A Skills-Based Approach to Performance Management...

...And Why Job Architecture is the Foundation 

Organisations are under growing pressure to rethink how they manage performance. Traditional performance management systems, often based on once-a-year reviews and broad role descriptions, are falling short. They tend to reward tenure or job level rather than the actual skills an employee brings to the table and the value they create. 

In response, many organisations are now moving towards a skills-based approach to performance management, also known as performance development. This shift is about focusing on the capabilities employees use every day, the skills they need to grow and the contribution they make to organisational goals. 

Just as skills-based hiring and workforce planning are gaining traction, applying the same thinking to performance is the logical next step. 

Why performance management is changing 

The nature of work is evolving rapidly. Roles are being redefined as technology, customer needs and market conditions change. Employees often work across projects, functions and teams, applying different skills in different contexts. Yet performance management frameworks are often tied to outdated job descriptions or rigid hierarchies that no longer reflect reality. 

This creates frustration for employees who feel their skills and contributions are not being recognised and for managers who struggle to fairly assess performance without clear, up-to-date data on what a role actually requires. 

Research underlines this point. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends 2025 found that 61% of managers and 72% of workers do not trust their organisation’s performance management process and only 32% of executives believe their current approach enables high-quality decisions about talent. These numbers show why traditional systems are no longer fit for purpose. 

A skills-first approach changes this dynamic. By grounding performance in skills, organisations can: 

• Give employees clarity on the skills that matter most in their role 
• Create fairer, more objective performance assessments 
• Link development conversations to skills growth, not just outputs 
• Spot emerging skills gaps across teams and functions 
• Build agility by redeploying people based on their skills and potential 

The role of job architecture 

The single biggest enabler of a skills-based approach to performance is a robust job architecture. 

A job architecture defines how roles are organised and related across the organisation. Traditionally, it might group jobs by function or level. In a skills-based architecture, roles are built around the skills needed with clear families, levels and career paths defined. 

Without this foundation, it is almost impossible to apply a skills lens to performance. With it, organisations can evaluate people fairly, define transparent progression criteria and make sure performance assessments are rooted in objective, up-to-date data. 

From performance management to performance development 

Many organisations are moving away from the idea of performance as a “rating” or “score” and towards performance as a development journey. This is only possible with a skills-first foundation. 

A skills-based architecture enables managers and employees to talk about: 

• Current skills: What skills an employee is using effectively today 
• Emerging skills: Where they are developing proficiency and what support they need 
• Future skills: Which skills will open up new career opportunities or align to business priorities 

These conversations are far more motivating and constructive than a generic “meets expectations” or “needs improvement”. They also make it easier to design training and learning programmes that target real needs, not assumptions. 

The data challenge 

One of the biggest barriers to this shift is data. Many organisations still have chaotic job structures with outdated or incomplete job descriptions. Skills data is often scattered across HR systems, learning platforms and spreadsheets. 

To make skills-based performance management work, organisations need: 

• A structured skills taxonomy linked to job families and roles 
• Up-to-date role profiles with the right skills, levels and expectations defined 
• Governance processes to keep job and skills data current as roles evolve 
• Integration across systems so managers and employees see the same view of skills in HR, learning and performance tools 

Without this foundation, performance conversations risk becoming inconsistent and subjective – the very problems a skills-first approach is meant to solve. 

The benefits of a skills-based approach 

Research shows that organisations adopting a skills-based approach outperform those that do not. While much of the evidence focuses on hiring and workforce planning, the same applies to performance. 

• Betterworks’ State of Performance Enablement 2024 report found that organisations using continuous skills-based feedback and regular check-ins see higher engagement and retention as well as stronger alignment between individual performance and business goals

• Deloitte research highlights that 87% of workers see human skills such as adaptability, leadership and communication as critical to career growth, yet only about half feel their organisation values these skills appropriately. Building them into performance conversations closes that gap

• McKinsey’s HR Monitor 2025 found that organisations using skills data for workforce planning and performance management are more agile, redeploy people more effectively and maintain stronger performance during disruption (link) 

When performance is tied to skills: 

• Employees feel recognised for their real contribution 
• Managers can make fairer evidence-based decisions 
• Development plans become more targeted and effective 
• Organisations can align skills growth with strategic priorities 
• Workforce planning and succession planning are grounded in reliable data 

Getting started 

For many organisations, the starting point is building or refreshing their job architecture, which means: 

• Grouping roles into clear families based on common skills 
• Defining a skills taxonomy that covers technical, functional and behavioural skills 
• Assigning skills and skill proficiency levels to roles so progression is clear 
• Embedding governance to keep job and skills data current 

With that in place, you can then redesign performance management around skills. This might involve moving away from annual reviews towards more frequent skills-focused check-ins, redesigning appraisal forms to reflect skills and training managers to have development conversations anchored in skills. 

Where RoleMapper fits 

At RoleMapper, we provide the job architecture foundation that enables organisations to take a skills-based approach to performance. Our platform captures the DNA of work – jobs, scope, responsibilities and skills – and brings it together in a single, coherent framework. 

With this foundation in place, performance management becomes fairer and more transparent. Employees can see how their skills align to role expectations, managers have clear criteria for assessing performance and organisations can link progression directly to skills growth. 

In short: RoleMapper creates the clarity and governance needed to make performance management genuinely skills-based. It ensures that conversations about performance are grounded in consistent data, turning performance reviews into meaningful development opportunities and building a workforce ready for the future.