14 Industry-Specific Competency Model Examples to Clarify Expectations

Competency models are essential tools for HR professionals. They translate organizational goals into individual achievements by mapping out the skills, knowledge, and behaviors required for success in each role. These frameworks clarify performance expectations, ensuring everyone in the company—from interns to CEOs—understands what it takes to excel.

This article showcases 14 role-specific competency model examples that companies from various industries have successfully implemented. These models are not theoretical. They are practical blueprints used to unlock the full potential of teams. We also highlight best practices from these examples to guide you in building your effective competency frameworks.

HR competency model example

Human resources departments manage and support the company’s most valuable asset: its employees. As a result, an HR competency model is essential in defining what skills and behaviors HR professionals must possess to succeed in their roles.

McLean and Company identifies 19 HR competencies that suit most organizations, encompassing a wide range of skills and behaviors necessary for HR success. This extensive coverage ensures that HR professionals are well-equipped to handle various aspects of their roles, from program planning to conflict management and from business acumen to inclusion:

• Program planning and development

• Needs analysis

• Conflict management

• Facilitation

• Managing through change and uncertainty

• Customer focus

• Dynamic learning mindset

• Branding and marketing (including branding of the employee value proposition)

• Technology enablement

• Influence

• Relationship building

• Business and financial acumen

• Data literacy

• Organizational awareness

• Communication

• Inclusion

• Problem-solving and decision-making

• Coaching

• Project management

• Technical HR expertise

The competencies identified by McLean & Company reflect the evolving nature of HR in today’s dynamic business environment. Of particular relevance are the following three competencies:

• Technology enablement—emphasizing the importance of leveraging technology to streamline HR processes

• Data literacy—highlighting the need for HR professionals to analyze and interpret data to make informed and strategic decisions

• Branding and marketing—showcasing the need to build a strong employee value proposition to attract and retain top talent

For each competency, the model defines four proficiency levels—Foundational, Capable, Inspirational, and Transformational—acknowledging the different stages of an HR professional’s career:

• Level 1 = Foundational: Baseline behaviors

• Level 2 = Capable: Practical application of the behaviors

• Level 3 = Inspirational: Role models, coaches, and influences demonstration of the behaviors

• Level 4 = Transformational: Envisions and innovates the next generation of behaviors

Each level should include the levels below it. For example, a person demonstrating level two proficiency must also demonstrate level one proficiency. This tiered approach allows for targeted development and clear progression paths, helping individuals and organizations understand the expectations at each level:

Engineering competency model examples

Engineering roles require specialized technical skills and core competencies such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Depending on the role, some may also require managerial competencies.

The Engineering Competency Model from the United States Department of Labor

The Engineering Competency Model from the Employment and Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor is a robust and structured framework outlining the essential competencies for a successful engineering career. Organized as a pyramid, the model systematically categorizes competencies into five distinct tiers, progressing from fundamental personal attributes to specialized industry-specific skills.

The model encompasses a wide range of competencies, including technical skills, personal effectiveness, academic knowledge, workplace competencies, and managerial skills. This holistic approach ensures that engineers are well-rounded professionals capable of thriving in various aspects of their roles.

Tier 1: Personal effectiveness competencies

This foundational tier focuses on essential personal attributes crucial for any profession. The competencies listed here are:

• Interpersonal skills

• Integrity

• Professionalism

• Initiative

• Adaptability and flexibility

• Dependability and reliability

• Lifelong learning

Emphasizing these attributes ensures that engineers possess the soft skills necessary for effective communication, ethical behavior, and continuous improvement.

Tier 2: Academic competencies

This tier highlights the academic knowledge and skills necessary for engineering. They include:

• Reading

• Writing

• Mathematics

• Science and technology

• Communication

• Critical and analytical thinking

• Computer skills

Tier 3: Workplace competencies

This tier focuses on the abilities and skills required to function effectively in a professional environment. The competencies listed at this tier are:

• Teamwork

• Client/stakeholder focus

• Planning and organizing

• Creative thinking

• Problem-solving, prevention, and decision making

• Seeking and developing opportunities

• Working with tools and technology

• Scheduling and coordinating

• Checking, examining, and recording

• Business fundamentals

Including business fundamentals ensures that engineers understand the broader context of their work, bridging the gap between technical and business aspects.

