This article is about the paid add-on Absorb Skills. For information on purchasing this service, please reach out to your Client Success representative.

• Click here to view the Absorb Skills Introduction.

Absorb Skills includes multiple reports that allow your Admins and organization to filter through, and easily obtain information related to Skills, Job Roles and more.

Job Roles

The Job Roles Report is where an Admin will find our extensive library of expertly-crafted Job Roles, with 1600 unique roles available at launch.

Job Roles Report Columns

The Job Roles Report displays the following columns:

• Name: Name associated with the Job Role item that will be displayed in the Learner Experience.
• Status: Shows whether a Job Role is marked as Active in the Portal. Only Active roles are surfaced in the Learner Experience for Learners to choose from.
• Category: Categories that encompass certain role types and industries, making it easier to find related roles.
• Skills: Number of Skills associated with the job.
• Added By: Name of the Admin who added the Job Role.
• Date Added: Date the role was initially added to your library.

Legacy Job Roles Report Columns

The legacy experience of the Job Roles Report displays the following columns:

• Category: Categories that encompass certain role types and industries, making it easier to find related roles.
• Date Added: Date the role was initially added to our library.
• Date Edited: Date the role was last updated, either by Absorb (future) or by an Admin.
• Description: Job description of the role.
• ID: Unique Job Role globally unique identifier (GUID).
• Is Active: Shows whether a Job Role is marked as Active ("Yes") in the Portal. Only Active roles are surfaced in the Learner Experience for Learners to choose from.
• Is Custom Role: New or duplicated roles will be visible.
• Role Name: Name associated with the Job Role item that will be displayed in the Learner Experience.

Job Roles Report Action Tools

The actions below are broken down between single actions and mass actions. A single action can only be taken when one item in total is selected from the Report, while a mass action can be taken with multiple items selected from the Report.

Job Role Catalog Note

Absorb provides a Catalog of Job Roles. Add Job Roles to your library from the Catalog first as a starting point and then customize the language to meet your needs. Any Skills associated with the Job Role from the Catalog will be automatically added to your Skill Library.

Add Client Job Role

Creating a Client Job Role allows for a new Job Role to be available in the Job Roles Report. The default Status of the page is set to Inactive. Once you have created a new Job Role, set the Status to Active to make the role available to Learners. Note that a role can be saved if the Status is set to Inactive, but all required fields must be populated. At the moment, machine learning updates are only made to system Job Roles and not custom client Job Roles.

To add a new Client Job Role, complete the following steps:

1. From the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
   
    
2. Click the Job Roles Report.
3. Click Add under the Actions menu on the right-hand side of the page.
   
    
4. In the Name field, enter a Job Role Name. This name can also be a goal that focuses on a skill set rather than a full Job Role.
5. Click the Category dropdown.
6. Select a Category from the list of available Categories.
7. In the Job Summary field, enter a brief description of the role.
8. Click Add Responsibilities to add a Responsibility to the Job Role. You can add one or multiple Responsibilities to a Role.
   
    
9. Under the Job Skills heading, click Add Job Skill to add a Skill to this Role.

To view Custom Roles on the Job Roles Report, add the Is Custom column from the Display Columns dropdown menu and filter for a Yes value. This functionality is only used to identify Custom Roles.

Import Job Roles

Absorb allows Admins to bulk import or update Job Roles using a comma-separated values (CSV) upload through the Admin Interface. This capability is useful for organizations with pre-existing frameworks or for those looking to manage changes at scale.

Job Role Import Prerequisites

To ensure a successful import, please review the following guidelines:

• Skills must be enabled in your Portal.
• Import Skills first, especially if you are referencing them in the Job Roles file.
• Skills must exist before they can be assigned to a Job Role.
• Job Role Categories must be created prior to import in the system.

What Job Role Import Does

A Job Role import performs the following actions:

• Creates new Job Roles.
• Updates existing Job Roles (based on Name or GUID).
• Assigns Skills (and levels) to Job Roles.

Required Fields

Your Job Roles file supports the following fields:

• Job Role Name (required)
• Job Role Category (required, and must exist in system)
• Is Active (optional)
• Job Summary (optional)

Assign Skills to Job Roles

To assign Skills during import, include the following fields:

• Skill Name
• Skill Level (1–5)

For roles with multiple Skills, list the Job Role in multiple rows, one row per Skill.

