Milan Rataj is a long-time expert in HR strategies and at the same time co-founder of a personnel start-up Sloneek. In an article for our blog, he wrote what competency models are for, why they are important and how to use them quickly and easily.

Competency models are an important tool for managing human resources and ensuring the efficient functioning of companies. They are tools that describe a set of key abilities, competencies, skills, characteristics and knowledge necessary for the successful performance of work performance, roles or job positions.

These models are used to assess the capabilities of workers and their adaptability to new positions or roles in the company. They are important and useful mainly because they can identify and assess needs, help with recruitment and selection of new people, development or training and, last but not least, performance measurement and evaluation criteria.

I usually encounter companies that do not address competency models at all, and surprisingly, the reason is that many of them fear that creating competency models is too complex, demanding, and that they do not have the time, skills, or expertise to do so. In some cases, the preparation of competency models is really difficult, but I would like to reassure HR professionals: usually you don't have to set aside tens of thousands of crowns or even half the working time. In this article, we will show you how to do it quickly and easily, step by step.

Step 1: Defining key positions

The first step in the creation of a competence model is the identification of key positions in the company or organization. These positions should be chosen based on which ones are most important to the company. Focus on those positions that have the greatest impact on the company's performance, in short, those that your company could not do without in any case.

Step 2: Identification of key competencies

The key competencies for each of these positions must then be identified. These competencies should be selected based on how necessary they are for successful performance in the position. Key competencies may include, for example, professional knowledge, technical skills, management skills, communication or teamwork.

It is always a good idea to consult individual attributes and characteristics with specific workers, because they themselves usually know best what a person in their position could not or should not do without. But definitely don't rely on that alone. It is good to collect information and data not only from employees in given positions, from managers, but also from external parties, customers or clients. It is advisable to use different formats (interviews, brainstorming, analyses, surveys, sorting exercises) that will help to maximize the depth of information obtained and increase the relevance of the resulting competence model.

Step 3: Creating a competency model

After that, the competency model itself needs to be created. This can be done in the form of a table, where positions are on one axis and key competencies are on the other axis. For each position, the key competencies that are necessary for the position should be determined. After determining the competencies, the minimum acceptable levels of performance in each of the competencies must also be defined. All HR professionals and managers throughout the organization should be able to read from the model the minimum level at which specific individuals can perform and be successful in their roles.

It is also appropriate to include performance standards. Many companies place a lot of emphasis on their mission, vision and values, but much less deal with work performance standards. But they represent key information about how the work is done. If nothing prevents it, they should be included in the competence model.

Step 4: Evaluation of existing workers and identification of deficiencies

The evaluation of existing employees in the company should be carried out on the basis of the key competencies listed in the competency model. This process should provide information on how employees respond to the requirements of the given position and whether certain competencies need to be further developed. This can be done through an employee survey or a personal assessment. So the goal is also to find out what the workers are weak in and what they could improve.

Step 5: Setting the development plan and goals

After deficiencies are identified, development goals for each worker must be established. These goals should be realistic and focus on developing the most important competencies necessary for the position.

The next step is to establish a development plan for each employee. This plan should include specific steps that will be needed to achieve the stated development goals. These steps should be realistic and tailored to the needs of individual workers.

Step 6: Monitor and evaluate progress

Finally, each employee's progress must be monitored and evaluated within the framework of the development plan. This assessment should be carried out regularly and should be based on objective criteria. If workers do not improve sufficiently, further steps such as further training or mentoring may be required.

In short, these are the most important steps in the creation of competency models. If you want to learn more about the topic, you can find a lot of additional information in professional publications or on the Internet. We recently published an interesting e-book on the topic in Sloneek, it is available for free for download here..

At the very end, I would like to add three more important pieces of advice that can only benefit the preparation of competency models and strategies and simplify, improve and make the whole process sustainable in the long term:

👉 Generic models are usually completely useless. Broad, sweeping and all-embracing competency models are not something anyone will like to use and return to. They do not bring any added value, be it competence, management, responsibility or strategy creation or performance evaluation. To make your competency model more specific, consider including core competencies (which are applicable to all roles), strategic competencies (which relate to specific roles – eg executives) and functional competencies (these are specific to specific functions or divisions or departments) .

👉 Throughout the process, think about making everything you do as practical and useful as possible. Complex jargon, internal abbreviations or slang might impress some, but think about those who don't have your information or those who might come after you. Therefore, use easy-to-understand expressions, be concise, speak clearly and to the point.

👉 Competency models and related strategies are to some extent a never-ending process. The roles, competencies, or performance standards for which you create a competency model may change over time. Therefore, it is advisable to check and possibly revise each model once a year to once a year and a half in order to ensure relevance, topicality and comprehensiveness.

As I mentioned in the introduction, there is no need to be afraid of competency models and you can often manage them yourself. Of course, there are also cases when, for example, it is not possible due to capacity reasons, in which case I recommend reaching for a tool that can help you a lot with this. There are several on the market, system by Sloneek samozřejmě nevyjímaje.