Building a Sustainable Skills Ontology for Your Organization

In the traditional Saudi corporate structure, the fundamental unit of value has always been the "Job Title." We hire a "Senior Manager," promote a "Director," and pay a "Vice President." We define these roles with static Job Descriptions (JDs) that list rigid requirements: Master’s Degree, 15 years of experience, Engineering background.

However, in the dynamic ecosystem of Vision 2030, this static model is breaking. The velocity of change in the Kingdom—driven by AI, Giga-projects, and new regulatory frameworks—means that the job you hire for today will look completely different in 18 months.

If you hire a "Marketing Manager" based on a 2019 JD, you might get someone who knows traditional print media but lacks the ability to manage a generative AI campaign. If you hire a "Project Engineer" based on degree alone, you might miss the candidate who lacks the degree but possesses the agile certifications and adaptability required to deliver NEOM.

To survive this shift, HR leaders must move from "Job Management" to "Skills Management." The tool for this transformation is the Skills Ontology.

A Skills Ontology is not just a list of competencies. It is a dynamic, interconnected map of the skills within your organization, showing how they relate to one another, how they transfer between roles, and how they align with business strategy. It is the DNA of a future-proof workforce.

1. What is a Skills Ontology?

Most organizations have a "Competency Framework"—a static spreadsheet listing desired behaviors. A Skills Ontology is different. It is a "living" data structure that understands the relationships between skills.

• The Difference: A Competency Framework says, “A Project Manager must communicate well.” A Skills Ontology says, “The skill of ‘Project Management’ is adjacent to ‘Agile Methodologies,’ ‘Stakeholder Analysis,’ and ‘Risk Mitigation.’ If an employee has ‘Risk Mitigation,’ they are 60% ready for a Project Management role.”

• The Agility: Because the ontology is dynamic, it allows the organization to pivot. When a new technology emerges (e.g., Generative AI), you can map it into the ontology and immediately see which existing roles are best positioned to learn it.

1. Combating "Degree Inflation" with Skills-Based Hiring

A critical challenge in the Saudi market is "Degree Inflation"—the tendency to demand high-level academic qualifications for roles that actually require practical skills. This artificial barrier excludes a vast pool of talented Saudi nationals who have the capability but not the specific pedigree.

Building an ontology allows for Skills-Based Hiring.

• The Shift: Instead of posting a job for a "University Graduate with a Finance Degree," you post a role requiring "Data Analysis, Excel Proficiency, and Regulatory Reporting."

• The Impact: This opens the door to candidates from non-traditional backgrounds (e.g., a candidate with a History degree who has upskilled in Data Analytics). As noted in recruitment guides, skills-based hiring is a practical guide for HR to widen the funnel and find "market-ready" talent rather than just "credentialed" talent.

• Saudization: This is a secret weapon for Nitaqat. Many young Saudis have high digital literacy and adaptability but lack 10 years of experience. An ontology helps you identify their potential and hire them for what they can do, not what they have studied.

1. Adaptability: The "Meta-Node" of the Ontology

In a Skills Ontology, some skills are "technical" (e.g., Python, Accounting), and some are "behavioral." However, recent market signals indicate that one skill connects them all: Adaptability.

• The Demand: Recruiters increasingly state they want adaptable talent, yet traditional processes filter them out because they scan for keywords rather than potential.

• The Ontology Fix: A well-built ontology weights "Adaptability" and "Cognitive Flexibility" as high-value nodes. It recognizes that a candidate who has successfully pivoted industries twice is more valuable than one who has stayed in the same lane for 20 years, even if the latter has "more experience" on paper.

• HCDP Alignment: The Human Capability Development Program aims to create globally competitive citizens. Adaptability is the core competency that ensures a Saudi workforce can navigate the post-oil economy.

1. Vertical Saudization through "Adjacent Skills"

The most strategic application of a Skills Ontology is Vertical Saudization—moving nationals from administrative roles into technical and leadership positions.

• The "Dead End" Problem: A Saudi employee is hired as an "Admin Coordinator." Without an ontology, they stay there.

• The "Adjacent" Solution: The ontology reveals that "Admin Coordination" shares 40% of its skills with "Junior Project Management" (scheduling, resource tracking, documentation).

• The Path: You can now create a targeted Learning & Development path. You provide the specific "bridge skills" (e.g., PMP basics) to move that Admin into Project Management. This is how you build a sustainable Green Nitaqat status from within.

1. Building the Ontology: Audit, Map, and Validate

Creating an ontology is not an overnight task. It requires a structured approach.

• Step 1: The Skills Audit. You cannot map what you do not know. Use HR Data Management techniques to audit the current skills of your workforce. Don't just look at job titles; survey employees on what they actually do.

• Step 2: The Market Map. Compare your internal skills against market data. What skills are your competitors hiring for? What are the emerging trends in your industry?

• Step 3: The Validation. Validate the map with functional leaders. Does the Engineering Director agree that "AutoCAD" is a prerequisite for "Design Lead"?

• Technology: You need the right tech. Trying to manage an ontology in Excel is impossible. You need HR Technology that integrates with recruitment and performance systems to keep the data live.

1. Integrating L&D: Learning with Precision

Once the ontology is built, it transforms your Learning & Development Strategy. Instead of "spray and pray" training (where everyone gets the same generic leadership course), you can deploy "Precision L&D."

• The Gap Analysis: The ontology instantly highlights gaps. “We have 50 employees with 'Basic Python,' but we need 10 with 'Advanced AI Modeling' by Q4.”

• The Investment: You direct your L&D budget specifically to close that gap. This ensures that every riyal spent on training has a direct line of sight to a business capability requirement.

1. The Outsourcing Shortcut

Building internal capability takes time. Sometimes, the ontology reveals a critical gap that cannot be filled internally in the short term.

• Strategic Outsourcing: This is where Employee Outsourcing becomes a strategic tool.

• The Injection: If your ontology shows a "Red" status for "Cybersecurity," you partner with Inclusive Solutions to deploy a team of outsourced experts immediately.

• The Transfer: Crucially, you use the ontology to define the "Knowledge Transfer" requirements. The outsourced experts are tasked with upskilling your internal "Yellow" skill holders to "Green" before their contract ends.

1. Conclusion: The Currency of the Future

In the future of the Saudi labor market, the currency is not the Job Title; it is the Skill Set. Organizations that cling to rigid job descriptions will find themselves with a workforce that is obsolete. Organizations that build a dynamic Skills Ontology will have the agility to reinvent themselves as Vision 2030 evolves.

Inclusive Solutions is your partner in this architectural shift.

• HR Management & Consulting: We help you design Job Architectures and Competency Frameworks that form the backbone of your ontology.

• Recruitment Services: We utilize Skills-Based Hiring methodologies to find candidates who match your capability needs, not just your title requirements.

• HR Technology: We advise on and implement HRMS solutions that can host and manage your dynamic skills data.

• Workforce Planning: We align your skills strategy with Saudization targets, ensuring you are building a resilient, compliant, and capable workforce.

Map the skills. Unlock the potential.

Website:https://www.inclusive.sa | Email: info@inclusivesolutions.com.sa