Transcription
Choosing Your Competency Framework:Ensuring Success with the RightContent, Tools & Services
Table of Contents:Determining Your Needs 3 Build vs. Buy Key Decision Points 34The HRSG Approach to Competencies Our Methodology: How Do We Build Competencies? HRSG’s Competency Framework What Do Our Competencies Look Like? Competency Profiles — Putting Competencies into Action on Jobs Using Competency Content Effectively Throughout theTalent Lifecycle 778111214 Bring Real Structure to Your Hiring and Selection Process 15 Perform Regular Assessments Throughout an Employees’ Tenure 15 Map and Assign Learning Resources to Continue Employees’ DevelopmentPrograms 16 Allow Your People to Build Career Paths 17Why Choose HRSG? 18A Flexible Approach to Content High Quality, Substantial Depth Our Service Commitment Providing the Right Purpose-Built Tools to Mobilize Your Project Here’s What Others Are Saying HRSG All rights reserved.—2—1818181819
Determining Your NeedsIf you’re reading this guide, you probably already know the basics of competencies1. You alsoprobably have a challenge within your organization that competencies can help address.Regardless of the specific challenge that you’re looking to address, we have found that there are afew crucial decision points to guide your selection of a solution provider.Build vs. BuyFor the purposes of this guide, we’re assumingthat you have made the decision to purchasea competency solution rather than buildingyour own competencies from scratch. But justin case you’re still mulling over your options,here’s a quick recap on the advantage of using apre-built framework.Purchasing a competency framework — whichtypically includes a comprehensive competencydictionary and the competency models (orprofiles) for jobs — provides an organization1with content that has been developed andvalidated by competency professionals, andthat can be used “off the shelf” to support yourroll out. This approach requires significantlyless budget than is required to buildcompetencies from scratch.At the end of the day, even if your organizationis highly unique and specialized, you’re prettylikely to save time, resources and budget bypurchasing a framework and customizing thecompetencies to fit your needs.(if you need more info on the basics of competencies, be sure to check out our Competency Toolkit which includes ourCompetencies 101 resource.) HRSG All rights reserved.—3—
Key Decision PointsIf you’ve decided to use a pre-built solution,it’s time to start looking at vendors. There area limited number of organizations competingin this space, but even still, it can be difficultterrain to wade through for HR and talentmanagement professionals.From our 30 years of experience in thecompetency industry, most decisions come downto a few key factors. Let’s take a look at those.Are you looking for skill-basedcompetencies vs. behavioral?Single-level or multi-level?If you’re looking to use competencies as achecklist (“this person has the skills for thejob”), then single-level competencies may begood enough for your needs. But in the vastmajority of organizations, different jobs andjob levels require different levels of skills,knowledge and abilities.Some vendors promote lists of skills as“competencies.” For most serious players inthe competency landscape, competenciesconsist of not just skills, but the knowledge,skills and abilities critical to effectiveperformance in any job.Behavioral competencies outperform other skillbased approaches because they enable you todescribe not just what an employee is expectedto do on the job, but how they can be successfuldoing it. Unlike skill statements, behavioralcompetencies also provide a deeper level ofobservable criteria that enables them to beused to assess and develop people across theentire employee lifecycle.By incorporating a combination of behavioralcompetencies—competencies describing thegeneral behaviors required to perform effectivelyin a range of jobs—and technical competencies—competencies describing the applicationof knowledge and skills needed to performeffectively in a specific role or group of jobs—weoffer a highly targeted solution to help our clientreflect both the “soft skills” and “know-how”needed for successful job performance. HRSG All rights reserved.Breaking a competency into progressivelevels of proficiency provides more accuracyand allows managers and employees to seehow a competency is expressed differentlydepending on the amount of experience, skill,and aptitude required for a particular job. Thisadditional detail provides a shared languageduring discussions about performance andgreater accuracy when talking about specificworkplace behaviors and expectations.One of the great advantages of HRSG’s multilevel competencies is their ability to createconsistency and continuity across the talentlifecycle. This ultimately results in greaterbuy-in from employees due to the clarity thecompetencies provide to close skill gaps andachieve development goals.—4—
