Competency and Behavior

What is the difference between competency, behavior, and skill?

Behavior describes the way a person acts, irrespective of whether it is linked to effective performance at work. Competency on the other hand refers to behaviors that are linked to successful job performance. Both behavior and competency are influenced by an individual’s underlying characteristics (e.g., their personality, talents, abilities, motivations, values, and skills).

While competency refers to sets of behaviors that are related to effective performance at work, skill refers to the ability to perform a task or action well. They may underpin competent behavior, but unlike competencies, they exist regardless of whether or not they lead to effective work performance.

How are competencies used?

Competencies are generally used as the foundation for talent management programs and are generally defined/organized in terms of a framework or model. The competency model or framework defines what success looks like for a job, level, role, or organization. Competency models can be used as a basis for the recruitment of job candidates, selection of top-quality employees, development of existing employees, and ongoing performance management. They also provide a useful guide for employees themselves in terms of their understanding of their role and what is required of them.

How many competencies should an organization use?

Competency libraries can contain upwards of 50 different competencies. However, when operationalized in an organization’s competency behavior framework, a useful number to aspire to is 6-10 competencies per job, role, level, or company. This allows the competency behavior framework to be comprehensive enough to cover the breadth of performance and/or all jobs within an organization, while keeping the number of competencies within a reasonable range for employees and managers to understand.