5-Step Guide to Effective Competency Profiling (+ Tips for Implementation)

Every leader, manager, HR professional, and visionary is on the hunt for "the top talent." But the chase isn't for any talent. It's for talent that aligns, that resonates, that fits. And there lies the challenge.

That's where competency profiling enters the scene. Competency profiling isn't just about listing out skills or qualifications. It's about capturing a role's essence, core, and DNA and mapping them to the individual employee.

This article will discuss what is competency profiling and its benefits for your talent management endeavors. We will also provide a step-by-step guide for those starting competency profiling from scratch. You will also learn how Deel Engage can offer a more streamlined way of assessing competencies and creating competency profiles for your individuals and teams.

️‍️What is competency profiling in HR?

Competency profiling is often confused with competency mapping. 

Competency mapping is defining what competencies are needed for a role. 

On the other hand, competency profiling is determining what competencies an individual currently possesses. A competency profile is an in-depth exploration of an individual's competencies. It identifies an employee's strengths and areas for improvement by evaluating their skills, knowledge, and behaviors in their current role.

Let's understand this with an example. Organization ABC did competency mapping for their web developer role. It gives them a competency model for the role with core and technical competencies, shown in the first row below.

Further, they did competency profiling of all web developers against this ideal competency profile. They found what levels they are currently at.  

So now Emma and Frank know they have to work on their Angular JS skills. 

Another important point to note is competency profiling is not a one-time exercise.  Priorities can change from time to time, which would influence competency needs in a team/department/organization.

Let's retake the above example. The same organization is shifting toward React JS to build web applications, and Angular JS applications will slowly become obsolete. So, they did competency mapping and profiling again. The revised competency profiles are as follows:

React JS is now a new entry in the profile, and employees do have some minimal mastery of the skill but are not up to the expectations.

Organization ABC can plan further employee training based on these revised profiles for a smooth transition.

Regular competency profiling keeps organizations on top of their current skills and where they need to invest.

5 steps to start competency profiling as an absolute beginner

Suppose you are just starting with implementing a competency model at your organization. In that case, the first step is to complete competency mapping. This step is more of a prerequisite. Once you have the ideal competency map for all roles, you can start the profiling process.

We interviewed Ilam Padmanabhan, a seasoned leader and coach with 20 years of experience in the Tech/Financial services industry, who shared the steps to start competency profiling from scratch.

Start with the information you have

Review the employee's profile or any other relevant documents in your existing HR systems to assess their education, experience, and existing skills (could be via their CV). It's a good starting point rather than beginning with a blank page.

Plan hard skills assessments (Optional) 

You can also conduct tests or simulations to evaluate employees' hard skills and knowledge. This step is optional as it may not be possible for every organization, and it totally depends on the scale and availability of resources or platforms to conduct these tests. 

Collect (360-degree) feedback

Collecting feedback is the core of the competency profiling exercise. We recommend collecting feedback on employee work performance against expected skills from multiple sources. Include the opinions of supervisors, peers, clients, and the employees' self-evaluations.

Multiple points of view will ensure a more well-rounded evaluation of an employee's competencies.

Tip: Conducting 360-degree feedback is vital to keep the profiles updated. One way to ensure it happens regularly is by coupling this feedback with performance reviews. Bonus if you link the reviews to competencies.

Schedule a calibration meeting

Reviewing based on competencies could be a new exercise for managers and employees.

We recommend conducting a calibration meeting where all the reviewers can come together and discuss based on what parameters they evaluated competencies. It brings a standardized approach to evaluation and overcomes bias.

Discuss results and next steps with employees

The last step is to have a review meeting with team members. The objective of the meeting is to discuss where an employee stands at present and what competencies they should work on for successful performance. Managers can further assign targeted development plans to help employees improve specific competencies.

5 Benefits of effective competency profiling

The competency profiling process helps in all key areas of talent management. Here's how.

Efficient recruitment

Competency profiling allows you to make better hiring decisions by seeing whether an employee fits into the ideal profile for the role. Firstly, a job description with expected competencies states requirements clearly. Further, competency-based interview questions can help evaluate whether a candidate is a good fit for the role. 

Targeted learning and development initiatives

With an evaluation in hand on what level employees are at for any competency, it's easier for managers and learning and development (L&D) teams to assign specific competency-based training to employees.

Improved performance management

Competency profiling sets clear expectations for both employees and managers on strengths and areas for further development. 

Better succession planning

Having competency profiles of all employees makes succession planning for critical roles easier.

For example, when Amazon did succession planning for their CEO role, they kept track of what skills the company would need in a future CEO. On further shortlisting based on these skills, Andy Jassy became the chosen candidate. 

Effective rewards

This is another underutilized benefit where organizations can plan more meaningful rewards according to competency development. 

For example, Swati Sinha, an HR strategist, shares that every employee gets a checklist of behavioral and functional competencies (based on their role) at her organization. They reward employees for achieving any learning milestones and growing these critical competencies. 

Deel Engage: Your one-stop-shop for everything competency

With Deel Engage, you can integrate competencies in all the top areas of talent management. Ideally, implementing a competency model will look something like this:

1. Single out all the relevant competencies for your organization.
2. Conduct competency mapping for all roles.
3. Schedule competency-based evaluations for your employees.
4. Complete competency profiling for all teams.
5. Plan competency-based learning for further employee growth and competence development.

Let's look at how you can implement each step with Deel Engage.

Defining departmental and company-wide competencies

Single out all the relevant competencies for your organization:

• Core
• ‍Functional
• Technical
• ‍Leadership competencies

This is a big task, so make sure you enlist the help of major stakeholders across your departments and leadership team.

If you've been stuck on a black page, worried about writing lengthy explanations of each competency, AI can help. With Deel Engage's AI assistant, you can define each competency with specific descriptions for each role and each level.

Competency evaluations 

Competency assessments feed data into competency profiles. With Deel Engage, you can link feedback and performance reviews to role-specific competency models.

You can collect reviews from multiple sources—self, peer, upward, or downward. You have full flexibility over the number of sources you can incorporate.

You also have additional customization options with regards to anonymity. So you can decide whether or not reviewees would see who gave what feedback.

If you want to hold calibration sessions, you can also enable this step. Calibration will ensure consistency in ratings across individuals and teams.

Competency profiles

Competency profiles get automatically generated at the end of each feedback cycle. You get up-to-date profiles for all your team members. No extra clicks, setups, or approvals are required.

And the best part is that you get more than individual competency profiles. You also get insights at the team level, department level, or for the entire organization. All you need to do is play around with the filters.

Competency-based learning

Lastly, Deel Engage also provides an extensive [learning management module] that can help you create custom courses or embed your existing learning resources (via SCORM or PDF uploads). You can also accelerate course creation with AI.

So your employees have all the resources at their fingertips to improve their competency profiles.

Book a consultation with our specialists to learn more about implementing competency frameworks in the entire employee lifecycle.