Do you need content that works intandem with the competencies?Will you need to customize thecompetencies?Competencies can obviously be valuablecontent on their own, but their impact ismaximized when there is additional materialavailable to support roll-out of competenciesacross the employee lifecycle. Vendors willprovide different content or services to supportimplementation, so it is critical to understandwhere you want to implement competencies.Determining whether you need, or want tocustomize the competencies and job profilesfor your organizational context is another areaof consideration, and not all providers equip youwith the tools, or even the permission, to do so.For example, if your organization has experiencedthe high costs associated with a bad hire,you may want to look for a vendor that offerscompetency-based interview questions aspart of the offering. If employee performanceis an area of concern, learning objectivesmapped to competencies will likely be arequirement for your program.HRSG’s offerings also include plenty of “wraparound” content. This includes easy-assemblyinterview guides based on the competencies,mapped learning resources, job descriptions withembedded AI-mapped competencies, and muchmore. This “wrap-around” content significantlyincreases the use that you’ll get out of yourcompetency investment on a day-to-day basis. HRSG All rights reserved.One of the key benefits of being able to customizethe competency content is to help employeessee the relevance of the competencies to theircurrent, or future jobs. With many clients,isolating the changes to a common set ofcore competencies that apply to all jobs in theorganization is more than sufficient in gainingthe buy-in from stakeholders.HRSG recognizes that jobs and organizationsare unique. Our competencies can be easilycustomized to match your needs, and weprovide you with the tools to easily manageand update this content. By adapting off-theshelf competencies, you not only benefit fromthe cost savings associated with developingcompetencies from scratch, but you are able toreflect your organization’s unique perspectiveand culture into the language used in thebehavioral indicators.—5—
Tools and supportResearch has shown that two of the top barriersto successfully rolling out competencies isthe lack of internal know-how in competencymanagement and lack of technology. If you arenot a competency expert, look for a vendor whocan provide the tools and support that you needto help navigate these sometimes-complexprojects, and manage your content over time.CompetencyCore by HRSG gives you controlover your competency initiative with purposebuilt tools designed to make your life easier.Supported by a team of competency experts,HRSG clients get access to advisors who canensure your initiative is set up for success andcaution against common pitfalls.Client spotlight:Building competency profiles quickly for anentire organizationAdaptavist used CompetencyCore’s includedcompetency libraries as the basis for developingtheir organization’s accurate, highly relevantcompetency profiles. HRSG’s tools significantlyaccelerated the process of building andcustomizing competencies, linking themwith roles and building an organizationalcompetency hierarchy. HRSG All rights reserved.Hear it from the client:The tool made it easy for me tocustomize the competencies and dropthem into the libraries, drop them intothe roles really quickly.— Neil Penny, L&D Consultant,Adaptavist—6—
The HRSG Approach to CompetenciesOur Methodology: How Do We Build Competencies?HRSG’s competencies are a product of thousandsof hours of research by competency experts.This internal knowledge is built on 30 years ofexperience in the competency consulting anddevelopment fields. Our confidence in our contentcomes from the thorough process that we havehoned and perfected over those three decades. HRSG All rights reserved.Through extensive literature search, review ofbest practices, and job analysis conducted withclient organizations, HRSG’s competencieshave been validated across a broad range ofoccupations and industries. Additionally, ourcontent is regularly refined over time to ensureits continued relevance and to accurately reflectchanges in the real-world labor market.—7—
HRSG’s Competency FrameworkHRSG offers a comprehensive competency solution that covers the range of behavioral and technicalknowledge, skills and abilities for jobs in virtually any work environment. Updates to our competencydictionary are released on an annual basis to reflect emerging trends in the workforce.HRSG’s CompetenciesUniversal competenciesTechnical competenciesThese ‘general’, or ‘behavioral’competencies articulate thesofter, natural or inherentbehaviors of your employees.Technical competencies describe the application of knowledgeand skills needed for success in specialized fields.Examples:PP Attention to DetailPP Client FocusPP Emotional IntelligencePP Managing ConflictsPP Problem SolvingExamples:PP Business Development (a technical competency for salesprofessionals)PP Fraud Detection and Control (a technical competency foraccounting & finance professionals)PP Database Administration (a technical competency for ITprofessionals)Leadership competenciesLeadership competencies capture the essence of effectiveleaders and translate it into measurable behaviors.Examples:PP Acting with Empathy and CompassionPP Inspiring Others HRSG All rights reserved.—8—