How Job Role Updates Work

If a Job Role Name (or GUID) in your import matches an existing role in the system, the Job Role will be updated with new information, including Skill assignments, summary, and activation status.

How to Import Job Roles

To import Job Roles, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Job Roles area in the Admin Interface.
2. Upload your formatted CSV.
3. Submit the import job. You will receive a system notification once the import is complete.

Job Role Import Best Practices

Consider the following best practices when importing Job Roles:

• Always import Skills before Job Roles.
• Use the Skills Catalog for the best tagging and recommendation experience.
• Use name-based matching consistently to ensure updates work as expected.

Manage Job Categories

Absorb categorizes roles into different groupings depending on certain factors, such as the Department that a specific role belongs to. However, these groupings may not be optimal for your organization. You can create new Job Categories and re-organize roles to align with your organization's structure.

Creating Job Categories

You can create new Job Categories from the Job Roles page. From this page, complete the following steps:

1. Click Manage Categories in the right-hand menu. A list of existing Job Categories will open.
2. Click Add Job Category in the right-hand menu. The Add Job Category page will open.
3. Enter the Category name.
   
    
4. Click Save to create the new Category.

Assigning Job Categories

You can assign Job Roles to new or different Categories either by editing individual roles or by using Mass Actions to edit multiple roles at once. To edit a single Job Role's Category, select the role and open the Edit Job Role page.

To assign a Category to multiple Job Roles, complete the following steps:

1. On the Job Roles Report, select all the roles to be updated.
2. In the Mass Actions menu on the right-hand side of the screen, click Assign Category.
   
    
3. In the Assign Category modal frame, select a new Category.
4. Click Assign.
   

Edit Job Role Page

This page allows an Admin to alter the information associated with the Job Role. You can edit Job Roles added from the Catalog or custom Job Roles. The new value entered is what will be shown in the Learner Experience. This is helpful for organizations with unique Job Role names or for slight formatting tweaks to suit client preferences.

View Job Role Modal

The View Job Role modal is not only available in the legacy experience and gives an Admin a read-only summary view of a given Job Role, structured very similarly to a typical job description. This information is all based on our data library that serves as the foundation for the Absorb Skills product.

The modal includes the following sections:

1. Job Summary: A brief description of the role.
2. Responsibilities: A list of the most common responsibilities associated with the role, based on thousands of job postings.
3. Job Skills: The Job Skills from our library that are associated with the role. These are structured as a flat list with a proficiency level of either Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.

Duplicate Job Role Modal

The Duplicate Job Role modal gives an Admin the ability to copy a Job Role. The Duplicate Job Role feature is useful when another version of the same Job Role is necessary.

The default status of this page is set to Inactive. Once edits to a Job Role have been completed, set the Status to Active to make the updated Job Role available to Learners.

To duplicate a Job Role, complete the following steps:

1. From the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
   
    
2. Click the Job Roles Report.
3. Click an existing line item when viewing the Report.
4. Click Duplicate under the Actions menu on the right-hand side of the page.
   
    
5. In the Name field, enter a Job Role Name. This Name can also be a goal that focuses on a skill set rather than a full Job Role.
6. Click the Category dropdown.
7. Select a Category from the list of available Categories.
8. In the Job Summary field, enter a brief description of the Role.
   
    
9. Click Add Responsibilities to add a Responsibility to the Job Role. You can add one or multiple Responsibilities to a Role.
   
    
10. Under the Job Skills heading, click Add Job Skill to add a Skill to this Role.
    
     

Troubleshooting: Job Roles

There may be issues or errors that you encounter when working with Job Roles in Absorb Skills. In this section, we will outline some common scenarios and potential solutions.

Job Role Import Stuck In Progress

When importing new Job Roles using a CSV file, a message stating "Job role import in progress. No more than one import may be active at any time" appears at the top of the Job Roles Report until the import is complete. If the import is taking a long time and the message persists, the import may have failed. If this occurs, Absorb Support can provide assistance.

Skills

The Skills Report is where you will find our extensive library of Job Skills. These are what power the course recommendations and help structure the Learning Paths in the Learner Experience.

At launch, this expertly-crafted library contains over 2500 Job Skills.

