CORE COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies are what the organization does best and consist of the combined activities, operations, capabilities, and resources that distinguish the company from competitors. Their determination flows from the organization’s vision, mission, values, culture, and strategy.

An example of a core competency is “Extraordinary Customer Service”. If this is a competency deemed to be a key strength of the organization and required to carry out its business strategy, the competency needs to be translated into a format that becomes a standard for every employee to emulate. It needs to be built into every job competency model, as a measure of effective or superior performance.

The competency is so important to the organization that is “core” to the present and future success of it. Each core competency (skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics) and behaviors are required of the workforce and guide the selection and development of talent. Core competencies are the foundation of a competency framework for the organization.

Most of the competency models we have built for organizations identify 8-14 total competencies for a specific job or job family [Examples], of which 1-4 are organizational core competencies.

Here is an example of a competency, taken from our Competency Dictionary, that is frequently included as a core competency in models. It is also included in models that have not determined it to be an organizational core competency.

“Customer Orientation”

Definition:  Demonstrated concern for satisfying one’s external and/or internal customers.

Behaviors:

1. Lives the business mission: to be the preferred supplier through total customer satisfaction
2. Quickly and effectively solves customer problems
3. Talks to customers (internal or external) to find out what they want and how satisfied they are with what they are getting
4. Lets customers know he/she is willing to work with them to meet their needs
5. Finds ways to measure and track customer satisfaction
6. Presents a cheerful, positive manner with customers

There are many ways to identify and write core competencies. Most include interviewing executives and directors on boards of directors, and/or conducting meetings that are similar to resource panels and expert panels used for building competency models.

A PROCESS & TOOL FOR DETERMINING THE  CORE COMPETENCIES OF AN ORGANIZATION’S WORKFORCE

Regardless of the method used, the collection of relevant data to be considered in the process can be facilitated by the completion of a worksheet we have used in our practice. People who will be using the worksheet should also be provided with a competency dictionary listing competencies that can be chosen. The worksheets can be completed individually or in a group. These are some of the questions and instructions contained in the Core Competencies Analysis Worksheet:

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET

Using the data from the worksheets to finalize a list of core competencies can be accomplished in several ways as described in the blog post General Approach for Analyzing Data to Build a Competency Model.

Another approach is to develop a competency model for the executive leadership group using a proven six-step process, but adding the task of identifying the core competencies for the organization.  Of the 8-14 competencies that are demonstrated by superior or effective performing executives, which 1-4 competencies need to be demonstrated by all employees?

EXAMPLE: This is a client organization’s description of it’s core competencies and competency framework. >>>

_____________________________________________

THE STEPS THAT PRECEDE THE DETERMINATION OF CORE COMPETENCIES

 Describing the Organization’s:

Vision

The Vision describes where the organization aspires to be upon achieving its mission. It concentrates on the future and gives the company direction. It is the future of the business, which then provides the purpose.Often it describes not just the future of the organization, but the future of the industry or society in which the organization hopes to effect change.  ….More

MissionThe Mission Statement concentrates on the present; it defines the customer(s), critical processes and it informs employees about the desired level of performance.Key questions answered include:What do we do? Whom do we serve? How do we serve them? The mission statement drives the company. It is what you do, the core of the business, and from it come the objectives and finally, what it takes to reach those objectives. It also shapes your company’s culture. …. More

Values
Values are enduring, passionate, and distinctive core beliefs. They’re guiding principles that never change. Values are deeply held convictions, priorities, and underlying assumptions that influence attitudes and behaviors. They serve as its cultural cornerstones. They are the source of a company’s distinctiveness. Aspirational values are those that an organization needs to succeed in the future, but currently lacks.  …. More

Culture
Culture is the character and personality of an organization. It’s what makes an organization unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. It is collection of business practices, processes, and interactions that make up the workenvironment. …. More

StrategyA business strategy is the organization’s working plan for achieving its vision, prioritizing objectives, competing successfully, and optimizing financial performance with its business model. It is the sum of the actions a company intends to take to achieve long-term goals. It is about how resources should be allocated to accomplish the mission. A strategic plan provides the what, who, how, and why necessary to powerfully align action in organizations.

Other Recommended Practical Advice

How to Write a Vision, Mission and Values Statement
Mission & Vision Statements: What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements
Tailor job competency models to your organization’s vision, mission, and shared values

There is a lot of interest in being able to effectively describe an organization’s core competencies and the core competencies required of individuals in the organization. And there also seems to be different interpretations of what constitutes “core competencies”. Some view them as a total list of all competencies (competency dictionary) to select from in building competency models.

Suggested discussion topics for this blog post:

1. How do you and your organization view core competencies?
2. What process have you used to identify and describe the core competencies in your organization?
3. What has worked and what would you do differently if given the opportunity?
4. Next steps? How will you apply the core competencies?
5. 
   

