Key takeaways
- Break Down Generic “Buckets”: Stop using broad, useless terms like “Teamwork” or “Communication.” Define competencies as specific, observable technical and soft behaviors that are required to crush the job in your company’s context. Use a spider chart to map out the exact level of mastery needed for each role so the finish line is visible for everyone.
- Target the 3 Biggest Gaps: You cannot develop 10 competencies at once without burning out your team. Identify the top three gaps that are either blocking current performance or required for the next career step. Use the 70-20-10 learning model to bridge these gaps, focusing heavily on on-the-job stretch assignments rather than just sending people to a one-off training course.
- Integrate Development into Your Performance System: Competency growth shouldn’t be a “side project” for HR; it must be linked directly to KPIs, OKRs, and salary evaluations. If you don’t assess behaviors with the same rigor as numbers during your monthly 1-on-1s, your team will never prioritize the deep work required to actually change how they operate.
Table of Contents
Competencies are part of Monday Simon Manager Development Program:
👉 Module 3: Team development training
👉 Module 5: Performance management for managers
What are Competencies?
What are competencies? They are the observable skills, knowledge, and behaviors needed to crush a job. It’s not about being “proactive”. It’s about exactly what someone does and how well they do it to deliver the results. Managing competencies is not “just” for HR. It is also your responsibility, as you own the development of your team.
Basically, you want to know which competencies are required for your team. Here is an example of a spider chart with competencies for the position of procurement executive
Each competency has a different level (you can’t expect all positions to be “expert” level).
- The competency group is in blue.
- In red, I highlighted technical skills.
- In green, these are the behaviors and soft skills required for the role.
The common mistake companies make is sticking with the “bucket item.” It’s too broad to be useful. For example, the competency “Collaboration and Teamwork” is far too general. Break it down into specific behaviors, for both soft and hard skills, so your team clearly understands what it means in your company’s context.
Difference Between Skills and Competencies
Skills are the technical or functional abilities that allow someone to perform specific tasks.
For example, Excel analysis, machine operation, or customer negotiation.
Competencies, on the other hand, combine those skills with the right knowledge, mindset, and behaviors to achieve consistent results.
For instance, “communication” is a competency that includes skills like public speaking, active listening, and adapting tone to the audience. Similarly, “leadership” combines decision-making, empathy, and accountability.
While skills can often be taught quickly, competencies develop over time through experience and reflection. I always talk about competencies because they take into account “How” the job is done.
When to Use Competencies
You need to practically identify competencies when:
- You are hiring, and you need to ensure your recruitment scorecard matches the expectations of the role. You can also tailor interview questions that match the competency requirements of the role. Learn more about the recruitment scorecard and the behavioral interview.
- A high-potential employee is ready for a bigger role, and you need to clearly define the step-up skills for the career path. For example, the future career path involved the competency “Project Management”. In this case, you need to prepare the development of the competency to ensure your team is “fit” to jump into the new role.
- You’ve got a poor performer, and you need to move past “bad attitude” to specific, fixable behaviors. Identifying competencies also helps to align behaviors in your team.
The Competencies Trap and How to Escape It
There are too many competencies to focus on. For a dedicated role, you may find 10 competencies. Not all of them should be a priority for development. I advise you to focus on the top 3 competency gaps depending on your development focus (whether you want to develop for a promotion or maybe to develop someone to meet the fundamental requirements of his/her role).
Besides the trap of identifying too many competencies, a recurring mistake is to not integrate competencies into your performance management system. If you don’t, you will ask people to develop themselves without any clear link to how this impacts their evaluation or their salary. Just like KPIs and OKRs, competencies must be assessed consistently and scored the same way.
I advise you to :
- Map the competencies for each role. Use my Custom ChatGPT for competencies to go fast.
- Focus on the gaps.
- Target up to 3 competency priorities
- Perform an Individual Development Plan (or IDP) according to the 70 20 10 learning model to bridge the gaps. You can download my IDP template here.
- Link the development plan to KPIs and OKRs.
- Review the competency development during your one on one meetings, every month (minimum recommended).
If you are looking for additional resources to manage your team, check out my resources on the Manager tools page.
Stay sharp for Monday
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