How to Build a SharePoint Employee Skills and Project Experience Database

Do not place up to 50 projects and all their attributes in one multi-select choice field. That produces long comma-separated values and makes filtering, updating, and reporting difficult. Use a relational design: one Employees list and one Projects or Assignments list with one row per employee-project relationship.

Design the Lists Before Entering Data

The Employees list should contain one item per person: Employee ID, name, role, contact details, profile review date, and high-level qualifications. The Projects list should contain one item per assignment: project name, employee lookup, location, project type, dates, role, client, experience summary, and category fields.

Create the Employee-to-Project Relationship

1. Create an Employees SharePoint list and add a unique Employee ID plus profile fields.
2. Create a Projects list and add one item for every employee assignment rather than one field holding many projects.
3. Add an Employee Lookup column in Projects that points to the Employees list. Use Choice columns for controlled values such as country, project type, and expertise category.
4. Create filtered views such as Location = Singapore, group projects by employee, and add an Employees list link that opens a filtered Projects view for that person.

Model Skills and Qualifications Separately When Needed

If employees can have many skills with proficiency levels and expiry dates, create a third Employee Skills list with Employee lookup, Skill lookup or choice, Level, Verified date, and Expiry date. This avoids dozens of checkbox columns and supports accurate filtering.

Schedule Profile Review Reminders

Create a scheduled Power Automate flow that runs daily or weekly, finds Employees whose Next Review Date is approaching, emails the employee or manager, and updates a Reminder Sent field. Add a second reminder or escalation only when the review remains overdue.

Use WPS Office for Exports, Not SharePoint List Relationships

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WPS Office cannot create SharePoint lookup relationships, permissions, views, or Power Automate cloud reminders.

When list data is exported to XLSX or PDF, WPS Office is a free, lightweight Microsoft Office-compatible suite for local review with a familiar interface, spreadsheet filtering, charts, PDF tools, and WPS AI-assisted analysis. Treat exported files as snapshots; update the authoritative employee and project records in SharePoint.

Build a SharePoint Employee Skills and Project Experience Database FAQs

Why is a multi-select Choice column unsuitable for 50 projects?

It stores many values in one item, hides project-specific attributes, and makes each project difficult to update, filter, or report independently.

Should each employee appear many times in the Projects list?

Yes. Each employee-project assignment is a separate item linked back to one employee through the lookup column.

How can users filter for experience in Singapore?

Store Location as a dedicated Choice or managed metadata field on each project item, then create a view filtered to Singapore.

Where should qualification expiry dates be stored?

Use a separate Employee Skills or Qualifications list when each qualification needs its own level, verified date, expiry date, or evidence.