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Analytics and Reporting
The set of dashboards, matrices, and exports that surface skill and training data across an organization. SkillsDB analytics includes the Skills Matrix, Training Matrix, Flag Matrix, assessment scorecards, and trainer performance metrics, all filterable by career, department, team, or individual. Administrators and managers use analytics to identify skill gaps, track certification coverage, and make data-driven workforce decisions.Assessment
A structured evaluation cycle in which employees are asked to grade their own skill proficiency and managers review and grade their direct reports. Assessments are created by administrators, assigned to specific people or job roles, and tracked through completion statuses for both the employee and the manager. Assessment results feed directly into each person’s Skills Profile and surface in the Skills Matrix.Assessment Schedule
An administrator-defined schedule that determines when employees and managers are prompted to begin a new assessment cycle. Assessment schedules specify the frequency of assessments (such as quarterly or annually), the launch date, and the deadline for completion. When a schedule runs, SkillsDB automatically notifies all assigned participants and tracks completion progress in the assessment dashboard.B
Batch Grading
A high-efficiency mode for managers to complete assessments across multiple people or skills in a single session without navigating away from a single page. Batch grading supports two orientations: grading all people for one skill at a time (by skill), or grading all skills for one person at a time (by person). It is designed for managers with large teams who need to complete many assessment reviews quickly.Benchmark
The expected proficiency level for a specific skill within a specific Career and level. Benchmarks are set by administrators and serve as the target grade that employees in that role are expected to reach. When an employee’s actual grade falls below their benchmark, SkillsDB identifies that as a Skill Gap.C
Career
The top-level organizational unit for skills in SkillsDB, equivalent to a job role, position, competency group, or custom classification like “Success Profile” depending on how your organization has configured the system. Each Career contains Sections, which group related Skills, and can have multiple Levels representing seniority tiers. Employees are assigned to one or more Careers, which determines which skills appear in their assessments, Skills Profile, and learning recommendations.Career Overview
A read-only analytics view that shows how an entire workforce performs across all levels of a specific Career. Administrators and managers use the Career Overview to see aggregate skill grades, benchmark comparisons, and flag distributions across everyone assigned to that Career. It supports planning decisions like identifying which levels have the greatest skill gaps or where expertise is concentrated.Career Pathway
The configured progression route between Careers, indicating which roles an employee might move into from their current Career. Career Pathways help employees and managers understand potential advancement directions and identify the skills needed to qualify for a target role. Administrators define the available pathways in the career library.Career Settings
Per-Career configuration options that control how the Career behaves in assessments and Skills Profiles. The two primary settings are Proficiency (whether skill grade levels are shown and evaluated for this Career) and Training Dates (whether training completion dates are the primary measure for skills in this Career rather than proficiency grades). These settings allow organizations to configure SkillsDB differently for roles that measure competency differently — for example, a technical role using grades versus a compliance role using training records.Certification
A professional credential, license, or qualification that an employee holds or is expected to obtain. In SkillsDB, certifications are assigned to employees by managers or administrators, tracked with issued and expiration dates, and supported by uploaded documentation. Certifications move through an approval workflow: the employee submits their details, and a manager or administrator approves or denies the submission.Certification Type
A category used to classify certifications within the SkillsDB library, such as “AWS”, “Project Management”, or “Safety”. Certification Types allow administrators to organize the certification library and help managers and employees filter certifications by category. Each certification in the library belongs to one Certification Type.Checklist
A structured list of training tasks or compliance requirements assigned to specific groups of employees that creates an audit trail of completion. Checklists are distinct from assessments — they do not involve skill grading — and are used for policies and procedures that require documented verification, such as onboarding steps, safety training sign-offs, or regulatory compliance items. Administrators configure checklists and assign them to groups; completion status is tracked and auditable.Competency Framework
The overall architecture of skills, sections, and careers that defines what proficiency looks like across an organization. A competency framework in SkillsDB is built by administrators through the Library and comprises the careers (job roles), the sections within them, the skills assigned to each section, and the benchmarks set for each skill by level. Organizations often align their SkillsDB competency framework with an existing HR or L&D framework such as a SFIA, SHRM, or a custom internal model.Custom Benchmark
