Is “Competency Model” a dirty word?

(OK, actually 2 words, but you get my point)

I had a meeting with someone yesterday who told me that in their company, the phrase “competency model” is not to be spoken.  That’s not actually that unusual.  In many parts of the world, such as the UK and Australia, “capability model” is the more common term.  But let’s go back to why it’s taboo to use it.

Common competency model thoughts on why they’re not good

• “It’s full of gobbly gook”

• “No one can understand it”

• “We spend all this time working on it, and don’t do anything with it”

If that’s been historically true in your organization, then it’s easy to see why they may consider “competency model” a dirty word. 

Here’s how to fix it.

1) Stop calling it a “competency model”

Stop using the dirty word.  If it already has a bad connotation, don’t try to change perception… just call it something else, such as “capability model” or “capability framework”.

2) Fix competency model content

Fix the problem with the competency model content.  It should not be full of big corporate words that don’t really say anything.  It should be in the language of the person using it.  If you create or customize one, use that role’s high performers in those sessions.  If you use a standard model, work with some high performers to “put it in their language” so that it is easy to consume… both in the capabilities/skills/tasks and the behavioral examples. So a Sales competency model would read like someone in Sales would speak, and a retail competency model would read like someone in Retail would speak. It must also be relevant to both current skills and skills of the future.

3) Make the competency model actionable

A capability model on a web page, PowerPoint, PDF or poster will never be used and will quickly reinforce a competency model’s negative perception. So you must make the competency model actionable.  If you create a song and dance around a “capability model” that isn’t easily accessible by those during the development process, and isn’t assessable such that one can measure their capabilities against it to identify and close gaps with competency-based learning, it’s worthless. 

If skill gaps are your organization’s biggest challenge (and where are they not?), then position your competency model as a tool for upskilling and reskilling… whether to address the needs of digitization and AI, or workforce agility required by a pandemic. Both upskilling and reskilling require a person to compare their capabilities to the requirements of a role (a competency assessment). The requirements of a role are defined by a competency model.

No competency model, no upskilling or reskilling.

Make the competency model actionable and you’ll gain acceptance and adoption. Click the graphic to the right to learn more about what that means.