Strategic Skills Mapping.
A comprehensive Learning Needs Analysis across five diverse teams at Places for People, translated into actionable Personal Development Plans that aligned individual capability development with organisational priorities.
identified &
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The Challenge.
Places for People needed a credible, evidence-based understanding of skill gaps across its diverse workforce. Senior stakeholders required clarity on where capability gaps existed, what emerging skills mattered most, and how to prioritise development investment. Without this data, L&D interventions risked being reactive rather than strategic.
Getting Honest Feedback
Creating a safe, structured process to surface genuine skill gaps without defensive responses, whilst ensuring findings would hold credibility with senior leadership.
From Insight to Action
Moving beyond "we identified gaps" to "here's what each person and team needs to develop next, and why it matters to business outcomes."
Methodology.
The engagement combined structured stakeholder consultation, skills-gap analysis across five operational teams, and synthesis of findings into a prioritised development roadmap. This grounded approach ensured recommendations were both evidence-based and implementable.
- Step 01
Stakeholder Consultation
Conducted structured interviews and feedback sessions with team leaders and individual contributors across all five teams to understand role requirements, perceived capability gaps, and development aspirations.
- Step 02
Skills Taxonomy Development
Built a coherent skills framework that mapped technical competencies, behavioural capabilities, and role-specific expertise across the organisation, creating a shared language for capability discussions.
- Step 03
Gap Analysis
Systematically compared current capability against role requirements and organisational strategy to identify high-priority areas for development investment.
- Step 04
Synthesis & Reporting
Consolidated findings into clear, visually accessible recommendations that stakeholders could act on immediately.
The Approach.
The analysis moved beyond surface-level reporting. Rather than simply documenting gaps, the approach centred on creating individual and team-level clarity. Each finding was anchored to role requirements and business impact, making PDPs concrete and motivating rather than generic checklist exercises.
- Role-Based Mapping
Each skill gap was contextualised to specific roles and teams, ensuring development plans reflected genuine job requirements rather than generic competency models.
- Priority Sequencing
Recommendations were tiered by urgency and strategic importance, enabling L&D to focus on high-impact areas while providing a roadmap for longer-term capability building.
- Individual Ownership
Personal Development Plans were co-created with individuals, moving beyond top-down assignment to genuine engagement with their own capability journey.
- Stakeholder Alignment
Throughout the process, findings were socialised with senior stakeholders to ensure buy-in and to refine recommendations against business constraints.
The Impact.
The needs analysis became the foundation for Places for People's L&D strategy. Teams gained clarity on what capability mattered most, individuals received structured development direction, and L&D itself established credibility as a strategic, data-driven function within the organisation.