Using Competencies Successfully
Communicating the Way We Want People to Work
By Hugh Murray
Leader’s Guide to:
Using Competencies Successfully
Communicating the Way We Want People to Work
Produced and published by:
Newmarket Learning
A Division of Telephone Doctor, Inc.
30 Hollenberg Court
St. Louis, MO 63044
Under exclusive license issued by Scott Bradbury, LTD, UK.
Not to be distributed outside of North America.
Telephone: 314.291.1012
Fax:
314.291.3710
Web:
www.newmarketlearning.com
©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
Contents
Copyright ......................................................................................................................... 4
How to Use This Program ............................................................................................... 5
Flexible Use of the DVD .................................................................................................. 7
Introduction to DVD ......................................................................................................... 8
The Story......................................................................................................................... 9
Model Training Session ................................................................................................. 11
Using Competencies Successfully ................................................................................ 17
Analysis of Individual Scenes ........................................................................................ 23
Programs From Newmarket Learning ........................................................................... 25
Instructor Notes ............................................................................................................. 26
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Copyright
What You Can Do
The copyright in both this User’s Guide and the accompanying DVD belongs to
Telephone Doctor, Inc. If you have not purchased the DVD, you may not use the
material in this guide in any way other than to assist you in making a decision to buy the
DVD. Buying the DVD gives you certain rights to use the material as follows:
You may use the DVD in your own organization for training your own employees.
You may photocopy or otherwise reproduce all or part of this User’s Guide for use in
your own organization, provided you have purchased the DVD and accompanied
material. Any reproduction of this User’s Guide, or part thereof, must carry the
notice: ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
You may edit and reproduce the PowerPoint® presentation for use in your own
organization. Any reproduction of the PowerPoint® presentation must acknowledge
Telephone Doctor, Inc. as the source.
You may host and deliver the DVD and this User’s Guide on your internal intranet
provided that you purchase an additional license to do so from Telephone Doctor,
Inc. and provided that you observe the terms of that license. A separate signed
license agreement is necessary.
What You Cannot Do
You may not copy the DVD, not even as a backup. We understand that DVDs can
become unplayable due to scratching or other damage and so we will replace the DVD
if it becomes unplayable within ten years of purchase, even if this is the result of
carelessness or accident. We will not charge for this but you need to return the
unplayable DVD in order for us to replace it.
Acceptance of Terms
By using the DVD or the material in this User’s Guide, you are deemed to have
accepted these terms. If you do not accept them, you should return the DVD without
using it for a refund.
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
How to Use This Program
What is in the Program
1. DVD – Using Competencies Successfully
2. Leader’s Guide
3. PowerPoint® Presentation
Who the Program is For
All staff members in organizations that use competency frameworks.
What the Program Does
Helps people to understand what competency frameworks are and how to use them
successfully.
Details learning objectives which can be found in the model training session on Page
11.
How This Program Achieves Its Objectives
Individual Self-study
You can give the DVD to an individual to view either on a computer or a DVD player.
This will give the individual grounding in the subject or a reminder of the important
principles.
In an Existing Training Program
The program has been designed as a resource for you to use as you choose in your
existing programs. You can use the DVD as a training program in the conventional
sense. Or you can use the different scenes as the basis for exercises and
discussions. And you are welcome to use the PowerPoint® presentation and the
component parts of this manual in any way that suits you.
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How This Program Achieves Its Objectives (Cont.)
A Complete Training Program
This Leader’s Guide contains trainer’s notes for a complete training session lasting
from half a day to a full day. If you have less time than this, you can use the DVD
and the contents of this guide to devise a session of any length between twenty
minutes and a full day.
What if the DVD Won’t Play?
If a DVD turns out to be defective and/or damaged, we will replace it immediately.
However, there are a number of reasons why a DVD may not play other than a
defective disc.
