In industry, your teams and their expertise make the difference every day. The versatility matrix has established itself as the essential tool for managing these skills, and is a central issue for human resources management. But beware, it is often limited to a simple table. Exceland time-consuming to maintain. However, if properly exploited, it can become a real strategic lever for developing your business. industrial performance while enhancing the value of your employees. Skills management is also a key factor in supporting your organization's growth.
So how do you turn your versatility matrix into a truly effective tool? How can you turn it into an asset for your production rather than an administrative constraint? Skills management is a key issue for the industry, and the versatility matrix represents a lever for operational excellence. An in-depth analysis of your skills matrix enables us to accurately identify skills gaps, gain a better understanding of talent distribution and prepare appropriate training plans.
Understanding the versatility matrix in the industry
Definition and objectives
The versatility matrix is a dynamic tool that cartography the skills of your employees in real time in relation to the positions, activities and missions keys to production... It answers a fundamental question: «Do we have the right skills, in the right place, at the right time?»
It has multiple objectives:
- Clearly visualize the skills available on each position, activity and mission
- View multi-skilling within the team to optimize resource management
- Identify training on sensitive activities
- Securing critical know-how and continuity of operational missions
- Facilitate team rotation
- Guarantee production continuity
An in-depth analysis of your skills and versatility matrix enables you to precisely identify skills gaps, gain a better understanding of talent distribution and prepare appropriate training plans.
🎯 Request a free demo of Mercateam software
Operational issues
In the field, the skills and versatility matrix is a response to day-to-day challenges:
Absence management
How can you effectively replace an expert operator on a critical line? The matrix enables you to quickly identify available skilled employees. It provides a clear picture of the employees capable of ensuring business continuity in the event of absence. By integrating the tracking of skill levels into the matrix, it becomes possible to anticipate absences based on available talent, and maintain production quality.
Upgrading skills
In a context of increasing automation, your teams need to move towards more technical tasks. The matrix helps steer this transformation. This approach is based on regular skills analysis, ensuring that each person progresses to a higher level, and that the necessary training is planned in good time.
Regulatory compliance
Quality audits (ISO 9001, etc.) require traceability of skills and authorizations. A well-maintained matrix becomes a major asset. The skills and versatility matrix provides human resources with a clear diagnosis of the certifications to be renewed and the critical skills to be secured.
It provides a clear picture of which employees are capable of ensuring business continuity in the event of absence.
Benefits for every level of the hierarchy
For management
- Strategic vision of available skills
- Anticipating recruitment needs
- Effective management of GPEC
- Securing critical processes
For production managers
- Optimized team organization
- Easier management of replacements
- Simplified training management
- Enhancing progress
For operators
- Development opportunities
- Visibility on career paths
- Recognition of acquired skills
- Fair distribution of tasks
Click here to see how Saint Gobain has boosted its versatility
The essential components of an effective versatility matrix
The fundamental structure
An effective matrix is built around three pillars:
The lines Your employees, individually identified
The columns The positions or skills required, each position or resource being associated with a code to facilitate identification.
Intersections Each person's level of mastery
This structure makes for quick reading and easy updating. And by adding multi-skilling in the table structure, you get a more complete picture of your teams' strengths and can optimize the use of human resources.
Evaluation criteria and scoring
Evaluation must be objective and understood by all. A 4-level system is often appropriate:
Level 1 : In training / Beginner
Level 2 : Autonomous in standard operations
Level 3 : Complete mastery / Can train
Level 4 Expert / Technical advisor
Level analysis also enables us to identify high-potential employees, so that we can plan targeted training and anticipate each person's skills development.
Tracking authorizations and certifications
In addition to technical skills, your matrix must include :
- Regulatory approvals
- Quality certification
- Expiration dates
- Upcoming renewals
By linking the skills matrix to your company's authorization tracking, it becomes easier to prioritize actions and allocate resources at the right time, thus reducing downtime.
