> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Proficiency
> Understand the difference between proficiency grades and trained status in SkillsDB, and how admins configure the grading scale for their organization.
**Quick Summary:** Proficiency measures how skilled someone is at a task using a numeric grade. Trained status records whether someone has completed formal training for a skill. These are two independent tracking systems that can be enabled or disabled per career in SkillsDB.
# Overview
SkillsDB tracks two separate dimensions of skill competency: **proficiency** and **trained status**. Understanding the difference between these two systems is essential for configuring your organization's careers correctly and interpreting data across the Skills Matrix, assessments, and reporting.
**Proficiency** measures the *quality* of a skill — how well someone performs or understands it. Proficiency is expressed as a numeric grade on a configurable scale (for example, 1–5). Each employee has a self-assessed grade, a manager-assigned grade, and a benchmark grade representing the expected level for their role.
**Trained status** records the *completion* of formal training — whether someone has an approved training record for a skill and the date that training occurred. Trained status answers the question "Has this person completed training for this skill?" It does not indicate how proficient they are.
These two systems operate independently. A person can be highly proficient in a skill through on-the-job experience while having no formal training record. Conversely, a person can have completed training for a skill but still be developing toward the expected proficiency level. Administrators can enable or disable each system separately per career.
**Note:** Proficiency grading must be enabled for a career before assessments can be used. Trained status (training dates) can be enabled independently of proficiency. See Enabling or disabling proficiency for a career for details.
***
## Understanding Proficiency Grades
Proficiency grades represent measured skill competency. SkillsDB tracks three grade values per person per skill:
| Grade type | Description | Who sets it |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Employee grade** | The employee's self-assessment of their own proficiency | Employee (via self-assessment or direct grading) |
| **Manager grade** | The manager's assessment of the employee's proficiency | Manager (via manager assessment or inline edit) |
| **Benchmark** | The expected proficiency level for the role | Administrator (set at the role/career level) |
All three grades use the same grading scale configured for your organization. For example, on a 1–5 scale: 1 = Beginner, 2 = Developing, 3 = Proficient, 4 = Advanced, 5 = Expert.
**Note:** Your organization's grading scale labels and numeric range are configured by an administrator. The examples in this article use a 1–5 scale, but your organization's scale may differ. See Configuring the grading scale for details.
#### How proficiency grades display
Proficiency grades appear as colored grade pills throughout SkillsDB:
* A **green** pill indicates the grade meets or exceeds the benchmark for that skill.
* A **red** pill indicates the grade is below the benchmark.
* A **gray** pill or empty state indicates no grade has been recorded.
Grades appear in the Skills Profile, career detail pages, the Skills Matrix, and assessment scorecards. Employees see their own employee grade and their benchmark. Managers see the employee grade, their own manager grade, and the benchmark for each skill.
#### Not Applicable (N/A) status
If a skill does not apply to a particular person, the grade can be set to **Not Applicable**. When a skill is marked N/A:
* No proficiency grade is required or tracked for that person and skill.
* The skill is excluded from average grade calculations.
* The skill does not contribute to skill gap reporting for that individual.
Employees can mark skills as N/A during self-assessments. Managers can mark skills as N/A during manager assessments or from the team skills view.
***
## Understanding Trained Status
Trained status records whether an employee has a formal, approved training record for a skill. It answers the question "Has this person completed training for this skill?" rather than "How skilled are they?"
When training dates are enabled for a career, each skill in that career can display:
* **Training date** — The date on which training was recorded as completed.
* **Expiration date** — If the training has an expiration, the date it expires.
* **Training status** — Whether the training is current, expiring soon, or expired.
Training records are tracked in the **Training Matrix**, which gives managers and administrators a consolidated view of who has completed training and whose training is due to expire.