A manager-level override that replaces the standard role benchmark for a specific employee’s skill with a personalized target grade. Custom benchmarks are useful when an employee’s development path or responsibilities differ from the default expectations set for their Career level. When a custom benchmark is set, it takes precedence over the role-wide benchmark for that individual in the Skills Matrix and Skill Gap calculations.D
Department
An organizational attribute assigned to employees that identifies their functional area within the company, such as Engineering, Operations, or Finance. Departments are used to filter people in reports, analytics, and search results, and can control access scope for managers with department-level visibility. Administrators configure the department list in Organization Settings.Direct Report
An employee who formally reports to a specific manager within SkillsDB. The direct report relationship determines which employees a manager can assess, view skills for, assign learning plans to, and approve certifications and training for. Administrators establish these relationships during onboarding or through bulk import.Division
A higher-level organizational grouping that sits above Department in the org hierarchy, typically representing a major business unit or regional group. Divisions are used for broad reporting filters and organizational analytics. Administrators configure divisions in Organization Settings.E
Expert Flag
A system skill flag that designates a person as a recognized expert in a specific skill, section, or career. The Expert flag is applied by a manager or administrator and grants the flagged person the ability to approve training requests for the skills they are designated as an expert in. Expert-designated users appear in the Expert Matrix and can be surfaced through the Find Experts search feature.F
Files
The personal document storage area in SkillsDB where employees can upload and manage files associated with their profile, such as credentials, transcripts, or supporting documents. Files can be uploaded as standalone documents from the My Files page, or attached directly to specific certifications or training records during the approval process. Supported file types include PDF, Word, Excel, image files, and plain text formats.Focus Flag
A system skill flag that an employee applies to their own skills to signal that a particular skill is a personal development priority. The Focus flag is visible to managers and feeds into the Upskilling view and learning recommendations. Unlike the Expert and Mentor flags, the Focus flag is self-applied and represents the employee’s own declared priorities rather than a designation made by a manager.G
Global Administrator
The user type with the highest level of access in SkillsDB, responsible for configuring and operating the platform across the entire organization. Global Administrators can manage all system settings, build and maintain the competency framework, manage all users, launch assessments, and access all analytics and data regardless of department or team structure. Each SkillsDB instance has one or more Global Administrators designated during initial setup.Grades
The numeric or labeled values used to express a person’s proficiency in a specific skill, drawn from the organization’s Grading Scale. Each grade represents a defined level of competence — for example, a grade of 1 might indicate basic awareness while a grade of 5 indicates expert-level mastery. Grades are recorded in Skills Profiles, displayed in the Skills Matrix, and compared against benchmarks to calculate Skill Gaps.Grading Scale
The proficiency level system used throughout SkillsDB to measure and compare skill grades. The grading scale defines the number of levels (for example, 1 through 5), the label for each level (such as “Awareness”, “Practitioner”, “Expert”), and the description of what each level represents. Administrators configure the grading scale in Settings, and the same scale applies to all skills, assessments, and benchmarks across the organization.Groups (Competency Groups)
An optional organizational unit in SkillsDB that groups a set of related skills around a shared area of expertise rather than a specific job role. Like Careers, Groups contain Sections and Skills and can have benchmarks and levels configured; they are used to track skills that span multiple roles — such as leadership competencies, functional specializations, or shared technical domains. Employees can be assigned to Groups in addition to their primary Career.I
Import / Export
The bulk data management capability in SkillsDB that allows administrators to upload or download large sets of data using structured spreadsheet files. Imports are used to onboard employees, assign job roles, set benchmarks, and populate training records at scale. Exports allow administrators and managers to download skills matrices, certification data, training records, and assessment results for external reporting or record-keeping.Inbox
The centralized notification and action center where employees, managers, and administrators receive tasks and updates that require their attention. The Inbox is organized into three categories: Notices (assessments and surveys that need to be completed), Approvals (certification and training submissions awaiting review), and Requests (skill requests, certification requests, and training suggestions submitted by others). Unread Inbox items are counted in the sidebar badge next to each relevant section.Interest Flag
