Knowledge, skill and abilities are the three essentials to any employee, employer and organisation. Recruiters seek out specific knowledge, skills and abilities during the hiring process, managers consider the knowledge, skills and abilities of certain employees when suggesting individuals suitable for promotion and organisations are constantly referring back to the core knowledge, skills and abilities they believe are necessary to thrive and survive in the business environment.
These three important terms are often used interchangeably. Even though the difference between them can be subtle, it is imperative to know the difference in order to understand what you expect of your current and future employees.
Knowledge is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. For example, an employee might have knowledge of a particular model used in instructional design. This doesn’t mean the employee knows how to be an instructional designer. It means they know the model.
Skills are the proficiencies developed through training or experience. Using the model design example, the employee has demonstrated skills in applying the model when designing training programs. Skills are usually something that has been learned. So, we can develop our skills through the transfer of knowledge.
Abilities are the qualities of being able to do something. There is a fine line between skills and abilities. Think of abilities such as organization and prioritization as attributes that can help an employee develop their instructional design skills.
In business we often refer to the ‘skills’ gap and if your organisation is trying to fill this gap, then we must be clear on what exactly needs a solution- is it employees knowledge about a particular product? Or do their skills in how they sell the product need fine tuning? Or do they need to work on their ability to prioritise and better manage their time?
Understanding the subtle differences between the terms can make obvious improvements to your work force!
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