#### Trained status vs. proficiency: key differences
| | Proficiency | Trained status |
| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it measures** | How skilled someone is | Whether formal training is complete |
| **Format** | Numeric grade (e.g., 3 out of 5) | Date-based record (completed/not completed) |
| **Who updates it** | Employee (self-grade), manager (manager grade) | Manager or administrator (training record entry) |
| **Expires?** | No — grades persist until updated | Yes — training records can expire and require renewal |
| **Shown in** | Skills Profile, Skills Matrix, assessments | Training Matrix, Skills Profile training section |
| **Required for assessments?** | Yes — proficiency must be enabled | No — independent of assessments |
#### When both systems apply
Both proficiency and trained status can be active for the same career simultaneously. In this configuration, each skill shows both a proficiency grade and a training record. This combination is common in industries where formal certification or compliance training is required alongside competency tracking — for example, safety training where both completion of a course (trained) and demonstrated skill level (proficiency) are tracked separately.
**Tip:** Use both proficiency and trained status when your organization needs to distinguish between "someone who attended training" and "someone who has mastered the skill." Use proficiency alone for skill development tracking. Use trained status alone for compliance or certification tracking.
***
## Configuring the Grading Scale
The grading scale defines the numeric values and labels used for proficiency grades across your entire organization. All careers in SkillsDB use the same grading scale.
#### Viewing the grading scale
Administrators can view and manage the grading scale by navigating to **Settings > Grading Scale Settings**.
The grading scale table shows:
| Column | Description |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Grade** | The numeric value (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) |
| **Description** | The short label shown to users when grading (e.g., "Proficient") |
| **Status** | Whether the grade is actively used in assessments |
| **Actions** | Options to edit or delete the grade level |
#### Adding a new grade level
Administrators can add grade levels to extend the grading scale.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Grading Scale Settings**.
2. Select **+ Add new Grade**.
3. In the **Add New Grade Scale** modal, enter:
* **Short Description** (required, maximum 100 characters) — the label users see when grading, for example `Advanced`.
* **Extra Description** (optional) — a longer explanation of what this grade level means.
4. Select **Save**.
The new grade is added to the scale and becomes immediately available for use in assessments and grading.
#### Editing a grade level
Administrators can edit the short description and extra description of any grade at any time.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Grading Scale Settings**.
2. Select the row of the grade you want to edit to make it editable inline.
3. Update the **Short Description** or **Extra Description** fields.
4. Select **Save Changes**.
**Important:** If a grade has been used in any assessment or grading record, the **grade number** (numeric value) is locked and cannot be changed. Only the description labels can be edited. This prevents historical grading data from becoming inconsistent.
#### Deleting a grade level
A grade level can only be deleted if it has not yet been used in any assessment or grading record. If a grade's status shows **In Use**, the delete option is unavailable.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Grading Scale Settings**.
2. In the **Actions** column of the grade you want to remove, select **Delete**.
3. Confirm the deletion in the confirmation modal.
**Important:** Grade 0 is a system-reserved grade and cannot be deleted. Grade 0 can be activated or deactivated using the toggle in its row, but it cannot be removed from the scale. When Grade 0 is deactivated, it does not appear as a selectable option during grading.
#### Activating or deactivating Grade 0
Grade 0 is a special placeholder grade representing "no grade recorded." Administrators can choose to show or hide Grade 0 as a selectable option during grading.
1. Navigate to **Settings > Grading Scale Settings**.
2. In the Grade 0 row, toggle **Activate grade 0** to enable it as a selectable grade, or **Deactivate grade 0** to hide it from grading options.
When Grade 0 is inactive, employees and managers cannot select it as a proficiency grade. Existing records where Grade 0 was previously assigned remain unaffected.
***
## Enabling or Disabling Proficiency for a Career
Proficiency grading and training dates are configured per career. Administrators can enable or disable each system independently for each career in the organization.
#### Accessing career settings
1. Navigate to **Library > Careers**.
2. Select the career you want to configure to open its detail panel.
3. Select **Settings** in the detail panel.
The **Career Settings** panel contains the following toggle options:
| Setting | Description |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Proficiency Grading** | Enables skill proficiency grades and grade columns throughout SkillsDB for this career |
| **Training Dates** | Enables training date tracking and the Training Matrix for this career |
| **Training Timeline** | Displays a visual training timeline (only available when Training Dates is enabled) |
| **Assessments** | Enables manager and self-assessment workflows for this career |
#### Disabling proficiency grading
When you disable **Proficiency Grading** for a career:
* All grade columns (employee grade, manager grade, benchmark) are hidden from the career's Skills Profile, career detail pages, and Skills Matrix.
