Editor’s Guide

Glossary of terms

To begin, we will discuss some common terms used on the TalentBoost platform that will help you better understand and effectively use the tool.

Skill

A skill is, by definition, the ability to act and achieve certain results. On our platform, it is predefined by the supervisor. To determine the degree of skill, a scoring level can be set to see how well an employee or co-worker can perform. Only a supervisor can evaluate another employee’s skills.

To help you better manage skills in your company or unit, you can differentiate between skills:


Scoring types

One skill can have different types of scores, e.g:

タレントスコア: The score you receive when you complete a built-in test that evaluates your performance in a skill.

Manager’s Rating: A manager’s or supervisor’s subjective opinion of the level of a skill, based on specific observations.

Self-assessment: A self-assessment of your own skill level.

Desired level: The target level of performance in a skill.

Recommended: The level of performance recommended by the company.


Skills map

The map contains all skills that can be configured and filtered by the editor. See use cases

Structure of the skill map: There are 3 levels of skill aggregation. The smallest element of the map is a skill that can only appear once in the structure. Because of that, it is easier to manage the skills and emphasize relations between skills from different categories.

Active skills: Skills that are visible in the default configurable map view. Other skills are hidden and are called Inactive.

Skillset

One or multiple skillsets define a job position and allow easy management of skills across the company, across different positions.  A skill set can include both technical skills and soft skills.

Team

A structured group of users within a company. Each employee belongs to one team in the company and has one supervisor.

User profile

The user profile provides access to the user’s job position, contact information, assigned team, and a skillset with current scores. It also contains requests for skill assessments and TalentScore test results.

User

A TalentBoost user can track changes in skills that are added to the user’s profile. He or she can also explore development opportunities through the skills map and development plans

Editor

Manages the company’s skills and positions.

Manager

Is authorized to evaluate the skills of subordinate employees.

Job position

A defined job position in the company to which skillsets are assigned. The skillsets assigned to a position define the skills required for that position.

Skills manager

We will start this section by discussing what the skills manager tab is and what it is used for. Then we’ll move on to instructions on how to add and edit skills, we’ll explain connections between skills, and what the skills structure looks like. 

What is the skills manager tab?

Skills manager is a tab for managing skills. This tool allows you to add new skills or skill structures at every possible level:

– At the area level

– At the sub-area level

– At the skill group level

The tab contains preset skill areas with their sub-areas and groups by default. However, if these are not enough for you, you can submit a request to create your own objects. To do so, submit the appropriate ticket through Jira. Remember to follow the 4-step structure.



If you don’t want certain skill areas to be visible to employees, you can request to hide them. As a result, the areas in question will not be displayed on the skills map and will be omitted from the analytics. Keep in mind that skills are shared and your decision may affect employees from other areas. We recommend that you consult your request with other editors.



How do I access the details of a specific skill from the skills manager?

You can easily view the details of a specific skill directly from the Skills Manager tab. Find the skill you are interested in and hover over it. Then click on the pen icon. A window with details will appear on the right:



Skill details window consists of three sections:

People – refers generally to the company’s employees and their relations with a skill. It shows, for example, the average level of people with a particular skill in the company and lists all the people who are close to achieving the skill or are in the process of learning it.

Skill definition – shows the location and relationship of a specific skill. You can see what other skills it is connected to and how.

Learning – allows you to add learning materials for a skill

How to add a new skill?

As an editor, you have the ability to report the need to add new skills. You can do this through the Jira. Remember that, you can add skill sub-areas, skill groups, and skills to already existing skill areas. You can also add your own skill areas.



Note that the skill hierarchy is as follows:

  1. Skill area, e.g. Project Lifecycle Management
  2. Skill sub-area, e.g.Project Management
  3. Skill group, e.g. Tools
  4. Skill, e.g. Jira

Request to add a skill to an existing skill group

  1. In “Skills manager,” search for the area you are interested in and narrow it down to the sub-area to which you want to add a skill. 
  2. Find and expand the skill group to which you want to add a new skill. 
  3. To add a new skill, submit the request through Jira taking into account the area, sub-area, and group to which you want to add the skill.
  4. You can also add a description of the skill you want to include in the system, and mark the relationships the new skill has with other existing skills.

The available relationship options are:

(a) “is necessary/for” (acquiring another skill),

(b) “requires” (mastering another skill),

(c) “is equivalent/replacement” (of another skill).

Adding a new sub-area or group of skills

You can also request to add an entire area, sub-area, or skill group. Before you do this, please check that they do not already appear on the skills map. Also, remember the 4-level structure, all 4 levels of a skill’s grade must be included in the request. Groups to which no skills belong will be treated as empty folders and will not be displayed by the system.


How to edit existing skills?

You can also edit already existing skills on the map. To do so, check whether they are shared with other areas and if so, consult your proposed change with the editors responsible for those areas. If you jointly agree that the proposed changes are beneficial to all those affected areas, submit a ticket via Jira with a description of the skill change.

How to create and edit skillsets?

A skillset is a collection of selected skills that are necessary for a particular role in an organization. In TalentBoost, skillsets are used to combine the necessary skills needed by different teams, positions, or employees. With skillsets, we can easily create job positions, so a skillset can consist of technical skills as well as soft skills useful for a specific position.

To define a skillset, go to the Skillsets tab. There you can create a new skillset using the Add New Skillset button in the upper right corner, or edit an existing skillset by hovering over the pen icon and clicking Edit.

Editing a skillset

When you navigate to edit a skillset, you will see a full preview of the folders and skills contained in the skillset.

To make changes to a skillset, press the “Edit” button in the upper right corner. Before making any changes to a skillset, contact area editors who also use that skillset.

How do I create and edit job positions?

One of TalentBoost’s main features is the ability to create and manage job positions in your company. You can assign skillsets to each position and, depending on seniority, set the required skill level. Setting up positions will allow you to assign them to your employees and start building career paths.



How to create a position?

To create a position, send us a request via Jira. In the submission, enter the exact name of the new position, the skillsets that define the competencies required for the position, and the desired skill level assigned to the position in %.

To differentiate the skill and competency requirements for junior, mid/regular, and senior level programmers, for example, start by describing the most basic position – for example, for a junior programmer. Then create a position that is higher in the hierarchy – mid/regular level.



Each higher level of the position should inherit all the skillsets contained in the lower position. Inherited skillsets will be labeled “Inherited.” Note that additional skillsets can also be added to a new job position.