(From PRWEB) -- While understanding and tracking employee skills offers clear business benefits, companies large and small typically have no systematic grasp of skills across their organization.

Creating a relevant inventory of skills organization-wide might seem impractical in today's business climate. Shrinking HR budgets simply do not support a traditional approach involving the creation of a large group in HR to define skills, assess employees, manage a database and keep everything current.

Yet a new emphasis on collaboration and transparency fostered by social media gives organizations an approach that engages employees in their careers as they build a valuable inventory of skills that feeds recruiting, professional development and succession management.

In a new white paper, New Concepts: Skills Mapping in a Web 2.0 World, available at career management process.

"Employees are increasingly sharing their thoughts and experiences within social media. By riding this trend of user-created content, companies realize tremendous benefits when trying to understand the skills of their workforce," said Chris Twyman, chief executive officer. "Employees feel more engaged in their careers, and management has a simplified, cost-effective and current snapshot of employee skills data for their talent management initiatives."

Read the full release.

For more information on Web 2.0, social media, job skills, and career management, consider attending the session What Every Manager Must Know about Learning 2.0 at the ASTD 2010 International Conference and Exposition!