Contact me at Workitect for more information or for help in identifying your
organization’s core competencies.

Compare Competency Dictionaries

If you want to build competency models and include competencies in your HR applications, you will need to choose a method to use in building the models. Whatever method you choose, it will be much easier and faster if you can draw on a list of specific competencies to include in each model. These lists are also known as competency dictionaries.

Last year, this post ”Build or Buy a Competency Dictionary? compared competency dictionaries and detailed options for acquiring a competency dictionary that can be used for developing a competency “framework”, competency models, and applications for talent management. Three options, including advantages and disadvantages for each, were described.

1) Develop your own competency dictionary

2) Purchase a competency dictionary

3) Purchase the Workitect competency dictionary.

In this post, a comparison between Workitect’s customizable dictionary/library and those available from other consulting firms is captured in the chart above.

HIGHLIGHTS

M– Most DictionariesW– Workitect Dictionary

Flexibilty Wins!                     

M- Low – difficult & expensive to modify/customize.
W- High degree – easy to edit & tailor. Integrate into any HR application or HRIS.

Build Generic or Custom Competency Models?      

M- Generic competency models. Developed through external research& surveys.
W- Custom competency models*. Describing superior performance in your organization.

Employee Acceptance – Are the Competencies Simple & Practical?                               

M- Low – difficult to understand & use; “not relevant to my job”.
W- High buy-in. “These competencies describe my world and will help my career growth”.

Executives’ View – Is the Focus on Business Outcomes?

M- Seen as HR program, not impacting our business performance.
W- “Accurately describes competencies that drive performance in our business and unique culture”.

Cost

M- High – Avg. $60,000 plus annual renewal fee
W- Low – Avg. $5,000, 1-time fee, no renewal fees

*Based on the job competence assessment methodology developed in the 1970s by Dr. David McClelland and consultants at McBer & Company.

Organizations Using the Workitect Competency Dictionary

These organizations are a few of the users of the Workitect Dictionary, Competency Interview Guides, or Competency Development Guide. These materials are also available as an integrated “bundle” with a focus on improving an organization’s ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.

More from Workitect

• Instructional programs on how use the dictionary to build models.
• Consulting to build competency models for you or with you.
• Consulting and instruction on how to create your own technical competencies dictionary

Integrated components available (for each competency in our Dictionary)

• Interview guides
• Development guides (print and online)
• 360 feedback instruments

GOOD UNTIL MAY 1, 2019                                                                                                 

Dictionary license includes a set of:

• Competency Interview Guides
• Competency Development Guides

For additional information, including costs, please contact us at 800-870-9490 or edward.cripe@workitect.com

Workitect is the leading developer of job competency models and competency-based human resource applications, tools, and programs.

Path to a Competency System

If you want to use competencies to improve the performance of your workforce, you have probably encountered a number of options and approaches for developing competency models and applications.

Competencies are underlying characteristics of an individual, which can be shown to predict superior or effective performance in a job; and indicates a way of behaving or thinking, generalizing across situations, and enduring for a reasonably long period of time. Learn more.

Many of our clients have followed these steps.

A. Build new competency models or update existing ones. Workitect’s process.

1. Contract with external consultants
2. Do-it-yourself
-- Build basic models using resource panels, job analysis interviews, or surveys.>>
-- Build full models by conducting, coding, and analyzing behavioral event interviews.>>
-- Successfully complete a Building Competency Models certification workshop.
3. Consultant and trained HR staff collaborate and build models

B.  Apply the models to HR applications

1. Integrate competencies into organization’s HRIS
2. Add competencies to job descriptions and other talent management processes.
   Succession planning
   Performance management
3. Talent Assessment & SelectionDevelop and use competency interview guides
4. Talent DevelopmentDevelop and use tools such as:
   -- Competency Development Guides
   -- eDeveloper™ Online Development
   -- 360° Feedback

Simplify the creation of competency models and applications by utilizing a comprehensive set of tools developed by Workitect. Each component is written in language that “makes sense” to people at all levels in an organization. You'll save, time and money and have the confidence that your applications are based on tested, research-based content.

Each tool is derived from the 35 competencies in Workitect’s Competency Dictionary, and the competency models that are created. The Competency Development Guideand eDeveloper™focus on ways to develop each of the 35 competencies. The Competency Interview Guidesdescribe an interview process and interview questions for each competency. The 360° survey instrumentprovides assessment feedback for each competency.

Intellectual property licenses are available for most products.

