Employee Competencies

A competency is a combination of skills, knowledge, experience, and abilities that enable the effective performance of specific tasks or the achievement of particular goals.

A competency consists of:

• knowledge
• skills
• attitude

Competencies can be measured and assessed based on specific behaviours, making them easier to identify and develop. They are related to professional duties and can be developed through training, professional experience, and practice. They can be grouped into competency frameworks or competency profiles, which define the preferred set of competencies for a given role within a specific organisation.

Types of Employee Competencies

In professional literature, we encounter many subdivisions of competencies. Depending on the methodology adopted by a given organisation, the division of competencies may vary.

In tomHRM, you manage competency groups independently. You can use the competency types we've introduced or modify them as needed to fit your company's role profiles.

Check out:

• What is the difference between competencies, skills, and qualifications?
• Competency Divisions

1. Hard and Soft
2. Professional and Personal
3. Key and Supporting
4. List of 5 Groups of Employee Competencies

Competencies vs. Skills vs. Qualifications vs. Abilities

The nomenclature related to this topic can be complex and unclear.

As we said earlier, skills are one of the components of competencies. They are independent of our emotions, beliefs, or cultural conditioning. Skills can be acquired, and the level at which we achieve them may depend on psychophysical conditions, talent, and personality predispositions. Here, abilities play a special role; these are natural predispositions of our organism that allow us to acquire new skills and develop competencies faster and more fully.

Qualifications most often mean formal authorisation to perform a given profession. This is a confirmation of knowledge and skills, which takes place within defined frameworks and on specified principles.

Example:

Zbyszek speaks fluent English, which he learned during his stay in the USA. It wasn't easy for him, as he had no aptitude for foreign languages (lacking a good musical ear), making it difficult to pick up accents. Through hard work developing his linguistic competencies, he achieved proficiency, but he does not have the qualifications to work as a translator because he lacks relevant education and has not passed the required examination.

It is also important to distinguish competencies from character traits or predispositions to certain attitudes or behaviours related to personality or upbringing. Personality traits are relatively stable and quite difficult to change; they are not linked to professional tasks, though they may facilitate or hinder them.

During recruitment and employee selection, it is important to consider both the competencies necessary to perform specific tasks and the personality traits that may influence adaptation to organisational culture and team relationships.

Hard and Soft Competencies

The fundamental difference between soft and hard competencies arises from their nature and how they are assessed. Soft competencies are often more challenging to measure because their level is influenced by personality traits and attitudes (and even cultural predispositions), whereas hard competencies are more a result of acquired knowledge, practical skills, and professional experience.

Hard Competencies

These are specialist and technical skills related to knowledge, practical abilities, and professional experience. They are measurable and easy to assess, as they often pertain to specific fields or industries. The potential for developing these competencies is generally greater than for soft competencies.

Examples of Hard Competencies

• Knowledge of specific technology / programming language
• Ability to operate specific machinery
• Knowledge of legal regulations (e.g., labour law)
• Ability to use research tools
• Knowledge of industry procedures and regulations
• Ability to perform specific tasks (e.g., bake a particular type of cake, build a wooden table, or unlock a jammed lock)
• Familiarity with operating specific systems / software

Soft Competencies

These influence how an individual interacts with others and operates within their environment. They can be subdivided into categories such as interpersonal, social, and emotional skills. This is the broadest group of competencies.

Examples of Soft Competencies

• Interpersonal communication
• Teamwork skills
• Empathy
• Conflict resolution
• Problem-solving
• Decision-making
• Stress management (resilience to stress)
• Active listening
• Initiative
• Responsibility
• Goal setting
• Ability to work remotely
• Critical thinking
• Results orientation
• Self-organisation
• Learning agility

Check which soft competencies you can find in the tomHRM database

Professional and Personal Competencies

The division into professional and personal competencies stems from different aspects of work and professional life. Professional competencies relate to a specific professional field or specific skills that are essential for performing defined tasks. Personal competencies, on the other hand, refer to personality traits and interpersonal skills that are important both at work and in daily life.

Professional Competencies

These are skills, knowledge, and experience directly related to one's profession or professional activity. They influence work efficiency and effectiveness and enable the achievement of professional goals. They will include both hard and soft competencies, i.e., technical and social.

Examples of Professional Competencies:

• Specialist industry knowledge
• Analytical thinking skills
• Knowledge of technology
• Project management skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Business communication
• Decision-making ability
• Time and priority management
• Strategic planning
• Teamwork skills

The list of professional competencies is essentially endless.

Personal Competencies

These are skills, knowledge, experience, and attitudes that determine how an individual manages daily life and relationships with others. They influence self-perception, stress management, relationship building, and decision-making. Personal competencies can assist in professional life and affect an individual's career success. This category can also include all elements that will never be used in an employee's professional work (e.g., a financial accountant's ability to ski). It is worth noting that developing personal skills can support the development of professional competencies.

