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Skills Management Cycle
The SFIA distinguishes between resource management and skills management. Resource management will
assign resources to a specific task. However, skills management will measure the capabilities of assigned human
resources and will allow for better planning in resource management. The Skills Management cycle defines the
phases necessary to ensure that the right resource capabilities are available for resource management.
The phases include:
• Recruiting
• Deploying to work and setting objectives
• Assessing performance
• Analyzing performance factors
• Developing capabilities
• Rewarding contributions through compensation
Service Desk and Incident Management
When implementing a Help Desk, the SFIA can be useful in clearly defining each job and its relationship in the
organization. The SFIA identifies the behavior aspects of Service Desk and Incident Management to fall within
levels 1-5 in responsibility.
We will look at these in more detail by comparing them to other related skill sets, namely:
• IT Operations
• Problem Management
• Configuration Management
• Service Level Management
These areas have been chosen because they typically
have the most direct influence on how the Help Desk will
operate.
The comparison in the table on the previous page
should provide a good overview of how the levels of
responsibilities are allocated in specific skill sets and,
specifically, how to allocate those levels against the
proposed Help Desk implemented. It should be noted
that a specific job position may encompass multiple skill
sets. For instance, a Help Desk Analyst on a Skilled or
Expert Help Desk (Level 3 Apply) may also be applying the
skill sets on the same responsibility level for IT operations,
problem management, configuration management, and
service level management in varying degrees.
Applying SFIA to Help Desk Management
Using the framework as described above, create a skills
context for each job position, i.e. Help Desk Manager,
Help Desk Supervisor, Help Desk Analyst, etc.. Use this
context as the basis for assessing current staff and hiring
new employees.
Use theSkillsManagementCycle tomaintain theminimum
skill sets required and to improve staff capabilities. As
services provided by the Help Desk are added or changed,
the skills context should be reviewed and updated
accordingly.