A system skill flag that an employee applies to indicate a skill they are curious about or want to develop, even if it is not currently in their assigned Career. The Interest flag signals to managers that an employee has self-identified affinity for a particular area. Unlike the Focus flag, the Interest flag is typically used for skills outside the employee’s current role requirements.J
Job Families
A grouping of Careers (job roles) that share similar characteristics, responsibilities, and skill requirements. Job Families allow organizations to structure their competency framework at a higher level of abstraction — for example, a “Software Engineering” family might include Careers for Junior Developer, Senior Developer, and Staff Engineer. Job Families are used for high-level reporting and career pathway planning.Job Role
The term used in some SkillsDB configurations to describe what the interface may label as a Career — a logical grouping of skills around a shared job function, similar to a job title or competency group. The terms Job Role and Career refer to the same underlying concept; which term is displayed depends on your organization’s configuration. See Career for a full description of how this concept works in SkillsDB.Job Title
A short description of an employee’s position, typically correlating to one or more Careers and the employee’s current level within that Career. Job titles are an employee attribute used for display and identification, and can be used alongside the Career and Level fields to accurately represent an employee’s role in the organization. Administrators assign job titles during onboarding or through bulk import.L
Label
A hierarchical tag used to categorize and organize skills, certifications, learning resources, and careers in SkillsDB. Labels can have parent-child relationships, allowing organizations to build taxonomy trees (for example, a parent label “Technology” with child labels “Cloud”, “AI”, and “Security”). Labels are configured by administrators and used throughout the system for filtering, grouping, and reporting.Learning Library
The full catalog of learning resources available across the organization in SkillsDB, including courses, videos, articles, SOPs, and external content from providers such as LinkedIn Learning or Coursera. The Learning Library is maintained by administrators and can be populated through manual entry, bulk import, or integration with third-party learning systems. Managers and administrators draw from the Learning Library when building learning plans or linking resources to skills.Learning Plan
A curated collection of learning resources assigned to an individual employee to support their skill development. Learning plans can be created manually by managers or administrators, or suggested based on identified skill gaps. Each item in a learning plan has a completion status (Not Started, In Progress, Completed) that employees update as they work through their assigned resources.Learning Resource
Any piece of educational content stored in the SkillsDB library and linked to one or more skills, such as a course, video, book, article, or internal training program. Learning resources are tagged with metadata including type (such as e-learning or instructor-led), provider, course level, duration, cost, and target audience. They can be assigned to individuals through learning plans or surfaced as recommendations based on skill gaps and Focus flags.Levels
Career ladder tiers within a Career or Group that represent different seniority or proficiency expectations for the same job function. For example, a “Software Engineer” Career might have levels named Junior, Mid-Level, and Senior, each with its own set of benchmarks. Levels allow SkillsDB to track not just what skills a role requires, but how proficient employees at different stages of their career are expected to be.M
Manager Assessment
The portion of an assessment cycle in which a manager evaluates and grades their direct report’s skill proficiency. Manager assessments run in parallel with employee self-assessments and allow managers to provide their own proficiency grades and comments for each skill. When both are complete, the results are visible side by side on the Assessment Scorecard for comparison against benchmarks.Manager Grading
The ability for a manager to update a direct report’s grade for any skill at any time, outside of a formal assessment cycle. Manager grading allows managers to keep Skills Profiles current without waiting for a scheduled assessment, and the grades they record appear in the Skills Matrix alongside any self-assessment grades. This is distinct from a Manager Assessment, which is a structured review tied to a specific assessment cycle.Mentor Flag
A system skill flag applied by a manager or administrator to designate a person as someone who can guide and coach others in a specific skill. The Mentor flag appears in the Flag Matrix and Skills Matrix and is surfaced in the Find Experts search so employees can identify internal coaches. Unlike the Expert flag, the Mentor flag does not grant training approval rights by default.O
Organizational Structure
The configuration in SkillsDB that reflects the client organization’s hierarchy in terms of business units, divisions, departments, regions, and sites. Organizational structure data is used to scope reporting, control access for managers, and allow analytics and matrices to be filtered by the appropriate organizational unit. Administrators configure the organizational structure during onboarding and maintain it through Organization Settings.P
