Skill Set

A skill set is the combination of specific skills, knowledge, and competencies that an individual or role requires — encompassing both hard skills (technical, domain-specific, and measurable capabilities) and soft skills (interpersonal, behavioral, and situational capabilities). In talent management, mapping and documenting skill sets for all roles creates the vocabulary necessary for skills-based hiring, succession planning, and development conversations. In the current environment of rapid skill change — where technical skills become obsolete within 3 to 5 years in some domains — the learning agility to continuously acquire new skills within a skill set is increasingly valued alongside the possession of current skills, because organizations that can only hire for current skill sets cannot adapt fast enough to maintain competitive capability.