Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud

    Workday Debuts a Universal Skills Ontology Called Skills Cloud

    Written by

    David Needle
    Published October 2, 2018
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      How many ways can you say “project management”? While the responsibilities may be almost identical, one company’s project manager might be another company’s team leader or group leader. That might not seem like such a big deal, but from a human resources perspective it is.

      Workday found that common skills can have up to 20-plus synonyms, which skills cloud consolidates to reveal the relationship between skills—for example, showing that “patient management” is related to “urgent care” and “clinical trials” for nurses.

      “There is a taxonomy of skills which people invest a lot of resources in to develop, but it becomes immediately dated as skills change over time,” Cristina Goldt, vice president of HCM Products at Workday, told eWEEK. “Our aim with skills cloud was to create a common language of skills that all customers can use.”

      Goldt said machine learning technology was essential to the development of skills cloud because it was able to quickly process the massive amounts of data Workday has collected on the relationships between job descriptions, skills and titles. “Skills cloud gives our customers a richer data set and the ability to do more granular searches for talent both internally and externally,” said Goldt.

      Another important aspect of skills cloud is that it’s not static. Data on more than 31 million workers are in Workday systems, and skills cloud will constantly update as new skills come to the fore. It’s also designed to make it easier for HR departments to manage talent by dramatically reducing redundancies in the way skills are identified. (For the customers who elect to participate in the skills cloud service, contributed data is “de-identified” and added to a secure, aggregated dataset.)

      “To give you an idea how big this is, we have already reduced one million user-entered skills down to 55,000 skills,” said Goldt. “We had one customer who had a hundred definitions for the same set of skills.”

      After a period of beta-testing, Workday skills cloud was officially announced as generally available on Oct. 2 at the company’s Workday Rising conference in Las Vegas. Goldt said skills cloud is laying the foundation for a true talent marketplace that better serves employees and managers.

      Hundreds of Thousands of Job Titles

      “The systems we have now are too unwieldly where you have hundreds of thousands of job titles. It’s more advantageous to consolidate job titles so you can fold them into job families,” Ventana Research analyst Steve Goldberg told eWEEK. “Workday is a first mover with this application; it’s very cutting edge.”

      From an employee perspective, Goldberg said skills cloud is going to help clarify roles and accomplishments and potentially even improve the prospects for promotion.

      “Skills cloud is part of our core HCM product, and we feel it’s very foundational,” said Goldt. It’s not a bright, shiny object on the periphery; skills are key to how you think about talent.”

      As skills cloud advances, Workday said it will give companies comprehensive talent matching and recommendations. For example, a hiring manager searching for a candidate with a competency in “web design” would also be provided a candidate with “graphic design,” “web development,” and/or “Flash design” skills.

      Skills cloud is generally available to customers as part of Workday Innovation Services, a program that provides certain optional services—such as Workday Benchmarking—that extend and enhance how customers use Workday. Skills cloud is free for Workday HCM customers that subscribe to Workday Innovation Services.

      David Needle
      David Needle
      Based in Silicon Valley, veteran technology reporter David Needle covers mobile, bi g data, and social media among other topics. He was formerly News Editor at Infoworld, Editor of Computer Currents and TabTimes and West Coast Bureau Chief for both InformationWeek and Internet.com.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×