How to Describe the Difference Between a Capability and a Skill
According to a recent global survey of over 1,500 CEOs by PwC, businesses are faced with a skills gap that they can’t hire their way out of at a price they can pay. They know they must invest in upskilling their workforce or risk irrelevance. Additionally, a recent Work Trend Index Survey found employees are at an inflection point with 41% of employees considering leaving their companies this year, and 46% saying they are likely to move because they can work remotely.
The question then becomes how do you best upskill your workforce as a way to re-engage and retain your best talent?
Do you focus on capability building? What about skills?
When I’ve had conversations with learning professional colleagues, there is a lack of clarity on the foundational differences between capabilities and skills. Recently, I tried explaining it in the following way and it really resonated- helping move the conversation forward with a common understanding of what skills and capabilities are. And when capabilities are understood and framed correctly one can quickly drive businesses forward for success. This is a lightly edited version of our conversation.
ME: Think of one thing you need to do in your job function.
HIM: I don’t know, there’s just so many of them.
ME: Just choose one. Something core- essential to what you do.
HIM: OK, how about listening?
ME: Great. Listening is a skill. It is a single thing that you can learn, practice, and apply. It’s also an essential thing for you to do in your job role. However, would you say that doing just this one thing drives your business forward?
HIM: No, it wouldn’t. It just that one thing. There’s a lot more to my job than listening. You couldn’t be successful with just listening.
ME: Alright then- what’s another skill you do?
HIM: What about asking good questions? I need to do that.
ME: So now you have “listening” and “asking good questions”. If you add another skill, like “organizing thoughts”, you have the basis of a capability called “effective communication”. A capability is a set of related skills that are needed to rapidly drive the business forward- in your case, you need to effectively communicate with customers in order to increase sales.
HIM: Oh, I get it, that’s easy to remember.
ME: Let me add another layer to it. Since capabilities help drive business impacts, think of them as strategic. They enable the business to move forward. Skills, on the other hand, are tactical. They are the granular, specific activities you do for a job.
When considering how to upskill your workforce, think about building both skills and capabilities. Now you have a short story that you can share with others who may be unclear about the difference between capabilities and skills, and you have a way to move forward in your conversations.
If you want to learn more about how to build your organization’s or team’s baseline capabilities and improve performance outcomes, check out a 4-step capability framework at www.MyBaselineBuilder.com.
