Getting Started with Skills

Friday September 8, 2023-10 min read

Introduction

Getting Started

Open the Skills app by navigating to the “People” section and clicking Skills.

Once you have opened the app, you’ll see the Skills, Employees, and Positions tabs at the top of the screen.

Skills: Provides a comprehensive list view of the skills currently held by employees within your organization. You can view additional details such as their department, the date of their skill verification, and the responsible manager who assessed their proficiency.

Employees: Displays a detailed list of all employees from your organization along with the skills they possess in an easy-to-use list view. Access necessary information such as job description, department, specific skills, and the current status of their qualifications.

Positions:  In the positions tab, you can view the various roles held by members of your organization, with a focus on key details including position names, departments, and the requisite skill sets associated with each role.

Adding a skill

To create a new skill, you can follow these steps:

1. Click on the + icon in the header of the app

2. Submit details about the skill you are adding

Step 1: Click on the + icon in the header of the app to open the Add skill popup. This popup will prompt you with fields where you can enter information to specify the details of the skill you want to add.

Name: The name of the skill you are creating.

Type: You can categorize the Skills by the Type you select. In Appward, Types are a helpful way of categorizing your information to make it easier to sort, find, and get Insights from your data. As an example, Types can be used within Skills to distinguish between Back End Development, Scripting, and Graphic Design.

Note: If your organization has not created any Skills Types, the Select a type picker window will be empty.

To add your own types, press + at the top of Add type. 

Department: Here, you can specify the particular department within your organization tasked with defining the skill you are adding.

Description: In this space, you can describe the skill you intend to add, highlighting the required training or experience associated with it.

Step 2: Click on the Submit button to publish the newly created skill for your organization to see.

Viewing and editing skills

Now that you’ve learned how to add a new Skill, let’s go over how you can effectively manage skills and assign them to members of your organization.

To view all the skills created within your organization, navigate to the Skills tab.

Note: If this is your organization’s first time using Skills, then this page will be empty.

To get a more comprehensive understanding of each skill, click on the row of the skill you’d like to explore. This will trigger a detailed pop-up, revealing all the important information associated with that skill.

Once you have selected a skill to view, you will be shown a detailed flyout.

You can view all the essential information for each skill within the General Info tab in their flyout.

Let’s go over some of the Fields in General info

Name: This is the name of the skill. 

Description: This outlines the details of the skills and provides vital information about what is necessary for an employee to be qualified. Descriptions can be adjusted as necessary to remain current, regardless of how frequently requirements change.

Authorizer: Authorizers refer to a person within an organization who has the responsibility to validate or approve an individual’s proficiency or qualifications in a particular skill. This ensures that employees have the necessary skills and qualifications to perform their job tasks effectively. 

Department: A department in an organization is a team focused on specific tasks and equipped with specialized skills. Each department typically has distinct responsibilities and goals that set them apart. You can establish and allocate the necessary departments to efficiently organize your designated skills within the Departments field.

Checklist:  A checklist is a list of items, tasks, or actions that need to be completed or verified. In the case of Skills, Checklists are useful for verifying the necessary requirements an employee needs to be considered proficient in a skill. For more information on creating Checklists, check out our guide on Checklist Creator.

Skill Duration:  In Appward, skill duration refers to the period during which a skill remains relevant or useful. Some skills may  remain valuable over an extended period, while others might become obsolete due to changing industry standards. You can set skill durations by specifying a number value and unit, such as year(s) or week(s). 

Qualified Employees:  Qualified employees refers to individuals who posses the necessary knowledge, experience, and attributes to qualify for a specific skill. Qualified Employees can be selected by the specified authorizer. 

Files:  Throughout Appward, files play a crucial role in providing context and improving record keeping. In Skills, necessary files can be added to created skills to ensure that everything you need is in one easy-to-use place.

Viewing skills by Employee

Employees: As a manager, you may want to see the Skills possessed by an individual in your organization. This tab shows a list of employees in your organization along with the Skills they have proven to be proficient in. Employees are imported from the Employees app where they can be created and modified. For more information, check out our guide on Employees.

Once you have selected an employee to view additional details about, you will be shown a flyout displaying all the employee’s skills. 

Viewing skills by Position

Positions: A position refers to a specific role or job within an organization. In Appward, positions are created and defined within the Positions app and then imported into multiple apps.

Note: If your organization has not created any Positions, this tab will be empty. 

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