Skills Report Columns

The Skills Report displays the following columns:

• Name: Name of the Skill.
• Status: Shows whether a Skill is marked as Active ("Yes") in the Portal. Only Active Skills are surfaced in the Learner Experience for Learners to assess against.
• Category: Categories that group certain Skill types and industries, making it easier to find related items.
• Job Roles: Number of Job Roles associated with the Skill.
• Courses: Number of Courses associated with the Skill.
• Added By: Name of the Admin who added the Skill.
• Date Added: Date the item was initially added to your Library.

Legacy Skills Report Columns

The legacy experience of the Skills Report displays the following additional columns:

• Date Added: Date the item was initially added to our library.
• Date Edited: Date the item was last updated.
• ID: Unique GUID.

Skills Report Action Tools

The actions below are broken down between single actions and mass actions. A single action can only be taken when one item in total is selected from the Report, while a mass action can be taken with multiple items selected from the Report.

Creating a Custom Skill

Creating a Custom Skill allows organizations to define and track unique Skills specific to their workforce. The default Status of the Custom Skill is set to Inactive. Once a new Skill has been created, set the Status to Active to make it available for use. Note that a Skill can be saved if the Status is set to Inactive, but all required fields must be populated.

To add a new Custom Skill, complete the following steps:

1. From the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
2. Click Skills.
3. Click Add Skill under the blue Actions menu on the right-hand side of the page.
   
    
4. In the Name field, enter the name of the Custom Skill.
   
    
5. In the Description field, enter a brief description of the Skill.
6. Under the Levels heading, click Add Proficiency Level Description to provide additional details about each level for this Skill.
7. Once you have completed the relevant fields, toggle the Status to Active. A Custom Skill can still be saved if this Status remains Inactive.
8. Click Save.

Duplicating a Skill

The Duplicate Skill modal gives an Admin the ability to copy an existing Skill to make edits. The new Skill will now be a Custom Skill. The Duplicate Skill feature is useful when another version of the same Skill is necessary.

The default Status of this page is set to Inactive. Once edits to a Skill have been completed, set the Status to Active to make the updated Skill available.

To duplicate a Skill, complete the following steps:

1. From the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
2. Click Skills.
3. Click an existing line item when viewing the Report.
   
    
4. Click Duplicate under the Actions menu on the right-hand side of the page.
5. In the Name field, enter a Skill Name. This Name can also represent a specialization or variation of an existing Skill. Note that a Skill Name must be unique.
6. In the Description field, enter a brief description of the Skill.
7. Under the Levels heading, click Add Proficiency Level Description to provide additional details about each level for this Skill.
8. Click Save.

Editing a Skill

The Edit Skill page allows an Admin to modify the Name, Description, and Level Descriptions of a given Custom Skill. Any new values entered in these fields will be reflected in the Learner Experience.

Note that at the moment, machine learning updates are only made to system Skills pulled from the Catalog and not custom client Skills. In order for a Skill to be auto-tagged to content, it must originate from the Catalog.

Add From Catalog

Absorb provides Job Roles out of the box. Adding from the Catalog allows you to choose what Job Roles matter to your organization as a starting point. Once the Job Role is added, you can edit the information or Job Skills related to it. When you add a Job Role from the Catalog you will also be adding the associated Skills to your Skills Library.

Import Skills

Absorb allows Admins to bulk import or update Skills using a CSV upload through the Admin Interface. This capability is useful for organizations with pre-existing frameworks or for those looking to manage changes at scale.

Skill Import Prerequisites

To ensure a successful import, please review the following guidelines:

• Skills must be enabled in your Portal.
• Import Skills first, especially if you are referencing them in the Job Roles file.
• Skills must exist before they can be assigned to a Job Role.
• Job Role Categories must be created prior to import in the system.

What Skill Import Does

A Skill import performs the following actions:

• Creates new Skills.
• Updates existing Skills (based on Name or GUID).

Import Fields

Your Skills file supports the following fields:

• Name (required)
• Skill ID (GUID) (optional)
• Is Active (1 = active, 0 = inactive) (required)
• Skill Description (optional)
• Level 1–5 Descriptions (optional)

How Skill Updates Work

If a Skill Name (or GUID) in your CSV matches an existing Skill in your Portal, the import will update that record with the new details, such as description, level definitions, and active status.

