Wednesday, October 14, 2020

How to use competency models to identify leadership characteristics

Have you ever wished you could clone your most effective leaders?

There is a better way: use competency models. Competency modeling is a way to clarify the skills and behaviors that are common denominators among your best performers so that you can identify and develop those same characteristics in others.

If your company has never used competing models before, here are some best practices.

1. Determine how Competency Dictionary will be used

Before you can determine what type of models you need, it is important to define the intended purpose. Will competency models be used to implement a change in your organizational strategy or culture? To identify high potential employees or employees who are suitable for a specific position? Will they be used as part of the performance management system or in a less formal way to ensure alignment across your organization?



2. Determine whether to use an existing model or start over

Your competency model can be based on an existing model and adapted to your needs, or you can develop a unique model for your organization that may require several weeks or months of interviews, observation, and data collection.

Developing a competency model from scratch takes more time, but may be necessary depending on how you plan to use it. Building it on an existing model can save time, but it could involve licensing fees and there may be limitations to the extent to which it can be customized to meet your needs. One way to address these two limitations is to work with a third party who has a library of competencies and / or has the experience and time to lead the development of a new model.

3. Conduct interviews to clarify strategy and success factors

To be effective, competency models must reflect the desired culture of your company and support the achievement of your strategic objectives. They should include the characteristics and behaviors that your organization considers most critical to success. To identify these behaviors and characteristics, you will need to talk with people at all levels of leadership and performance.

Start by identifying the leaders your organization considers exceptional and the leaders who meet expectations. Ask the members of each group what skills and behaviors they think are most important to their success in their role. For example, being "team oriented" should include specific and observable behaviors such as maintaining open and honest communication, demonstrating a willingness to listen to the ideas of others, and providing team members with the resources and support they need to complete a project. draft.

3. Develop a provisional model based on the findings

Then review your findings. Draft the common characteristics and behaviors that appear to be most important to the success of the best and that set them apart from the average. At this point in the process, you may find that you have a list of 15-20 features and will need to narrow it down during the next phase of development. Best practices recommend having 7-9 competencies, with 6-8 behaviors associated with each. That number is strong enough for your model to be a useful tool, but short enough for people to remember and use it effectively in human resource management systems.

4. Review the draft model with key stakeholders

Ask the leadership team and incumbents to give their input on the draft model and help reduce the number of competencies and behavioral items. Some questions we often ask include:

- Do you think these competencies are relevant and important, given our current needs and future goals?

- Are they defined by behaviors that we can observe and measure?

- Will we be able to integrate them into our existing systems to recruit, promote and evaluate leaders?

While it's important to have input from leaders at the top, it's equally critical to seek feedback from other leaders and employees throughout the process. Take time to discuss the preliminary model during company meetings, or ask department leaders to discuss it with their teams and provide feedback.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Iaes