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Overview

Many organizations rely on internal subject matter experts to validate whether colleagues have genuinely developed a skill. SkillsDB formalizes this through the Expert Trainer system: a structured workflow that connects employees seeking training approval to the people best positioned to grant it. The system involves three roles working together:

• Administrators configure which skill flags carry trainer permissions and manage the overall setup.
• Managers (or admins) designate individuals as experts for specific skills, making them available as approvers.
• Employees submit training records for a skill and select an expert to review their submission.
• Expert Trainers receive approval requests in their Inbox, review the evidence, and approve or reject each submission.

The result is a lightweight credentialing layer built entirely within SkillsDB — no external ticketing system required.

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How the System Works

The Expert Trainer workflow moves through five stages: The sections below walk through each stage in detail.

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Stage 1: Configure the Trainer Flag (Admin)

Before anyone can be designated as an expert trainer, an administrator must ensure a skill flag with Trainer Permission is active. SkillsDB may already have a suitable flag in place — confirm with your administrator before creating a new one.

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Checking existing flags

1. Navigate to Settings > Flags.
2. Select the Skill Flags tab.
3. Review the list of skill flags. Any flag with a purple Trainer badge already has Trainer Permission enabled. If one exists, skip to Stage 2.

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Creating a new skill flag with Trainer Permission

If no suitable trainer flag exists:

1. Navigate to Settings > Flags and select the Skill Flags tab.
2. Select Add Flag in the top right of the Skill Flags section.
3. In the Add new skill flag dialog, enter:
   • Flag name (required) — for example, Expert or Certified Trainer
   • Description (optional) — a brief explanation of what this flag means in your organization
   • Color (optional) — a visual identifier for the flag
4. Select Save.
5. The new flag card appears in the list. Locate the Trainer Permission checkbox on the flag card and check it.
6. A confirmation message appears: “Trainer permission enabled successfully.” The flag card now displays a purple Trainer badge.

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Stage 2: Designate Expert Trainers (Manager / Admin)

With a trainer-enabled flag in place, managers or administrators assign that flag to specific people for the skills they are qualified to approve. Once assigned, those people appear as selectable approvers when employees submit training requests for that skill. Expert flags can be applied at three levels:

• Skill level — designates someone as an expert for one specific skill
• Section level — designates someone as an expert for all skills within a section
• Career level — designates someone as an expert for all skills within a career

To assign an Expert flag, navigate to the team member’s profile or the Skills Matrix for your team and apply the appropriate flag. Contact your SkillsDB administrator if you need guidance on the flag assignment process for your organization’s specific setup.

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Stage 3: Submit a Training Request (Employee)

Once an expert has been designated for a skill, employees can submit training records for that skill and direct them to the appropriate approver.

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Submitting training for a skill

1. Navigate to the skill you want to submit training for. You can find skills through Search in the left sidebar or via your Skills Profile.
2. Locate the My Trainings section on the skill page.
3. Select Submit Training.
4. The Submit Training modal opens. Complete the following fields:

5. Select Submit.
6. A confirmation message appears: “Training submitted for approval.”

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Checking the status of your submission

After submitting, you can monitor the status of your training request:

1. Return to the skill page.
2. In the My Trainings section, your submission appears with a Status badge:
   • Pending — the expert has not yet reviewed your submission
   • Approved — the expert approved your training record
   • Rejected — the expert rejected your submission; you may resubmit with updated information

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Renewing an approved training record

If your training expires or needs to be refreshed:

1. Navigate to the skill and locate your approved training record in My Trainings.
2. Select Renew Training.
3. The renewal modal displays a notice: “You are renewing an approved training. The previous training record will be archived and a new approval request will be submitted.”
4. Complete the form and select Submit.
5. A confirmation message appears: “Training renewal submitted for approval.” Your previous record is archived and the new submission enters the approval workflow.

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Stage 4: Review and Act on Training Approvals (Expert Trainer)

Expert Trainers receive training submissions in their Inbox. Approvals require no special navigation — they surface automatically alongside other actionable items.

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Finding training approval requests

1. Select Inbox from the left sidebar.
2. Select Approvals from the category quick links on the left side of the Inbox. This filters the list to show only Training Approvals and Certification Approvals.
3. Training approval requests appear with the label Training Approval. Pending items carry a yellow Pending badge.

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Reviewing a training submission

1. Select a Training Approval item in the Inbox.
2. The Training Approval dialog opens, displaying:

| Evidence | Any text evidence provided by the employee | | Attachments | Uploaded files. Select any file to preview (.pdf, .jpg, .png) or download | | Delegated Approver | Shown if approval was delegated to you by another approver |

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Approving a training submission

After reviewing the submission:

1. Select Approve in the dialog footer.
2. The button label changes to “Approving…” while the action processes.
3. A confirmation message appears: “Training approved successfully.”
4. The dialog closes. The submission is removed from your Pending items and the employee’s training record is updated to Approved.

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Rejecting a training submission

If the submission does not meet the required standard:

1. Select Reject in the dialog footer.
2. The button label changes to “Rejecting…” while the action processes.
3. A confirmation message appears: “Training rejected successfully.”
4. The dialog closes. The employee’s training record is updated to Rejected and they are able to resubmit.

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Viewing previously processed requests

Select the All or Archived tabs in the Inbox to see training approval requests that have already been processed. These records display the outcome — a green “Approved by [Name] on [Date]” or red “Rejected by [Name] on [Date]” notice — and are read-only.

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Stage 5: Monitor Training Approvals (Manager / Admin)

Managers and administrators have two dedicated tools for tracking the Expert Trainer system at scale.

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Training Matrix

The Training Matrix gives managers a grid view of their team’s training status across skills, including which expert approved each record.

1. Select Team from the left sidebar, then select Training.
2. In the Training section, navigate to the Training Matrix view.
3. The matrix displays:
   • Rows — skills with training data
   • Columns — team members in your selected scope
   • Cells — training date and status per person-skill combination
   • Trainer — the name of the expert who approved each training record

Use the scope tabs to switch between:

• Direct Reports — your immediate team
• My Org — your full organizational span of control
• All — all employees (admin access required)

Available filters include organization level (Region, Division, Department), Job Role, and an option to show only people with training dates recorded.

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Trainer Metrics

Trainer Metrics provides administrators with a performance dashboard for the Expert Trainer system, showing how quickly and consistently each expert is responding to approval requests.

1. Navigate to People > Trainer Metrics (admin access required).
2. The page displays a table with the following columns:

3. Use the view type quick links to switch between perspectives:
   • By Expert — performance metrics per individual expert trainer
   • By Skill — approval volume and rates per skill
   • By Section — approval data grouped by skill section
   • By Role — approval data grouped by job role

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Common Questions

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