Candidate Touchpoints

A competency model defines the skills, behaviors, knowledge, and attributes required for effective performance in a role or across a job family — providing a shared language that connects hiring, performance management, and development in a single framework. In practice, competency models that are co-created with the people currently performing the roles at high levels produce significantly better predictive validity than those developed by HR alone based on job descriptions. The most common organizational mistake is building a competency model and then not using it operationally — leaving it as a document on a shared drive rather than embedding it into job descriptions, interview guides, performance reviews, and development planning processes.