The easiest way to tell if a problem is caused by our DVD or your equipment is to take it
home and try it in your television’s DVD player. Alternatively, bring in a feature film from
home and try it in your office equipment. If the DVD plays satisfactorily at home, then
one of the following could be the problem:
Your office computer has a CD drive rather than a DVD drive.
Your office computer has no sound card or no speakers.
Your office computer does not have the correct software (called a CODEC) to play
DVDs.
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Flexible Use of the DVD
You can use the DVD in creative ways of your own without rigidly following the guidance
in this guide. This section is intended to give you some ideas as to how to do this.
The Menu
The first thing you will see when you play the DVD is the menu. You can get to the
menu at any time by using the menu button on your remote control or DVD player. If
you are playing the DVD on a computer, you will be using DVD player software such as
Windows Media Player. Whichever software you use will have a button in it somewhere
which takes you back to the menu.
The menu has the following options:




Play Movie
Chris’s Appraisal
Paige’s Promotion
Author’s Notes
The options:


Chris’s Appraisal
Paige’s Promotion
Each takes you to sub menus to allow you to select individual scenes.
This menu structure is intended to give you flexibility in the way you use the DVD. For
example, you can use the individual scenes to illustrate points or to provoke discussion
on particular issues.
The rest of this guide will help you use the DVD to the full extent.
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Introduction to the DVD
The story takes place in a modern office that is deliberately meant to be general rather
than any particular industry or sector. The characters in the story are:
Paige
A professional, committed and enthusiastic lady. Works hard. Anxious to
move up. Loyal to the company.
Chris
Hard working, self-confident but slightly cynical about the company when
compared with Paige’s uncritical loyalty, but still basically a company man.
James
Senior manager. Articulate and friendly, willing to help others learn and
navigate the organization’s culture.
Judi
Solid, professional manager happy at her level in the organization.
Supportive of younger colleagues coming up and willing to help where
possible.
David
No nonsense manager.
Tracy
Middle manager. Willing to advise younger managers and to share
expertise generously.
Haq
Recently promoted mid-level manager.
Eddie
Experienced manager. Serious but approachable.
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The Story
Chris and Paige meet on the stairs at a busy time – two days before the end of the
quarter. Chris is preoccupied with his appraisal, due later that day, and Paige is anxious
about her promotion interview, also later that day.
We jump to a few days later. Paige is sitting in the rest area of the organization’s
cafeteria. Chris joins her and realizes immediately that something is wrong. Paige has
just heard that she has been turned down for the promotion. She suggests halfseriously that Chris might try for the job. Chris says there is not much chance of that –
not after his recent appraisal.
James, a senior manager, joins them and notices that they both seem despondent.
Chris and Paige tell him the reason and Chris describes how his appraisal went wrong.
We see Judi, his boss, trying to draw out some concrete, specific examples of when
Chris has demonstrated a particular competency. Chris replies in general terms and
seems unable, or unwilling, to give specific examples.
Back in the cafeteria, James asks Chris if he understands the importance of
competencies. It is obvious that Chris regards them as unnecessary bureaucracy, but
James explains that they are a crucially important part of the way the organization
manages people. Competencies, James explains, are the way the organization
communicates the way it needs people to behave. They deal with the how rather than
the what of work.
Paige cuts in to say that she is fully committed to the competency framework, but that
her promotion interview still went wrong. We see part of her interview with David and
Tracy who ask her for evidence of her decision-making competency. She replies with
what seems like good evidence, but David and Tracy are clearly not impressed.
Back in the cafeteria, James points out that Paige was only providing evidence of
competence at her current level. David and Tracy will be looking for evidence of
competence at a higher level. Paige argues that she cannot demonstrate this because
her existing job does not provide the opportunities to demonstrate higher-level
competencies. James accepts this, but argues that Paige needs to find ways around
this if she is to get promoted.
The discussion ends as all three realize that they need to get back to work.
We jump to the following day. We see Judi, Chris’s boss, talking to him in the hallway.
She says that James has reported the gist of the conversation from the previous day
and that she thinks it would be helpful if she and Chris could discuss the issue of
appraisal and competencies and why she had marked him down.
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At the same time, we see Paige approach Tracy at the copier to ask if she would be
willing to provide feedback on the unsuccessful promotion interview. Tracy agrees.
We then see the two discussions taking place in parallel. In the case of Chris and Judi,
Chris comes to realize that he must demonstrate all the competencies that his job calls
for – not just those that he considers necessary. He realizes that he must actively seek
out opportunities to demonstrate competencies that he prefers to avoid and, if
necessary, he must develop his abilities in order to do this.
In the case of Tracy and Paige, Tracy helps Paige to see that she must actively create
opportunities to demonstrate the competencies called for by the higher-level job if she is
ever to be successful in getting a promotion. Paige and Tracy devise a plan whereby
Paige will actively involve her staff more in decisions in order to demonstrate the higher
level competency and to collect evidence that she does so.
The story now jumps forward a whole year. Paige has applied for another promotion
and Chris is having his first appraisal with Eddie, who has taken over from Judi as his
boss. Paige is interviewed for her promotion by Haq.
We see these two meetings in parallel. Chris now has excellent evidence that he
demonstrates the competencies that his job requires and Paige has excellent evidence
that she demonstrates the competencies needed to perform at a higher level.
Finally, we see Paige and Chris, in a cheerful mood, in the cafeteria again. James joins
them and they tell him about their respective successes. They summarize what they
have learned during the previous year.
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Model Training Session
Learning Objectives
After this session, participants will be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explain what competencies are and why we use them.
Devise a plan to achieve high scores in appraisal.
Devise a plan to achieve success in promotion interviews.
Devise a personal development plan using their competency framework.
Preparation and Facilities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read the guide on page 17.
Review the training session.
Review the PowerPoint® presentation.
Review your organization’s competency framework.
Prepare copies of your organization’s competency framework.
You will need a meeting room with a digital projector and computer for the
PowerPoint®, a DVD player and monitor for the DVD and a flipchart for capturing ideas.
The room should allow for participants to work in small groups as well as in a single
large group.
The training session makes use of your organization’s competency framework. Make
sure that you are familiar with this and bring enough copies to the session for each
participant to have one. If the framework is very large, you may need to select relevant
parts of it depending on the needs of your participants.
Running the Session
The session has been designed to be easy to run with the participants doing much of
the work themselves. The elements of the session are:
Trainer Input
Trainer input sessions requires you as a trainer to explain key ideas using the
PowerPoint® presentation. You should prepare these using your own notes and
your own form of words based on the content we provide. You will find the guide on
page 17 very helpful in preparing your input.
DVD Input
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These sections require you to show parts of the DVD. The two parts that are used in
this training session are Play Movie and the Author’s Notes. You should ensure
that you know how to use both of these from the main menu.
Team Discussion
These sections require you to divide the main group into small groups or teams. The
ideal size for these teams is four people. Three and five are workable, but do not go
outside that range. If you have five or fewer people in your session, do not break
them up, but ask them to do the group exercises as a single group. If you have six
people, then use two teams of three. For seven people create one team of three and
one of four and for all larger numbers use teams of three and four.
You may choose to retain the same teams throughout or to mix people up.
Team discussions are an essential part of the session. They are much more
effective than asking questions of the whole group.
Pairs Exercise
These sections require you to divide your group into pairs to work together. If you
have an odd number of participants, you may choose between pairing with someone
yourself or having someone join a pair as an observer.
Segment 1 – Introduction and Learning Objectives
Trainer Input
Welcome participants and cover housekeeping and health and safety matters
according to your normal practice.
Explain that the session will be about Using Competencies Successfully and will
cover the learning objectives on slide 2.
Segment 2 – What are Competencies?
Group Discussion
Divide the group into teams. Pose the question on slide 3. Allow ten minutes for the
teams to discuss this question and then invite a spokesperson from each sub-group
to explain their conclusions to the group. Use the flipchart to capture the key ideas.
DVD Input
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Play the Author’s Notes option from the DVD menu until the caption Using
competencies in appraisal appears. Stop the DVD as soon as this caption appears
and return to the main menu.
Group Discussion
Divide the group into teams. Hand out copies of your organization’s competency
framework to the teams.
Pose the question on slide 5.
Allow ten minutes for the teams to discuss this question and then invite a
spokesperson from each sub-group to explain their conclusions to the whole group.
Use the flipchart to capture the key ideas. You are looking for ideas such as:




Uses active words such as “does” rather than “knows” or “can”
Consists of things we can actually see people do
Is clustered into similar items
Is expressed in levels
Trainer Input
Emphasize that competency frameworks focus on how people behave rather than
what they are capable of. Use slide 6, along with the notes from this guide on page
17, to explain how a competency framework is built up.
Segment 3 – An Overview
Overview
Show program characters on slide 7 and the overview of the story on slide 8.
DVD Input
Select Play Movie from the DVD menu.
Take a Fifteen Minute Break
Discourage people from checking their e-mail and otherwise becoming involved in
their work during this break. People need to unwind and relax before going on.
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Segment 4 – Succeeding in Appraisal
DVD Input
Return to the Main Menu, click on Author’s Notes and fast-forward to the caption
Using competencies in appraisal. Play this section. Pause the DVD when you get
to the caption Using competencies to get promoted.
Group Exercise
Divide the group into teams. Pose the question on slide 9.
Allow ten minutes for this discussion and then invite a spokesperson from each subgroup to explain their conclusions to the whole group. Use the flipchart to capture
key ideas.
Trainer Input
Emphasize that managers will be looking for evidence. They will be looking for
specific examples that demonstrate clearly that you actually behave in the way the
competency framework calls for – not that you know how to do it, but that you
actually do it.
Explain that managers are likely to have been trained in the way described on page
19 of this guide and use slide 10 to illustrate this.
Group Exercise
Divide the group into teams. Pose the question on slide 11.
Allow ten minutes for the teams to discuss this question and then invite a
spokesperson from each sub-group to explain their conclusions to the whole group.
Use the flipchart to capture the key ideas.
Trainer Input
Use the notes on pages 19 - 22 of this guide to present the key ideas about
preparing for a competency-based appraisal. Use slides 12 - 15 to illustrate your
points.
Pairs Exercise
Divide your group into pairs. The purpose of this exercise is to practice identifying
areas of weakness – areas where you do not currently have good evidence that you
behave according to the competency framework.
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Use slide 16 to explain how to conduct the exercise.
Explain that the person asking the question should probe to clarify the answer and
make sure that he or she is convinced that the other person really does display the
behavior called for. If the other person really cannot produce convincing evidence,
he or she should say so and note that behavior as a development opportunity.
Pairs Exercise
Use slide 17 to explain what the pairs should do next.
Pairs Exercise
Use slide 18 to explain what the pairs should do next.
Segment 5 – Succeeding in Promotion
DVD Input
Resume the Author’s Notes. Show the section captioned Using competencies
to get promoted. Pause the DVD when you get to the caption Using
competencies for self-development. (NOTE: The author refers to a character
named Jenny. In the US version, that character is named Paige.)
Group Exercise
Divide your group into teams. Pose the questions on slide 19.
Allow ten minutes for this discussion and then invite a spokesperson from each
sub-group to explain their conclusions to the whole group. Use the flipchart to
capture key ideas.
Trainer Input
Use the notes on page 21 to explain how to prepare for promotion. Use slide 20 to
illustrate your points.
Segment 6 – Self-development
DVD Input
Resume the Author’s Notes and show the section captioned Using competencies
for self-development.
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Trainer Input
Use the notes on page 22 to explain how to use competencies as the basis for selfdevelopment.
Group Exercise
Divide your group into teams. Pose the questions on slide 21.
Allow ten minutes for this discussion and then invite a spokesperson from each team
to explain their conclusions to the whole group. Use the flipchart to capture key
ideas.
