Defining Competencies for All Audiences

I had an interesting experience with my 2nd grader this past weekend. I told her that I was headed to Chicago this coming week to present on competency models. In her usual inquisitive way, she followed with, “Dad, what are competencies?”

I figure if I can explain it in terms that a 7-year old can understand, then I'd have a pretty clear definition. So I explained to Olivia that competencies are the things that you are good at. In the case of leadership competencies, we tend to rate them on a five-point scale. On the surface, she seemed to get it and wanted to share an example, “Sort of like on the iPod when we hear a song we like and rate it a five on the screen?”

Impressed that she got the five-point scale part, I struggled for a second to explain that rating music is not about competency because it is subjective, and while you may like one song, I may not be such a fan of the same song. But another anology she'd understand quickly came to mind.

“Olivia, since you can get up on your wakeboard and surf in and out of the wake, I would rate you as a three in your wakeboarding competency. Someone who can’t get up would be a one, and someone who can do flips and tricks would be a five. The difference is that your wakeboarding is a skill and an observable behavior, unlike your musical tastes.” She seemed to get it, and spent the next hour or so telling me about all the things she is competent at: reading, writing, watching tv (impressive one), bike riding, and more.

Competencies are the common language that can create a definition of excellence for jobs and roles within an organization that’s both global and commonly understood. They’re the behaviors that encompass knowledge, skills, attitudes, motives, and temperament that distinguish excellent performers. Competencies can power many talent management initiatives, including performance management and succession planning. They describe observable behaviors and discrete actions that are expected of the people holding roles and responsibilities within your organization. They should be written in simple, easily-understood terms and framed as action statements.

For my company, Korean chaebol Doosan, competencies powered our global initiative, the Doosan People Project, which provides a uniform focus on organizational goals and how they aligned to applied knowledge and observable skills of executives, team leaders, managers and individual contributors. For us, the People Project was particularly helpful in speeding its post-merger integration of Bobcat, as gaps created by culture and geography were quickly summated using the common language of competencies.

Making a competency project successful requires executive engagement and organizational support throughout to ensure compliance and buy in. At Doosan, both the chairman and CEO were the company’s top advocates of the company’s People Program, and drove its success. Appropriate, adult-learning style training and the appropriate system and resources are also necessary to make a winning competency project.

Brian Formato is the global director of communications and competency at Doosan Infracore.