What is a competency profile?

A competency profile describes which competencies (knowledge, ability, qualities and skills) an employee needs in order to perform a particular role well. Competency profiles usually go hand in hand with job descriptions, which set out the tasks and responsibilities of a role. In many organisations, competency profiles are important when attracting new people. They are also used for setting goals and as material for performance reviews and performance appraisals.

How do you draw up a competency profile?

When drawing up a competency profile, it is important not to write the profile of the person currently holding the role. Start by determining the competencies needed. Once you have done that, turn to the behavioural indicators: which indicators belong to the competencies you have chosen? Finally, look at the competencies for the future. Do not only consider what matters in this role today, but what will matter tomorrow as well, because roles change over the years.

From competency profiles to talent development

Fortunately, more and more organisations are moving from competency profiles to talent development . For years, many organisations focused on training skills. Every employee was given a competency profile, and it took weeks or months before all those profiles had been written. By the time they were finished, too much had changed and the profiles were already out of date. Did you not have all of these competencies? Then you were not eligible for the role. More and more organisations are leaving this approach behind and making room for talent development instead. Talent development is a way of continuing to innovate in this fast-changing world, giving you more satisfied people and a better return.

Developing competencies with software

An online tool like Treams lets you steer deliberately on people's attitude and behaviour. Competencies cover an employee's knowledge, experience and skills, and our platform translates them into concrete behaviour and actions. That lets you make visible together what is expected of each other and what you need to do to develop a particular competency further. The Treams performance management tool lets you capture this process. We work from three building blocks:

Competency: a clear, distinctive name for the ability the employee needs to master. Description: a clear explanation of what the competency contains, of how we define it. Levels: the behaviour, skills and attitude that show what the employee has to demonstrate (what behaviour is expected?) to prove they have the competency. A competency can be divided into different levels to make growth within it visible.

We also provide a standard competency set that users can use free of charge. You can of course change it and add your own competencies. Because competencies are included in every employee's goal plan, they become part of the growth and development process.​