The Competencies Toolkit: a review by Martin Simon

The wealth of resources for competency developers provided by the CIPD's toolkit is reviewed by competency expert Martin Simon.

On this page:
A new three-tier structure for competency frameworks
The three tiers of a competency framework, according to the toolkit
Ways of developing competencies
Competency profiles
Applying competencies for particular purposes
Resources

Key points

  • The CIPD's Competencies Toolkit provides a wealth of paper-based and online resources to help develop and maintain competency frameworks.

  • Published in April 2007 by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, it costs £370 (£330 to CIPD members).

The Competencies Toolkit by Steve Whiddett and Sarah Hollyforde (on the CIPD website) provides a range of adaptable tools including:

  • PowerPoint presentations;
  • checklists;
  • fact sheets;
  • examples;
  • materials for training workshops;
  • blank forms; and
  • flow charts.

These are contained in a loose-leaf file and also can be downloaded from its companion website, then customised or branded to the user's own requirements.

A new three-tier structure for competency frameworks

The toolkit is based on what the authors claim is "a completely new structure for competency frameworks", and one that they recommend should apply universally:

  • aspirations - what the organisation is working towards; that is, the reasons why individuals are working in the organisation;
  • behaviours - what we see when individuals are working towards the organisation's aspirations, in other words, evidence of competency; and
  • characteristics - the skills, knowledge and attitudes that underpin the behaviours.

The competency pyramid

This threefold approach, argue Whiddett and Hollyforde, will prevent "mixing different types of criteria within competency frameworks", which they say lies behind most of the problems that commonly affect the design and use of competencies.

Although this approach is fine, one has to realise that each organisation needs to develop a structure and set of competencies that meet its own requirements and circumstances.

It also needs to be remembered that research has shown that an individual's behavioural competencies are a greater predictor of success in the job than their technical competences. This implies that the equal status given to skills, knowledge and attitudes in the toolkit's third dimension needs some clarification if it is to be applied successfully.

When managing performance, according to the toolkit's authors, a competency framework helps to:

  • establish the types and standards of behaviour expected in a job;
  • identify individuals' strengths and their potential for progression; and
  • identify areas for performance improvement.

Ways of developing competencies

The toolkit then looks at the key principles for developing a competency framework:

  • involve the people who will be affected by the framework;
  • keep people informed about what is happening and why; and
  • create a framework that is relevant to all those who will be affected by it, the needs of the organisation and its intended applications.

The authors then address the case for integrating existing criteria - the pyramid of aspirations, behaviours and characteristics that we described above - in a newly designed competency framework.

The benefits to be gained from integrating existing criteria may include:

  • describing how the organisation's aspirations are going to be met;
  • providing clarity about how to measure performance and what to measure; and
  • giving those who wish to develop into other roles a focus for their personal development.

In addition, the authors recommend that those responsible for developing the framework ensure that their presentations and plans address the specific needs, interests and sensitivities of key stakeholders. In particular, they should take account of the emotional investment of those who were involved in drawing up the existing criteria or who have a particular interest in their implementation.

The toolkit's next section provides a checklist that can be used to assess competency frameworks that have not been developed using the processes recommended by its authors. Questions to ask, they say, include:

  • Is the framework well constructed, without overlaps or inconsistencies?
  • Do statements contained in the framework meet standards of good practice?
  • Is the framework simple and easy to use?
  • Do the elements of the framework underpin organisational goals?
  • Do the framework's elements underpin the values of the organisation?

Competency profiles

One of the most time-consuming tasks when developing and using a competency framework involves the identification of the competencies that apply to a particular role or job.

To overcome this problem, the toolkit recommends that a framework should be designed so that it includes a series of "profiles". These are visual summaries of the clusters of behaviours and their performance levels that apply to a family of jobs or responsibility levels.

The authors identify three types of profile: those applying to a job; a role; and/or a grade.

Producing profiles makes competency frameworks more acceptable to users, and avoids repeated and wasted effort. Without profiles, all users would have to produce their own job profile whenever they needed to consider or review job performance. The toolkit goes into great detail about how to run profiling workshops as a means of identifying the relevant competencies and performance levels, and then expands at length about how their final output should be presented.

Applying competencies for particular purposes

The final sections of the toolkit focus on the use of competencies for particular purposes. These cover selection, performance management and learning and development.

In the section on recruitment and selection, there is a useful table that matches the elements of a competency framework with appropriate assessment methods. This could be very helpful in an assessment centre environment. The performance management section describes how to incorporate behaviours into the goal-setting process.

Finally, the learning and development chapter suggests that one way of helping competency framework users find relevant learning resources is to produce and distribute a development directory.

A development directory identifies available learning resources (events and materials) to help people develop the behaviours that are included in the organisation's competency framework. It does this by matching resources to the skills, knowledge and attitudes that underpin each behaviour.

Overall, the Competencies Toolkit is a very valuable resource for practitioners. It is somewhat light on theory, and is rather expensive at £370 full price (or £330 to CIPD members). However, the combination of text and templates that can be downloaded and tailored to each organisation's needs is a winner.

Martin Simon, tel +44 (0)7939 221428 and 0845 407 3513, is an expert adviser on job evaluation and competency frameworks at Synergy Sync Ltd.

Resources