A few weeks ago, we wrote about Canva’s strikingly simple approach to skills-based talent management. Its lightweight skills framework, which focuses on 12 core skills that “you need in order to be successful,” suits the needs of the rapidly growing young company, which expanded its workforce by nearly a third last year. 

There are also benefits to getting much more granular with skills data, especially for large enterprises with tens of thousands of employees spread across different business units and countries. We’ve spoken with large companies that are interested in adopting this more granular skills-based talent model but don’t know where to start. 

Johnson & Johnson is already on that path. So far, the skills data have mostly been used to improve employee learning and development, but the company is currently incorporating them into hiring and workforce planning. Here’s what you need to know:

What Johnson & Johnson is doing:

Johnson & Johnson recognizes roughly 5,000 skills across its organization, with new skills added every quarter. Those skills form the backbone of the J&J Learn, the company’s internal learning and development platform, which recommends development opportunities, like courses and mentors, to workers based on their career aspirations and the skills they want to develop. (Johnson & Johnson refers to its approach as "skills-inclusive" instead of "skills-based" because skills are just one aspect it considers alongside elements like an employee's experiences, aspirations, and personal traits.)

“We've really increased the transparency across the organization,” says Christina Norris-Watts, head of assessment and people practices at Johnson & Johnson, “so you can look at any other job at J&J, look at the skills needed for that job, and map your path from where you are now to that job based on the skills.” Presumably, this type of feature helps the company retain employees, as it gives them a chance to explore career opportunities within Johnson & Johnson. 

Once an employee selects a skill they want to develop, the platform recommends relevant courses. Employees can also search for possible mentors within Johnson & Johnson who already have that skill, and they can search for gigs—temporary projects—to apply for that will help them develop it on the job.