Skills are increasingly viewed as a valuable currency for employers to consider when managing talent. To better understand and leverage talent pools, it is important for employers to identify the skills needed to achieve their organization’s mission, and to identify those skills possessed by their organization’s existing work force.

A skills cloud refers to an inventory or comprehensive overview of the capabilities of a workforce, allowing organizations to understand the skills and competencies which exist among their employees. Skills clouds can be developed from surveys or from analyzing existing data sets. Skills clouds can be useful for workforce planning, talent management, and identifying areas for employee development.

Alternate terms: Skills Registry, Talent Cloud, Competency Cloud, Ability Index