How to Import Skills

To import Skills, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Skills area in the Admin Interface.
2. Upload your formatted CSV.
3. Submit the import job. You will receive a system notification once the import is complete.

Skill Import Best Practices

Consider the following best practices when importing Skills:

• Always import Skills before Job Roles.
• Use the Skills Catalog for the best tagging and recommendation experience.
• Use name-based matching consistently to ensure updates work as expected.

Search for Skills

The Skills Report allows you to search for desired Skills using the Search bar at the top of the Skills Report. Note that this search will review both the Skill Name and Description for matching terms. For example, if you enter the term "leadership", the search will return Skills that contain that term in either the Skill Name, Description, or both.

In the above screenshot, the Management Training and Development Skill does not contain "leadership" in the title, but after clicking Edit to view more details, you can see the Description contains the term "leadership":

For more granular search options, use the legacy experience by clicking View legacy experience next to the Add button on the report page.

In the legacy view, you can use the Add Filter button to search for Skills by Name, Description, or other field.

Filter Skills by Status

The Skills Report includes a Status filter that narrows the list to Active or Inactive Skills. Because only Active Skills are surfaced in the Learner Experience, this filter is useful for reviewing what your Learners can currently assess against, or for locating Skills that were saved but never activated.

When you open the Skills Report, the Status filter is pre-set to Active, so Inactive Skills are hidden until you change the selection. To adjust the filter, complete the following steps:

1. From the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
2. Click Skills.
3. Click the Status dropdown above the list.
4. Select Active, Inactive, or both. The list updates to match your selection.

For more granular filtering options, use the legacy experience by clicking View legacy experience next to the Add button on the report page. In the legacy view, use the Add Filter button to filter Skills by Name, Description, or other fields.

Manage Skill Categories

Absorb categorizes Skills into different groups depending on certain factors, such as the Department that a specific Skill belongs to. However, these groups may not be optimal for your organization. You can create new Skill Categories and re-organize Skills to align with your organization's structure.

Creating Skill Categories

You can create new Skill Categories from the legacy experience of the Skills Report. To access this page, open the Skills Report and click View legacy experience.

From this page, complete the following steps:

1. Click Manage Categories in the right-hand menu. A list of existing Skill Categories will open.
2. Click Add in the right-hand menu. The Add Skill Category page will open.
3. Enter the Category name.
   
    
4. Click Save to create the new Category.

Assigning Skill Categories

You can assign Skills to new or different Categories by editing the Skill. To assign a Category, complete the following steps:

1. In the Admin Experience, click Skills in the left-hand menu.
2. Locate the Skill you wish to assign a Category to and click Edit.
3. Under General, click the Category dropdown.
4. Select a Category for the Skill. Note that only one Category may be assigned to a Skill at this time.
   
    
5. Click Save.

Self-Assessments

The Self-Assessments Report shows the status of each Self-Assessment started by Learners, and provides the Admin a window into how a Learner has interacted with the Self-Assessment workflow.

Only single-select is available on this report.

Self-Assessments Report Columns

The Self-Assessments Report displays the following columns:

• Current Role: Shows the role that the Learner selected in the Current Role step of their Self-Assessment.
• Date Added: Date the Learner started the Self-Assessment.
• Date Edited: Date of last activity on the Self-Assessment.
• Desired Role: Shows the role that the Learner selected in the Desired Role step of their Self-Assessment. For role-less Skills, this field displays as N/A.
• First Name: Learner's first name.
• ID: Unique ID for the Self-Assessment.
• Last Name: Learner's last name.
• Status: Status of the Self-Assessment.
• Manager Assessment: Indicates the status of the Manager's review of a Learner's Self-Assessment: Complete or Pending. This column will only display if Manager Experience is enabled on the Portal.

Self-Assessments Report Action Tools

The following actions are available on the Self-Assessments Report:

Learning Path Details Page

The Learning Path Details page gives Admins a snapshot into the results of a Learner's Skills journey. This page shows the Learner's Job Roles selected, included Job Skills, and how they rated themselves against each through their Self-Assessment. Skills with no associated Role will display N/A in the Role column.

This page is read-only, as it is just presenting choices made by the Learner.

