1. What is a competency?
2. What is a competency model?
3. How is a competency model developed?
4. How is competency modeling different from job analysis?
5. For which functional areas are competency models and job analysis used?
6. Why are competency models useful for employees?
7. Why are competency models useful for supervisors?
8. Why are competency models useful for the organization as a whole?
9. Are there different types of competency modeling efforts?
10. Is one approach more appropriate in certain situations than in others?
11. How does one know that a competency model is beneficial (i.e., how is validity assessed)?
12. For which types of positions has ICF International developed competency models?
13. For what types of clients has ICF International developed competency models?
14. How is ICF International’s approach to competency modeling different from other companies?
1. What is a competency?
Although the definition appears to vary depending on who you ask, the general consensus is that a competency is a combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other individual characteristics (often called KSAOs; including but not limited to motives, personality traits, self-concepts, attitudes, beliefs, values, and interests) that can be reliably measured and that can be shown to differentiate performance.
2. What is a competency model?
A competency model is typically defined as the collection of competencies that result from identification, definition, and measurement of the KSAOs that are needed to perform successfully on the job. These are typically grouped together based on the assessment of an individual job, job family, department, or organization as a whole.
3. How is a competency model developed?
Competency models may be developed slightly differently depending on their ultimate use within an organization. The different approaches to competency modeling are discussed further in question 9.
4. How is competency modeling different from job analysis?
Competency modeling and job analysis are similar approaches to identifying important behaviors and individual characteristics necessary for successful completion of a job. Competency modeling is different, however, in that it focuses mostly on the individual characteristics (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics, or KSAOs) that are necessary for successful completion of the job. Job analysis, on the other hand, may focus on either the behaviors, the KSAOs, or both the behaviors and the KSAOs that are necessary for successful completion of a job.
Competency modeling goes beyond job analysis by taking things like organizational mission, strategy, and values into account when considering the KSAOs needed for successful completion of a job. Competency modeling is often viewed as less rigorous than job analysis, but adherence to sound methodology and careful planning can ensure that competency modeling is just as good as job analysis, if not better.
5. For which functional areas are competency models and job analysis used?
The results or outcomes of competency modeling and job analysis are important for informing many areas of human resource practice, including recruitment, selection, assessment, compensation, performance appraisal, training and development, succession planning, organizational planning, and talent allocation to teams. See question 10 for more information about which type of competency model is appropriate for which purpose.
6. Why are competency models (and job analyses) useful for employees?
Competencies help employees to:
- Become familiar with what is expected in the job, including the necessary behaviors to perform and the steps needed to improve performance
- Discuss strengths with one’s supervisor, as well as areas for improvement, recommended training, and developmental activities
- Understand the competencies expected in a new job, particularly those needed in supervisory or managerial positions, or for changing careers
7. Why are competency models (and job analyses) useful for supervisors?
Competencies help supervisors to:
- Screen applicants during the hiring process, resulting in a higher quality applicant pool
- Discuss strengths, areas for improvement, training, and developmental activities with employees
- Distribute work more efficiently by using the knowledge of employees’ proficiency levels
- Create teams with the right mix of skills and abilities
- Determine what type of skill sets are needed in the future, which supports succession planning
8. Why are competency models (and job analyses) useful for the organization as a whole?
Competency models can help organizations to:
- Identify gaps in occupational areas across the organization and then fill those gaps through training, selection, etc.
- Ease the transition during organizational change efforts
- Accomplish the overarching organizational mission and goals
- Compensate employees appropriately based on competency levels
9. Are there different types of competency modeling efforts?
Yes, there are at least 2 distinctly different types of competency modeling:
- Bottom-Up Approach
The first type involves first examining job/person attributes at the individual job level, focusing on what competencies are needed for a person in this particular job to be successful. This approach typically involves identifying the major tasks of the position, along with the relevant KSAOs that help individuals in this position to perform those tasks. This type of competency modeling effort is sometimes referred to as ‘bottom-up’ or individual/job focused competency modeling, because it focuses on the ground level details of the job as they are performed by the employee, which is in contrast to the top-down approach, discussed next.
- Top-Down Approach
The second type of competency model typically begins with a meeting of senior-level managers to determine the strategy, goals, mission, and values of the organization, Then this information is funneled down to see how individual jobs, job families, and departments fit into the this broad picture. This type of competency modeling effort is often referred to as “top-down,” organization-focused, or core competency modeling, because the information comes from the top of the organizational hierarchy.
10. Is one approach [to competency modeling] more appropriate in certain situations than in others?
The two types of competency models described in question 9, bottom-up versus top-down, have different uses. Here are a few examples of applications of the two different approaches:
- Bottom-up or individually focused competency models are useful for selection, promotion, training, and both performance appraisal and development for a specific position because these practices rely on being able to differentiate between individuals.
- Top-down or organizationally focused competency models are used for career planning, organizational planning, compensation, performance appraisal for a broad group of jobs, and talent allocation to teams because these practices rely partly on the organizational mission, strategy, or vision, or use information about groups of jobs, departments, or the whole organization.
11. How does one know that a competency model is beneficial (i.e., how is validity assessed)?
Typically organizations that implement a top-down competency model are attempting to communicate organizational values. Therefore, a competency model could be considered beneficial if it has successfully communicated values and contributed to creating a certain desired culture in the organization.
Additionally, organizations can conduct a criterion-oriented validation study of a competency model, in which competency scores are compared with an external criterion to determine if the model is successful.
12. For which types of positions has ICF International developed competency models?
ICF International has worked closely with clients to develop competency models for the following types of positions:
- Administrative professionals
- Aircraft service professionals
- Information Technology professionals
- Leaders (both military and non-military)
- Legal professionals
- Law enforcement personnel
Additionally, ICF International has developed core competency models for several organizations that incorporate the mission, values, and strategy of the organization into the competency model.
13. For what types of clients has ICF International developed competency models?
ICF International has developed competency models for many U.S. federal government clients, including the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Mint, and the Federal Aviation Administration. ICF International has also worked with other large organizations, both public and private, including H & R Block, Sprint Corporation, and the State of Georgia.
14. How is ICF International’s approach to competency modeling different from other companies?
The approach taken by ICF International is different from others in that we have knowledge of both best practices from the applied literature and cutting-edge research findings from the academic literature. We have more than 30 years of private- and public-sector experience developing competency models and conducting job analyses, and we can work with your organization to develop a solid, research based, custom competency model in a relatively short period of time.
Many organizations are selling off-the-shelf competency models to companies that often result in little gain in utility for the organization. ICF International will work with your organization to develop the model that is specific to your culture, working conditions, and employees or organizational mission/values/strategy (depending on the approach desired, see question 10) in order to maximize the benefit of the model for the human resource practices of your organization.
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