Developing a competency framework for leaders and managers (cont.)
As a rough guide, frameworks commonly address the following areas:
Establishing direction
- Strategic analysis and strategy development
- Visioning and communications
- Goal setting
- Planning and organising.
Customer services
- Understanding and meeting customer needs
- Responding to customer requests
- Acting on customer feedback.
Delivering quality
- Setting standards
- Performance review and audit
- Continuous improvement.
Personal effectiveness
- Managing time
- Developing self
- Setting an example; role modelling
- Decision making
- Honesty and integrity
- Technical proficiency
- Achieving objectives.
Managing procedures
- Establishment of relevant systems/procedures
- Use of relevant systems/procedures
- Adherence to company policy
- Systems/procedures development and improvement.
Organisation awareness
- Understanding of the wider organisation
- Awareness of organisation aims and strategy
- Communication of organisation aims and strategy
- Linking team aims to company aims.
Managing people
- Recruitment and selection
- Developing people
- Motivating people
- Managing performance
- Managing change
- Communicating and listening
- Empowering others to act
- Delegation.
Business development
- Sales and marketing
- Identifying opportunities
- New product/service development
- New customer/market development
- Innovation.
Financial management
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Financial control
- Commercial awareness.
Supplier management
- Sourcing supply
- Managing supplier performance
- Developing supply relationships.
Stakeholder management
- Awareness of key stakeholders (internal and external)
- Understanding stakeholder needs
- Prioritising stakeholder needs
- Meeting stakeholder needs.
Profile checks not simply that the competencies have been defined, but also that they are applied in practice. For example, leaders and managers need to be reviewed regularly in order to understand their strengths and areas for development. And in order to make the review process useful, there needs to be support in place for leaders and managers to develop and practice the necessary capabilities – whether through formal training, coaching, shadowing or other techniques.
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