Competency Frameworks
Competencies : In relation to Korn Ferry Leadership Architect™ a “competency” is what managers/leaders/contributors do, a collection of behaviours that are relevant to work performance.
Competencies provide a common language of talent across an organization so that it can purposefully recruit new hires, develop talent, select high-potential leaders, measure job performance, and manage promotions and job assignments. This type of strategic approach to talent has become increasingly important, not least because growth businesses are pressed to give individuals larger roles earlier in their careers, and the cost of recruiting talent continues to rise.
A robust competency framework has tremendous value as a long-term strategic planning tool, enabling companies to accumulate individual abilities into the organizational capacity needed to compete. Rather than simply react, organizations that update their competency framework can anticipate the talent they will need, identify rich talent communities, and develop the talent they know they’ll require. In essence, a company’s competency framework spells out how its strategy will be activated with talent—and thus should be updated in tandem with the business strategy.
Organizations need a competency framework to operate robustly at both the micro and macro levels. They also require that it be customizable to their industry—financial services and industrial manufacturing, for instance, likely emphasize different competencies—or unique circumstances. Equally important, they need it to zoom in to diagnose what behaviors indicate about a salesperson’s readiness to move into a supervisor’s role, or zoom out to anticipate the leadership gaps likely to face a company expanding onto a new continent. It’s worth noting that even though certain competencies may be in higher or lower supply in different parts of the world, they are as a measurement tool both globally neutral and globally relevant.
Competency Models: A competency model is a list of behaviours that define a role, business, team or organisation. Competencies differentiate average performers from superior performers and assist any organisation in identifying and developing talent.
One of the reasons competency frameworks continue to grow in relevance is that they provide talent building blocks that can be rearranged to suit changing business strategies.
Most frequently, competencies are arranged into specific models that link individual competencies to the broader goals of the organization (Schippmann et al. 2000), filtered through the business context and competitive strategy. These might be further refined for function or management level. Once that’s done, an organization is prepared to assess, develop, and expand its whole talent capacity to gain measurable competitive advantage (Porter 1985).
An updated and well-constructed competency framework improves all of the following efforts:
Competencies provide a common language of talent across an organization so that it can purposefully recruit new hires, develop talent, select high-potential leaders, measure job performance, and manage promotions and job assignments. This type of strategic approach to talent has become increasingly important, not least because growth businesses are pressed to give individuals larger roles earlier in their careers, and the cost of recruiting talent continues to rise.
A robust competency framework has tremendous value as a long-term strategic planning tool, enabling companies to accumulate individual abilities into the organizational capacity needed to compete. Rather than simply react, organizations that update their competency framework can anticipate the talent they will need, identify rich talent communities, and develop the talent they know they’ll require. In essence, a company’s competency framework spells out how its strategy will be activated with talent—and thus should be updated in tandem with the business strategy.
Organizations need a competency framework to operate robustly at both the micro and macro levels. They also require that it be customizable to their industry—financial services and industrial manufacturing, for instance, likely emphasize different competencies—or unique circumstances. Equally important, they need it to zoom in to diagnose what behaviors indicate about a salesperson’s readiness to move into a supervisor’s role, or zoom out to anticipate the leadership gaps likely to face a company expanding onto a new continent. It’s worth noting that even though certain competencies may be in higher or lower supply in different parts of the world, they are as a measurement tool both globally neutral and globally relevant.
Competency Models: A competency model is a list of behaviours that define a role, business, team or organisation. Competencies differentiate average performers from superior performers and assist any organisation in identifying and developing talent.
One of the reasons competency frameworks continue to grow in relevance is that they provide talent building blocks that can be rearranged to suit changing business strategies.
Most frequently, competencies are arranged into specific models that link individual competencies to the broader goals of the organization (Schippmann et al. 2000), filtered through the business context and competitive strategy. These might be further refined for function or management level. Once that’s done, an organization is prepared to assess, develop, and expand its whole talent capacity to gain measurable competitive advantage (Porter 1985).
An updated and well-constructed competency framework improves all of the following efforts:
- Define what is required for success: A competency model can build in multiple layers and specify competencies that are core to the whole organization, management level, and business function. Right: Model that specifies core, management level, and business function competencies
- Select and hire the right candidate. Structured, competency-based, behavioral interviews can yield tremendous insight into whether a candidate will be immediately effective and have the ability to grow into future roles (Hallenbeck and Eichinger 2006).
- Assess job performance and improve feedback. Competencies that are precisely defined by their observable behaviors are easier for managers (or participants in a 360° feedback program) to assess. The value of 360° feedback—to the individual and the organization—is much reduced when respondents aren’t working from a consistent set of globally applied competencies (Bowen and Ostroff 2004). Competency models also help managers discuss how specific behaviors contributed to the person’s effectiveness at his or her job. This not only defuses tension, but focuses coaching or development conversations on concrete actions that will improve performance.
- Align talent strategy to business strategy. A competency framework is the red thread that connects all talent management practices, so keeping it updated is essential to provide the horsepower to drive the strategy. A competency framework and related models express an organization’s purpose, values, and culture—even if the details of job tasks change radically from year to year.