Simplified definitions of behavioral competencies

Competency Development

A Simplified Approach

Posted: 12 February 2020 | Revised: 29 April 2021

Competency Development

Competence development is becoming a challenge for human resource professionals. Competencies sit at the heart of your HR systems. They can, and should, be integrated into all people processes. An effective competency model will give you a common language of performance, and ‘the way we do things round here’.

Exhibit 1

Integrated alignment with competencies

What are Competencies?

They are underlying characteristics which enable someone to perform a job better in more situations, more often, with better results.
Competencies are those factors that distinguish the best from the rest in a given role.
Competencies can be deep seated or easily observed qualities of people (motivation, traits, etc).
All competencies can be measured.
Competencies are not the tasks of the job they are what enable people to do the tasks.
They are the crucial behaviors that need to be developed to create a high-performance business.

Competency Iceberg

Competencies are like an iceberg, with skill and knowledge forming the tip. The underlying element of competencies are less visible but they largely direct and control surface behavior. Social role and self-image exist at a conscious level; traits and motives exist further below the surface, lying closer to the person’s core.

Research has consistently shown that while skills and knowledge remain important in the workplace, it is behaviors, the way people do their jobs, that differentiates the best performers from the rest. Competencies can be seen as the behaviors that lead to outstanding performance.

Iceberg Model of Competencies

Competency Assessment Development

The three critical areas:

Strategy
People: Making sure that you have the right people in place to deliver the strategy
Processes: Making sure that the right processes are in place to get the most out of suitably equipped people

The 5 Tasks in the Assessment

The organization will conduct a workshop to get an understanding of how the organization will develop and what behaviors will be required in the workplace to drive its strategy. Decode the business strategy and culture into behavioral competencies and define the behavioral indicators of outstanding performance.

Each competency will require proficiency levels describing the abilities required to perform a job successfully. The behavioral indicators will distinguish high performers from low performs.

Competency Example:

Performance Excellence

What it is: The desire and drive for excellence in all that we do. To be continually looking to improve and accomplish challenging objectives.

Exhibit 2

Behavioral indicators will distinguish high performers from low performs

Simplified definitions of behavioral competencies

Achievement Orientation: The concern for working well, delivering work of the required standard or for surpassing a standard of excellence.
Analytical Ability: The ability to systematically analyze data to enable the formulation of proper conclusions based on available facts.
Attendance/Punctuality: Consistently at work on time, ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent.
Business Reasoning: A general understanding of the nature of the business and the factors influencing it. The understanding of the strategic direction of an organization in light of internal and external trends and influences.
Communication: Ability to communicate clearly and concisely with appropriate use of vocabulary, Listens and gets clarifications and responds well to questions.
Conceptual Thinking: The ability to using creative, conceptual or inductive reasoning or thought processes that are not necessarily categorized by linear thinking to identify patterns or connections between situations.
Concern for Order and Quality: The desire to see things done logically, clearly and well. Monitoring and checking work or information, insisting on the clarity of roles and duties, setting up and maintaining information systems.
Concern for Others: The ability to be aware of and consider the needs and situations of others and take an active interest in their feelings. To focus on achievement of results whilst still taking these factors into consideration.
Couching & Mentoring (Developing Others): The ability to develop others through the creating of a desire in them to increase their skills and abilities through systematic personal involvements with each person.
Creativity and Innovation: The ability to have a new and innovative perspective on matters and to present effective solutions that display a new and fresh approach to existing problems.
Customer Service: The ability to focus on and address the needs of the customer. Is aware of customer needs and actively seeks to address or resolve these. Manages difficult or emotional customer situations effectively.
Decision Making: The ability to make sound decisions using accurate judgment and the ability to support and explain these decisions through sound and logical reasoning.
Dependability: The ability to be reliable and to ensure that obligations and commitments are consistently adhered to.
Execution Excellence: The ability to deliver results consistently to a high level of completion. It aware of what is required to be able to deliver to this standard.
Flexibility/Adaptability: The ability to work effectively in a variety of situations and to be able to adapt one’s approach to changing circumstances and easily accepting and making such changes.
Holding People Accountable: The intent to hold people accountable to standards of performance using one's personal or position power. It includes stating the consequences & approaching others openly or directly about performance & problems.
Impact & Influence: The ability to make an impact, persuade and influence people in order to gain support and action for ideas, proposals or initiatives aimed at achieving a specific objective or result.
Initiative: The ability to start actions or processes aimed at enabling completion of tasks. The drive to initiate these actions comes from within the person and not from some outside source or person.
Interpersonal: The ability to interrelate with people both internal and external to the company. To be able to easily understand the dynamics of such interrelationships.
Leadership: The ability to lead and inspire people to action aimed at the achieving of specific objectives. To be able to inspire and motivate subordinates to perform well to deliver.
Managing Interpersonal Conflict and Resolving Problems: The ability to anticipate, diffuse and resolve disagreements, confrontations in a practical and constructive manner.
Managing People: The ability to plan, lead and control the actions of others in such a manner that objectives are achieved.
Networking & Relationship Building: The ability to understand the importance of building relationships and a network of personal contacts. The knowledge of the skills involved in establishing and maintaining these relationships. Applied to internal and external relationships.
Personal Motivation / Productivity: The desire to drive oneself to achieve the required results without external influences.
Planning and Organizing: The ability to organize actions into a logical sequence of tasks and to plan ones work in a logical, systematic and effective manner.
Problem Analysis & Solving Ability: The ability to analyze problems effectively through the use of logical and systematic techniques and to develop systematic and suitable solutions to these problems.
Process Excellence: The ability to continually seek and strive for improvements in existing process efficiencies.
Self Confidence: The ability to believe in one’s own capabilities to accomplish tasks and select an effective approach to a tasks or problems.
Self-Control: The ability to remain calm and composed and stable under adverse circumstances. The ability to retain control of one’s emotions in difficult or challenging circumstances.
Self-Management: Ability to use introspection, self-evaluation and self-management techniques in order to pro-actively and continuously improve own behavior and performance.
Strategic & Adaptive Thinking: The ability to think of matters taking the wider picture and implications into consideration. The ability to foresee such matters in a long-term vision.
Strategic Planning: The ability to analyze business trends, implications and options to devise holistic and long-term strategic plans to meet company’s objectives and future goals.
Systematic Thinking: The ability to break complex items or problems into their component parts and to analyze and apply this information in order to gain understanding or solve problems.
Teamwork: The ability to form an effective part of a team. To understand the dynamics involved in being part of a team and to be able to play an effective and productive part in achieving team objectives.
Time Management: The ability to plan and control one’s own time utilization effectively and efficiently.
Willingness to Learn: The desire to know more about things, issues, people, or concepts for the purpose of getting a job done, solving a problem, improving a situation or developing oneself.

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