Creating a relevant competency framework

You should be able to manage performance by applying your competency framework – check that your framework is ‘fit for purpose’ by doing the following:

• You need to be sure that your framework supports your business plan and objectives so
  that everyone’s working towards the same things.
• Your procedures need to support the framework and the culture, and resourcing and
  management structures must also be supportive. The behaviours you want your people to
  show should be encouraged not inhibited.
• If your framework is too long, too detailed, too complex, isn’t simply worded, it won’t be
  used. Make sure you focus on and include only behaviour statements.
• Make sure your staff know why the framework exists, e.g. to help with recruitment and
  selection, people development, performance management.
• Behaviour is influenced by objectives, conditions, knowledge, skills and attitude. One
  development need, e.g. communication, can affect many other behaviours. You need to
  remember that you can’t improve the behaviour without tackling the root cause, e.g. the
  cause of poor communication may be simply lack of knowledge of the task.
• Make sure all who use your competency framework are trained in how to use it – if they’re
  not it won’t work, or not as well as it should.

Having gone through this process (with the help of HR180 if you prefer) you should have a powerful  tool to improve the performance of your business.