Summary and Close
Use slides 22 – 23 to remind people of the key areas of the session.
Hand out copies of the notes on pages 17 - 22.
Close the session in your normal way.
Slide 23 is a summary slide:
• Use them in appraisal or performance reviews
• Use them to gain promotion
• Use them for self-development
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Using Competencies Successfully
What Competencies Are
Competencies set the standards for the way people do things in an organization. In the
same way that budgets and targets govern the financial state of the organization,
competencies govern the standards of behavior at work.
“Standards of behavior at work” is another way of saying, “the way we do things around
here.” When an organization sets up a competency framework it is saying, “These are
the ways that we expect people in this organization to do things.” It is setting the culture,
the tone and the style for the organization.
A competency framework is just a written description of all the competencies (i.e., all the
standards of behavior) an organization wishes people to display.
Organizations will have a culture whether there is a competency framework or not but
the framework makes it explicit. Without it, different managers and different teams may
behave in different ways and customers, suppliers and other stakeholders will have
varying experiences of the organization. In young or small companies the culture is very
often set by the leader and no formal framework is necessary. As companies grow and
mature, the original leadership culture tends to dissipate and a competency framework
can restore that sense of coherence of having a particular way of doing things.
How Competencies are Arrived at
The organization looks at the way it does things and identifies behaviors that it wants to
encourage. These are the behaviors that it believes will lead to success. Once it has
identified those behaviors – those ways of doing things – that it believes will lead to
success and that it wants to encourage, it sets them down formally in a competency
framework.
There are various techniques that an organization can use to help identify the behaviors
that it wants to encourage but these are beyond the scope of this guide. In writing it, we
have assumed that your organization has done this work and has a competency
framework in place.
What a Framework Looks Like
Observable Behavior
The building blocks of a competency framework are observable behaviors. They are
something that we can actually see, hear or experience. They are expressed in
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terms of how someone actually behaves and not in terms of their ability or
knowledge. So, for example, “Takes prompt corrective action in a crisis” is an
observable behavior – we can see whether or not someone does it. In contrast,
“knows what to do in a crisis” is not something we can actually observe. It may be
true, but it does not tell us anything about how a person will behave in a given
situation.
Competency
A competency is built up from these building blocks. It may consist of one
observable behavior or several. So, for example, you might have a competency
called “Communicates Effectively” and this might consist of related observable
behaviors such as: “Writes clearly and succinctly;” “Presents to groups convincingly;”
and “Explains ideas clearly and persuasively.”
Clusters
Very often, the competencies are grouped together into related “clusters.” There
might be a “leadership cluster” that includes competencies such as: “Communicates
Effectively,” “Gives a clear sense of direction to the team,” “Provides feedback and
support,” “Motivates people,” etc. Each competency in this cluster would be
expressed in terms of observable behaviors.
Levels
It is very common for an organization to describe its competencies using levels.
“Communicates Effectively” might be expressed as levels one, two and three. Each
level has its own observable behaviors. So the lowest level might include: “Explains
ideas clearly to colleagues and team leaders,” “Writes clear and appropriate emails,” etc. while the highest level might include: “Presents complex arguments
clearly and persuasively to large groups using appropriate audio-visual support,”
“Asks appropriate and effective questions to establish the facts of a situation” and
“Writes effective reports that communicate complex issues in an easily accessible
way.”
Job Profiles
Once a competency framework has been established, job profiles can be created
using combinations of competencies and levels. A particular job might require
“Communicates Effectively” at level three but only require “Motivates People” at level
one. It is not necessary for a senior job to require only high-level competencies and
it is quite possible for a junior job to require one or more high-level competencies.
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Using Competencies Successfully
Three ways to use competencies successfully are:
In Appraisal or Performance Reviews
We’ll use the word appraisal, but we are talking about any situation in which your
performance is reviewed at work.
