> ## 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.
# Training Matrix
> Learn how to use the Training Matrix to track your team's approved training dates, submission statuses, and expiration alerts across every skill in your org.
**Quick Summary:** The Training Matrix is a grid view that maps every skill against every team member, showing each person's most recent training date and status at a glance. Use it to monitor compliance, identify expiring records, submit training evidence, and export reports.
# Overview
The Training Matrix is a cross-reference view in SkillsDB that displays training records across your team. Each row represents a skill and each column represents a team member. Each cell shows that person's most recent training date for that skill, along with a color-coded status indicator.
The Training Matrix is distinct from the Skills Matrix. The Skills Matrix shows proficiency grades — how well someone performs a skill. The Training Matrix shows training completion — whether someone has submitted evidence of completing training for a skill, and whether that training is still current. The two views complement each other: proficiency tells you what people can do, and training records tell you when they formally completed training to confirm it.
The Training Matrix is most valuable when your organization tracks training against specific skills with regulatory, safety, or certification requirements, particularly where training records have expiration dates that must be monitored.
Administrators can view and manage training data for all employees in the organization. Managers can view and manage training data for their direct reports and their full organizational hierarchy. Users designated as Experts for a skill can also access the Training Matrix for the skills where they hold Expert status.
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## Navigating to the Training Matrix
The Training Matrix is accessed from the My Team training section of SkillsDB.
1. Select **My Team** from the left sidebar navigation.
2. In the view dropdown at the top of the page, select **Training Matrix**.
The page defaults to the **Direct Reports** tab. Use the tabs at the top of the matrix to switch between scopes.
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## Understanding the Matrix
#### Reading the grid
The Training Matrix uses a row-per-skill, column-per-person layout:
| Element | Description |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Skill column (pinned left)** | The name of each skill, along with any skill flag badges assigned to it |
| **Person columns** | One column per team member, labeled with the person's full name |
| **Cells** | The training date and status for that person-skill combination |
#### Interpreting cell values
Each cell in the matrix shows one of the following states:
| Cell display | Meaning |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| A date (e.g., `2025-03-15`) | The person has a training record for this skill on that date |
| **Approved** badge (green) | The training record has been reviewed and approved |
| **Pending** badge (yellow) | A training record has been submitted and is awaiting approval |
| **Rejected** badge (red) | The training submission was reviewed and rejected |
| **Expiring Soon** badge (yellow) | Approved training will expire within 15 days |
| **Expired** badge (red) | Approved training has passed its expiration date |
| **NA** badge (gray) | The skill is not assigned to this person's role |
Expiration alerts take priority over approval status. If approved training is expiring or has expired, the cell shows the **Expiring Soon** or **Expired** badge rather than the **Approved** badge. The training date is still displayed above the badge.
**Note:** Expiration settings are configured per skill by your administrator. If no expiration period is set for a skill, approved training does not display an expiration badge and remains valid indefinitely. See [Training Expirations](/core-concepts/training-expirations) for details on how expiration is calculated.
#### Selecting a view scope
Three tabs control which team members appear as columns in the matrix:
| Tab | Who appears | Who can access it |
| --- | ----------- | ----------------- |
\| **Direct Reports** | Only your immediate direct reports | Managers and Admins | | **My Org** | Everyone in your full organizational hierarchy | Managers and Admins | | **All** | All employees in the entire organization | Admins only |
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## Filtering and Sorting
#### Quick filters
Three toggle filters appear in the toolbar above the matrix:
| Filter | What it does |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Earliest Training Dates** | Sorts the matrix to surface team members with the oldest training dates first, helping you prioritize renewals |
| **Has Training Date** | Shows only people who have at least one training date on record, hiding those with no training history |
| **Inactive Users** | Includes archived or deactivated employees in the matrix |
#### Builder filters
The filter panel lets you narrow the matrix by organizational attributes. Select the filter icon to open the panel.
| Filter | Description | Selection type |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| **Role** | Filter by job role (career). Only careers that have training dates enabled appear in this list. | Single select |
| **Department** | Filter by department | Multi-select |
| **Division** | Filter by business division | Multi-select |
| **Region** | Filter by geographic region | Multi-select |
| **Label** | Filter by labels assigned to people | Multi-select |
**Tip:** Use the **Role** filter combined with **Has Training Date** toggled off to quickly see which team members assigned to a specific job role have no training records at all — a fast way to spot compliance gaps.
***
## Managing a Training Record
Clicking any cell in the Training Matrix — except an **NA** cell — opens the **Manage Skill Training** panel for that person-skill combination. From this panel, you can view the full training history for that person and skill, submit a new training record, edit a pending submission, or renew an approved record.
#### Submitting a new training record
To submit a training record for a person-skill combination:
1. Click the cell for the person and skill you want to update.
2. In the **Manage Skill Training** panel, select **Add training**.
3. Complete the training record form:
* **Training Date** (required) — Select the date the training was completed.
* **Trainer Name** (optional) — Enter the name of the trainer or instructor.
* **Text Evidence** (required if configured for this skill) — Provide a written description of the training completed.
* **Attachments** (required if configured for this skill) — Upload supporting files. Maximum 5 files, 10 MB each. Accepted formats: `.jpg`, `.png`, `.pdf`, `.docx`, `.xlsx`, `.txt`, `.csv`.
* **Delegated Approver** (optional) — Select a specific approver for this submission. If left blank, the default approver configured for the skill handles the request.
4. Select **Submit**.
When you submit a training record, the cell immediately updates to show a **Pending** badge. The designated approver receives a notification to review the submission. When approved, the status updates to **Approved** and the training date becomes the displayed value in the cell.
