• Scoping Meeting(s)

As a first step we meet with designated staff from the organisation which usually involves HR and/or the top team. It is really important to determine at this initial stage what is the overall outcome required and to understand the business, its market and its resources. Also in this initial meeting we would examine what already exists in terms of where expectations are defined in organisational documents such as job descriptions, person specifications, mission and values statements. We then get some clarity on the values that the organisation needs to adopt in order to achieve their organisational goals.

Where organisations wish to involve a wider group we can run focus groups to work through a process of defining the behaviours which need to be performed to achieve the business goals.

We will also explore with you how many levels of competencies you require, as requirements of Directors, Senior and Middle Managers and more junior staff will vary considerably. That said, there still needs to be some synergy in terms of the overall headings which are used to get the ‘collective pull’ towards the strategic goals. 

• Drafting of Competencies

With the organisation we then draft out an initial competency set for agreement. Competency sets are tailored to the individual business rather than being ‘generic’ or ‘off the shelf’. During this stage we drill down into what is required at various levels in the organisation and ensure that the overall framework has application to all roles within the business. 

• Agreement and ‘Roll Out’

We then go through a process of agreement which may result in tweaking of various drafts until the organisation are happy that the framework meets their needs. We can then work with you to roll out the competencies, assist with communication and drafting of supporting documents.

The framework can then be adopted into appraisals or other performance management mechanisms and recruitment processes to ensure that the framework becomes embedded in the organisation. We can also design and run development centres on the new framework. For details please see separate section on ‘Competencies in Development’. 

• Competency Frameworks – Role Specific

Competencies can also be designed for specific roles. This may be because you need to recruit or develop an individual or group of individuals.  The process is a ‘mini’ version of the process for the design of competency frameworks for the organisation.   

Please have a look at sections on Competencies in Recruitment and Development which define our approach for each of these interventions in more detail.