Manager added specialized skills
Purpose
This article explains what Manager Added Specialized Skills are, how they work, and what users see on the Skills & Performance page once they’re enabled.
Introduction
A direct manager sees an employee’s work every day — how they collaborate, solve problems, and grow in their role. Manager Added Specialized Skills give the manager a formal way to define what skills are expected of their employees based on the actual work context.
What are Manager Added Specialized Skills?
Manager Added Specialized Skills represent capabilities identified by an employee’s direct manager through observation of daily performance. These skills are based on the employee’s specific work context and represent core expectations for their role. By defining these expectations, the organization can take a structured approach to evaluating proficiency and suggesting targeted upskilling opportunities tailored to current performance levels.
Why this matters
For large organizations, a central admin team often lacks the granular visibility needed to manage specialized skills across thousands of employees. This feature empowers individual managers to decentralize that responsibility, ensuring that expertise is recognized and assigned at the team level where the actual work context is best understood.
How they appear on a profile
Once the manager adds a skill, it appears in the Manager Added Skills tab on the employee’s Skills & Performance page. The employee can see exactly what has been recorded.
Note: If an employee has questions about a skill the manager has added, they should reach out to the manager directly or speak to the HR team.
Skills Tabs at a Glance
Depending on the organization’s setup, the employee’s Skills & Performance page may include the following tabs:
Required by Role: Skills associated with the employee’s current or target job role.
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Specialised skilss
- Added by manager: Skills added to the employee’s profile by their direct manager.
- Added by admin: Formally validated skills ingested by the organization’s admin.
Other Skills: Skills the employee has self-reported or that have been inferred from their profile.
Configuration
Read Configure manager added specialized skills for steps to configure.
What Users Experience After Setup
Once Specialised Skills and Manager Added Skills are enabled, here is what employees, managers, and HR teams will see.
For Employees
When an employee visits their Skills & Performance page in Career Hub, they will see tabs for each skill type enabled for their organization. These two sub- tabs are read-only for employees — they can view their skills clearly but cannot edit them directly.
Added by admin shows all skills that have been formally validated and uploaded by the HR team. Employees can see these without needing to take any action.
Added by manager shows any skills the manager has recorded. Employees get full visibility into what has been noted, supporting transparency and career conversations.
This gives employees a fuller, more accurate view of how their capabilities are recognized across the organization — beyond just what they have self-reported.
For Managers
Managers with the appropriate permissions will see an option to add skills directly from an employee’s Skills & Performance page. The flow is:
The manager navigates to the employee’s profile in Career Hub.
On the Skills & Performance page, they open the Manager Added Skills tab.
They add one or more skills they’ve observed the employee demonstrating.
The skills are saved immediately and become visible to the employee and relevant HR stakeholders.
This gives managers a simple, in-platform way to formally recognize their team’s capabilities — without needing to go through HR or raise a separate request.
For HR Teams
HR administrators can view Specialised Skills and Manager Added Skills data across the workforce through reporting and analytics. This data can be used to:
Identify skill gaps across teams or departments.
Inform workforce planning and internal mobility decisions.
Track how manager-observed skills compare to self-reported skills over time.
FAQs
Can an employee add or remove Specialised Skills themselves?
No. Specialised Skills are managed by the HR team and ingested from the organization’s HR systems. If something looks incorrect, the employee should reach out to their HR team.
Can the employee see what skills their manager has added?
Yes. Any skills added by the manager are visible to the employee in the Manager Added Skills tab on their profile.
Why don’t all the tabs listed above appear?
The organization may have enabled only certain tabs based on its configuration. If a user expects to see a tab that isn’t showing, they should contact their HR team or system administrator.
Who else can see Specialised Skills and Manager Added Skills?
Visibility depends on the organization’s settings. Typically, these skills are visible to the employee, their manager, and relevant HR stakeholders.
Can a manager remove a skill they’ve added?
Yes. Users with edit permissions for Manager Added Skills can add and remove them. If an employee would like a skill removed, they should speak with their manager directly.
How long does it take for Specialised Skills to appear after the data is uploaded?
Skills are typically available on employee profiles shortly after the data feed is processed. If skills haven’t appeared as expected, the user should contact their HR administrator.