1. INNOVATIONS IN LEARNING
Use a Competency Library to Build
A Talent Management System
by Stephen Pick and Neville Uhles
A
competency library is a critical founda- munity employees with a framework of core and techni-
tion for building an integrated talent cal competencies. Core competencies include models for
management system. In the Talent nonsupervisors, supervisors and managers, and senior
Management Handbook (2010 second edi- officers. However, similar to the ECQs, ICD 610 only
tion), authors Kim Ruyle and Evelyn Orr provides competency definitions with no additional mate-
state that the value of competencies is proven to positively rial behind them.
impact both mission and financial return-on-investment.
Agencies that use a comprehensive competency library to Characteristics of an Effective
build their integrated talent management system are able Competency Library
to realize human capital and budgetary gains. Most organizations don’t need to develop a competency
library from scratch. There are commercially avail-
Competency Libraries able research-based competency libraries available. For
Need More Than Definitions example, Korn/Ferry International has developed a com-
Integrated talent management is not a new concept. petency library that is more comprehensive than both
Developed under President George W. Bush, the Human OPM’s ECQs and ODNI’s ICD 610. Agencies should
Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework choose a competency library with these characteristics:
(HCAAF) on the Office of Personnel Management •• alignment with the strategic goals and culture of the
(OPM) website spells out five areas for “strong human cap- agency
ital management.” Federal agencies still use the HCAAF. •• competency definitions
However, a major shortcoming of the framework is that •• levels of growth so that employees throughout the
it does not explicitly recommend using competencies to organization can use it for development
drive an agency’s human capital management system. •• examples of what each competency looks like when
Although not tied to the framework, OPM has a done well or poorly, so employees can adapt their
competency model. It developed the Executive Core behavior accordingly
Qualification (ECQs) competencies for senior executives •• improvement suggestions for employees to grow and
in the late 1990s and refined this model a few years later. develop.
The 28 ECQs roll up into five meta-competencies and are
a good start toward a model that could be used for inte- Leadership Architect Library Structure
grated talent management. But they do not provide any The Leadership Architect competency library has six
information beyond competency definitions. Agencies factors broken down into 21 clusters and populated with
that adopt the ECQs need a more robust competency 67 leadership competencies. An additional two factors
library system as the foundation for their integrated tal- are broken down into five more clusters and 19 stallers
ent management system. and stoppers, which, as detailed below, are the opposite of
In 2008, the Office of the Director of National competencies (see Figure 1). Both the factors and clusters
Intelligence (ODNI) published Intelligence Community were statistically derived from factor analyses and ongo-
Directive (ICD) 610, which provides intelligence com- ing normative studies.
The Public Manager | FALL 2012 29

2. ForUM:
•• May not stop to define and analyze the problem;
doesn’t look under rocks
•• May have a set bag of tricks and pull unfit solutions
from it
•• May miss the complexity of the issue and force-fit it
to what he or she is most comfortable with
•• Unlikely to come up with the second and better solu-
tion, ask penetrating questions, or see hidden patterns
Skilled
•• Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult
problems with effective solutions
•• Probes all fruitful sources for answers
•• Sees hidden problems
•• Is excellent at honest analysis
•• Looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the
first answers
Figure 1. Library Structure Pyramid Overused
•• May tend toward “analysis paralysis”
This library also contains seven global focus areas, •• May wait too long to come to a conclusion
which detail competencies highly valued outside the •• May not set analysis priorities
United States. The 19 career stallers and stoppers are •• May get hung up in the process and miss the big
significant because research has shown that it is often picture
the presence of a staller or stopper and not the absence •• May make things overly complex
of a competency that derails a career. Figure 2 shows the •• May do too much of the analysis personally.
cluster of traits within the strategic skills factor.
The 67 competencies are measurable and observable Three Essential Levels
characteristics that provide a clear description of what Korn/Ferry has identified the competencies that are
each skilled, unskilled, and overuse looks like in action. essential to high performance for employees in different
For each competency, there are six to 12 behaviors that roles across an organization. Research has identified the
describe what someone does when he or she is unskilled competencies that tend to be mission critical at three dif-
at the competency, skilled at the competency, or overus- ferent levels within an organization:
ing the competency. While unskilled and skilled are •• individual contributor
intuitive, people sometimes question what it means to •• manager
overuse a competency. Simply stated, too much of a good •• executive.
thing is not a good thing.
