Skills
Overview of the OpenAleph Skills module - skills framework, review templates, skills review cycles, results and the 4-box talent matrix.
Who can do thisEmployeeManagerManager creatorScoped adminAdmin
The Skills module helps your company describe the skills expected in each role and assess them through skills review cycles. Reviewers (managers, peers, direct reports or the employees themselves) rate each skill on a scale. The results are then analysed per cycle, per skill category and on a 4-box talent matrix (for example performance versus potential).
You find the module in the left navigation under Apps › Skills. If you don't see it, your company may not have the Skills module enabled: ask your admin.
Key concepts
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Skills framework | The company catalogue of skills, organised in skill categories. Each skill is assigned to Everyone or to specific job titles, and has a weight from 1 to 10. |
| Skill category | A group of skills (for example "Technical skills", "Leadership"). Categories structure the review forms, the results table and the 4-box axes. |
| Job title | Set on each member's profile (see Edit and deactivate users); the list of job titles is managed in the company settings. It decides which job-specific skills a person is reviewed on. |
| Template | A reusable review form: a rating scale (1-3, 1-5, 1-7 or 1-10), a set of skills and optional closing questions. |
| Review cycle | A campaign with a title, a period, a list of reviewees, their reviewers and an owner for each reviewee. |
| Reviewee | The person whose skills are reviewed. |
| Reviewer | A person who writes a review about a reviewee. A reviewee can have several reviewers, each writing a separate review. |
| Contributor | A colleague with whom a review is shared: they co-write the same review as the reviewer. Answers are credited to the group. |
| Owner | The person who oversees all the reviews of a reviewee (by default the reviewee's manager). Called "Responsible" in some emails. |
| Co-pilot | A person who helps run a whole cycle (tracking progress, managing reviewers). |
| 4-box matrix | A chart that places each reviewee in one of four boxes according to two axes, each scored from the skill categories you choose. |
Who does what
The menu entries depend on your access level: employees see Skills › Reviews and Framework; managers also see Company matrix; manager creators and above also see Templates, the New cycle button and the cycle pages. See Roles and access and Access levels.
| Role | What they can do in Skills |
|---|---|
| Employee | Answers the reviews assigned to them (self-assessment, peer review, review of their manager), sees the reviews they are involved in, reads the skills framework. On their own profile they only see their self-reviews. |
| Manager | Everything an employee can do, plus: acts as owner of their team members' reviews (view all answers, manage reviewers, send reminders), reviews their team, opens the Company matrix for their reports. |
| Manager creator | Everything a manager can do, plus: creates skills and categories, creates templates and review cycles, and runs the cycles they created or co-pilot. |
| Scoped admin | Runs the cycles created or co-piloted by people in their population, sees the results and matrix for their population, edits any skill or category. |
| Admin | Sees and manages every cycle of the company, edits any skill, category or template, manages the company talent matrix and its saved configurations. |
Pages in this section
- Skills framework: create skills and categories, assign them to job titles, set weights.
- Review templates: build reusable forms with a rating scale, skills sources and optional questions, and order the questions.
- Create and launch a review cycle: the four-step cycle wizard, reviewers, owners, invitations.
- Manage a review cycle: follow progress, add or remove reviewees, change owners and reviewers, share reviews, co-pilots, edit, relaunch or delete a cycle.
- Answer a skills review: find your reviews, rate skills, use Aleph AI, submit, create a goal, use the mobile app.
- Results and exports: overview charts, results grouped by skill category, analysis panel, editing answers, exports.
- Talent matrix (4-box): set up the 4-box of a cycle, the company talent matrix and the saved configurations.
- Notifications and emails: every email and notification the module sends, and when.
Typical workflow
- Prepare the data. Make sure every member has a job title (company settings). A cycle only has something to review for a person whose job title has skills attached.
- Build the framework. In Skills › Framework, create your skill categories and skills, assign each skill to Everyone or to job titles and set its weight.
- (Optional) Create templates in Skills › Templates if you want a scale other than 1-3, custom skills, closing questions or a specific question order.
- (Optional) Save a 4-box configuration in Skills › Company matrix (admins), so new cycles start with the talent matrix already set up.
- Create and launch a cycle from Skills › Reviews with New cycle: choose the period, the template mode, the reviewees, the owner and the reviewers, then Launch cycle.
- Reviewers answer their reviews from Skills › Reviews › Your reviews (or the mobile app) and submit them before the deadline. Owners follow progress and send reminders.
- Analyse the cycle: Overview, Results grouped by skill category, the 4-Box matrix, and exports (XLSX, PDF).
- Act on the results: create goals from submitted reviews (if your company has the Goals app); they are shown again in the next review of the same person.
Skills frameworkCreate skills and skill categories, assign skills to everyone or to specific job titles, set their weight and see which skills apply to each profile.Review templatesCreate reusable skills review templates with a rating scale, skill sources, optional closing questions and your own question order.Create and launch a review cycleStep-by-step guide to create a skills review cycle - period, template mode, reviewees, owner, reviewers, 4-box configuration and invitation emails.Manage a review cycleFollow a skills review cycle, add or remove reviewees after launch, change owners and reviewers, share reviews with contributors, add co-pilots, edit, relaunch or delete a cycle.Answer a skills reviewFind the skills reviews you have to write, rate each skill, use Aleph AI and dictation, submit, create a goal, and follow the reviews you own.Results and exportsAnalyse a skills review cycle - progress report, charts, results grouped by skill category, analysis panel, editing answers, and XLSX and PDF exports.Talent matrix (4-box)Set up and read the 4-box talent matrix of a skills review cycle, the company talent matrix, and the saved group configurations.Notifications and emailsEvery email, in-app and push notification sent by the Skills module - invitations, reminders, deadline reminders, contributors, co-pilots and cycle launch.
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