But what skillsets you should be recruiting for in a modern-day communications team? How can you find out the areas in which your team is lacking?  

One highly effective method is to carry out a communications skills audit.   

What is a communications skills audit? 

A communications skills audit is an assessment of the skills that your communications team current have. A skills audit will usually take place over a set short period of time, ideally resulting in a comprehensive skills snapshot that might be periodically repeated and updated. They often involve questionnaires, surveys, and interviews conducted among the workforce. 

Why should you carry out a skills audit? 

In any communications team, it’s vital to understand the skill sets of your employees, to identify any skills gaps that might need addressing with measures such as further recruitment or training.

Here are a few scenarios in which a communications skills audit might be necessary:

• Your team is not hitting targets, indicating that an improvement plan is needed. 
• You have a lot of vacancies within your team and you want to make smart decisions about recruitment.  
• Part of a standard annual performance review.  

It’s important to encourage the view among your workforce that a skills audit is not simply a method of uncovering deficiencies, or something that should be feared from a performance point of view.

A communications skills audit can be useful in identifying potential paths forward for both employees and team improvement and help stimulate enthusiasm for further training and career development. The exercise can also help with succession planning, promotion prospects, team expansion, as well as helping staff stay motivated, utilise their expertise, competencies and education, and maintain focus.

You might carry out a skills audit simply because it’s healthy to have deep, up-to-date knowledge of the skills your communications team have, to ensure they match your organisation's business goals.

Or you might be researching how to conduct a communications skills audit because you are working on a new project or contract that requires a specific set of skills to fulfil.  

At Westco Works we can help our clients by carrying out communications skills audits. And, if there are gaps, we can help fill them. We have a host of options ranging from training and development through our Westco Academy, to help you fill any gaps with our interim associates.  

We offer an end-to-end service, from sourcing candidates with the right skill sets, to helping you onboard and manage them.  

Are you looking for digital communications support? Why not reach out to Westco?  

Even if you don’t know what skill set you need or how long you might need someone to step in for, if you have a job or a project that needs to be implemented, reach out to see how we can help. Email Nalini at  nalini@westcocommunications.com call us on 020 7641 5242 or use this form to get in touch.   

And if you are a communications / digital / marketing or PR specialist, looking for a new challenge – reach out to us. We are always looking for new people to put on our books.     

Author

Elinor Firth 

 

Hiring top talent is critical in the public sector, particularly when we are often competing with the high salaries and bonuses in the private sector.