The following example shows unskilled, skilled, Essential competencies can overlap across levels, but
and overused definitions for the competency of problem as one might guess, they tend to become more macro-
solving. focused as they move from individual contributor, to
manager, to executive. For example the action oriented
Unskilled competency, with skilled behavioral aspects such as
•• Not a disciplined problem solver; may be stuck in the “enjoys working hard” and “not fearful of acting with a
past, wed to what worked before minimum of planning” is listed under the subsets of both
•• Has to rework the problem a second time individual contributor and manager, but not executive.
•• May be a “fire-ready-aim” type Action Oriented is not needed for success as an executive
•• May get impatient and jump to conclusions too soon and may even be detrimental as they should be shifting
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3. INNOVATIONS IN LEARNING
Developing Strengths
Factor 1: Strategic Skills or Mitigating Weaknesses
It is necessary, but not sufficient, to assess a person’s
Cluster A. Understanding the Business competencies for effective development. Once a per-
5. Business Acumen son knows what competencies he or she is skilled and
24. Functional/Technical Skills unskilled at, the next question that person should ask
61. Technical Learning is, “How can I improve my strengths and minimize my
weaknesses?” Leadership Architect ranks the ease or
Cluster B. Making Complex Decisions difficulty of developing each competency and provides a
17. Decision Quality numerical score for how easy or difficult each competency
30. Intellectual Horsepower is to develop. This score is useful when an employee is
32. Learning on the Fly creating an individual development plan. A plan should
51. Problem Solving have the appropriate level of challenge for each employee,
given their capacity for development at that point in their
Cluster C. Creating the New and Different career and personal life. Most people would not have the
2. Dealing with Ambiguity capacity to develop more than five competencies at the
14. Creativity
“easiest” level or three competencies at the “hardest” level
at any given point in time.
28. Innovation Management
Figure 3 shows where Leadership Architect can be
46. Perspective
used to develop an integrated talent management system.
58. Strategic Agility
Leadership competencies create a common language for
everyone in an organization, regardless of position.
Figure 2. The Cluster of Traits Within the Strategic Skills Factor
Case Study
from “doer” behaviors to more strategic, “get work done One federal agency is using the Leadership Architect
through others” behaviors. Similarly, the dealing with competency library to align its talent management prac-
ambiguity competency is only listed for executives. This tices. Although this agency is also interested in develop-
is a difficult competency to be skilled in, and research has ing technical competence, and while a technical compe-
shown that an employee can be a successful individual tency library is often an important part of the foundation
contributor and manager without excelling at this compe- for integrated talent management, this article addresses
tency. However, being a successful executive without being only leadership competencies. [Author’s note: due to the
comfortable with change or uncertainty is less possible. sensitive nature of this agency’s work, its name cannot be
Additionally, Korn/Ferry’s career flow research has used.]
identified the competencies a person would likely be
weak in at each level, which competencies are most likely Setting the Stage
to be associated with promotion to the next level, what for Integrated Talent Management
competencies should be developed early if a person is to The following enablers set the wheels in motion for this
achieve success at the next level, and what “flame-out fac- agency’s integrated talent management work (see Figure 3).
tors” (career stallers and stoppers) might get in the way at
each level. Strategic alignment. The described agency underwent a
Organizations can conduct internal research and reorganization to rethink how business processes need
analysis to determine any differences that may exist as to change to prepare for continued relevance. Part of this
a result of its own specific characteristics, but the com- reorganization aims to redesign the talent management
petency profiles provided as a result of this career flow system to attract, develop, and retain high-performing
research provide an excellent foundation from which any employees more effectively.
organization can begin integrated talent management Representative teams identified the most important
processes for each of these three major levels. competencies for executives, supervisors, and individual
The Public Manager | FALL 2012 31

4. ForUM:
contributors within their specific agency. First, a leader oversaw working groups that are developing integrated
development initiative team, an assembly of senior execu- talent management practices for senior executives. A
tives, was created to determine the appropriate mix of senior executive was appointed to lead that initiative full
leadership competencies that are mission-critical for time. That team is setting up governance systems to fully
senior executives; it ultimately settled on 17 competen- integrate talent management systems at the senior execu-
cies. Additionally, this team identified eight stallers and tive level and beyond. Its three current focus areas are
stoppers that can derail a senior executive’s career. leadership behavior, education and training, and succes-
A supervisory council, a volunteer group of supervi- sion management and promotion.
sors from across the agency, also identified a set of essen-
tial competencies for all supervisors. Third, two volunteer Processes for Differentiating Talent
representative groups of non-supervisors decided on the This agency is transforming several areas of integrated
competencies most critical for all individual contributors. talent management.
