Competency frameworks

Each fortnight IDS (Incomes Data Services) publishes IDS HR Studies. I read this publication in the British Library since there is no online information available without buying a subscription!

Normally I have no difficulty in thinking something like: “Hmm, ‘employee share schemes’, a career or employment adviser is not likely to need to know much about that”. Just occasionally, as has just happened, I take the box off the shelf, look at what has arrived since I last looked into the box and think some inappropriate words. Number 967 (June 2012) is titled as above.

Looking at the competency frameworks which are used within a company from the company perspective allowed me to see the framework from a different angle. [A personal anecdote: I was involved with writing competences for the Youth Training Scheme back in the 1980s.]

The best I can do for you is to bring you extracts.

Developing competence
Competencies describe the employee behaviours and qualities an organisation values and considers will help it achieve its corporate objectives. Competencies are usually gathered together in competency frameworks that provide a convenient structure for their use in a range of HR functions. A well-designed framework may take time to develop and require input and support from stakeholders. To keep competencies relevant and ensure they contribute to high performance, it is important that frameworks are regularly reviewed.

Applying competency frameworks
Many organisations recognised the benefits of deploying competency frameworks as part of performance management systems and to underpin their HR processes in general. We examine the issues that organisations need to consider when designing and launching a framework, or reviewing and making revisions to an existing model. We also look at the way competencies are used in, for example, role profiles, recruitment, and learning and development.

There are five case studies of organisations that have introduced and use competency frameworks with varying degrees of success at different levels within the organisation.

The important thing that a career or employment adviser needs to be aware of when talking with clients is that the larger organisations are likely to have a competency framework in place that is unique to that organisation – which will be in addition to any competences set out by awarding bodies for qualifications.

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