Competency Framework
The competency framework describes what skills exist in the organization, how they are graded, and who holds them at what level. It underpins process responsibilities: a process step that requires a competency can be matched against the people who actually have it.
The structure
| Entity | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Competency category | A flat classification — Technical, Managerial, Behavioural. |
| Competency group | A hierarchical grouping that organizes competencies. |
| Competency level group | A hierarchical grouping of level scales — for example "General Levels" and "Language Levels". |
| Competency level | A named, scored level within a level group — "Beginner / 1.0", "Advanced / 4.0". |
| Competency | A defined skill, belonging to a group, a category and a level group. |
| Person competency | A person holding a competency at a level. |
Competency
A competency is the skill itself — C# Programming, Internal Auditing, Forklift Operation, English.
Each competency references:
- A group — where it sits in the skills taxonomy.
- A category — what kind of skill it is.
- A level group — which scale is used to grade it. A language competency and a technical competency usually need different scales.
It also carries a has validity period flag.
The validity period flag is set once at creation and cannot be changed afterwards. Decide before saving whether this competency expires — a forklift licence does, a completed university module does not.
Competency levels
Levels belong to a level group and carry a numeric score, which is what makes levels comparable and rankable rather than just labels.
A typical general scale:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Beginner | 1.0 |
| Basic | 2.0 |
| Competent | 3.0 |
| Advanced | 4.0 |
| Expert | 5.0 |
Person competency
A person competency joins a user, a competency and a level. It carries:
- Acquisition approval date — when the competency was formally recognized.
- Validity end date — when it expires, for competencies with a validity period.
- From LMS — marks records that came from a learning management system rather than being entered by hand.
- Active.
Using competencies with processes
The framework's value shows up when it meets process responsibilities: a process step assigned to a role can be checked against who actually holds the competency that step requires, and an expiring validity date becomes a visible gap rather than a surprise during an audit.
Keep the number of level groups small. Two or three scales — a general one, a language one, perhaps a certification one — cover almost everything. A scale per competency makes the framework impossible to report across.