The process for all three groups to determine individual,
manager, and executive competencies encouraged rigor- Talent Acquisition
ous debate. The lifeblood of any organization is a continual stream
of candidates who are skilled in the competencies that an
Culture. Feedback from the agency’s most recent annual agency has deemed critical for their role. The described
climate survey revealed dissatisfaction with career devel- agency’s recruiting office completed training in the use of
opment. Like many of their counterparts in other federal the Leadership Architect competency library.
agencies, employees, said there were too few avenues for Additionally, the recruiters were trained on Interview
career advancement. Agency managers suspected that Architect, a methodology for conducting competency-
high-performing employees were leaving for positions with based structured interviews, both for new hires and for
other federal agencies or outside the government not for internal job placements and promotions. Competency-
more money, but for better career advancement opportuni- based interviews use specifically-worded questions to
ties. Building a competency-based integrated talent man- assess competencies that have been identified as critical
agement system can help this agency maintains a robust, for a specific role. Interview Architect includes questions
transparent career development system for all employees. to assess a candidate’s level of learning agility, which is
highly correlated with leadership potential.
Technology. The agency relies on an information tech- Recruiters also are partnering with hiring manag-
nology (IT) platform that contains contact and other ers and recommending competency-based questions
information from employees’ professional biographies. that assess not only the results of whatever scenario the
For example, this IT platform records what leader- candidates are discussing, but what those candidates
ship development courses employees have taken and learned from the interaction and how they have applied
what mandatory training employees need to complete. that knowledge to other situations. Competency-based
The agency is discussing tying employees’ performance structured interviewing is a more effective way of ensur-
management competency ratings and competency-based ing that the appropriate talent is brought into an agency
individual development plans into this IT platform. One than the common practice of reviewing and asking ques-
benefit would be easier tracking of performance manage- tions about a candidate’s résumé. The competencies that
ment and career development data. hiring managers use to assess candidates are determined
from the customized agency career flow profiles.
Change management agility and talent management
governance. As with the majority of change manage- Development
ment initiatives, progress is rarely linear. As part of the The described agency has its own leadership college
reorganization, the agency’s director outlined agency and other independently funded courses. Because it is
visions. Leadership teams were set up to advance these in the process of being created, the college has not yet
visions. Team and vision evolution occurred quickly. formally adopted all agency-specific competency pro-
For instance, the leadership development initiative team files. However, one of the agency’s flagship leadership
32 WWW.THEPuBLICMANAGER.ORG

5. INNOVATIONS IN LEARNING
Integrated Talent Management Capabilities
Strategic Alignment Process for Differentiating Talent
Business Strategy
Talent Acquisition Development Engagement
g
e Plannin
rc
Workfo
Succession
Performance Rewards and
Management
Management Recognition
Talent Strategy and Deployment
Enablers
Change Talent Manage-
Technology Management ment Governance Culture
and Agility and Deployment
Figure 3. Integrated Talent Management Capabilities
development courses was developed with the government eventually everyone in the agency. The next step will
program manager and course alumni to identify a set of be to conduct 360-degree feedback assessments for a
course-specific competencies. But because the course was large group of managers. Through this effort, all lead-
developed before the leadership development initiative ers and employees will be engaged in targeted develop-
and new agency career flow profiles existed, the course ment around the competencies they have identified as
competencies do not precisely match. Once the career mission-critical.
flow competency profiles are finalized, this leadership
development course may adopt the entire set of either the Engagement
manager or executive competencies. Our research shows a direct link between specific compe-
All curricula within this leadership course are tied tencies and major drivers of employee engagement. Given
to their identified competencies. At the beginning of that recent employee climate surveys indicate lower levels
the course, participants are given a 360-degree feedback of engagement than desired, the leadership development
assessment based on these competencies. As part of the initiative aims to provide senior managers with the skills
course, participants receive up to 10 hours of leadership to proactively engage their colleagues and direct reports.
