What is SFIA?

SFIA is the Skills Framework for the Information Age. Created by the SFIA Foundation, an independent, global, not-for-profit organization, their purpose is to enable greater capability and capacity within the global digital workforce.

With employers increasingly looking to recruit and retain staff with proven relevant experience, the SFIA framework puts experience at its core and provides descriptions of activities individuals should be able to perform at each level.

The framework defines the skills and competencies required by professionals who design, develop, implement, manage and safeguard the data and technology driving the digital landscape.

Since its launch in 2000, the framework has been updated on a 3 yearly basis to ensure it stays aligned with advances in technology. It has also been translated into 12 languages.

It is a 7 level framework that brings together professional skills, behaviours and knowledge to reflect experience in the real-world working environment.

Each skill in the SFIA Framework includes a high-level overall description, a set of guidance notes which provide more context for the skill, and a set of level-specific descriptions that detail how this skill is practiced in the workplace.

The 7 levels of responsibility represent career progression; starting at an entry level (Level 1: Follow), where an individual works under close supervision and performs routine activities. As their career progresses, they will gain deeper knowledge and acquire more skills to perform their role, allowing them to work alone and/or to lead a team. At the highest level of responsibility (Level 7: Set strategy, inspire, mobilise), an individual has authority to make decisions which are critical to business success, and they will possess strategic management and leadership skills.

SFIA also describes five key characteristics or generic attributes. These are described at each of the seven levels of responsibility in the framework. The generic attributes are autonomy, influence, complexity, business skills, and knowledge.

Technology is increasingly important to nearly all organizations but, regardless of how much new technology is introduced, organizations are still dependent on having the right people, with the right skills and competencies.

However, most organizations don’t have an accurate skills inventory, so they don’t know what skills they have, where there are skill gaps and what the risks are because of these gaps.

The SFIA framework provides a common language for describing roles and the professional skills required, ensuring consistency across the organization. Employees understand what is expected of them, and managers can set clear goals and responsibilities.

By using the SFIA framework to assess the skills and competencies of your workforce, you can:

• Improve hiring decisions through objective decision making based on real capabilities.
• Identify training needs by highlighting areas where employees lack proficiency and help to build training plans to increase that proficiency.
• Increase productivity by managing skills and ensuring individuals are in roles that match their strengths, leading to greater productivity and efficiency.
• Retain employees as they feel more engaged and valued because you are investing in their professional development.
• Improve performance management by using measurable data from regular skills assessments.
• Make cost savings through reduced staff turnover costs and allocating training resources where they are needed the most.

The SFIA Framework can be used free of charge by organisations for internal staff management.

The SFIA Framework can be used by:

Employees who want to develop their professional skillset and plan their professional development. With employers increasingly looking for experience when hiring, having a SFIA digital badge shows you have the Knowledge, Skill or Competency to perform one or more skills. Skill proficiency and professional competency are achieved at a specific level through demonstrable practice of that skill, at that level, in a real-world situation.

When writing job descriptions, as well as to match potential candidates to job vacancies.

Companies can also use the framework to identify existing employee skillsets and gaps, development plans and performance management.

Can use the framework to adopt a common language across roles and skills. SFIA’s website offers an interesting summary on how the Australian Public sector has adopted the SFIA framework to develop digital and data skills.

Can obtain a country-wide licence should a government wish to rollout an integrated approach to skills and competency development.

The SFIA Framework can be used by anyone. It is available, free of charge, from SFIA’s website. However, if you intend to use SFIA for commercial purposes, you may need to purchase a licence.

SFIA is a detailed and comprehensive framework but, without any prior training, it can be used incorrectly. Please see below some steps to help you implement SFIA effectively in your organization:

• Study the framework by visiting the SFIA website and reading about how SFIA works.
• Align the framework with your goals and objectives for workforce management, career development and project delivery.
• Engage leadership by presenting the benefits of SFIA. You may want, or need, to write a business case.
• Attend a SFIA training course. Three levels of SFIA Accredited training is available: Foundation level, for Consultants, and for Practitioners.

Engage an Approved Assessment Partner who can conduct skill assessments and award digital badges to your employees. APMG is a SFIA Approved Assessment Partner, offering a program to help individuals prepare to apply for Approved SFIA Assessor status. If you would like to keep your assessment process in-house, we can help your nominated employee with their application to be a SFIA Assessor. Once approved, your SFIA Assessor can follow APMG’s defined assessment process, which has already been approved for use.