Building Internal Skills Taxonomy: Framework for Malaysian Companies

ByEsther Low Future of Work, Hiring Tips, Skills-Based Hiring

As a leader in a fast-growing company, you’re constantly thinking about your team. But it often feels like you’re doing strategic workforce planning on the fly. You know you need to hire, but are you hiring for the right things? Do you have a clear picture of the employee skills you already have, and more importantly, the skill gaps holding you back from hitting your next revenue target?

If you’re nodding along, you’re not alone. Many businesses in Malaysia are scaling so quickly that their talent management strategy can’t keep up. So, the hiring process becomes reactive, projects get delayed, and you feel like you’re flying blind without a clear connection to your overall business strategy.

This is where building an internal skills taxonomy comes in. It sounds like a big, corporate phrase, but it’s actually a simple, powerful concept: creating a clear map of the skills that drive your business. This isn’t just an admin task for human resources, it’s a valuable tool for growth, efficiency, and making smarter talent investments that lead to organizational success.

So, What Exactly Is a Skills Taxonomy?

Think of it like this: you wouldn’t build a product without a blueprint, right? A skills taxonomy is the blueprint for your company’s single greatest asset: its people. It’s a logical, organized list — your skills architecture — of the specific skills and capabilities your business needs to succeed.

This isn’t about vague job descriptions. It’s about getting granular on the exact skills needed. Instead of “Marketing Manager,” your taxonomy breaks it down into technical skills like “Python for data analysis,” “KOL management for B2C campaigns,” or soft skills like “client negotiation.”

This clear understanding of your workforce’s capabilities directly impacts your bottom line:

  • Reduced Costs: You make fewer hiring mistakes because you know exactly what you’re looking for. A bad hire is one of the most expensive errors a growing company can make.
  • Increased Productivity: You can deploy the right people to the right projects, instantly boosting efficiency. Your workforce planning becomes proactive, not reactive.
  • Faster Growth: You can anticipate and fill the critical roles needed to tackle your strategic objectives before they become a crisis.

Woman stands in front of a whiteboard labeled "Skills Taxonomy," giving a presentation in a modern office setting. Kabel Job Platform

Skills Mapping vs. Competency Mapping: What You Really Need to Know

You might hear these terms used interchangeably, but there’s a simple difference that matters for busy leaders.

  • What is skills mapping? At its core, skills mapping is the process of creating your talent inventory — it’s the what. It answers the question: “What employee skills do we currently have in the building?” It’s about identifying and cataloging everything from coding languages to design software proficiency.
  • What is competency mapping? Competency mapping is the how well. It assesses proficiency levels and behaviors. It includes soft skills, leadership skills, and other behaviors that define how a skill is applied effectively to achieve business goals.

For a fast-growing company, start with skills mapping. It’s the fastest way to get a clear picture and address immediate skill gaps.

A Practical Framework: Your Roadmap to Building a Skills Inventory

Ready to build your own? You don’t need expensive skills intelligence tools or a massive HR department. Here’s a simple roadmap for effective workforce planning.

Step 1: Start with Your Business Goals

Before you list a single skill, look at your business objectives for the next 6-12 months. Your strategic direction dictates the most essential skills you need. This initial careful planning is the foundation.

Step 2: Conduct Your Skills Mapping to Create a Talent Inventory

Now it’s time to create your initial talent inventory. A simple spreadsheet or skills matrix is perfect for this.

How do you create a skills inventory?

  • Column A: List your employees.
  • Column B: List their primary role.
  • Column C (The Important One): With your managers, list 3-5 key, specific skills for each person. This is the core of skills mapping. This list of your team’s collective skills is your first talent inventory.

Step 3: Identify the Gaps with a Capability Assessment

Compare the skills you have (your talent inventory) with the skills you need (from your goals). This process is a basic organizational capability assessment.

What is an example of a capability assessment? It’s as simple as this:

  • “We want to launch a new mobile app, but our skills mapping shows we only have one junior UI designer.” -> Skill gap identified.
  • “We need to analyze data from our new CRM, but no one has advanced skills with data visualization tools.” -> Skill gap identified.

This simple analysis is your treasure map, showing you exactly where to focus your talent acquisition and skills development efforts. It’s the first step to building a future-ready workforce.

Two women in an office setting have a conversation near a desk, with one standing and holding a tablet while the other sits. Other employees and office supplies are visible in the background. Kabel Job Platform

Step 4: Define Basic Competency Frameworks

Once you know the skills required, define what “good” looks like. These are your simple competency frameworks. For a key skill, define basic proficiency levels (e.g., Beginner, Intermediate, Expert). This clarifies needs for the hiring process and helps chart paths for career development and internal mobility.

The Agile Solution to Your Skill Gaps: Think Projects, Not Just Positions

So, you’ve completed your skills mapping and found a critical gap. The default reaction is often to start writing job descriptions for a senior role. But in today’s landscape of rapid technological advances, that isn’t always the smartest or fastest solution to address talent shortages.

This is where a shift to skills-based hiring becomes a game-changer for your company. At its core, it’s about prioritizing a candidate’s proven abilities and potential over traditional credentials like their degree or the university they attended. Instead of asking, ‘What does their resume say?’, you ask, ‘What can they actually do?’ This mindset allows you to focus on the exact capabilities you need, opening up a wider, more dynamic talent pool.

Consider a more agile approach, especially for modern, digital skills.

Hire a skilled intern or a sharp fresh graduate for a specific project. These early-career professionals are digital natives, often equipped with the very skills you’re missing and a powerful drive to prove themselves.

Instead of a costly, lengthy search, you could:

  • Launch a pilot project: Need a dashboard built? Hire an intern with proven Python skills to deliver it. This is the ultimate skills assessment.
  • Test for fit and performance: Let a fresh graduate to manage your new TikTok channel. You get immediate productivity, and they get a chance to prove their value.

This approach is a massive win-win. It’s a powerful, low-risk way to fill specific skill gaps almost immediately. And if they excel? You’ve found a future star who you can hire for the long term—already onboarded and integrated.

Ready to Build Your Future-Proof Team?

Putting these ideas into practice is one of the most important investments you can make in your company’s growth. And you don’t have to do it alone.

Find your next intern or fresh graduate on Kabel and connect with ambitious, pre-vetted candidates who are ready to contribute.

Want to talk through your specific hiring challenges? Book a free 15-minute strategy call with our team. We can help you pinpoint your needs and build a plan to fill your skill gaps effectively.

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