* Grading data is excluded from skill gap reporting and search results.
* The **Assessments** setting is automatically disabled. Assessments require proficiency grading to function.
* Existing grade data is preserved in the database and can be restored by re-enabling proficiency.
**Important:** Disabling Proficiency Grading automatically disables Assessments for that career. If you re-enable Proficiency Grading, you must also manually re-enable Assessments if you want assessment workflows to resume.
#### Disabling training dates
When you disable **Training Dates** for a career:
* Training date columns and training records are hidden from the career's skills views.
* The Training Matrix does not include skills from this career.
* Proficiency grades and assessments are unaffected — these systems continue to operate independently.
* Existing training date data is preserved and can be restored by re-enabling training dates.
#### Enabling assessments
Assessments can only be enabled when **Proficiency Grading** is also enabled. If you attempt to enable Assessments while Proficiency Grading is off, the Assessments toggle remains unavailable.
To enable assessments for a career:
1. Enable **Proficiency Grading** first.
2. Then enable **Assessments**.
***
## Permissions summary
| Action | Administrator | Manager | Employee |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------ |
| Configure grading scale | Yes | No | No |
| Enable/disable proficiency per career | Yes | No | No |
| Enable/disable training dates per career | Yes | No | No |
| Set benchmark grades for a role | Yes | No | No |
| Assign manager grades | Yes | Yes (for direct reports) | No |
| Submit self-assessment grades | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| View own employee grade | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| View manager grades | Yes | Yes | Only if enabled by admin |
| View team member grades | Yes | Yes (direct reports) | No |
**Note:** Administrators can control whether employees can see their manager grades organization-wide. This setting is managed in **Company Settings**. When manager grade visibility is disabled, employees can only see their own self-assessed grade and the benchmark.
***
# Common Questions
Yes. Proficiency and trained status are independent. An employee who has developed a skill through on-the-job experience will have a proficiency grade but may have no formal training record. Similarly, an employee who has completed training may still be developing toward the expected proficiency benchmark. Neither status requires the other.
Grade data is preserved when you disable proficiency. Disabling proficiency hides grade columns from view and excludes grading data from reports and search, but does not delete any records. If you re-enable proficiency grading for the career, all historical grades become visible again immediately.
No. All careers in a SkillsDB organization use the same grading scale. The grading scale is configured once at the organization level under **Settings > Grading Scale Settings** and applies universally. If your organization needs different proficiency labels for different departments, consider using the Extra Description field on each grade level to provide additional context.
By default, managers can see their own manager grades and the manager grades of employees within their reporting structure. Administrators can see all manager grades. Whether employees can see the manager grades assigned to them is controlled by a company-wide setting. When that setting is enabled (manager grades hidden), employees see only their own self-assessed grade and the benchmark. Contact your administrator to check or change this setting.
Grade 0 is a system-reserved placeholder representing an ungraded state. It is not intended to indicate the lowest level of proficiency — it represents "no grade recorded." Grade 0 can be deactivated in **Settings > Grading Scale Settings** if you do not want it to appear as a selectable option during grading. Most organizations deactivate Grade 0 to prevent it from being confused with the lowest active proficiency level.
Yes. Benchmarks are set at the career and role level, not at the skill level globally. The same skill can have a benchmark of 3 in one career and a benchmark of 5 in another career. Benchmarks reflect the expected proficiency for that skill in the context of a specific role, not the universal expectation for that skill.
The Assessments toggle is unavailable when Proficiency Grading is disabled for that career. Assessments depend on the proficiency grading system to collect and store grades. Enable **Proficiency Grading** first, and the Assessments toggle will become available.
***
# Related Articles
View and analyze proficiency data across your organization
Track training completion and expiration for your team
Manage careers, levels, and the skills assigned to roles
How skill gaps are calculated from proficiency grades
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# Need Help?
If you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to your organization's SkillsDB administrator or contact [SkillsDB Support](https://www.skillsdb.com/support).