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Skills gap analysis calculator

Score the distance between the capability your roles need and the capability you have.

Your numbers

SkillRequired (1-5)Current (1-5)
Rename the skills to match your roles. 1 = basic awareness, 5 = expert.
Capability gap
 
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What is a skills gap analysis?

It is a structured comparison of the capability a role requires against the capability the person in it currently holds. The difference is the gap, and analysing it across roles shows you where to focus development and hiring.

How we calculated this

For each skill, you set the required proficiency (1 to 5) and the current proficiency (1 to 5). The gap per skill is required minus current. We aggregate those into an overall capability gap score and work out the percentage of roles sitting below the required threshold. The bigger and more widespread the gap, the higher the priority. For context, 16% of Australian employees are perceived as not fully proficient, 22% of employers say turnover itself causes skills gaps, and 19% of Australian exits are linked to too few learning and development opportunities (ScaleSuite/Foremind).

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of the skills matrix in the HR Glossary.

Assumptions
  • Ratings are whatever you enter. Self-rated or manager-rated, they are unverified, and the score is only as honest as the person rating. Managers tend to rate their own team high on the skills they hired for and low on the ones they are asking for budget to fix.
  • Every skill carries equal weight. A two-point gap on the skill the role exists for counts the same as a two-point gap on a nice-to-have. Weight by importance yourself when you decide what to fix first.
  • Gaps are floored at zero. Someone at 5 on a skill that needs 3 contributes nothing to the score, so over-capability, which is its own retention problem, is invisible here.
  • Five skills, one role or team. It is a snapshot, not a skills matrix. Scale it by running it per role and keeping the results, or by moving to a framework that holds the whole picture.
  • The score says where the gap is. It does not say whether to build the capability or buy it, which depends on how scarce the skill is in the market. The reskill versus rehire calculator handles that call.
Sources

What to do about it

A gap score is a claim until the ratings behind it are evidence. Most skills matrices are self-assessment in a spreadsheet, and they fall over the first time a manager is asked how they know. These steps are for whoever owns capability for the team, whether that sits in HR or with the manager doing it on the side.

1

Define what a 4 looks like for each skill before anyone rates

In observable terms: what the person can do unaided, what they can teach, what they would get wrong at a 3, what evidence would show it. Without the definition, two managers rating the same person land two points apart and both are right.

2
Where a tool helps

Rate with evidence, and mark what is not

Work samples, assessments, certifications, observed performance. Where the only evidence is the person's own view, record the rating as unverified. A gap score that says "three of five verified" is worth more than one that pretends all five are.

3

Weight by how much the role depends on the skill

Multiply each gap by a criticality of one to three, in your own notes, and re-rank. The wide gap on a critical skill is the one to fund; the wide gap on a minor one can wait.

4

Decide build or buy, per gap

Check the skill against the national shortage list. If the occupation is in shortage, hiring the gap closed will be slow and expensive and building it internally is usually the faster route. If it is not, hiring may be cheaper than a year of training.

5

Re-run in six months with the same definitions

Keep the definitions from step 1 fixed, rate again, and track two numbers: the gap score and the share of ratings that are verified. The first tells you whether the training worked. The second tells you whether you would be believed if asked.

Step 2 needs evidence,
not a self-rating.

Compono Assure is a competency and assessment platform that maps the capability each role requires and verifies what each person actually holds against it, so the gap is measured and evidenced rather than estimated. Most skills matrices run on self-rating; a competency framework with assessed proficiency is what turns a 3 into a fact.

Step 2 asks you to rate with evidence and mark what is not. Assure is how the whole matrix becomes evidence, across every role rather than five skills at a time. The score above tells you where the gap probably is. Assure is what lets you prove it, and prove it closed.

See how it works
Compono Assure
$34M
saved by VicRoads over two years

Common questions

How do I set required versus current proficiency?

Define what "good" looks like for each skill on a 1 to 5 scale, then rate honestly where people sit today. Involve managers and, where possible, evidence rather than self-assessment alone, so the scores hold up.

Which gaps should I prioritise?

The ones that are both wide (large difference between required and current) and important to the role or business. A small gap on a critical skill can matter more than a large gap on a minor one.

What's driving skills gaps in Australia?

Several things at once. Around 16% of employees are seen as not fully proficient, turnover creates fresh gaps for 22% of employers, and limited learning opportunities push people out, with 19% of exits linked to that (ScaleSuite/Foremind).

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the relevant authority in your country or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.

Next step

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Cost of skills shortage calculator

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The skills matrix

The plain-English definition, with the calculators and rules that sit around it.

Read the definition →Talk to us

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