Examples of Personal Competencies

• Communicativeness
• Empathy
• Stress resilience
• Sense of humour
• Motivation
• Flexibility
• Ability to cope with difficulties
• Charisma
• Self-discipline

Key and Supporting Competencies

Key employee competencies are those essential for the effective performance of tasks within the role held. Supporting competencies, on the other hand, are those that:

• are not essential but can improve work efficiency and help achieve goals,
• are not currently necessary but can be developmental in the context of succession planning or promotion (at which point they may become key competencies),
• emerge in social situations or teamwork.

According to analyses, the job market currently considers the following to be key competencies for the future:

• analytical thinking
• cultural sensitivity
• adaptability to change
• speed of information processing

The World Economic Forum also publishes reports on the most desirable future competencies every few years.

Meanwhile, according to McKinsey & Company, the most lacking key competencies in the coming years are problem-solving, the ability to deal with complex or ambiguous situations, and communication.

Employee Competency Breakdown

For every employee, the range of competencies that allow them to perform professional tasks effectively is not limited to so-called soft or hard skills. It is truly an entire set of an employee's characteristics, knowledge, skills, and cognitive competencies that enable them to effectively manage challenges at work.

To facilitate and better organise the entire process of professional competency development, conducting performance reviews, planning training, or succession plans, HR departments create competency grids or competency frameworks, grouping individual elements crucial for an employee's success. In this sense, employee competencies can be divided into the following groups:

Managerial Competencies

Managerial competencies are a collection of skills, characteristics, and behaviours that allow managers to effectively lead their teams and achieve organisational goals.

Every leader, in addition to standard social competencies useful in any role requiring teamwork, needs a set of competencies related to maintaining the engagement and effectiveness of their employees.

Individuals with managerial competencies are capable of effectively motivating employees, resolving conflicts, making decisions, delegating tasks, and building positive relationships in the workplace.

List of Managerial Competencies (Examples)

• Delegating tasks
• Team management
• Change management
• Strategic thinking
• Motivating others
• Work performance management
• Supervising others' work
• Conflict resolution
• Ability to identify talent
• Ability to develop talent
• Team building

Technical Competencies

Technical competencies encompass specialist and practical skills that are necessary for performing specific professional tasks in a given role.

These may include operating specialist software, knowledge of technology, programming skills, or practical abilities in fields such as engineering, IT, finance, or manufacturing. Possessing appropriate technical competencies enables employees to perform their duties efficiently and effectively, contributing to professional success and the achievement of organisational goals.

List of Technical Competencies (Examples):

• Project management
• Industry knowledge
• Technical knowledge
• Product knowledge
• Operating specific software
• Sales skills
• IT competencies
• Machine operation skills

In the development of technical competencies, an employer can support an employee in many ways, by enabling learning from colleagues, a training and course database, mentoring with an expert, or other tools.

Language Competencies

This is simply knowledge of foreign languages, described by its level or nature. In Europe, the CEFR scale is most commonly used, which distinguishes 6 levels of language proficiency from A1 to C2. However, it is worth remembering that an employee may have different language levels depending on which elements of language use are being described (reading, writing, listening, or speaking).

Social Soft Competencies

Social or soft competencies are often listed on CVs by job candidates or on LinkedIn. However, such declarations do not have much substantive value and require empirical verification during the recruitment process.

List of Soft Competencies (Examples):

• Planning and organisation
• Learning agility
• Self-organisation
• Teamwork
• Problem-solving
• Customer orientation
• Written communication skills
• Verbal communication skills
• Stress resilience
• Results orientation
• Cultural competencies (diversity)
• Critical thinking
• Goal setting
• Remote work
• Responsibility

You can find all the above competencies in the free tomHRM database. Just create a demo account!

Cognitive Soft Competencies

Cognitive competencies are a set of skills that influence our ability to process information, solve problems, make decisions, and learn new things. They are crucial for work effectiveness, as they enable us to cope with diverse professional situations and achieve intended goals.

Cognitive competencies are relatively stable. They can be developed, but working on them is relatively difficult, and for someone without natural predispositions, achieving mastery in a given cognitive competency can be significantly hampered. Natural cognitive competencies can be externally enhanced (e.g., by using IT systems) or internally (e.g., by learning mnemonics to improve working or long-term memory).

Example:

Kasia scores low on attention to detail. Due to difficulties with concentration and a lack of natural predisposition, she overlooks typos and often makes mistakes when entering data into the system. Kasia knows this is a challenge in her role, so she supports herself with additional tools to check data and content accuracy. Kasia won't develop her attention to detail competency significantly, but she can learn to work effectively despite this skill not being her strong suit.

Cognitive competencies are most often used in recruitment to assess a job candidate's potential. Although difficult to evaluate during an interview, they can be measured by tests or estimated through recruitment tasks.

List of Cognitive Competencies

• Flexibility of thought
• Attention span
• Adaptability to change
• Speed of acquiring and processing new information
• Numerical thinking
• Working and long-term memory
• Creativity
• Emotional self-regulation and stress management
• Analytical thinking
• Attention to detail

Intelligence is also sometimes included in cognitive competencies, but this is incorrect reasoning because IQ consists of several types of mental abilities, and its level is also influenced by culture and life experiences. Any measurement of intelligence in the area of employee competency management or recruitment carries an enormous risk of error. Instead, studies and analyses of cognitive competencies are used.

Check the tomHRM competency and behaviour database