Contact Workitect at 800-870-9490 or consult@workitect.com for more information

Improve the selection and development of Marketing Representatives

Having a job competency model will help identify the skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics (aka competencies) that are required for superior performance of Marketing Representatives. Shown below is a list of competencies in an actual model. Probably 70-90% of the competencies can be found in the models of most Marketing Reps. Technical competencies requiring knowledge of a specific industry can be described in a Technical Expertise competency on a separate list. A model that is customized to an organization is more accurate and valuable because it will reflect the organization’s unique culture and strategy.

http://bit.ly/2lgl079

Use Competency Interview Guides to Conduct Structured Event Interviews

The Premise:
Past behavior is the best predictor of future performance. People have unique and characteristic ways of dealing with work situations. As a result, they develop preferred ways of operating. Because of these preferences, they develop particular abilities and become competent in their use. Some of these preferences, abilities and competencies are significant in predicting job success. People do—in the course of describing experiences and accomplishments—offer valuable information to adequately discern their preferences, abilities and competencies.

Interview guides can provide an easy-to-follow format for structured, behavioral-based interviews. Each Workitect interview guide, with specific questions related to each of  thirty-five competencies in Workitect's competency dictionary, makes it easy for a hiring manager or interviewer to collect behavioral examples about a candidate's relevant work experiences and accomplishments. These interview guides can be used with other generic competency dictionaries or lists of competencies. Most of the Workitect competencies (definitions and behavioral indicators) are similar to non-Workitect competencies. For example, most competency dictionaries include a competency similar to Interpersonal Effectiveness and Fostering Teamwork. 

________________________________________________________________________
Related Reading
Blueprint: Competency-Based Assessment and Selection    
Blog: Six Steps to Conducting a Behavioral Event Interview
Website page: Competency-Based Assessment and Selection
_____________________________________________________________________________

The Purpose
Interview guides are designed to assist in the behavioral interview process. They provide specific questions and probes for the behaviors of a competency. In addition, positive and negative behavioral indicators are listed that will help evaluate the candidate’s responses. While the process described below is designed for multiple interviewers seeing each candidate, it can be completed with only one interviewer.

What is included in a Guide

An interview guide is available for each of the competencies in the Workitect Competency Library/Dictionary . Each guide contains a cover page with tips for conducting an effective interview with a candidate by including “What to Do”:

1. Prior to the Interview
2. During the Interview
3. Following the Interview

Each interview guide then provides the competency definition and behaviors associated with the competency, followed by potential behavioral-based questions and probes for the competency. In addition, positive and negative behavioral indicators are listed to help the interviewer evaluate the candidate’s responses. Finally, the guides provide for space for the interviewer to take notes and provide an overall rating of the candidate.

Selecting Competencies for the Interview

If you have identified competencies for the job being interviewed for using the Workitect Competency Dictionary, determine which competencies you want to assess in the interview process. Usually, only a subset of the total number of competencies for a job is used in an interview – the most critical. There are two “schools of thought” when it comes to which competencies each interviewer assesses. Each interviewer can assess different competencies or multiple interviewers can assess same competencies. The decision depends on how many interviewers there are, how many competencies will be assessed for in the interview, and the preference of the organization.
If you have not identified competencies for the job being interviewed for, look at the key roles and responsibilities of the job (i.e. job description) and identify the critical requirements to the success of the job. Then, using the Workitect Competency Dictionary or another generic dictionary, select those competencies that best match up with those critical requirements based on the definition of the competency and its behaviors.

Conducting the Interview

Prior to the interview:

• Review the candidate’s resume.
• Review the assigned the competency(s) and the behaviors that comprise each competency.
• Select the specific questions you feel comfortable asking each candidate. Note: Not all the questions need to be used – select at least two questions.

During the interview:

• Greet the candidate and spend a few minutes building rapport; talk about areas the candidate is interested in.
• Transition into the formal interview.
• Ask the selected questions and use follow-up probes to get complete examples of the:
  • Situation that the candidate encountered;
  • Actions that the candidate took;
  • Results or outcome of the actions taken.
• Give the candidate time to think about past examples/experiences when answering the questions.
• Ideally get at least 2-3 examples for each question.
• Use the guide to take notes and evaluate the candidate.

Following the interview:

• Check off appropriate behavioral indicators and summarize key observations and notes. Rate the candidate on each assigned competencies in the space provided at the bottom of each page.
• Note any observations for competencies not assigned and be prepared to discuss.
• After completing, interviewers should meet to discuss and reach consensus on the final ratings for each candidate and complete the Candidate Interview Summary.
• Make the hiring decision.

DOWNLOAD AN INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE COMPETENCY OF "INITIATIVE".
Learn more about Competency Interview Guides for 35 competencies.

Structured Event Interviews are also used to collect data in step 3 of Workitect's competency modeling process, as taught in the Workitect Building Competency Models workshop.
Ed Cripe is President of Workitect, Inc., the leader in the development of job competency models and competency-based talent management applications.

