Skills matrix
For the helpdesk teamSkills matrix
Section titled “Skills matrix”The skills matrix is the chair and clerk’s tool for understanding the governing body’s collective competence — and spotting gaps. Every governor self-rates against a set of categories; the matrix shows the result as a heatmap.
How it’s built
Section titled “How it’s built”- Categories — finance, education and curriculum, safeguarding, HR, premises, governance, IT/data, etc. Set per trust; seeded with a typical set.
- Categories have weights — used in the rolling average so a proficient finance score weights more than a competent general-management score when calculating overall coverage.
- Each governor rates themselves on a five-point scale: None / Aware / Competent / Proficient / Expert, with optional notes.
Reading the matrix
Section titled “Reading the matrix”The page renders a table: categories as rows, governors as columns. Cells without a rating render as ungraded (visually amber). The aggregate per category — the rolling average — appears in a header row.
- Green category aggregate (≥ Competent average) — board is reasonably covered.
- Amber — coverage is patchy. One specialist; their absence creates a hole.
- Red — no one’s rated themselves competent or above. Recruitment priority.
Practical use
Section titled “Practical use”- Recruitment — review before approaching new governors. Target the red columns.
- Committee placement — assign governors to committees that play to their strengths.
- Training — sponsor CPD for the amber columns where you can grow internal capacity.
- Reporting — the trust’s annual report often references the skills picture.
Gotchas
Section titled “Gotchas”- Self-rating is just that. A medium rating from a chartered accountant probably means more than a high rating from someone using finance loosely. Use the matrix as a prompt for conversation, not a final answer.
- New governors with no rating yet skew the matrix toward red. Don’t draw conclusions until everyone’s rated.
- The matrix doesn’t recognise the difference between governor and trustee — both rate against the same categories. If you want them split, filter the table view by role.