Skills Frameworks in Dynamics 365 Human Resources

A Skills Framework is a structured model that defines the skills, knowledge, and behaviours required for individuals to perform effectively in specific roles or professions. It provides a common language for describing skills and helps organisations and individuals:

• Identify the skills needed for different roles
• Assess current capabilities and skill gaps
• Plan training, development, and career progression
• Align workforce skills with business goals and digital transformation

Skills frameworks are especially valuable in HR, IT, and digital environments where roles and technologies evolve rapidly.

Examples of Skills Frameworks

• SFIA (Skills Framework for the Information Age)
  A globally recognised framework for digital and IT skills, structured across seven levels of responsibility.
• ESCO (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations)
  Developed by the European Commission, this multilingual framework supports labour mobility across Europe.
• NICE Framework for Cyber Security
  A U.S. framework focused on cybersecurity roles, used to define and manage workforce capabilities in the cyber domain.
• CITB Competence Framework
  Used in the UK construction industry to define technical and professional competencies.

Applying a Skills Framework to Dynamics 365 Human Resources

Configuring Skills

Most skills frameworks define a list of skills, and detail the levels of competence that match with specific pre-defined skills. As an example the SFIA 9 framework has 7 levels which describe degrees of autonomy, complexity, and influence. These levels are defined as:

Each of these ratings can be configured as a Level within a Rating Model in Dynamics 365 HR.

Once the levels are configured, skills can be added. The SFIA Framework currently has 2 types of skills, one relating to generic attributes such as autonomy and influence, and the other relates to skills specific to a job role, Business Modelling, Project Management etc.

The types can be defined as Skill Types, and each Skill can be assigned to one of these types.

Skills can then be added manually or via an import, as most skills frameworks provide skills information in a structured format that’s easily imported into Dynamics 365. Skills are assigned to a Rating Model and to a Skills Type, and details relating to the skill and links to further information can be added to the Notes.

Assigning Skills to Employees

In most skills framework’s there will be one or several ways to assess employees in each skill and recommended timeframes to reassessment.

Each Employee Record has a collection of skills that can be accessed via the ribbon on the Employee page, under the Competencies section. Each skill an employee has gained needs to be added as a skill, with the acquired level.

Employee Skill Ratings can be assessed during reviews, and goals can be set to improve on specific skills. The benefits of mapping users to skills defined in a skills framework are as follows:

Clarity in Role Expectations

• Employees understand what is expected of them at their current level.
• Managers can clearly define responsibilities and performance standards.

Performance Management

• Reviews are based on objective skill criteria, not just subjective feedback.
• Enables fairer and more transparent evaluations.

Career Path Visibility

• Employees can see progression routes and what’s required to advance.
• Encourages motivation and long-term engagement.

Assigning Skills to Jobs

Mapping skills to jobs means defining the specific skills and proficiency levels required for each role in an organisation. This practice brings structure, clarity, and strategic value to workforce management and will assist with a number strategic initiatives, for example:

Targeted Development

• Enables personalised learning plans based on role-specific needs.
• Supports upskilling and reskilling initiatives.

Career Progression

• Makes career paths transparent by showing what skills are needed to move up.
• Encourages employee engagement and retention.

Workforce Planning

• Identifies skill gaps across teams or departments.
• Supports strategic planning for future capabilities.

Precision in Job Descriptions

• Clearly defined skills and levels ensure job postings are accurate and aligned with actual role requirements.
• Reduces ambiguity and attracts candidates with the right capabilities.

Better Candidate Matching

• Recruiters can screen applicants based on specific skill sets and proficiency levels.
• Increases the likelihood of hiring candidates who can perform effectively from day one.

Improved Interview Quality

• Interview questions and assessments can be tailored to the required skills and levels.
• Enables more objective and consistent evaluation of candidates.

In Dynamics 365 HR, Skills are assigned to Jobs, and Jobs are assigned to Positions which relate an Employee and their assigned Job. Each job record can state the required skills, and level, plus the importance for that skill in the specific job.

Skill Gap Analysis

Once Employees and jobs have been assigned the appropriate skills and levels, we can start to benefit from Skill Gap Analysis. This allows us to compare and analyse job roles with employees to help with career progression, or to cross-skill into other areas of the business. Skill gaps can be aligned to employee goals, and aid in the promotion of employees across the business.

Skill Gap Analysis can also enable internal search for staff to fit within current or new roles, producing reports of close matches to the skills being sought.

Further benefits of assigning skills to job roles can be realised when combining the Human Resources Module of Dynamics 365 with Project Operations. This allows for resource planning and booking resources based on required skills, or desired experience for employees reaching a new level.

Dynamics 365 Human Resource Summary

The level of granularity and breadth of capability in Dynamics 365 Human Resources, as with the rest of the Dynamics 365 suite of tools, allows for complex business and data relationship to be mapped and managed. Which means the toolset can be applied to lots of difference business sectors and operating models.

There are pros and cons to this of course:

The Pros

• The more detail and granularity available, the more complex and varied the stories that can be told using data.
• More data means better integrations other Dynamics 365 modules, so your investment in setting up the Human Resources module can be felt across other organisations units or business processes (such as Project Operations)
• Business Process Automation loves triggers, so the more information we have on skills, roles, employees and so on, the more potential triggers we have to start or update vital business process automations
• With larger data sets comes the opportunity for AI to make connections in data that humans can sometimes miss

The Cons

• More data means more work initially
• Setup can be a little more complex than some more basic, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products
• Depending on the level of knowledge of Dynamics 365 in your internal IT teams, you may need support from someone with expertise to make sure you set off on the right path

What Next with Dynamics 365 Human Resources

Once you get the rich data set in place, building on it becomes a simple, everyday business activity as with so much of the Dynamics 365 platform. Over time your data get richer and with that, possibilities open up.

Power BI Analytics Ideas

• Employee career progression over time
• Spider charts for key skills
• Employee skill comparison
• Employee year in review dashboard

Copilot Ideas

• Write an advert for the Job that requires the strengths indicated in the skills with a job role
• Explain how to progress to the next level within a framework skill

So whatever you’re trying to achieve with your HR function, Dynamics 365 Human Resources is there to support your initial goals, while giving you the headroom to grow into more strategic decision making once your data is ready to start telling stories and support your decision making processes.

If you’d like to talk to us about how Dynamics 365 Human Resources could help you take your HR capabilities to the next level, get in contact today for a no-commitment advisory session.