Core Concepts: Competency Frameworks and Competency Models
By Gregory Ronczewski, Director of Product Design at Ibbaka. See his skill profile.
Definition of a Competency Framework or Competency Model
The IEEE defines competencies, competency definitions and competency frameworks in the following way.
Competencies: ‘competencies’ is used to mean a competency definition, a component of a competency definition or a competency framework.
Competency Definition: Competency Definition is an information resource that includes a statement that describes a competency in a specific context along with definitions of the potential levels of mastery.
Competency Framework: A collection of competency definitions and additional related information used to serve a specific need of an individual, organization or community.
See below for the difference between a ‘competency framework’ and a ‘competency model.’
Let’s take a step back though, and look at how these terms are commonly used.
Other Definitions of Competence, Competency Framework and Competency Model
Competence (from Merriam Webster):
a: possession of sufficient knowledge or skill
b: legal authority, ability, or admissibility
Indeed: "A competency framework is a measurement of the skills, judgment, knowledge and attributes of a particular job or position to help employees perform a role effectively and recognize qualified candidates for job applications. It defines a set of competencies for each role in your department, business or company and showcases the values, behaviours and requirements an organization strives for to reach its goals and objectives. The competency framework essentially aligns personal performance with corporate values."
CIPD: "A 'competency framework' is a structure that sets out and defines each individual competency required by individuals working in an organization or part of that organization."
SHRM: "A competency model refers to a collection of competencies that are needed for effective job performance. In addition, competency models typically include detailed information, such as key behaviors and standards of proficiency that apply to different levels of job experience or expertise."
Valamis: "A competency model is a guideline developed by a Human Resource department that sets out the specific skills, knowledge and behavioural requirements that enable an employee to perform their job successfully. Competency models define what performance success should look like within the organization for each individual job. The model is applied to recruitment practices, talent management, training and performance assessment."
Ibbaka Talent: "Traditional competency models are big, clumsy, rigid, and are often created from the top-down. We've designed a system that helps you keep competency models flexible and dynamic. Each model needs to align with the goals, values the business model, and operating model. Our Open Competency Models are a way to inject best practices and jump-start work."
Competency Framework or Competency Model
The terms ‘competency framework’ and ‘competency model’ are used interchangeably by many people. At Ibbaka we prefer the term competency model for several reasons.
Competency frameworks often imply a fixed form that resists change. They are external to the organization and serve as reference points, but they are often not all that useful in a dynamic work environment.
Models are more dynamic. They have connection points to real data flowing up from actual people, teams and projects. Rather than being static, they are tended to evolve and are examples of complex adaptive systems.
Competency Models and the Skill Graph
Competency models and skill graphs have an interesting two way relationship. Competency models can be used to seed skill graphs, like seed crystals, drop them into an active and engaged workforce and the skill graph grows out from the competency model.
Another way to think about this is that the competency model is a lens into the skill graph. Skill graphs can rapidly become large and confusing data structures. The competency model becomes a lens into the skill graph that brings the most important things into focus. This is how a competency model is used in Ibbaka’s Role Coverage and Skill Gap analysis work
Some Resources to Go Deeper on Open Competency Models and Competency Models
Competency Models and the tools that help create such models are at the core of our products and solutions. We wrote extensively on the subject. Here are a few links to some of the most popular posts:
Does your organization use a Competency Model or Framework? What is your experience in using it? Does it help you or limit your ability to react to the constantly changing work landscape quickly? We are developing a library of Open Competency Models, and perhaps one will work for your organization? Let's talk.
Core Concepts: Skill Management and Competency Modelling
Competency Framework and Competency Model (this post)
Coming soon …
Skill Assessment
Core Concepts: Pricing and Customer Value Management
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Value Driver
Economic Value Driver
Emotional Value Driver
Community Value Driver
Value Model
Pricing Model
Connecting Value and Pricing Models
Pricing Design
Package Design
Price Elasticity of Demand
Cross Price Elasticity
Interactions of Cross Price Elasticity and Price Elasticity of Demand
Value Based Market Segmentation
Value Path
Lifetime Value of a Customer (LTV)
Value to Customer (V2C)
Value Ratio
Economic Value Estimation (EVE)
Willingness to Pay (WTP)
Pocket Price Waterfall
Customer Value Journey
Customer Value Management