Tier 4: Industry-wide technical competencies

This tier addresses broader technical competencies applicable across the entire engineering field. The competencies listed are:

• Foundations of engineering

• Design

• Manufacturing and construction

• Professional ethics

• Business, legal, and public policy

• Sustainability and societal and environmental impact

• Engineering economics

• Quality control and quality assurance

• Safety, health, security, and environment

The model underscores the importance of delivering high-quality, safe, and sustainable engineering solutions by incorporating quality control, safety, and environmental impact.

Tier 5: Industry-sector functional areas

The top tier focuses on specific competencies within particular engineering sectors. The model does not prescribe specific competencies here, allowing for customization.

This customization allows for detailed specialization, catering to the unique requirements of different engineering disciplines. It ensures that engineers can develop expertise tailored to their specific industry, enhancing their capability to contribute effectively.

At the tip of the pyramid, there are also two additional categories:

• Management competencies: These are managerial skills, including staffing, delegating, networking, strategic planning, developing and mentoring, preparing and evaluating budgets, and more

• Occupation-specific requirements: The model does not prescribe specific competencies here—instead companies would customize this section to the unique requirements of specific engineering roles.

This engineering competency model example is a valuable tool for various stakeholders:

• Industry leaders, employers, and HR professionals to identify skill needs and develop targeted training and professional development programs

• Educators and academics: To design curricula that meet the evolving needs of the engineering industry

• Workforce professionals and career counselors: To guide individuals in career exploration, planning, and skill development

• Current and future engineers: To understand the competencies required for career entry, progression, and success

Software engineer competency and leveling matrix

This software engineer competency and leveling matrix, developed by Bradford Fults, provides a structured framework to guide software engineers through the various stages of career development.

The model categorizes competencies into eight groups and spans seven levels of engineering expertise, ensuring a comprehensive approach to skill development and career progression:

• Software Engineer I (L1)

• Software Engineer II (L2)

• Software Engineer III (L3)

• Staff Software Engineer (L4)

• Senior Staff Software Engineer (L5)

• Principal Engineer (L6)

• Senior Principal Engineer (L7)

This clear progression path helps engineers understand the expectations and competencies required at each career stage, facilitating targeted development and growth.

The eight competency groups cover both technical and non-technical skills, ensuring that software engineers develop a well-rounded skillset:

• Software design and implementation

• Team collaboration and advice

• Ownership and accountability

• Brand and relationships

• Innovation

• Vision

• Integrity and ethics

• Leadership

Each competency group is further detailed, providing specific competencies engineers need to develop. This detailed breakdown helps engineers focus on key areas of improvement and guides them in their professional development journey.

Software design and implementation:

• Quality

• Architecture

• Running systems

Team collaboration and advice:

• Project and team scope

• Technical collaboration

• Communication and empathy

Ownership and accountability:

• Productivity, time, and task management

• Project accountability

• Production supports

• Autonomy and self-starting

Brand and relationships:

• Product and business team relationships

• Engineer team relationships

• External representation

Innovation:

• Contributing to product enhancements

• Driving efficiency of systems and practices

• Collaborating on patents

Vision:

• Technical strategy mapping

Integrity and ethics:

• Fiscal responsibility

• Privacy and security

• Honesty and accuracy

Leadership:

• Mentorship and guidance

• Broadcasting and knowledge sharing

• Influence and alignment

Marketing competency model example: “Marketer Pathways”

Marketing is crucial for promoting any organization, and anyone working in this function requires a blend of technical skills, soft skills, interpersonal abilities, and creativity.

The “Marketer Pathways” competency framework from the Marketing Institute of Ireland divides competencies into three distinct categories:

• Business

• Marketer

• People competencies

This categorization ensures a holistic development approach, covering fundamental business skills, technical marketing expertise, and behavioral competencies.

Each competency includes behavioral indicators across five levels of mastery, from basic to exceptional. Additionally, the model specifies the career stage at which each competency level is expected, from entry-level to senior executive roles. This alignment helps professionals understand the competencies required at different career levels.

Business competencies - fundamental

These foundational skills are relevant to all marketers, regardless of their role or industry sector, emphasizing practical business knowledge and organizational awareness:

• Action and results

• Change and improvement

• Commercial awareness

• Ethics and integrity

• Decisions and judgment

• Innovation

• Organizational awareness

• Planning and prioritization

• Project management

These core competencies address practical business knowledge and skills necessary for achieving business goals, emphasizing a broader organizational understanding and commercial awareness.

Different proficiency levels will be expected depending on the career stage of particular roles.