People Flag
A custom designation applied directly to an individual employee — rather than to their relationship with a specific skill — to identify them for organizational tracking or planning purposes. Administrators configure the available people flags, which might represent programs, initiatives, or talent designations. People flags are distinct from skill flags: they apply to the person as a whole rather than to a specific skill or career.Proficiency
The measured level of competency a person has in a specific skill, expressed using the organization’s Grading Scale. In SkillsDB, proficiency grades come from three sources: the employee’s self-assessment grade, the manager’s assessment grade, and the configured benchmark for the role. Proficiency grades are the primary data point in the Skills Matrix and are compared against benchmarks to identify Skill Gaps.Promotion Workflow
The structured process within SkillsDB for recommending and tracking career level advancement for employees. Managers can initiate promotion requests for their direct reports, which are routed through an approval process. Promotion workflows use skill grades, benchmark comparisons, and manager input to support data-driven decisions about when an employee is ready to advance to the next level within their Career.R
Reporting Structure
The configuration in SkillsDB that maps which employees report to which managers, defining each person’s span of control and chain of command. Reporting structure determines which direct reports a manager can assess, view skills for, and approve training and certifications for. Administrators establish reporting relationships during onboarding or through bulk import, and they can be updated as the organization changes.Role (Security Role)
The permission level assigned to a user that determines what features and data they can access in SkillsDB. The core roles are Administrator (full access to configure and manage the entire organization), Full Access (visibility across all employees without administrator privileges), Manager (access to their direct reports and span of control), and Employee (access to their own profile and assigned tasks only). Roles are assigned by administrators and control both what a user can see and what actions they can take.S
Scorecard
The results view that appears after an assessment cycle is complete, showing an employee’s self-assessed grades alongside their manager’s grades and role benchmarks for each skill. The Scorecard provides a visual comparison of all three data points and serves as the primary output of a completed assessment. Employees can view their own scorecards; managers can view scorecards for their direct reports.Section
A grouping of related skills within a Career, used to organize the skill list into logical categories. For example, a “Software Engineer” Career might have sections called “Programming Languages”, “System Design”, and “Collaboration”. Sections are configured by administrators and appear in assessments, Skills Profiles, and the Skills Matrix to make large skill sets easier to navigate.Self Assessment
The portion of an assessment cycle in which an employee grades their own proficiency for each skill in their assigned Career. Self-assessments are assigned to employees by administrators or managers and must be completed by a specified deadline. Grades are saved automatically as the employee works and are only submitted when all skills have been graded or marked as Not Applicable.Skill
An individual, defined competency that an organization tracks and measures. Skills in SkillsDB belong to Sections within Careers and can be linked to learning resources, training records, and flags. Each skill can have a benchmark set per Career level, enabling the system to identify when a person’s actual proficiency is below the expected standard for their role.Skill Flag
A designation applied to a person’s relationship with a specific skill, section, or career to indicate something notable about their status or interest. SkillsDB includes four system skill flags — Expert, Mentor, Focus, and Interest — as well as custom flags that administrators can configure for organization-specific purposes. Flags appear throughout the Skills Matrix, Flag Matrix, and Skills Profile to help managers identify expertise, development priorities, and organizational knowledge.Skill Gap
The difference between an employee’s actual proficiency grade in a skill and the benchmark required for their role and level. A skill gap exists when a person’s grade is below their benchmark for that skill. SkillsDB surfaces skill gaps in the Skills Matrix, the Upskilling view, and individual Skills Profiles to guide development planning and learning recommendations.Skill Request
A formal submission by an employee or manager asking for a new skill to be added to the SkillsDB skills library. Skill requests include a proposed name, description, and justification and are reviewed by administrators before being approved or rejected. Approved skill requests result in the skill being added to the library and becoming available for assignment to Careers.Skill Variance
The numeric difference between an employee’s self-assessed grade and their manager’s grade for the same skill, surfaced on the Assessment Scorecard after an assessment cycle is complete. Skill Variance highlights where employees and managers perceive proficiency differently, which can prompt calibration conversations and coaching discussions. High variance across many employees or skills may indicate alignment issues in how the grading scale is being interpreted across the team.Skills Library
