Are competency Models worth it?

The easy answer to this is, “It depends”.

I’m not trying to cop out of giving a real answer. It really does depend on what you want to accomplish. Competency models can do a great job of identifying the skills and knowledge someone needs to be successful in a job. However, one could say they are a little too general at times to be useful.

Some competency models would list the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) someone needs. Some will add an expected level of performance such as 3 out of 5. Some will add behavioral anchors to those scales to indicate what each number means on that scale. Once you make a model, you can then use it for recruiting, training, and talent management.

There are flaws with competency models. Nobody can predict with 100% certainty that someone who has that combination of KSAs will be successful because there are so many other factors at play. We should also admit that if someone has a different combination, he or she could be just as successful if not more so in a given role. This is what makes competency models less useful. They aren’t predictive. They can give you a direction to go but you have to decide which path and how to navigate the terrain.

Recruiting

For recruiting, you can use a competency model to sift through a large collection of applicants and target in on the candidates who are more likely to possess the KSAs you are looking for. You can get a general sense of where they may be on some of the measurements or if you go far enough, you could create assessments to determine where they land. Caution though with creating assessments that measure anything other than bonafide requirements of the job.

Training

Competency models are somewhat similar to creating your training on bedrock (as we’ve talked about before). You can use the KSA ratings to determine some of the content of the training. In some ways it can influence the flavor of the training but not as much of the substance. For example, you could train how to do task A through Z but the competency model can help you know how much interpersonal skills, communication, negotiation, or other skill areas to add.

Talent Management

In talent management, you can use more assessments of current incumbents and potential successors to determine how well there is a match or how much of a gap there could be between two people. You should be cautious here because this approach would lead you to look for duplicates of incumbents. Consider that potential successors can be just as successful if not more successful than an incumbent even with a very different set of KSAs.