Expanding a certain line item from the Job Skills section will show the Courses that they have added to that section of their Learning Path, as well as their enrollment status for each.

Skills Activity

The Skills Activity Report is where an Admin will be able to track their Learners' engagement with Absorb Skills. Through this report, you can identify the most popular topics or areas where you may need some additional content to fill a gap and keep up with Learner demand.

Skills Activity Report Columns

The Skills Activity Report displays the following columns:

• Name: Shows the name of the Job Skill.
• ID: Unique ID for the Skill. This will match the ID on the Skills Report.
• Type: Shows the type of Skill (Job Skill).
• # of Interests: The number of times this Job Skill was part of a Self-Assessment across all Learners.
• # of Users: The number of unique Users who selected this Job Skill as part of their Self-Assessment.
• # of Enrollments: The number of course enrollments this Job Skill was mapped to.
• # of Courses: The number of Courses this Job Skill was mapped to.
• Completed Courses: Number of completed Courses by the Learners where the Job Skill was mapped.
• Courses In Progress: Number of Courses currently in progress across the Learners where the Job Skill was mapped.
• Courses Not Started: Number of non-started Courses by the Learners where the Job Skill was mapped.
• Category: The Job Skill Category.

Skills Activity Report Action Tools

The following actions are available on the Skills Activity Report:

Learner Skill Details

The Learner Skill Details Report provides details on each Skill or Competency rated per Learner. Each row represents a single Self-Assessment rating, so both Job Skills and Competencies appear on this report. This will help you analyze the progress your Learners are making, as well as assess the Proficiency Levels of Skills across your organization to identify both strengths and potential skill gaps.

Only single-select is available on this report.

Learner Skill Details Report Columns

The Learner Skill Details Report displays the following columns:

• Skill Name: The Skill or Competency selected as part of the Self-Assessment by the Learner.
• First Name: Learner's first name.
• Last Name: Learner's last name.
• Current Level: Shows the Learner's Self-Assessment rating for the Skill or Competency.
• Desired Level: Shows the Proficiency Level bench-marked by the Desired Role selected by the Learner.
• Type: Indicates whether the rated item is a Skill or a Competency. This column is not currently available for selection in the Admin Experience.
• Current Role: Shows the Learner's selected Current Role on their Self-Assessment. Items with no associated Role will display N/A in this column.
• Desired Role: Shows the Learner's selected Desired Role on their Self-Assessment. Items with no associated Role will display N/A in this column.
• Category: Shows the Category of the Skill or Competency.
• Self Assessment ID: Shows the unique Self-Assessment ID from which this item was selected.
• Department: Shows the Learner's current Department.
• Date Added: Shows the date when this was rated during the Self-Assessment.
• Date Edited: Shows the date when this rating was last updated during the Self-Assessment.

Learner Skill Details Report Action Tools

The following actions are available on the Learner Skill Details Report:

Learning Paths

The Learning Paths Report gives the Admin an overview of a Learner's Progress with their Learning Path.

Only single-select is available on this report.

Learning Paths Report Access

Access to the Learning Paths Report depends on your Portal configuration and your Admin permissions:

• The report is only available when Skills is enabled on your Portal with an active license term.
• Viewing the report requires the Learning Paths - View permission.
• The View Details action requires both Learning Paths - View and Self-Assessments - View.

Learning Paths Report Columns

The Learning Paths Report displays the following columns:

• # of Courses: Number of Courses (total) a Learner has added to their Learning Path.
• Current Role: What the Learner selected as their Current Role during the Self-Assessment.
• Date Added: The date the Learning Path was added.
• Date Edited: The date of the most recent changes to the Learning Path.
• Date Started: The date the Learning Path was started.
• Desired Role: What the Learner selected as their Desired Role during the Self-Assessment. Skills with no associated Role will display N/A in this column.
• First Name: The Learner's first name.
• ID: The Learning Path ID.
• Is Active: Whether the Learning Path is Active (Yes) or Archived (No).
• Last Name: The Learner's last name.
• Self-Assessment ID: The ID of the Self-Assessment that this Learning Path is based on.
• Manager Assessed Level: The Manager-assessed rating for the Skill, available only after a Manager has evaluated the Learner's Self-Assessment.

Learning Paths Report Action Tools

The following actions are available on the Learning Paths Report: