The New Dictionary of Hiring

Capability Gap

/KAY-PUH-BIL-I-TEE GAP/

NOUN

A Capability Gap is something the business needs to be able to do but cannot yet do with the people it has.

MEANING

An empty box on the org chart tells you there's a vacancy. It doesn't tell you what the vacancy is costing the business.

‍

Nobody on the executive team is losing sleep over req #008742 being open for 67 days. They may care a great deal that the company still can't commission the plant, enter France or serve another customer. That's the Capability Gap. Talk about that, and you're finally talking about the same problem leadership is.

Defined by:
James Ellis,
Employer Brand Labs

Category:

Essentials

Related Terms:

MAKE THE CHANGE

Instead of:

Open requisition or vacancy.

Ask:

What can't the business do until this person arrives?

EXAMPLE

Customers want a service the company is ready to sell. The team lacks the expertise to deliver it. The open job is the symptom. The missed business is the problem.

HOW TO USE IT

For every priority hire, ask the business owner what the company cannot do today. Record that outcome beside the requisition and use it to decide what gets attention first.

SAY IT TO LEADERSHIP

We can tell you the role has been open for 62 days. The more useful fact is that we still can't deliver the work it was meant to enable. That's the gap I want us to solve.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH

Capability Ceiling: a Capability Gap is a specific thing the business can't do yet; the Capability Ceiling is how much it can do in total with the people it has.