Using competencies effectively in appraisal is more than just presentation. It
requires you to approach your appraisal in an active way and to begin planning for
your appraisal as soon as the previous one is completed. You need to keep in mind
that your manager will be looking for evidence that you display the behaviors called
for in the competency framework for your job profile. So your starting point should be
the framework. Begin by looking at each of the behavior indicators that you know
your manager will be looking for. Ask yourself, in each case, whether you could
produce convincing evidence, using real and specific examples, which would
convince your manager that you display the desired behaviors to the standard
required.
The chances are that you will find a mixed picture. There will be some behaviors that
you display frequently and for which you have ample evidence. Take note of these
along with specific examples and think about how you would present your evidence.
You might like to talk to your manager about how he or she likes to hear evidence
presented. Many managers will have been trained using a model such as STAR or
PROBE. STAR stands for:
Situation
Task
Action
Result
And PROBE stands for:
Position
Responsibility
Objectives
Behavior
Effect
Both of these reminders, and others, follow the same basic principle, which is:
Tell me the background of the example you are about to give.
Tell me what you actually did.
Tell me what happened as a result.
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The manager is likely to ask questions as you go along, such as:
How, exactly, did you do that?
Why did you do it that way?
How did other people react to what you did?
And you should be sure that you are able to answer such questions.
As well as the behaviors that you are confident that you can demonstrate, there will
be behaviors where you are not so sure. Either you do not regularly display them, or
your evidence is weak. These are the behaviors that you need to concentrate on if
you are going to have a successful appraisal. Identify these weak areas and make a
written note of them.
Now you need to prepare a plan – one that will ensure that you demonstrate all the
desired behaviors and that you have convincing evidence of this in good time for
your next appraisal.
This plan will address two situations. One is where you have the necessary skills
and knowledge to demonstrate a behavior but, for whatever reason, you do not do
so. The other is where you do not demonstrate a particular behavior because you do
not know how to do so. Let’s take the first situation first.
You need to actively look for opportunities to demonstrate the weaker behaviors.
Sometimes, you will find that you are avoiding particular behaviors because they
don’t come naturally to you or because you feel uncomfortable displaying them. This
is entirely natural. The organization will have identified a range of desirable
behaviors and different people in the organization will find different behaviors come
more or less naturally. Where you find that you are avoiding a particular behavior,
give yourself a written target. This will help ensure that you actively seek out
opportunities to demonstrate the behavior. In the film, for example, Chris gave
himself the target of giving each of his staff at least one piece of feedback per week.
The other thing that you may need to do is actively create opportunities to
demonstrate the desired behaviors. A common reason why people may not have
evidence of a particular behavior is because the opportunity to demonstrate the
behavior may not be there on a day-to-day basis. In the program, Paige found it
difficult to produce evidence that she involved people in decisions because she
knew so much more about the work than any of her team. She had to look for ways
to create opportunities to demonstrate the behavior.
Creating opportunities may not be easy – there will always be short-term pressures
that take precedence. But you must make the time to think about how you will do it
or you will not be able to get the top possible reviews in your appraisals and this will
ultimately affect your career progress.
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Now we come to those behaviors that you do not demonstrate convincingly because
you do not have the necessary skills or knowledge. Here you have two challenges.
You still need to identify opportunities to display the desired behaviors, but you also
need to look for learning opportunities to help you develop your approach so that
you can demonstrate them more effectively. You might find that you need to try out a
particular behavior in order to help you identify the aspects of it that you find difficult.
Once you have clearly identified the aspects of a particular behavior that you are
currently unable to display, discuss them with your manager and develop a learning
plan to help you master the parts that you find difficult. This may involve discussing
the approach you should take with colleagues and managers, it may involve using
learning resources such as books and DVDs or it may involve a formal course.
To be successful in appraisal, you need to:




Demonstrate those behaviors that your job calls for
Prepare specific and convincing evidence to demonstrate that you do this
Look for opportunities to demonstrate behaviors where your evidence is weak
Develop yourself to demonstrate behaviors that you currently find difficult
Finally, remember to make a note of specific examples to use in the interview.
