Leadership Competency Modeling
Competency models provide a useful consistent framework for evaulating, recruiting, training and developing managers and leaders in an organization. They represent the skills that an organization deems to be critical for fulfilling its strategic plan. When properly developed they provide an objective means for identifying leaders' skill gaps as a first step toward their development. Leap offers consulting services to help organizations define and implement competency models.
Challenges
Many clients have identified the following challenges associated with competency models for leaders:
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Inconsistencies in how managers and leaders perform as result of inconsistent definitions of key skills required to perform their jobs.
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Little support for leadership training programs as a result of a lack of objective ways to measure the existing skill level of managers and leaders.
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Leadership development programs that seem disconnected from strategic plans, resulting in little or no return on training and development investments.
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Inability to measure the impact of leadership development programs due to a lack of clearly defined skills and competencies.
Our Approach
While every client engagement is different, the standard methdology we use to design, develop and implement competency models includes:
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Assess current organizational realities including existing leadership and management job roles, strategic plans, organizational change initiatives and competency model objectives.
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Design tentative competency models through focus groups and working committees in order to engage impacted stakeholders in the process, as well as communication plans to assure support for the process.
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Validate tentative competency models with larger stakeholder groups to assure buy-in and relevance.
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Measure current skill levels through self-assessment and 360 degree feedback while providing support to managers on what do with feedback information.
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Implement the competency model and link it with training needs assessment, as well as other development programs.
Benefits and Outcomes
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Transfer of leadership development efforts to on-the-job performance, thus improving the return-on-investment for these programs.
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Greater support for development efforts since managers were engaged in the process of defining the skill standards.
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Increased likelihood of fulfilling the organizational strategic plan through aligned leadership skills.
Illustrative Client Vignette
Background
The chief operating officer of a mission banking organization was interested in gaining greater alignment and consistency in her organization's approach to developing leaders. Further, she was interested in a leadership development program linked to specific competencies.
Approach
This project is on-going however this is a summary of actions taken thus far. First, we interviewed the CEO and direct reports to identify project scope, success criteria and strategic direction. Further, it was critical to identify concurrent organizational change initiatives and link competency modeling to these efforts, as well as developing an internal communication plan and develop key messages for leaders to communicate about this effort.
Second, we conducted a competency modeling workshop for senior leaders to identify specific competency dimensions and behavioral indicators. This was followed by facilitated sessions to validate the draft model using self-assessment and feedback.
Future efforts will include the facilitation of competency design meetings for successive layers of managers, as well as linking the model for various levels. The competency model will then drive overall training needs assessment and development planning.
Results
Thus far on the project, the client has begun to have critical conversations among various levels about competencies, performance and development.
Relevant Qualifications
Our affiliated consultants bring a variety of educational and
organizational consulting experience that make us
well suited to consult with organizations. In particular, Kevin
Nourse brings the following qualifications
to his work as a organization development consultant:
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"Big 5" consulting and human resource experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers
Consulting.
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MA degree in Human Resource Development; MA degree in Human and Organization Systems.
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Currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program
at the Fielding Graduate Institute in Human
and Organization Development.
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Over 20 years experience as an internal and external organizational development consultant.
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Experience designing and implementing a competency model in a professional services organization.
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Experience designing, developing and implementing a leadership competency mode for a financial services organization.
Selected Organizational Client List
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