Worksheet for Planning a Competency Modeling Project

The key steps in planning a project to develop competency models and competency-base applications are:

• Conducting a stakeholder analysis, identifying the people in the organization who have the most at stake in the development and implementation of competency models, and determining how and when they should be involved.
• Preparing a draft project plan
• Holding initial project planning meeting with project team to:
  • Review and revise draft project plan
  • Develop detailed plan with timeline and assigned responsibilities
  • Identify and agree on participants needed for each data collection activity
• Creating and implementing a communication plan for people directly involved in the project and for all employees.

WORKSHEET FOR PLANNING A COMPETENCY MODELING PROJECT

This is a helpful checklist of key questions and issues related to the key steps that need to be addressed when launching a model-building project. It includes these sections.

1. Scope of the Project
2. Organizational Context
3. Selecting the Approach to Model Building
4. Building Support for the Project
5. Deciding on Data Sources
6. Staffing the Model Building Project
7. Envisioning the Data Analysis and Model Building
8. Reviewing and Revising the Model

In working through this worksheet, you may find that some questions are difficult to answer without a better understanding of areas such as the methodology for data gathering, data analysis and model building, and developing HR applications based on competency models. This information is covered in steps 3-6 of the six-step process that is used in our consulting practice and taught in our Building Competency Models workshop. It can also be found in the Resources & Support section of the Workitect website. Additional self-instruction material is included in Workitect’s quick start Building a Basic Model program that is available to licensees of the Workitect Competency Dictionary. 

Example of Process for Building One Job Competency Model

The steps typically required for a Workitect consultant to build a competency model are:  

Step 1. Kick Off/Planning Meeting

This is a meeting with the organization’s project team.  The purpose of the meeting is to:

• Help the team gain understanding of the competency modeling process, applications and payoffs.
• Determine the modeling approach (single job, one-size-fits-all, or multiple jobs) and number of models. Discuss and prioritize desired applications (performance management, selection, training and development, succession planning, etc.). Complete planning worksheet.
• Discuss details of carrying out each step of the modeling process, plan communications to people who will participate in the process, establish accountabilities, and agree on a schedule. An immediate step will be to plan the resource panel.

 Step 2. Hold Expert/Resource Panel 

A resource panel comprised of five competent incumbents of the target position, three of their supervisors, and other interested stakeholders selected by the project team, will be convened for a 4-6 hour session. The purposes of the meeting are to explain the need for the model and how it will be used, to gather information that will be used in developing the model, and to identify superior performing incumbents for interviews. The agenda for the resource panel will include:

• Explaining the goals of the model building session

• Conducting a “future scan” to identify and discuss forces for change, that may impact the position (e.g., changes in the industry and marketplace, regulatory changes, changes occurring within the organization).

• Identifying 4-7 main responsibilities for the position

• Identifying for each main responsibility:

- the key tasks

- performance indicators or measures

- skill/knowledge requirements

• Reviewing and rating the importance of a set of 34 generic competencies identified on the basis of previous research, for management, professional, technical, and sales jobs.

Step 3. Conduct Behavioral Event & Job Analysis Interviews

a) We conduct two-four 60-minute job analysis interviews with managers.  The objective of these interviews is to understand the job and what makes people successful or unsuccessful from the bosses’ perspective.  

b) We conduct four-five 90 minute behavioral/key event interviews with superior-performers in the target position. These individuals should be carefully selected, based on nominations from multiple sources. The interviewer asks the person to describe several successful events and one or two events in which the person encountered problems. For each event, the interviewer asks how the person became involved and what he/she did, thought and said at key points along the way. These confidential interviews are tape-recorded. The chief value of the interviews is in identifying specific behaviors associated with superior performance. These specific behaviors may be unique to the role and describe what superior performers do to achieve outstanding results.

Step 4. Analyze Interviews and Observations

This step involves analyzing transcripts of the interviews, and identifying behaviors and themes associated with effectiveness.

Step 5. Prepare Job Model

We integrate data from the resource panel and from analysis of the interviews to prepare a draft job model. Note that this job model will include more than a set of competencies with definitions and behaviors; the full job model will include:

Main responsibilities of the position

For each responsibility:

- Key tasks

- Performance indicators and measures

- Skill/Knowledge requirements

Competencies needed for superior performance

For each competency:

-       A definition

-       Specific behaviors demonstrated by superior performers

Step 6. Review and Revise Model, and Plan Applications

A key step in validating the model is to review it with an appropriate group of the organization’s staff such as the project team.  At a two-four hour meeting, we will review the job model and agree on any needed changes.  (After the meeting we will revise the job model as needed.) 

Discuss and plan steps to apply the model to various HR processes (performance management, selection, training and development, succession planning, etc.).