To Get Promoted
The most common mistake that people make is to assume that being good at their
present job qualifies them for promotion. As James points out in the program, if this
were true we would all be promoted until we found the first job that we could not do.
Interviewers will be looking for evidence that you can do the job that they are trying
to fill. This means that they will be looking for evidence that you display the
competencies required by that job and not necessarily those required by your
present job.
Your starting point, in looking for promotion, should be the competencies required by
the job that you are considering. But if you leave it until you are about to apply, the
chances are that you will not have enough time to change your behavior so as to
demonstrate the desired behavior. You should be developing yourself for promotion
the whole time, if promotion is what you want.
So look at the higher-level competencies in the framework. Identify those behaviors
that you will need to demonstrate in order to convince an interviewer that you can
handle a more senior post. The chances are that these competencies will involve a
mixture of behaviors that you do not demonstrate at present and those that you do
demonstrate, but not at the level required. Be particularly careful with those
behaviors that you do display now, but at a lower level than needed. Look at the
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differences in wording between the descriptions of behavior at your level and the
higher-level. Make sure that you understand exactly what the higher level calls for.
Identify and write down the differences between the way you behave now and the
ideal behaviors for a more senior position. You may find it helpful to discuss these
differences with your manager or with a competent person in HR. These differences
will form the basis of a personal development plan.
Next, you need to plan to modify or develop your behavior so that you will be able to
convince an interviewer with clear, compelling evidence that you can do the job that
he or she is trying to fill. Just as with appraisal, this means actively looking for
opportunities to display the higher-level behaviors and it means creating
opportunities if they do not exist currently. And just as in appraisal, it means
identifying those behaviors that you currently find difficult, or which you avoid, and
creating a plan to develop yourself so that you do display those behaviors effectively
in the future.
For Self-development
The third area in which you can use competencies successfully is in selfdevelopment. Actually, much of what we have said so far applies to selfdevelopment. Everything we said about getting a promotion involves developing
yourself and your behaviors so that you could convince an interviewer that you were
ready to do the job that he or she wanted to fill.
But there is also a more general approach to self-development where you can use
competencies successfully.
The competency framework should be a key input to your self-development plan. It
tells you how the organization expects its people to approach their work. You should
constantly seek to measure your own behaviors against it and you should seek
feedback from others in terms of how your behaviors stack up against those in the
framework. You should be constantly looking for opportunities to develop your
behaviors to bring them in line with what is desired. And when you are satisfied that
you can demonstrate that you display all the behaviors needed at your level, with
convincing and compelling evidence, start to develop your higher-level behaviors –
those that the competency framework tells you will be needed later on as your
career develops.
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
Analysis of Individual Scenes
Chris’s Unsuccessful Appraisal
Select this scene by choosing Chris’s Appraisal from the menu and then choosing
Chris’s Unsuccessful Appraisal from the sub-menu.
Judi takes one of the behavioral indicators from the competency framework and asks
Chris for an example of when he has displayed this behavior.
Chris is clearly having problems. Despite Judi’s best efforts, he is unable to come up
with any specific examples.
This is a typical situation in an appraisal. The appraisee talks in general terms about a
subject without giving any useful examples from which the appraiser can make a
judgment.
We don’t know at this stage whether Chris has simply failed to prepare his evidence or
whether he actually has a problem displaying this particular behavior.
As a trainer, you could ask your course participants to consider:


What should Chris do if he realizes that he does not display the behavior
required?
What should he do if he is confident that he does regularly display the required
behavior, but cannot think of an example in the heat of the moment?
Paige’s Unsuccessful Promotion Interview
Select this scene by choosing Paige’s Promotion from the menu and then choosing
Paige’s Unsuccessful Promotion Interview from the sub-menu.
David begins in a very open way by telling Paige exactly what he and Tracy are looking
for. Paige is well aware of the competency framework and has prepared her evidence
carefully. The problem is that she has prepared evidence of her behavior at the level
required of her present job.


