Competency assessments allow the organisation to set a standard set of statements  against which employees are assessed. Generally those competencies are specific to particular roles.

We have clients who make extensive use of competency assessments – often with many  banks of statements for a wide range of roles. At the other extreme we have clients with just one competency set for all people. It very much depends on your organisation and on the time you have to dedicate to the task.

For an organisation of any size with anything but the most homogenous set of roles then  we would recommend competencies that are role or at least job group specific.

We find  competency assessments work particularly well in performance appraisals (as opposed to 360 degree feedback) where we are looking at roles with straight forward tasks. For example, a very  effective tick box structured competency assessment of a manual work role can be developed that is easy to complete and generates exactly the conversation and   development plan you are looking for. Often, this competency assessment is better than an objectives section for these roles.

Take some care if you wish to introduce a 360 feedback element to this section.  Generally 360 works best as a development tool rather than an appraisal.  Also, it adds a significant burden into the process.  Gaining feedback from a range of sources can be done in a simpler manner than a full 360.

As a point of detail : the rating scale for a competency assessment is suited to “strong to weak” rating rather  than frequency based. We suggest you use a set of words that are consistent with other  areas of the form or other wordings used within the organisation.

This is an excerpt from our performance appraisal white paper.


Brendan