Marketer competencies - technical

These functional and technical competencies cover marketing-specific skills crucial for success in various marketing roles:

• Integrated analytics

• Brand

• Marketing capability

• Channel management

• Corporate communications

• Digital marketing

• Marketing campaigns

• New product development

• Marketing strategy

• Research

• Customer centricity

People competencies - behavioral

These competencies are vital for effective teamwork and management, focusing on interpersonal and leadership skills:

• Communication and interpersonal skills

• Conflict management

• Developing people

• Influencing

• Leadership

• Managing people

• Negotiation skills

• Relationship management

• Resilience

• Team building

These competencies focus on interpersonal interactions and leadership attributes essential for effective teamwork and people management across any industry. These behavioral capabilities are needed to contribute effectively to achieving business goals.

Sales competency model examples

Sales competency models focus on the skills and behaviors needed to meet specific sales targets. They also consider the competencies required for different sales process stages, such as prospecting activities, qualifying leads, and closing deals.

These models may differ between industries, with some emphasizing technical or product knowledge while others prioritizing relationship-building skills.

Sales professional competency model from the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA)

This sales professional competency model from the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA) uses concentric circles to represent different layers of sales competencies, providing a clear and organized view of the skills required at various stages of a sales career. This visualization helps understand the progression and development needed to excel in sales.

The outermost layer represents broad areas of sales functions:

• Prospecting

• Fostering client relationship

• Developing client-focused solutions

• Negotiating and closing

• Following up

The middle layer focuses on specific skill sets:

• Business acumen: Understand your company, client’s business, financial and legal literacy.

• Sales process technology: Emphasizing the use of technology in sales processes.

The innermost layer highlights the core values and attributes every sales professional should exhibit:

• Integrity

• Drive results

• Teamwork

• Continuous learning

• Personal brand

Professional sales conduct is at the heart of the model, underscored by core values such as integrity, continuous learning, and personal branding. These values are critical in ensuring sales professionals meet their targets and maintain high ethical standards and personal development.

For each competency, the model defines performance and knowledge indicators.

Marked with a “P,” performance indicators define the skills vital for effective practice in sales roles. The indicators evolve with the career stage. For example, the average time on the job required to demonstrate performance indicators for a Sales Associate is six months. In contrast, the average time on the job necessary to demonstrate performance indicators for Sales Professionals is four years.

Knowledge indicators, denoted by a “K,” highlight the essential knowledge a sales professional should possess to perform the various aspects of their job.

This dual focus ensures that sales professionals possess both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for their roles. The model also provides timelines for demonstrating these indicators, tailored to different career stages.

Sales leadership competency model from CPSA

The Sales leadership competency model from the CPSA outlines the essential competencies required for effective sales leadership. This model defines seven competency groups, providing a comprehensive framework for the skills and behaviors necessary to lead sales teams and drive organizational success:

Sales planning:

• Engage in strategic planning

• Planning accounts, territories, and targets

• Execute with excellence

Build and lead the sales team:

• Staff planning

• Recruit and select sales team members

• Onboard sales team members

• Recognize and incent sales performance

Coach for sales success:

• Support sales enablement

• Coach to the sales process

• Coach for sales performance

Support the cycle of selling:

• Establish a sales process

• Support strategic client relationships

• Engage in sales communication

• Support negotiations

Business acumen:

• Understand your company

• Understand your client’s business

• Demonstrate financial literacy

• Demonstrate legal literacy

Sales technology:

• Align sales technology to strategy

• Leverage technology for data and decision-making

• Lead technological change in sales

Professional sales conduct:

• Act with integrity

• Drive results

• Work as part of a team (collaboration)

• Engage in continuous learning

• Develop a personal brand

The model includes performance and knowledge indicators essential for proficiency in each competency:

1. Performance (P) indicators are the tangible actions, practices, and behaviors a sales leader should exhibit. They indicate the individual’s ability to effectively apply their skills and knowledge in real-world scenarios

2. Knowledge (K) indicators encapsulate the theoretical understanding, insights, and information a sales leader should know. Knowledge informs the sales leader’s practical actions

This example of a sales competency model provides a detailed and structured approach to developing sales leaders. Its comprehensive coverage of leadership skills, emphasis on professional conduct, and integration of performance and knowledge indicators make it an essential tool for guiding career development in sales leadership.