How do we choose competencies to build?Universal competenciesHRSG has identified five key categories that we look to ensure coverage on through ouruniversal competencies. We’ve established these five key dimensions as being essential foreffective performance in the modern world of work.CategoryDefinitionThinkingThe cognitive aspect of performance.Competencies related to understanding,analyzing, and processing information, as wellas solving problems and making decisionsbased on that information. Analytical ThinkingCreativity and InnovationCritical JudgementData LiteracyProblem SolvingAchievingThe operational aspect of performance.Competencies related to initiating work,managing and organizing resources, executing,and accomplishing work goals or objectives. Managing ResourcesFacilitationPlanning and OrganizingRisk TakingInfluencingThe interpersonal aspect of performance.Competencies related to connecting withpeople, motivating them, and growing them. Impact and InfluenceFostering ngThe personal aspect of performance.Competencies related to an individual’sapplication of personal resources, adapting,coping, and demonstrating ethics and integrity. AdaptabilityAgilityAttention to DetailContinuous LearningResilienceApplyingCompetencies that involve applying technicalknowledge, skills, and abilities within thecontext of an occupation or profession. Thiscategory subsumes HRSG’s occupationspecific technical competencies. Account ManagementStore OperationsArchitectureDatabase Design andManagement HRSG All rights reserved.Example Competencies—9—
Technical competenciesHRSG has developed a standardized set of corporate technical competencies covering these primarybusiness functions: SalesMarketingAccounting & FinanceHRIT Business OperationsCyber SecurityRetailData AnalyticsThe competencies are selected to ensure coverage across common business skills required to runbusinesses today. They are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they align with market needs.Additional industry-specific technical competencies are also available (eg. Agile Development, CyberSecurity, Insurance, etc.), which have been scoped and built over time based on client requests anddemands from the market. HRSG All rights reserved.— 10 —
What Do Our Competencies Look Like?Here’s the breakdown of a sample HRSG competency:1 The competency definition provides a high-level description of the competency.2 The proficiency scale provides multiple proficiency levels for each competency. Each levelreflects a progression from a basic demonstration of the competency towards a more complexand strategic demonstration. For example, an entry-level employee may need to demonstratelevel 1 proficiency, while an executive may need to demonstrate level 4 or 5.Proficiency scales help you compare requirements across jobs, which is especially usefulwhen determining potential career paths within the organization.3 The notion for each level provides a high-level summary of the overall theme identified for thatproficiency level.4 A behavioral indicator provides a clear description of the observable behaviors that an employeewill demonstrate on the job. HRSG All rights reserved.— 11 —
Competency Profiles — Putting Competencies into Action on JobsThe start point for any competency initiative isa valid competency profile (sometimes referredto as a competency model) that supports allintended HR goals. A competency profile isa selection of competencies with specifiedproficiency levels required for successfulperformance in a particular job.At HRSG, we define our competency profiles asthe set of competencies, complete with the levelsof proficiency required for success in a particularjob or role. Whereas some vendors in the spacemay focus more on a skill-based approach tocompetencies, HRSG’s competency profilesconsist of a broader combination of observableabilities, skills, knowledge, motivations or traitsdefined in terms of the behaviors needed forsuccessful job performance.There are three basic criteria that competencystructures must meet:1. The competency profile includes thecompetencies that employees must have,both now and in the future, to ensure yourorganization can achieve its vision andsupport its values;2. The competency profiles must support all ofthe intended HR applications; and3. All competency profiles must be easy to useby all stakeholders.Client spotlight:Launching projects more quickly than you everthought possibleFirst Commerce Credit Union used HRSG’s prebuilt content to get their career pathing initiativeoff the ground incredibly quickly. To do this, theyrelied on CompetencyCore, with its draft jobdescriptions embedded competency profiles.From there, it’s simply a matter of getting theusers into the software, mapping everythingappropriately, and giving them the power tobuild their own competency-driven careerpaths. The combination of the right contentand the perfect software tools made HRSG thefirst choice for the team at First Commerce. HRSG All rights reserved.Hear it from the client:We wanted it to be easy for us tomanage in human resources and getlaunched, as well as be really userfriendly on the other side so our teammembers wouldn’t be afraid to jumpon board and get involved. Finding apackage that hit those points wasvery important to us.— Donna Moran, Culture Champion,First Commerce Credit Union— 12 —
