Willis Towers Watson Competency Atlas
Featuring a competency dictionary for future-focused organizations
The Willis Towers Watson 2014 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study revealed that
organizations with a highly evolved employment deal are three times as likely to report that their
employees are highly engaged and one and a half times as likely to report achieving financial
performance significantly above that of their peers.
The study showed that HR programs that are integrated
with each other and built upon a career and competency
framework linked to performance and rewards create clear
competitive advantage. Organizational and leadership
competencies are critical to successful performance.
Functional competencies further support leaders by providing
employees with a clear path to career advancement, which
continues to be a top driver of attraction and retention,
especially among high-performing employees. Identifying
the right competencies is instrumental for meeting business
challenges associated with growth, restructuring, mergers
and acquisitions, shifts in business focus and transformation
of an organization’s culture.
Willis Towers Watson has refreshed Competency Atlas®,
which features a globally vetted, future-focused competency
dictionary that addresses clients’ changing business
environments and incorporates the latest thinking and trends
in competencies.
This valuable reference covers the full spectrum of employee,
manager and leader behaviors in an organization. Companies
can use Competency Atlas as an efficient, cost-effective
resource for building organizational, leadership and functional
competency models tied to business strategy and results,
or for refreshing existing competency models to reflect
changing needs.
High-level overview of Towers Watson’s Competency Atlas
Core 28 modules
Functional module
Core 28 module
Scaled organization-wide,
managerial and leadership
competencies
18 scaled functional libraries — includes functional
competencies and technical skills
Card sort deck
Facilitates competency selection
through a sorting process
GPS (Guide for
Personal Success)
module
Developmental tips and
potential derailers for the
Core module
ƒƒ
Accounting and Finance
ƒƒ
Administrative Services
ƒƒ
Audit and Financial
BEI (Behavioral
Event Interview)
module
Questions for
Core module
ƒƒ
Corporate Affairs and
Feedback questions
and instrument
ƒƒ
Engineering
ƒƒ
Environmental, Health
360-Degree
Assessment
Business Controls
ƒƒ
Business Operations
ƒƒ
Client Services and
Customer Support
Communications
and Safety
ƒƒ
Human Resources
ƒƒ
Information Technology
ƒƒ
Legal and Regulatory
Compliance
ƒƒ
Manufacturing
ƒƒ
Marketing
ƒƒ
Research and Development
ƒƒ
Risk Management
ƒƒ
Sales and Account
Management
ƒƒ
Strategic Planning
ƒƒ
Supply Chain and Logistics
What does the Competency Atlas Suite include?
The Core 28 module within Competency Atlas includes
28 competencies; definitions; and observable, measurable
behaviors associated with each competency, scaled in
alignment with up to five career or contribution levels, plus an
executive level.
Sample card from the Competency Atlas
Core 28 module card sort deck
Front
The GPS module includes a robust set of development tips
and potential derailers for each competency in the Core 28
module.
The BEI module includes behavioral interview questions
written for all 28 competencies in the Core module, as well as
trigger and elaborator questions.
The 360-Degree Assessment instruments gather feedback
on proficiency of competencies and identify developmental
opportunities, with separate instruments aligned to three
levels of leadership: executive/director, senior manager and
manager/supervisor.
The Functional module consists of libraries of competencies
and technical skills for 18 different functions (i.e., job family
groups). The functional competencies and technical skills
within each library can be applied across the function or by
job family within the function. There are measurable behaviors
associated with each competency and technical skill, scaled
in alignment with up to five career or contribution levels.
There are at least 10 functional competencies plus technical
skills in each library.
2
Competency Atlas
Back
How do you use Competency Atlas tools?
Competency Atlas is a resource for creating competency
models.
Companies can use the language in the dictionary verbatim
for their models or customize the language to describe the
behaviors in their own words to reflect their unique strategic
priorities and values.
Companies typically identify a subset of competencies from
the libraries and create an organization-specific competency
model that is clear and focused to aid execution of the
organization’s strategy. The competencies can also be used
to develop manager and leadership competency models.
All libraries are available in an editable electronic format to
facilitate building an organization-specific competency model.
The Core 28 module is also available as printed cards to
facilitate competency selection.
Competency Atlas is incorporated into Willis Towers Watson
Talent Management Software to simplify the implementation
process.
An e-learning certification is available that fully describes the
products and how to use them.
How is Competency Atlas different from
other off-the-shelf resources?
ƒƒ
Competency Atlas is scaled to reflect increasing
and differentiated behavioral expectations across a
full range of contribution levels and can be used to
illustrate career paths.
ƒƒ
All competencies in the Core and Functional modules
have been scaled in a consistent format, providing
ease of implementation by eliminating the need
for time-consuming alignment to an organization’s
career or contribution levels.
ƒƒ
Competency Atlas is integrated with Willis Towers
Watson’s global career framework and leveling tools
(Career Map and the Global Grading System), and
can easily be aligned with an organization’s custom
career or contribution levels.
ƒƒ
The Core 28 module is aligned to our psychometric
assessments to directly assess an individual’s
motives, talents and potential.
ƒƒ
The Core 28 module reflects the latest trends and
our research about the competencies required
for leadership success. The product includes a
manageable number of competencies and skills,
covering the primary functions across industries.
ƒƒ
The product supports all aspects of an integrated
talent management cycle — from selection to
performance management, employee development
and leadership effectiveness.
About Willis Towers Watson
Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW) is a leading global advisory, broking and
solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth.
With roots dating to 1828, Willis Towers Watson has 39,000 employees in more than
120 countries. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits,
cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions
and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections
between talent, assets and ideas — the dynamic formula that drives business
performance. Together, we unlock potential. Learn more at willistowerswatson.com.
Copyright © 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved.
WTW-NA-16-SAL-2503
willistowerswatson.com