What is a competency framework?
A competency framework describes what good looks like in your roles. Each competency, such as “working with communities” or “managing budgets”, has levels, and each level says what the person does. It gives managers and staff the same words.
It is a tool, not a shelf document. If it does not change how you hire, review or train, do not build it.
Why would an NGO want one?
Without a framework, each manager uses personal views of what a good officer is. Job descriptions vary, and two people on the same grade can be held to different standards. A framework helps you:
- Write job descriptions that match each other.
- Interview and shortlist with the same yardstick, as in our fair recruitment article.
- Review staff against shared standards.
- Plan training where gaps are real.
- Explain career paths to staff.
How do you build one?
- List the roles. Group them: programs, MEAL, finance, logistics, HR, management.
- Pick the competencies. Start with a core set for everyone, such as values and conduct, teamwork, and communication. Add a few for managers, and a small technical set for each function. Aim for six to ten core items, not thirty.
- Define each one. Write one sentence on what it means in your NGO.
- Describe the levels. Three or four levels are enough, for example foundation, practising, advanced and lead.
- Map to grades. Show which level is expected at each job grade.
- Test with managers. Take three real jobs and check that the levels fit the people you know.
- Launch and use. Add it to job descriptions, review forms and training plans.
How do you write the levels?
Write what a person does, not what they are. “Strong communicator” tells no one anything. Compare:
| Level | Example: managing budgets |
|---|---|
| Foundation | Reads a budget report and explains their own line |
| Practising | Tracks spend against budget each month and flags variance |
| Advanced | Plans a project budget and revises it with the donor |
| Lead | Sets budget rules for a team or office and coaches others |
Each line can be seen and checked. If two managers read it, they should agree on what it means.
What should you avoid?
- Too many competencies. People stop reading after ten.
- Vague words. Replace “good”, “strong” and “excellent” with behaviour.
- Copying another organization. Borrow ideas, then rewrite them for your work.
- A document that nobody uses. Tie it to hiring and reviews from day one.
- Using it to rank people. Use it to describe the role and find support.
Link the framework to your performance reviews so goals and ratings use the same language.
How do you use it once it exists?
A framework earns its place when it appears in everyday decisions:
- In job descriptions. List the competencies the role needs, and the level expected.
- In recruitment. Build interview questions from the competencies, and score answers against the level descriptions.
- In reviews. Ask the staff member and manager to rate the competencies that matter most for the year, with examples.
- In training plans. Where a person is one level below the role needs, plan a specific step: a course, a mentor or a stretch task.
- In career talks. Show staff what the next grade needs, so they can plan their own growth.
Start small. Pilot the framework with one team for a year, collect comments from the managers and staff who use it, and fix the wording before you roll it out across offices. Translate it into the working languages of your offices, and test the translation with local staff, since a phrase that is clear in English may not carry the same meaning elsewhere.
A last test: pick a role and ask two managers to rate the same person against the framework without talking first. If their ratings are far apart, the level descriptions are too vague. Rewrite them with clearer examples, and test again. Two or three rounds usually give a framework that managers trust. Keep a version number and date on the document, and note what changed, so staff know which version applied when they were reviewed.
Where EMPOBase fits
EMPOBase includes a Competency Framework in the People & HR module, alongside Performance Management and Learning & Training, so the three can refer to the same skills. It does not write your competencies for you, so your team decides the list and the levels. See the platform page.