
Map
Align your skills data to your business architecture and design. Understand how capability maps to your organisational structure, functions, and strategic priorities.
Skills Mapping ->
04
Measure
Uncover gaps, strengths, and interest levels across your workforce. Go beyond headcount and job titles to see what your people can actually do — and what they want to develop.
Skills Assessment ->
05 – You are here
Compare
Skills matrices that update in real time. View skills data side by side across teams, roles, and individuals — dynamically filtered to surface exactly what you need to see.
Skills Matrices ->
06
Analyze
Deep insight and rich visualizations to support every talent decision. From team-level reporting to org-wide trends, turn your skills data into intelligence that drives action.
Skills Analysis ->
Optimizing Your Skills Matrix: For Talent & Competency
Everything you need to know about effectively comparing skill gaps, and strengths for better talent decisions.
What is a skill matrix?
A skill matrix is a visual management tool used to map the specific capabilities and proficiency levels available within your workforce. It serves as a grid that intersects available talent with specific role requirements, allowing leaders to objectively assess the collective competency of a team. By clearly displaying this data, organizations can move beyond guesswork to spot critical gaps and ensure they have the right mix of skills to meet strategic goals.
What is the difference between a skills matrix and a competency model?
While often used interchangeably, there is a distinct difference in scope. A skills matrix typically maps specific, granular technical abilities required for a role (e.g., “Python programming” or “Forklift operation”). A competency model is broader; it encompasses the combination of skills, knowledge, and behaviors—such as leadership or adaptability—that define high performance. An effective workforce strategy usually integrates both to provide a complete view of organizational health.
How does a skills matrix support strategic workforce planning?
A skills matrix transforms subjective employee data into objective workforce intelligence. By visualizing the distribution of capabilities across your teams, you can instantly identify critical gaps, single points of failure, and over-reliance on external contractors. This allows leadership to transition from reactive hiring to proactive talent planning, ensuring you have the right people in the right roles to meet future business goals.
How often should we update our talent capability data?
Static spreadsheets often become obsolete the moment they are saved. To maintain true competency agility, your matrix should be considered a living ecosystem. Best practice suggests reviewing core technical skills quarterly and broader behavioral competencies bi-annually during performance reviews. However, modern platforms allow for real-time updates, empowering talent to validate their own skills as they complete projects or certifications.
Can a skills matrix help with employee retention and engagement?
Absolutely. One of the top drivers of talent turnover is a lack of development opportunities. A transparent matrix shows your workforce exactly what is required to advance to the next level. By linking identified skill gaps directly to Learning & Development (L&D) initiatives, you demonstrate a clear investment in their career growth, significantly boosting engagement and retaining top competency within the business.
What specific data points should be tracked in a modern skills matrix?
Beyond just listing job titles and technical skills, a robust matrix should track proficiency levels (e.g., 1–5 scale), interest levels (does the talent want to use this skill?), and certification expiry dates. Advanced workforce matrices also track “adjacent competencies”—skills that are similar to what an employee already possesses—to identify candidates who can be rapidly upskilled to fill emerging roles.
How do we identify the right skills to track for each role?
Start by analyzing your high-performing talent to see what common attributes contribute to their success. Combine this with a review of your strategic business objectives to determine which competencies will be required in 12–24 months. It is crucial to standardize this taxonomy across the workforce so that you can compare capabilities between different departments and regions accurately.
Why aren't spreadsheets enough for managing our skills data?
While spreadsheets are familiar, they create “static” data islands that quickly become obsolete. A spreadsheet cannot verify if a competency is current, nor can it automatically trigger a workflow when a certification expires. By moving away from manual entry to a dynamic platform, you ensure your workforce intelligence is based on verified, real-time data rather than self-reported guesses. This shift allows you to make critical talent decisions based on truth, not just cell formulas.
Ready to see the full picture?
Join 400+ organizations using using Skills Base to manage verified skills data
- Free for 25 Users
- Free trial available
- No Credit Card required