Managing critical skills
Critical skills require special attention:
- Identifying unique experts
- Mandatory backup plan
- Programmed transmission of know-how
- Alerts in case of risk of loss of competence
- Identification of at-risk or sensitive areas in the matrix, in order to target corrective actions on areas where skills are insufficient or vulnerable.
Visit versatility matrix is a living tool that must evolve with your organization. Its relevance depends on the quality of its updating and its appropriation by the teams. A well-designed skills and versatility matrix also facilitates the detection of rare multi-skills, making it possible to secure expertise and guarantee that several people possess the same level of competence on strategic tasks.
From Excel to digitalization: developing your versatility matrix
The limits of traditional tools
Manual management of versatility matrices via Excel has become a real operational hindrance. The main difficulties encountered speak for themselves:
- Considerable time wasted by managers on administrative tasks
- Risk of errors and unreliable data
- No real-time view of available skills
The advantages of a digital solution
Digitization transforms the versatility matrix into a genuine strategic tool. Our customers' experience shows that benefits are immediate:
- Dynamic dashboards for efficient management
- Data centralized and updated in real time, accessible to all players
- Automatic alerts for authorizations and risks of loss of skills
Change management for teams
Successful digitization relies on a holistic approach. progressive and structured. Involve your teams from the very start of the project by involving them in the construction of the tool. Visit training and personalized support are essential to ensure adoption.
Involving employees in the implementation of the skills matrix encourages buy-in, enhances their expertise and reinforces versatility within the organization.
How do you set up a high-performance versatility matrix?
Key deployment stages
Implementing an effective versatility matrix requires a methodical approach. Each part of the process must be structured to ensure successful deployment. Step 1: Identify critical activities and missions
Step 1: Identify critical activities and missions
Before building, draw up a list of activities carried out in each process and associated missions at each workstation. This in-the-field mapping provides a concrete vision of real work, and avoids oversights. Each activity can then be linked to one or more technical or behavioral skills.
Step 2: Assess mastery of each activity
Assign each employee a level of expertise for identified activities. The objective is not to detail the entire scale, but to view differences between independent profiles, trainees and experts, to identify areas of weakness and opportunities for progress.
Step 3: Plan training and transfer activities
Based on the discrepancies observed, plan the training, pairing or mentoring to secure critical activities and promote skills upgrading. This step transforms the matrix into continuous management tool rather than a static photograph.
Mistakes to avoid
Experience shows that certain mistakes can jeopardize the success of a project. Involvement operators is crucial - they need to feel actors of change, not just spectators.
Best practices for updating
Set up a clear process updates with responsibilities well defined. Designate referents for each department and establish a regular review schedule. Data quality is your best ally in maintaining team confidence in the tool.
Periodic updating of the skills matrix should include a follow-up of training carried out, the evolution of the level reached, and the identification of people who can rapidly upgrade their skills.
Make the most of your versatility matrix
Training management
Your matrix becomes a real skills development. It enables us to precisely identify training and measure the effectiveness of actions taken. Training courses can be customized to meet individual and collective objectives.
Anticipating risks
The visibility offered by a digital matrix anticipate skills-related risks. You can now :
- Secure your key processes
- Early detection of potential losses of critical skills
- Set up succession plans for your experts
Valuing employees
The versatility grid becomes a tool for motivation and recognition. Progress is visible and can be highlighted during individual interviews. Career paths become clearer and more attainable.
How UNITHER digitized its UNITHER versatility matrix
The deployment of Mercateam has enabled a complete digitization of the skills matrix and versatility. Find out more here how they cut skills management/planning time by a factor of 4.
The versatility achieved after this project has considerably reduced the duration of operator replacements, optimized resource allocation and improved staff training.
Teams now have a clear picture of employees' skills and multi-skills, enabling them to improve agility and quality, and boost the organization's overall performance.
🎯 Request a free demo of Mercateam software
