Case Studies

Discovering Core Competencies

The Challenge

Executives at a rapidly growing internet information portal based in San Francisco believed that their company was losing effectiveness due to inadequate people systems, such as hiring, career planning and performance management. However, a foundational element underlying many of these systems, an understanding of the characteristics that distinguished exceptional employees from average employees, was lacking. Furthermore, managers had no coherent framework for understanding even the basic competencies that any company employee needed to have.

The Solution

Using results from eight focus groups from several divisions and individual interviews, we identified threshold competencies that all company employees needed to have for success in the company. These included such things as Accountability, Adaptability and Teamwork. Additional managerial competencies included Listening and Organizational Awareness. Each of the competency descriptions included behavioral anchors that gave texture to the broad competency title. Differences between divisions were elucidated as well.

Additional competencies were described for exceptional versus the average employee. These distinguishing competencies included Initiative and Building Relationships.

Once this competency set was developed, it was integrated into programs that focused on hiring (Audition, from Real Learning International) and career development (Performer, also from RLI). In addition, recommendations about how to use these competencies to drive current performance were made.

The Results

Programs designed to help managers hire new employees and develop current employees were viewed by participants as extremely credible, since the competency framework was based on their own input. Consequently, they applied these programs broadly, resulting in better hires and improved development of internal staff. The distinguishing competencies were viewed by more senior managers as keys to their own development, leading to enhanced efforts to improve in those areas.