Sample competency profileAccount ExecutiveThe Account Executive maintains the relationship between the customer and the company,and strives to build new business wherever possible.CompetenciesAccount Management (Level 3) Generates revenue by developing business relationships with customers through telephone andface-to-face meetings. Controls revenue by maximizing profits through pricing strategies, margin control and mitigating customer loss. Manages sales pipeline from the proposal stage through customer acceptance and implementation.Managing the Sales Process (Level 3) Evaluates the effectiveness of the sales process to recommend improvement.Facilitates/leads the sales process by mapping it to customer responses.Adapts the organization’s sales process to the size, type and style of customer.Utilizes customer profile information to develop account strategy and relationships.Deploys all available resources to maximize both organization return-on-investment and customers’ desiredfinancial results.Business Development (Level 3) Represents the organization in face-to-face meetings with customers.Connects with multiple contacts within the prospective customer’s buying process.Qualifies the right product/services solution to fit the customer’s needs.Uses differing sources of information to develop quotes and proposals.Partnering (Level 3) Captures opportunities to partner, identifying existing opportunities and creating new ones. Assesses the value of entering into partnerships in terms of achieving short- and long-term goals. Initiates partnerships and alliances that promote organizational objectives.Client Focus (Level 3) Looks for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests.Addresses the unidentified, underlying and long-term client needs.Enhances client service delivery systems and processes.Anticipates clients' upcoming needs and concerns. HRSG All rights reserved.— 13 —
Using Competency Content EffectivelyThroughout the Talent LifecycleHireAssessCompetency-based selection, development andretention programs can provide huge benefits toorganizations who can implement them properly.But mobilizing them effectively throughoutthe talent lifecycle has, in the past, been abig challenge for some organizations. Today,that’s all changed. Developments in cloudbased software, like HRSG’s CompetencyCore,have made it accessible to functionally usecompetencies across the talent lifecycle.A typical process starts with mappingcompetencies to your company’s jobdescriptions. This process gives your job HRSG All rights reserved.DevelopEngage/Retaindescriptions powerful competency profiles thatfoster practical day-to-day applications for yourcompetency architecture. CompetencyCore’sexclusive Competency Suggestion Engineallows you to do this with the click of a mouse.Click here to watch our video overview.With your competency-embedded job descriptionsin place, you have the power to truly operationalizeyour company’s competencies throughout theentire talent management lifecycle. Here’s a brieflook at how that works.— 14 —
Bring Real Structure to Your Hiring and Selection ProcessCarry out structured, behavioral interviews, using the “STAR” method (asking the candidate todescribe the situation, task, action, and result) to assess candidate-job fit.Because the interview is based directly on the competencies, it keeps interviews more objectiveand planted in reality. Most importantly, hiring decisions are made based on consistent andstandardized criteria.The structure of behavioral interview questionsQuestion 1: Creativity and Innovation — Level 3Generating viable, new approaches and solutions.Competency name and definitionQuestion:Describe the most complex problem that you were faced with and howyou generated a new approach or explanation or solution. What was the problem?What was complex about it?What new approach or explanation did you come up with?What was new about it?How did this benefit your work (or the work of others)?Job specific questionProbes to help elicit greaterspecificity from candidatesWhat to look for:Identifies new approaches. Creates new ideas, solutions or approaches to ongoing challenges. Uses unconventional areas as sources of inspiration and insightinto new options and solutions. Solves complex problems through developing new explanationsor applications.1Well Below Standard2Below Standard3Meets StandardBehavioral indicators to look forthe specific competency at therequired level of proficiency4Above Standard5Well Above StandardRating scalePerform Regular Assessments Throughout an Employees’ TenureLater on in the employee’s tenure, HR or department managers can carry out assessments — again,all linked back to that original job description and those competencies required from the role.Competencies make self assessments and supervisor assessments really easy — you don’t have tocreate assessment questions, just turn the competencies into questions that people rate themselvesagainst. So in a development context, they function as a lightweight assessment mechanism; allenabled and implemented easily through the software. HRSG All rights reserved.— 15 —
Map and Assign Learning Resources to Continue Employees’Development ProgramsAdding another layer to how competencies can be used in the development section of your HRprograms, CompetencyCore gives managers and administrative personnel the tools to helpemployees improve their skills on their own accord; if competency gaps are identified during oneof those aforementioned assessments, the organization can provide employees with learningresources pre-mapped to competencies to develop and strengthen those gaps.Example list of learning resourcesNameBecoming a Resilient Person — TheScience of Stress ManagementProviderSourceClayton CookedX.orgUniversity ofVirginiaCoursera.orgJohns HopkinsUniversityCoursera.orgMicrosoftedX.orgDr. PatriciaThompsonUdemy.comAgility (level 1)Agile Development in Practice (Projectcentered Course)Agility (level 2 & 3)A Crash Course in Data ScienceData Literacy (level 1)Analyzing and Visualizing Data with ExcelData Literacy (level 3)21 Day Crash Course in EmotionalIntelligenceEmotional Intelligence (level 1 & 2) HRSG All rights reserved.— 16 —LinkBookmark
