• Home |
• About Us |
• Our Clients |
• Our Team |
• Contact Us |
• Testimonials

Management Development - Setting Standards Using Competencies

It is vital that managers and staff know what is expected of them if they are to maximise their own performance and the performance of the organisation that they work for. Most organisations set expectations in terms of what managers are responsible for by using job descriptions and personal objectives / targets.

However, it is also important to set expectations about how job responsibilities should be discharged and targets delivered, as it is unacceptable for staff to deliver these at ‘any cost’. But what is the best or most appropriate way of doing this?

The way that most organisations do this is by setting behavioural expectations or ‘competencies’

A competency is probably best described as "the behaviours that deliver effective or superior performance in a job”. A competency is about an ability to do something and as such comprises a combination of skills, knowledge and personal motivation that result in particular behaviours (or outcomes) at work. For example, during a person’s life they have an increasing ability to communicate with their fellow human beings:

1. After a few months, a baby gurgles.
2. After a year or two, a child starts to speak their first few words.
3. Around school age, children start to learn to read and write.
4. Later they become articulate in discussing simple subjects.
5. Once into adulthood, a person may become capable of explaining complex or difficult concepts to a wide range of people.


Following this principle, competencies can be used to set expectations about how managers and staff should behave on a day to day basis in an organisation. Setting behavioural expectations or ‘competencies’ are an intrinsic part of managing the performance managers and staff. By setting these expectations the business clearly communicates how managers and staff should behave on a day to day basis. Competencies can be set around a range of different areas such as:

* Leadership
* Team working
* Developing people
* Communication
* Ownership
* Improving results
* Customer focus
* Diversity


In addition, competencies can have different ‘levels’ that set expectations for different hierarchy of management responsibility within an organisation. For example, an organisation may wish to set three different levels of competence that apply to:

* Front line managers and team leaders.
* Department managers and functional heads.
* Senior managers and directors.

To help to communicate competencies clearly, they can also be set in terms of what is not expected as well as what is expected. As an illustration, the following statements are from a competency describing effective team working:

We expect you to:
* Promote tolerance and respect.
* Take time to understand others cultural norms, perspectives and rules.
* Work effectively across countries and cultures.
* Develop and maintain effective internal and external working relationships.

We do not expect you to:
* Ignore cultural norms, values and approaches.
* Take a narrow personal view.
* Stereotype the views and contributions of others.
* Put others down.


By defining the competencies likely to produce success in a particular role, the organisation clearly communicates the standards that are expected for successful performance within the business. In addition, competencies provide a means of objectively assessing an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and as such form the basis of personal development.