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Ratnakar Dhakad
Written by :
Ratnakar Dhakad
November 6, 2024
16 min read

iMocha Skill Taxonomy: Aligning Organizational Competencies with Strategic Goals

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In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, having a structured and comprehensive skill taxonomy is vital for aligning an organization’s competencies with its strategic objectives. iMocha offers a meticulously crafted Skill Taxonomy solution that categorizes and organizes diverse skills in alignment with service lines and operational needs. This taxonomy acts as a structured roadmap, offering clarity on the skills required across various organizational contexts, enhancing workforce planning and talent management.

Components of iMocha Skill Taxonomy

  • Domain: The highest level of categorization, representing broad areas of expertise or major fields of knowledge.
  • Sub Domain: Specific areas within a Domain that narrow down the focus to more particular aspects.
  • Skill Cluster: Groups of related skills within a Sub Domain that share common functions or characteristics.
  • Skills: Specific abilities or knowledge sets within a Skill Cluster.
  • Skill Description: Definitions of the skills, providing clarity on their scope and application.
  • Skill Classification: Categorization of skills, such as technical, soft, or cognitive.
  • Skill Tags: Alternate names or synonyms for skills, aiding in easy identification.
  • Skill Display Name: The name of the skill as it appears in the taxonomy.
  • Rubric: The proficiency scale associated with each skill, detailing levels of expertise.
  • Skill Framework: The framework followed, such as ONet or Singapore Skills, ensuring consistency and alignment with global standards.
  • Certifications: Relevant certifications that can aid in skill development and proficiency.
  • Adjacent Skills: Complementary skills that enhance or support the main skill.
  • Skill Criticality: The importance of the skill for the organization, highlighting its relevance to core operations.

Steps to Finalize the Skill Taxonomy

1. Internal Research and Data Collection

  • Career Pages Review: Analyzing job descriptions and requirements on career pages to identify key skills relevant to business operations.
  • LinkedIn Insights Analysis: Using LinkedIn to study profiles of current employees, identifying common skills, job titles, and career paths to ensure the taxonomy aligns with real-world applications.
  • Services Review: Conducting an in-depth review of the services offered to customers across various domains to ensure the taxonomy accurately reflects the skills required for each service line, enhancing its relevance to business operations.

2. Industry Benchmarking

  • Industry Standards and Trends: Conducting research on industry standards and emerging trends, especially in the IT services sector, to ensure the taxonomy reflects competitive, comprehensive, and industry-aligned skills.

3. Taxonomy Development

  • Skill Categories and Levels: Defining skill categories and proficiency levels aligned with specific organizational requirements.
  • Skill Definitions: Developing clear and concise definitions for each skill, including related competencies and examples to enhance understanding.
  • Skill Mapping: Meticulously mapping skills to specific job roles to ensure alignment with job descriptions and organizational needs.

Why Multiple Taxonomies for Certain Skills?

Some skills, due to their applicability across various contexts, are categorized under different taxonomies. A prime example is Business Continuity Planning (BCP), which is crucial across multiple operational areas. Here’s how BCP can be classified in two different contexts within the taxonomy:

Context 1: Cybersecurity – Business Environment

  • Domain: Cybersecurity
  • Sub Domain: Identify
  • Skill Cluster: Business Environment
  • Skill Name: Business Continuity Planning
  • Skill Description: Developing and implementing plans to ensure critical business functions can continue during and after a disruptive incident.

Context 2: Cybersecurity – Recovery Planning

  • Domain: Cybersecurity
  • Sub Domain: Recover
  • Skill Cluster: Recovery Planning
  • Skill Name: Business Continuity Planning
  • Skill Description: Ensuring recovery plans align with broader business continuity objectives to minimize downtime and impact.

In both contexts, BCP is essential but serves different focuses. In the first context, the emphasis is on identifying and preparing for potential disruptions, while in the second, the focus shifts to aligning recovery efforts with broader continuity goals, minimizing downtime and impact.

Can this 4-Level Taxonomy be Converted into a 3-Level Taxonomy?

By retaining the taxonomy’s granularity, the field of “Sub-domain” can be omitted, effectively converting the 4-level taxonomy of Domain | Sub-Domain | Skills Cluster | Skills into a 3-level taxonomy of Domain | Skills Clusters | Skills. This approach preserves the unique and relevant mapping between skill clusters and domains, allowing skills to retain their contextual accuracy and organization within the taxonomy.

For instance

  • Domain: Software Development
  • Skills Cluster: Front-End Frameworks
  • Skills: React.js, Angular

By removing "Front-End Development" as a sub-domain, we directly map skills like “React.js” or “Angular” to the cluster "Front-End Frameworks," within the broader domain of "Software Development."

Benefits of iMocha’s Taxonomy as a Service (TaaS)

Industry-Leading Expertise

iMocha offers years of expertise in developing taxonomies tailored to various industries, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and alignment with industry standards.

Customization and Precision

TaaS by iMocha provides fully customized taxonomies aligned with unique organizational needs, mapping skills specifically to industry and business goals.

Scalability and Flexibility

iMocha’s TaaS is designed to grow and evolve with your organization, allowing for updates and expansions as market demands change.

Efficient Talent Management

A well-structured taxonomy enables better management of talent by mapping skills to roles, identifying gaps, planning training programs, and aligning workforce capabilities with strategic objectives.

Enhanced Decision-Making

A robust taxonomy offers a clear overview of the skills landscape, supporting informed decisions in hiring, training, and development strategies.

Cost-Effective and Time-Saving

Outsourcing taxonomy development to iMocha saves time and resources, allowing internal teams to focus on core business functions.

Seamless Integration

iMocha’s TaaS integrates smoothly with existing HR and talent management systems, making adoption and utilization straightforward.

Continuous Support and Updates

iMocha offers ongoing support to keep your taxonomy up-to-date with industry trends, continuously adding value as your organizational needs evolve.

By choosing iMocha's TaaS, organizations gain a dynamic and scalable taxonomy that enhances talent management, decision-making, and strategic growth.

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