Can you think of any way that Paige could improve her chances at this stage?
What should Paige have done to avoid this situation?
Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
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Chris’s Successful Appraisal
Select this scene by choosing Chris’s Appraisal from the menu and then choosing
Chris’s Successful Appraisal from the sub-menu.
Chris has clearly studied the feedback competency carefully and understands that a
critical behavior that it calls for is reaches agreement on required improvements
when dealing with a performance problem.
We know from the earlier part of the film that he does not enjoy giving support and
feedback and tends to avoid it. He has learned the importance of this behavior during
the previous year and has sought out opportunities to practice the behavior by giving
himself the target of giving each member of his team at least one piece of helpful
feedback each week.
In addition to seeking out opportunities to demonstrate the appropriate behavior, he has
undertaken self-development by discussing the subject of feedback with Judi and his
colleagues and by taking the feedback module in the company library. He approaches
this latest appraisal with good evidence that he displays the necessary competency. As
the scene develops, it becomes clear that Eddie, his boss, is able to obtain good
evidence of Chris’s competence in giving feedback.
Paige’s Successful Promotion Interview
Select this scene by choosing Paige’s Promotion from the menu and then choosing
Paige’s Successful Promotion Interview from the sub-menu.
Haq begins by openly stating that he is looking for someone who gives a clear sense of
direction. Paige is ready with her evidence. She has studied the job profile for the target
job and she is clearly well aware of the competency requirements. What is more, she
has clearly recognized the differences between the competency requirement of her
current job and those required for promotion. She could easily have implemented the
new reporting rules without any recourse to her team simply by using her own
knowledge and experience to work out what needed to be done. This would have been
a perfectly satisfactory outcome at her current level. However, it would not have told
Haq anything about whether Paige could operate at a higher level.
Paige has recognized this and has modified her way of working in order to demonstrate
higher-level competencies than her job requires. She has set about involving and
motivating her team in the full knowledge that the higher-level job requires that
managers gain commitment to change before implementing it. As a result, she is
able to give Haq convincing evidence of her competence at the higher-level. And, as we
see later, this is sufficient to ensure that she gets the job.
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
Programs From Newmarket Learning
A Question of Evidence: The Behavior-Based Interview
If you like our program on Using Competencies Successfully you will like A Question of
Evidence. This program focuses on using competencies for successful recruitment and
selection.
Aim for Development: Setting Personal Development Objectives That Work
If you need to help people devise personal development plans, you will love this
program. It shows people how to combine their personal aspirations with their
organization’s needs to devise development objectives to which they will be really
committed.
Delivering Feedback: Fixing Performance Problems
This popular program deals with the thorny issue of how to tell people that they are not
doing as well as they should, but in such a way that you motivate them to improve,
rather than generate conflict.
Coaching: The Power of Questions
Widely regarded as one of the best programs on coaching yet made, this complete
training kit demonstrates to your people what they actually need to do to coach
effectively – not just a theoretical model, but sound, practical advice on how to get the
best out of people.
Gaining Commitment: Setting Performance Objectives That Work
Performance objectives can be as specific, agreed upon and as time-bounded as you
like, but unless they are actually achieved, they’re useless. This course provides new
insights into getting team members emotionally and intellectually engaged in achieving
their objectives. The manager plays a key role in engaging their people so that they
want to achieve their agreed objectives. Managers also need to be able to explain how
what they are doing fits into the overall corporate goals.
Using Competencies Successfully: Communicating the Way We Want People to
Work
Most organizations have a competency framework in place. But not everyone is sure
about the purpose. This powerful new training DVD is applicable for both managers as
well as staff. Using Competencies Successfully explains what competencies are, why
organizations put them in place and how they will impact promotions, appraisals and
self-development efforts.
Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
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Instructor Notes
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
Instructor Notes
Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.
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Instructor Notes
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Using Competencies Successfully ©Telephone Doctor, Inc.