Building a skill-based system for better employee engagement in a software organization

Abstract

Skills form an integral part of an organization for its efficient functioning and employees with multiple skill sets are a great asset to any organization. Imagine an organization where everyone talks and thinks about skills; evaluate others, weigh and see others through the glasses of skills. There are systems that collect skills from employees but those are not used as a driving force to create a skills-oriented culture within an organization. Appraisals in organization focus on project level metrics and maybe some personal development objectives, but skills are not used as a driving factor. Also from an organization standpoint, in case of skills deficit, mostly they recruit new employees with the required skill set and experience rather than upskilling existing employees who have bandwidth and are interested to acquire new skills. The aim of the research is to know if we can create a skills-focused climate in a software organization through a software system proposed by the researcher and if such a system will help in utilizing in-house employees for new opportunities rather than hiring new employees. This study proposes a skill-based system with minimum viable features which collects in-depth skills from the employees and provide ways to learn, improve and demonstrate their skills. Apart from encouraging employees to upskill, this system can also be used to promote Corporate Social Responsibility and Hobbies within employees to encourage work-life balance. Feedback was collected on the proposed skill-based system from software processionals and human resource managers through an online survey. Findings reveal that the proposed skill-based system will create a skill-focused climate in a software organization and also help in better utilization of internal employees in case of new skill requirements rather than directly hiring external employees.