The full catalog of unique skill records configured for a SkillsDB instance, representing every competency the organization tracks across all Careers and Groups. The Skills Library is built during initial onboarding and expanded over time as administrators add new skills, approve skill requests, or import skills in bulk. All skills in the library are unique and can be assigned to multiple Careers or Groups, with different benchmarks configured for each.Skills Matrix
A grid view that displays proficiency grades for multiple employees across a set of skills simultaneously, enabling managers and administrators to compare performance at a team or organizational level. The Skills Matrix can show self grades, manager grades, and benchmarks side by side, and can be filtered by Career, Section, department, or label. It is one of the primary analytical tools in SkillsDB for identifying high performers, skill gaps, and coverage risks.Skills Profile
The personal skills record for an individual employee in SkillsDB, showing their grades, flags, training records, learning resources, and benchmark comparisons across all their assigned Careers. The Skills Profile is visible to the employee, their manager, and administrators. It serves as the central view of a person’s current capabilities and development status.Survey
A configurable questionnaire distributed by managers or administrators to collect structured information from a group of employees. Surveys in SkillsDB are separate from assessments — they can include any type of question, not just skill grades — and are used for pulse checks, process feedback, or data collection across a team or department. Responses are tracked per person and aggregated in a results dashboard.T
Training Approval
The workflow by which a training record submitted by an employee (or a training completion logged by a trainer) is reviewed and approved by a designated Expert or manager. Training approval is required when a skill’s configuration mandates it before the training counts toward the employee’s record. Experts receive training approval requests in their Inbox and can approve or deny from the Training Matrix or their Approvals queue.Training Expiration
A configured time limit that determines how long a training completion remains valid before it expires and must be renewed. Training expirations are set at the skill-within-career level by administrators and can be expressed in days, months, or years. When a training record expires, the employee’s training status for that skill reverts to untrained, triggering a gap in the Training Matrix.Training Matrix
A grid view that shows training completion status for multiple employees across a set of skills, analogous to the Skills Matrix but focused on training records rather than proficiency grades. The Training Matrix displays whether each person has valid training, expiring training, expired training, or no training for each skill in their Career. Managers and administrators use it to track compliance, identify training gaps, and plan refresher sessions.Training Suggestion
A request submitted by an employee proposing that a specific learning resource be added to the SkillsDB training library. Training suggestions include details like the resource title, provider, cost, format, and a brief description, and are reviewed by administrators before being approved or rejected. Approved suggestions are added to the learning library and become available for assignment in learning plans.Trainer
A person designated as qualified to deliver training for a specific skill, as indicated by the Trainer toggle on a skill flag. Trainers can log training sessions, approve training records submitted by employees, and are tracked in the Trainer Metrics dashboard for performance data including approval rates and response times. The Trainer designation is applied by a manager or administrator through the skills flags configuration.U
Upskilling
The view within the Skills section of SkillsDB that shows an employee’s skills alongside their current grade, skill gap status, and available learning resources for each skill. The Upskilling view is designed to help employees take action on their development priorities by surfacing relevant courses, videos, and other learning resources directly next to the skills where gaps exist. Learning resources linked to Focus-flagged skills are surfaced prominently to align development actions with the employee’s declared priorities.User Permissions
The access control configuration in SkillsDB that determines, for each user type, what actions they are allowed to perform and what data they can view. SkillsDB uses a role-based permission model with distinct permission sets for Employees, Managers, Full Access users, and Administrators. Permissions control actions such as viewing other employees’ profiles, running reports, approving certifications, and modifying system settings.Related Articles
Self Assessments
How to complete your skills self-assessment
Managing Certifications
How to submit and track your professional certifications
Building a Learning Plan
How to work through your assigned learning resources
Skill Flags
What Expert, Mentor, Focus, and Interest flags mean and who can apply them
Skill Gaps
How skill gaps are identified and how to address them
Training Approvals
How the training approval workflow operates
Training Expirations
How training expiration dates affect your skills record
Need Help?
If you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to your organization’s SkillsDB administrator or contact SkillsDB Support.