Allow Your People to Build Career PathsOne of the most powerful motivators to keep top employees engaged is opportunities for growth.With your competencies mapped to every job, there’s total transparency on exactly what skills andbehaviors, at what levels, your people need to demonstrate in order to take their next step (or evenreach their dream job).CompetencyCore by HRSG empowers you, the busy HR professional, toput these programs into place at your organization with the confidencethat you’re setting things up the smart way. HRSG All rights reserved.— 17 —
Why Choose HRSG?You’ve got options when you’re looking for a provider to help with your competency initiative. Weknow that, and we know that we’re not the biggest company out there. We also know that for thecompanies that we’ve worked with, we’ve been their best option. Here are some of the commonthemes we’ve heard from organizations that have worked with us in the past.A Flexible Approach to ContentOur competency philosophy is to provide ourclients with the most accurate, relevant, battletested competency content available on themarket. But we don’t insist that we know theintricacies of your business better than you do.That’s why we not only allow customization ofour content, but we actually fully encourage it.High Quality, Substantial DepthProviding the Right Purpose-BuiltTools to Mobilize Your ProjectThe more relevant your competency content isto the people who are on the front lines, the moreeffective the uptake will be. HRSG’s technicalcompetencies provide unparalleled insightsinto the real skills that employees in technicalpositions need to succeed, with the rightbalance between essential and exhaustive.As our competency-based consultingbusiness continued to grow into the mid2000s, our clients started to request easierways to manage competency content on anongoing basis. Gone were the days of thickbinders and filing cabinets. HRSG was one ofthe first organizations to offer competencymanagement software — at first, upon customrequests for clients — and today in the formof CompetencyCore, our leading software toolavailable to all organizations.Our Service CommitmentHRSG occupies a unique space in thecompetency industry; we’ve been around forlong enough to have virtually seen it all, yet weremain nimble enough to give your project thesupport it deserves.This personal attention and dedication hasbeen a contributing factor in the success ofthousands of competency projects we’ve workedon over the years, and helped our clients overcomemany of the common pitfalls that can afflictcompetency implementation projects. HRSG All rights reserved.Our software has evolved to help you implementcompetency-based approaches with a fractionof the resources previously required. Our AIpowered processes slash the time requiredto undertake competency-profiling activities,and our AI-generated job descriptions andcompetency profiles ensure you are starting withjob data based on latest labor market trends.— 18 —
Here’s What Others Are SayingWith HRSG competencies, there’s aspecific set of behaviors that make itclear. We can create interview questionsaround these competencies, and we cantalk to people about where they need to bein their jobs, or what they need to move tothe next proficiency level for the next job.It makes it very easy.One of the best things to come out of thiscompetency project was that we nowhave a common language to talk aboutperformance, development, etc. Whenwe have discussions between departmentsthey go a lot more smoothly and we achievemore because we’re all on the same pageas to what constitutes success.— Tracey Piper, Director of HumanResources - Talent Management atDestination XL (DXL)— Mr. Thamer Al Quadaimi, ExecutiveManager of Learning and TalentDevelopment at ELMWork with the ExpertsSchedule a 1:1 chat with one of HRSG’scompetency experts to get started.Chat with HRSGAbout HRSGFor three decades, HRSG has delivered products and services to define talent needs, address skill deficienciesand improve individual and organizational performance.Our Products division has distilled that 30 years of expertise into a competency, job description and careermanagement software solution. Leveraging the power of AI, CompetencyCore is unlike any other product on themarket, bringing together the power of competencies and the utility of job descriptions.Our Talent Management Solutions division delivers best practice professional services in competency-basedmanagement, testing and assessment. In addition, we train HR professionals worldwide in our competencybased management methodologies.To learn more about how HRSG makes HR professionals proactive and in-control, visit us atwww.hrsg.ca or call 1-866-574-7041 x600. Human Resource Systems Group. All rights reserved.Tel: 1-866-574-7041 www.hrsg.ca info@hrsg.ca
a competency solution rather than building your own competencies from scratch. But just in case you're still mulling over your options, here's a quick recap on the advantage of using a pre-built framework. Purchasing a competency framework — which typically includes a comprehensive competency dictionary and the competency models (or
