Competency mapping: what it is and example

Competency mapping is a visual tool to identify the competencies needed to successfully assume the responsibilities of a job position.

The characteristics of today’s markets that make them fickle, high competition and technological progress require constant changes in business strategies that invite a continuous development of the human resources of an organization.

Knowing what is a competency mapping and how you can use it will help you to manage and enhance the talent in your project. We explain it in this article, which we will also illustrate with some examples.

What is competency mapping?

Competency mapping is a tool for identifying the competencies needed to successfully assume the responsibilities of a specific function within a company or organization.

It consists of breaking down a job position into small activities and detecting the talent needed, i.e. the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to perform the functions of the role successfully.

With this mapping exercise, it is possible to assess whether an employee or groups of employees need to develop certain competencies to improve their performance, thus overcoming possible obstacles caused by lack of preparation, for example.

Having a competency mapping for each function in the company allows the company to have a directory of jobs and an objective compilation of the competencies that are needed.

In this way, this methodology makes it possible to know exactly what type of talent the company needs to achieve its objectives, which is highly recommended for organizations that want to boost their teams from a comprehensive Human Resources (HR) management.

Why competences are important?

Competences are important for everything they encompass. When we talk about competences we refer to:

• Knowledge. Information acquired in a specific area such as sales, marketing or customer service.
• Skill. Ability to do something effectively, such as negotiating successfully or communicating a decision assertively.
• Motive for performing a task. Interest in doing something that serves as a driving force such as a desire to excel, achieve a higher status, work on your space, etc.
• Personal skills. Inherent attributes or skills that a person has and that contribute to the acquisition of skills and knowledge such as intelligence or empathy.
• Attitude. Expression of a competence through a person’s behavior that can be analyzed, measured and transmitted.

Thus, the development of competencies is essential to enhance the workforce by making the most of a worker’s knowledge, skills and responses to certain situations.

Are competences the same as skills?

One way to deepen the definition of competency mapping is to clarify the difference between competences and skills.

Their difference lies in their focus and scope, with skills being one of the facets that make up competences.

Put another way, a competency is a combination of knowledge, attitude and skill with the objective of delivering superior performance. Thus, a skill is part of a competency, but a competency cannot be part of a skill.

The following example will help you understand this:

Let’s say that in your company you need the competency “Strategic project planning”. In that case, you should have profiles with skills such as analytical thinking, organizational skills, teamwork, time management, leadership skills or collaboration.

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Employee competency mapping example: Steps by step to an effective one

Employee competency mapping is used to group knowledge, skills and attributes into a competency asset that clearly identifies a specific job position.

The steps are as follows:

1. Job analysis.

A job information questionnaire is prepared and job leaders and workers are asked to fill it out.

2. Preparation of the job description sheet.

With all this information, you can create the job description by converting all the data you have received from the surveys into standard competencies.

The more exhaustive the job description is, the more effective it will be, both in the evaluation of talent and in the recruitment process.

3. Dissecting competencies.

In order to create the competency mapping, as we have already mentioned, it is necessary to break down the competences into skills, knowledge and behaviors.

It is important that the layout of the information allows you to easily detect the implications of a specific role.

4. Analysis and follow-up of competency mapping.

Once you have the details of each necessary competency, it is advisable to distinguish between those that are essential and those that are complementary, as well as those that need to be developed to improve performance.

Also, organize them according to the level of preparation they require: basic, intermediate or advanced.

It is of great interest for your HR team to set up an assessment center using different evaluators and various assessment techniques that include simulations linked to the job being analyzed.

In this sense, technology can be a great-added value, not only in terms of automating the creation of a competency mapping, but also in terms of offering maximum guarantees in the assessment procedures.

Competency mapping example

Below, we would like to share with you a basic competency mapping example that you can adapt to other profiles and enrich according to your needs:

Profile: Customer service
Competency	Basic level	Intermediate level	Expert level
Effective and assertive communication	Respond to customer inquiries in a clear and concise manner.	Adapt the characteristics of the message to the type of customer.	Handle conflict situations with dissatisfied customers with empathy and professionalism.
Problem Solving	Identify simple problems and apply pre-established solutions.	Propose solutions to complex problems according to standard procedures.	Proactively analyze potential problems and provide solutions to avoid them.
Customer orientation	Show a predisposition to help customers.	Act proactively to satisfy customers.	Build long term relationships with customers seeking their total satisfaction.

Subsequently, once you have detected the competencies, you can add to your map the knowledge, skills and behavior needed to perform them successfully.

This allows you to put in place training programs for your employees that balance the needs of the company with their individual professional development.

Benefits of competency mapping

Incorporating competency mapping as an HR resource allows you to:

• Analyze and manage existing talent in your project.
• Detect the skills and competencies that your teams need to develop.
• Improve your recruitment processes and attract the right talent to meet your organization’s objectives.
• Increase the performance of your employees thanks to specialization.
• Facilitate the succession of key positions in your project.
• Boost job satisfaction, commitment and confidence of your employees by promoting their evolution.

At Smowltech we offer our clients proctoring plans so that their online evaluations, both in person and remotely, have all the guarantees of security, privacy and objectivity.

Do not hesitate to request a free demo so we can explain in detail all the solutions we have developed with the latest technological innovations and respecting federal laws and regulations.

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