The Power of Competencies: Why Competencies Help Build Strong Teams
By Amanda Magnus, Manager of People Operations
Tell me why… we’re still writing job descriptions like it’s 1999?
Yes, that’s a Backstreet Boys lyric. I just got back from their concert, so forgive me if I’m still in boy band mode. But seriously, why are we still using formats that focus more on tasks than talent? In today’s workplace, job descriptions should reflect the competencies that drive success in the role.
Tasks vs. Competencies: What’s the Difference?
Competencies go beyond what someone does. Competencies are the knowledge and skills required to achieve desired performance outcomes.
While task-based job descriptions might focus on whether an employee can perform a specific task, competencies dig deeper. They look at the full range of abilities, behaviors and attitudes that contribute to success in a role.
Skills tell you what someone can do. Competencies tell you how they’ll do it. For example, if you are hiring for an analytical data heavy role and you have two candidates that are both proficient in excel, but one demonstrates analytical thinking and attention to detail that makes them a better fit for the role. But if you only consider the tasks, it’s easy to overlook the competencies that also need to come along with that.
Why Competencies Make a Difference
Competency-based job descriptions:
- Clearer Performance Expectations: Help employees understand what is expected of them, leading to better performance and productivity. Competencies define how work should be done by setting expectations around behaviors which are often the root cause of performance issues.
- Support Talent Management: Provide a basis for targeted training and development initiatives. Competencies provide a framework for identifying gaps in behavior, not just technical ability. This allows training to go beyond tools and procedures.
- Enhance Recruitment: Effectively match a candidate to the right opportunity. Competencies assess job fit by evaluating how a candidate will behave and interact in the role and culture. Not just how they can perform a task.
- Facilitates Career Development: Offer a clear path for career progression and skill development. For example, moving from an individual contributor to a manager doesn’t just simply involve learning new tools or procedures. It’s about developing competencies like leadership and strategic thinking.
Making the Shift
Transitioning to competency-based job descriptions doesn’t mean throwing out everything you’ve built. It means enhancing it by following these steps:
- Identify core competencies for each role
- Align them with your company values and strategic goals
- Train hiring managers to recognize and assess them
This isn’t an overnight project. It takes time to make the switch, but it will pay off in the end!
Competencies in Action
To help show what using competencies vs a task list in a job description looks like I wanted to provide an example below. I’ll use my Analytical Data role example from before.
- Task Based Job Description
- Enter complex data
- Develop and maintain dashboards and reports
- Create forecasting models to support planning and resource allocation
- Ensure data integrity and accuracy across systems
- Identify opportunities to automate reporting and analysis workflows
- Competency Based Job Description
- Data Analysis: Produce predictive reports and interpret results. Lead complex data analysis projects and provide strategic insight. Develop and implement predictive models to forecast future trends and outcomes. Clearly communicate analysis results to stakeholders. Conduct statistical analysis to identify trends, patterns, and correlations.
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- Attention to Detail: Accurately complete tasks, ensuring that all aspects are correct. Provide high quality results by being precise and thorough. Develop systematic approaches to ensure accuracy and consistency in work products. Optimize processes to enhance accuracy and reduce the likelihood of errors. Use analytical thinking to identify and address root causes of errors.
Final Thoughts
As organizations evolve, so should the way we define roles. Competency-based job descriptions move beyond task lists and help us reflect how people actually contribute and grow. It’s not just about what someone does, it’s about how they do it, and why it matters. So, let’s stop writing job descriptions like it’s 1999, and start writing them to reflect the future of work. Because when it comes to job descriptions, “I want it that way.”
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