coaching. The coaches are trained in the competency Upcoming employee climate survey data should indicate
library and structure their coaching sessions to build on whether leadership development efforts are having a posi-
the participants’ strongest competencies and mitigate tive impact on employee engagement.
their weakest ones. A potential agency goal is to have all
college and all outside development courses adopt the Performance Management
agency’s competency profile roadmap and tie all courses The agency’s personnel system uses both OPM’s ECQs
and their objectives to specific competencies. and ODNI’s ICD 610 performance elements. Employees
The agency plans to expand this type of develop- and managers have individual discussions about what
mental program to include managers, supervisors, and constitutes poor, acceptable, and outstanding behavior.
The Public Manager | FALL 2012 33

6. ForUM:
An agency goal is ultimately to link its customized Succession Management and Deployment
performance management system for executives, man- The agency also is integrating its leadership competencies
agers, and individual contributors to the competencies into its succession management approach. Leaders will
identified as essential for each level. This has several assess senior executives on the agreed-upon leadership
advantages. competencies in addition to specific technical competen-
First, it standardizes performance management con- cies, which will provide a collective view of their current
versations. An area of considerable stress for employees, leadership bench strength and leadership gaps.
managers, and executives is that performance manage- This assessment will result in each senior getting
ment discussions are often too subjective. Because each feedback from the agency’s executive team with regard
competency is described in terms of skilled, unskilled, to their current performance and potential level and
or overused behaviors that are both observable and their readiness to perform at the next level of leadership.
measurable, employees and managers can have objective To assist the seniors in knowing what skills need to be
conversations to assess employees’ actions. The leader- improved and how, the executives will create individual
ship development initiative is considering the use of development plans to provide guidance on the types of
competency proficiency level statements to further enable training and coaching needed as well as the job assign-
detailed, objective performance conversations. Having all ments that need to be completed for each individual
employees understand what success looks like will be an senior to be ready for promotion to the next level.
enormous benefit, both in colleagues’ resulting perfor- Integrated talent management is not a new concept.
mance as well as their morale. There are numerous philosophies, theories, and models
In addition, incorporating competencies into perfor- for achieving strategic alignment within an organization’s
mance management will provide employees with direct human capital and talent management practices. There is
developmental remedies for building strong competencies mounting evidence that high-performing human resource
and mitigating weaker competencies. The main Korn/ practices and robust talent management functions con-
Ferry competency publication, FYI For Your Improvement, tribute positively to the bottom line—whether that is
lists developmental suggestions for each competency that mission accomplishment or increased profits. The 2007
often do not require formal training courses. publication, 100 Things You Need to Know: Best People
The suggestions are no or low-cost ideas that Practices for Managers and HR, stated that using a valid,
employees can immediately begin putting into practice. reliable competency library as the foundation underlying
Employees and supervisors can more easily create and talent management processes yields a significant return
track individual development plans from one perfor- on investment.
mance management conversation to the next. As agencies of all kinds struggle to do more with less
and achieve their missions under increasingly challenging
Rewards and Recognition circumstances, implementing strong, competency-based
Federal managers often feel limited by how they can integrated talent management can contribute a great
reward and recognize outstanding employees. The impor- deal toward making their work easier, more effective, and
tance of keeping employees engaged is still a concern, efficient.
but current economic constrictions have frozen many
salary adjustments. The human resources department Stephen Pick, PsyD, is an organizational psychologist with human
at the described agency recently released several pages of capital and organizational development expertise. Contact him at
non-monetary rewards, such as allowing colleagues the Stephenpick72@hotmail.com.
opportunity to work on higher profile projects.
These rewards should be tied to the performance Neville Uhles is a senior consultant with Korn/Ferry Leadership and
management process and to competency development to Talent Consulting in McLean. She specializes in competency-based
ensure that rewards and recognition are meaningful and leadership development and talent management. Contact her at
valued. “Non-traditional incentives” that the managers Neville.uhles@kornferry.com.
can use include such ideas as empowerment, visibility,
responsibility, and sabbaticals.
34 WWW.THEPuBLICMANAGER.ORG