British Council goes global with online employee skills assessment system

The marketing and communications skills of British Council employees in 109 countries are to be improved through their implementation of a new web-based system that analyses their capabilities and manages skills. Capability Matrix from learning development specialists MyKnowledgeMap (MKM) is a customisable online capability and skills management system that allows users to create, manage and deliver custom skills gap assessments for their organisations.

A pilot of the system has been in use since last year in British Council offices in North and Central Europe to identify gaps in employees’ marketing and communication skills and help them perform to the best of their ability.

The pilot was designed to test the implementation of the system in locations where users of different nationalities would need to use the tool unsupported and without guidance once launched to employees globally.

Sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations with the remit of building mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries.

The organisation employs people of many different nationalities all over the world. For this reason, the implementation of a capability management system needed to be easy-to-use and easy-to-understand.

For the British Council, Capability Matrix has been pre-loaded with competencies based on the professional marketing standards of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as well as Council-devised competencies for communication skills.

The system has been praised for its clear, straightforward design and global usability.

"As our workforce is geographically dispersed across 220 offices, we needed a system that could help us to see what capacity we had at each level and where it could be deployed," says Sumathi Jayaraman, corporate marketing strategy manager for the British Council.

"People have been really impressed with the system. The concept is fantastic."

Its successful execution at pilot stage has now prompted the imminent implementation of the Capability Matrix throughout the British Council worldwide.

Further information on Capability Matrix at www.myknowledgemap.com

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Notes for Editors:

About Capability Matrix
Capability Matrix is a customisable online capability and skills management system. Its flexibility allows users to create, manage and deliver custom skills gap assessments for their organisations.

About MyKnowledgeMap

Founded in 2000, MyKnowledgeMap (often known as MKM) is a dynamic company delivering web-based knowledge systems designed by individuals, for the individual.

Further Information from:
Rob Arntsen / Tom Holland, MyKnowledgeMap 00 44 (0) 1904 659465
Peter Muir / Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR 00 44 (0) 1727 860405/ (0) 1296 715228