7 Uses for competency frameworks
Competency frameworks define the competencies needed to identify, evaluate, and recognize effective performance, typically in the workplace as attached to a job role or occupation. While the range of uses for competency frameworks is wide (some lists include over 100 end uses), there are a few common reasons why a competency framework may be developed, all of which may be applied in either a workplace or an educational context. The language used in each of those settings may vary, but there are four main contexts and primary uses.
| Context |
Use |
| Training and Learning | Developing individuals and teams through teaching and learning activities |
| Assessment | Evaluating individual and team performance in formal and informal ways |
| Credentialing | Recognizing achievements and issuing records of achievement |
| Workforce Development | Identifying individual, organizational and sectoral needs, career planning, and managing talent |
Well-designed competency frameworks support training and learning, assessment, credentialing, and workforce development in different ways. All of these uses are also interrelated, as credentialing and workforce development include some form of training or learning and assessment.
Uses Related to Occupations and Job Roles
Most competency frameworks are connected to occupations and/or job roles in some way. Among frameworks that are built around occupations and job roles, the focus, structure, and use varies greatly, primarily driven by the type of organizations and stakeholders developing and using the framework.
Sector and Professional Organizations
Many competency frameworks are built around an occupation or group of related occupations in an industry sector. They define expected behaviours and performance associated with occupations, as well as outlining career progression between occupations and competencies that are common to many or all of the occupations within the framework. These may form the basis for licensing, continued professional development, specialization, or may link directly to courses and/or certifications issued by the same body that developed and manages the framework. Users of such a framework may include people working in the sector and/or specific occupations; people who are involved in delivering training and certification; and people looking to enter a career in one of the related occupations.
Private Sector Organizations
Larger organizations may have their own competency frameworks, which have been developed specifically for the purposes of workforce planning, performance management, and career progression. These frameworks typically focus less on formal certifications and tie directly into performance review cycles and professional development. Company-wide values or desired attributes often will be defined as core competencies within a framework of this nature. Users of this type of framework would include people in HR, employees and management within the