Best practices gathered from competency models from various industries

Regardless of the industry, there are valuable lessons we can learn from other organizations’ competency models. Heather Burright, Host of the Learning for Good podcast, explains her experience in this area and how she found it helpful to research how other companies approach competency frameworks:

We noticed these common themes and best practices when looking at successful competency models from other companies.

Ensure managers exercise judgment

Those in leadership positions are critical in defining job-specific competencies for individual roles and assessing whether workers possess these necessary attributes during employee performance management cycles.

The University of Newcastle uses a capability matrix handbook for all its professional staff. The matrix outlines the five foundational competencies required by each staff member, including:

• Communication and engagement

• Organizational planning and project management

• Professional and technical expertise

• Business understanding and business intelligence

• Creative and strategic thinking

Crucially, managers and leaders are urged to “exercise judgment in applying the capability matrix as not every action statement will apply to an individual’s role.” This guidance ensures that competencies are tailored appropriately.

Define expectations following onboarding

Intercom clearly defines the competencies required for different levels of expertise and maps them to various roles. For example, a “Practitioner” Frontline Customer Support representative must:

• Showcase a thorough understanding of product and technical concepts

• Consistently and correctly tag and categorize issues

• Be self-aware and understand the importance of constructive feedback

Introducing new workers to the framework ensures they understand what competencies to demonstrate to grow within the company.

Implement a consultative process

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) uses a competency framework that separates managerial competencies from core requirements. This decision was based on a rigorous consultative process led by the Department of Human Resources in the OSCE Secretariat based on 700 survey responses and 83 OSCE officials participating in focus groups.

By involving a broad range of opinions in the development process, OSCE has produced a well-rounded, dynamic framework that considers the unique needs of different departments and positions.

Define the foundational performance management criteria

IBM’s Data Science Skills Competency Model is a blueprint for data scientist professionals. The document outlines the foundational competencies and performance criteria required to excel in this role. This structure ensures that:

• Performance appraisals use objective criteria

• Employees understand what their employer expects from the outset

Create job families and allocate competencies for added structure

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) classifies every role into one of three job families:

• Executive leadership

• Policy research, analysis, and advice

• Corporate management and administration

The OECD uses these job families to establish corporate-level job requirements for positions with similar roles. This system also identifies potential matches and opportunities for in-house mobility, offers corporate learning prospects, and forms the foundation for structured career development programs.

Incorporate company-wide initiatives into competency frameworks

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are increasingly important facets of organizational culture. The Conference Board has implemented a competency model specifically for its Diversity and Inclusion practitioners to ensure that employees are fully supported.

The competencies required include:

• Change management

• Diversity, inclusion, and global perspective

• Business acumen

• Strategic external relations

• Integrity

• Visionary and strategic leadership

• HR competencies

By building competencies around an important organizational initiative, companies can ensure that the necessary skills and behaviors are integrated into all areas of their operations.

Use competencies in recruitment

Competencies are commonly associated with performance management. However, the best way to ensure your employees meet expectations is to select suitable candidates during the hiring process.

Companies like UNESCO bake competencies into recruitment, with its competency framework policy explaining:

Keep competencies relevant

Competencies should never be a one-and-done exercise. Revisiting your competency models is essential to ensure they remain relevant. As Heather Burright explains:

Deloitte is an example of a company that keeps up with the times by mapping competencies to relevant trends. Their Digital Era competency framework considers the impact of automation on employees, companies, and education.

Ready-to-use competency framework templates

For additional inspiration, consult these ready-to-use templates, covering all types of competencies. Use them to kickstart the creation of your draft competency model.

Whether you’re looking to map out the essential competencies required for leaders, individual contributors, or specialists in your organization, our templates are the perfect starting point.

• Competency framework template with core, technical, and functional competencies for ten different departments

• Leadership competency framework template with leadership-specific competencies

Our templates include:

• Five levels of competency mastery

• Growth actions to add to development plans (e.g., mentoring, certifications, shadowing senior employees)

• Performance metrics

Clarify, motivate, and develop your people with competency models with Engage

Elevate your team’s potential and bring clarity to their roles with transformative competency models—all through the power of Engage:

• Create role-based competency models to create structure and transparency in your company

• Implement competency-based career progression frameworks to show employees what they need to reach the next level in their career

• Run competency-based performance evaluations to capture your workers’ and teams’ competency profiles and identify skill gaps

• Bridge skill gaps with competency-based training programs—access hundreds of learning resources to provide workers with role-specific training materials

Talk to our experts about creating a custom competency model for your organization.