Askills inventoryis a database or record of employees’ current skills, abilities, experiences, education, and qualifications. According toHuman Resource Management, 16th Editionby Gary Dessler, maintaining accurate skills inventories is especially valuable forworkforce redeployment efforts.
Dessler explains that organizations use skills inventories to match employees with internal job openings, project assignments, or new roles when business needs change. During restructuring, downsizing, or strategic shifts, skills inventories allow management to identify employees who can be reassigned or retrained rather than laid off. This supports internal mobility, reduces turnover costs, and preserves organizational knowledge.
Skills inventories are not primarily used for voluntary termination practices or legal hiring procedures. While they may indirectly support staffing decisions, they are far more critical for internal workforce planning than for external sourcing. External sourcing focuses on recruiting talent from outside the organization, whereas skills inventories emphasize maximizing the use of existing human capital.
Therefore, the activity most directly benefited by maintaining skills inventories isworkforce redeployment efforts.
Source:
Gary Dessler,Human Resource Management, 16th Edition, Chapter on Workforce Planning, Succession Planning, and Talent Management