Vocations · Job Skills

Train where the gap
and the job both matter.

A training budget goes furthest on skills that are important to the job and weak today. Print a two-column survey from your skill list, enter the average ratings when it comes back, and the tool ranks every skill with Borich’s weighted need score, names the top three for each team and points out skills people already have.

Survey a teamWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Job search kit, $29 for 41 items.

Teams surveyed

The worked example is made up: a warehouse shift, a medical front desk and a maintenance crew where only three of nine answered. Saved on this device only.

Loading the team form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Vocations · Job Skills$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per team: the team, the role, headcount, responses and each skill’s average importance and current skill, with five survey checks. Prints the survey; ranks skills by weighted need (gap times importance), names the top three; flags gaps of a point or more, skills stronger than needed and a low response.
Who it is for
Employers, HR and training staff, supervisors and workforce partners planning job-skills training for a team.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per team. Prints the anonymous survey, one team’s results, every team in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Job search kit ($29) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Job Skills space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. List the skills the job needs.
  2. Print or copy the survey.
  3. Enter the average ratings.
  4. Read the ranked needs.
  5. Train the top one or two first.

Survey a team

The weighted need score

How the weighted need score ranks skillsSkillImportanceSkill todayNeed scoreInventory software4.62.9(4.6 − 2.9) × 4.6 = 7.82Reporting a problem3.93.0(3.9 − 3.0) × 3.9 = 3.51Forklift operation4.84.2(4.8 − 4.2) × 4.8 = 2.88Spreadsheet basics2.62.8(2.6 − 2.8) × 2.6 = −0.52How the weighted need score ranks skillsInventory softwareImportance: 4.6Skill today: 2.9Need score: (4.6 − 2.9) × 4.6 = 7.82Reporting a problemImportance: 3.9Skill today: 3.0Need score: (3.9 − 3.0) × 3.9 = 3.51Forklift operationImportance: 4.8Skill today: 4.2Need score: (4.8 − 4.2) × 4.8 = 2.88Spreadsheet basicsImportance: 2.6Skill today: 2.8Need score: (2.6 − 2.8) × 2.6 = −0.52
Multiplying the gap by importance puts a big gap in a skill that matters ahead of a big gap in one that does not.

Where the score comes from

Gary Borich proposed this needs assessment model in 1980 for teacher training: rate each skill twice, for importance and for current competence, and weight the gap by importance. It is now used widely in workforce and extension education. The score here uses the team’s average ratings; a score near zero or below means little need.

Self-ratings and a second view

People rating their own skills tend to be generous on some and modest on others. Asking supervisors to rate the same list, and comparing, catches the biggest blind spots. Keep the survey anonymous and say so, or the ratings drift upward.

Sources

  1. Borich, G. D. (1980). A needs assessment model for conducting follow-up studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 31(3), 39 to 42.
  2. McKillip, J. (1987). Need Analysis: Tools for the Human Services and Education. Sage.
  3. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. O*NET: skills and importance ratings by occupation (onetonline.org).
  4. Association for Talent Development. Needs assessment basics (td.org).

The worked example is made up. Ratings are averages you enter; the tool does not collect survey answers itself. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.