Skills Risk Radar: How to Spot Gaps Early and Act with Confidence

Maddie Oliver shows how a Skills Risk Radar gives executives a clear, repeatable way to see where critical skills are at risk and decide how to respond. Built on four dimensions – coverage, scarcity, ramp time and concentration – the radar combines internal and market signals, a response scorecard, and finance-ready metrics. Expect practical tools you can take back: a radar spec, a decision scorecard, and a monthly cadence note that turns alerts into funded actions.

• Radar framework – coverage, scarcity, ramp time and concentration, with a criticality lens.
• Signals – internal and market data sources, freshness SLAs and explainability.
• Decision framework – linking alerts to actions (retain, reskill, recruit, relocate, automate) through a response scorecard.
• Governance – policy-as-code, privacy and fairness checks, audit trails and override rules.
• Finance cadence – avoided-risk and time-to-coverage metrics, monthly note, and integration with SWP scenarios.

• Define and explain a Skills Risk Radar to executives using clear business-linked dimensions and signals.
• Connect radar alerts to funded decisions with owners, SLAs and response scorecards.
• Run a monthly cadence with finance-grade metrics on avoided risk, cost ranges and adoption.
• Apply governance standards – policy-as-code, bias and privacy checks, explainability and rollback paths.
• Integrate radar outputs with SWP scenarios to guide build, buy or blend strategies Finance will sign off.

Maddie Oliver

Director, Talent Acquisition & Workforce Management Analytics · Citi

Leaders face rising pressure from boards and finance chiefs to prove they can safeguard critical capability while controlling cost. Scarce skills, long ramp times and concentrated knowledge pose financial and operational risks. A radar provides a systematic way to identify gaps, agree funded responses and demonstrate governance to Finance, Legal and Works Councils.