**Note:** Whether text evidence and attachments are required depends on how each skill's training settings are configured by your administrator. The form will not submit until all required fields are completed.
#### Editing a pending training record
A training record can be edited while its status is **Pending** — that is, before it has been approved or rejected.
To edit a pending record:
1. Click the cell for the relevant person-skill combination.
2. In the **Manage Skill Training** panel, locate the pending record and select **Edit**.
3. Update any fields as needed.
4. Select **Submit** to resubmit the updated record.
Managers and administrators can edit pending submissions for any team member visible in their matrix.
#### Renewing an approved training record
When approved training needs to be renewed — for example, when it has expired or is approaching its expiration date — you can submit a renewal directly from the Training Matrix.
To renew an approved training record:
1. Click the cell for the relevant person-skill combination.
2. In the **Manage Skill Training** panel, select **Renew** on the approved record.
3. Complete the renewal form with the new training date and any required evidence.
4. Select **Submit**.
When a renewal is submitted, the existing approved record is archived and a new training record is created with a **Pending** status. The full training history for that person-skill combination is preserved and visible in the **Manage Skill Training** panel.
**Important:** Renewing training archives the previous approved record and creates a new one in Pending status. The matrix cell will display **Pending** until the renewal is approved. If you need to revert a renewal, contact your administrator.
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## Exporting the Training Matrix
You can export the current Training Matrix view to an Excel file for reporting, audits, or offline review.
To export:
1. Apply any filters to scope the matrix to the data you need.
2. Select the **Excel** button in the top right of the page.
The downloaded file is named `Training_Matrix_YYYY-MM-DD.xlsx`, where the date reflects the date of export. The export includes all visible rows and columns. Cell values are exported as follows:
| Cell state | Exported value |
| ---------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| Training date recorded | Date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format |
| Skill not assigned to person | `NA` |
| No training record on file | `-` |
**Tip:** To create a focused compliance report for a specific job function, apply the **Role** filter before exporting. The exported file will contain only the skills and people relevant to that role.
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## All Activity vs. Training Matrix
The My Team training section offers two views, selectable from the dropdown at the top of the page:
| View | What it shows | Best used for |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **All Activity** | A flat list of all training activity across your team, including learning plan items and training approval requests, with columns for type, status, assigned-by, and completion dates | Reviewing and actioning individual training submissions and learning plan progress |
| **Training Matrix** | A grid showing training dates and statuses at the intersection of every skill and every team member | Monitoring team-wide coverage and compliance at a glance |
Use **Training Matrix** when you need a broad view of who has completed training for which skills. Use **All Activity** when you need to review, filter, or take action on individual submissions.
***
# Common Questions
Managers can access the Training Matrix and view training data for their direct reports using the **Direct Reports** tab and their full organizational hierarchy using the **My Org** tab. Administrators can access all three tabs, including the **All** tab, which displays training data for every employee in the organization. Users who hold Expert status for a skill can view the Training Matrix for skills where they are designated as Experts. Standard employees without Manager or Admin roles cannot access the Training Matrix. They can view their own individual training records from their Skills Profile.
The **NA** badge (Not Assigned) appears when a skill is not assigned to a person's job role. A training record can only exist for skills that are assigned to a person. Clicking an NA cell does not open the Manage Skill Training panel.
The Training Matrix only displays data when training-date tracking is enabled on skills. If the matrix appears empty, the most likely causes are: no skills have training dates enabled for the selected job role (administrators can enable training dates per skill in **Library > Skills**), no team members have submitted training records yet for the skills shown, or active filters are too restrictive (try clearing all filters and switching to the **Direct Reports** tab to verify data is present).
Managers can submit training records for any person visible in their matrix. If you are viewing the **My Org** tab, you can submit records for anyone in your organizational hierarchy, not just your immediate direct reports. Administrators can submit training records for all employees regardless of reporting structure.
When an approved training record passes its expiration date, the cell displays an **Expired** badge (red). The underlying training record is not deleted — it remains visible in the **Manage Skill Training** panel with its historical date and approval status. To restore compliance, submit a renewal. Expiration periods are configured per skill by your administrator in **Library > Skills**.
Expiration alerts take priority over approval status in the Training Matrix display. If training is approved but the expiration date is within 15 days, the cell shows **Expiring Soon** (yellow) rather than **Approved** (green). Once the expiration date has passed, the cell shows **Expired** (red). The training date is still displayed above the badge in either case.
No. Training submissions are approved or rejected through the training approvals workflow, not directly from the Training Matrix. When a training record is submitted, the designated approver receives a notification and can approve or reject the record from their approvals inbox. The Training Matrix reflects the resulting status but is not the tool used to take approval actions. See [Training Approvals](/core-concepts/training-approvals) for the full approval workflow.
Yes. If you are designated as an Expert for one or more skills, you can access the Training Matrix to view training records for those specific skills. Expert access is limited to skills where you hold Expert status — you cannot view the full organization-wide matrix unless you also have Manager or Admin access.
The **Role** filter only shows careers (job roles) for which training-date tracking has been enabled. If a career does not appear in the filter list, an administrator needs to enable training dates in that career's settings. This is configured in **Library > Careers** under the career's settings panel.
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# Related Articles
Understand how expiration periods are configured and how expiration dates are calculated for skills
How the approval workflow operates when a training record is submitted
View proficiency grades across your team (distinct from training completion)
Configure the Expert flag, which grants Training Matrix access to designated users
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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).