Competency-Based Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partners, Talent Management Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-036

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience of HR, line management, learning and development, recruitment or performance management.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Competency-based management gives organisations a common method for defining what good performance looks like, assessing it fairly and developing people against clear standards. Without a disciplined competency framework, managers often rely on vague job descriptions, inconsistent ratings and personal impressions. This can weaken hiring decisions, obscure development priorities and make succession discussions difficult to defend. The course addresses these problems by connecting business priorities, role requirements and observable behaviour.

Participants learn how to build and maintain competency frameworks that distinguish technical, behavioural and leadership requirements. They conduct job analysis using Critical Incident Technique and Behavioral Event Interview methods; write competency definitions and proficiency levels; create behavioural indicators; and validate frameworks with subject-matter experts. The course then applies competencies to recruitment, onboarding, performance management, assessment, development planning, talent reviews and succession decisions. Participants also examine rating bias, assessor consistency, adverse impact and governance requirements.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic HR cases, group design work, structured assessment simulations and peer review of competency statements. Participants work with role profiles, interview evidence, performance records and talent review scenarios similar to those used in banks, public bodies, NGOs and multinational employers. They leave with a competency framework design pack, role-analysis tools and an implementation plan for a selected people-management process. This five-day instructor-led course is available in classroom locations in more than 50 cities or live online. Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

What you will be able to do

  • Design a competency framework linked to business priorities, role families and proficiency levels
  • Conduct job analysis using Critical Incident Technique and Behavioral Event Interview methods
  • Write observable competency definitions, behavioural indicators and progression-scale descriptors
  • Validate competency frameworks using subject-matter expert review, reliability checks and governance controls
  • Integrate competency requirements into job descriptions, structured interviews and onboarding plans
  • Run competency-based performance conversations, evidence reviews and rating calibration meetings
  • Interpret assessment, 360-degree feedback and talent-review evidence for development decisions
  • Create an implementation roadmap for competency-based talent and performance management

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Write competency statements that managers can observe and assess
  • Conduct more disciplined role-analysis interviews with subject-matter experts
  • Challenge unsupported performance ratings using evidence and defined standards
  • Build credible individual development plans from assessment findings
  • Contribute confidently to talent reviews and succession discussions

For your organisation

  • More consistent hiring criteria across comparable roles and business units
  • Clearer performance expectations and stronger evidence for appraisal decisions
  • Better-targeted development spend against identified capability gaps
  • More defensible succession decisions for critical roles
  • Reduced duplication between recruitment, learning, performance and talent processes

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain the purpose, structure and operating principles of a competency-based management system.

  • Competency architecture: technical, behavioural, leadership and values-based competency families
  • Strategic objectives translated into differentiated role and workforce requirements
  • Competency versus skills, knowledge, traits, qualifications and performance results
  • Core, functional and leadership competencies distinguished using role architecture
  • Proficiency levels defined through observable workplace contribution and decision scope
  • Common failure modes: generic libraries, duplication, jargon and rating inflation

Participants can gather and analyse evidence needed to identify role-specific competency requirements.

  • Job analysis combines critical incident interviews, observation, documents and stakeholder input
  • Critical Incident Technique captures effective and ineffective role behaviours
  • Behavioral Event Interview probes context, actions, reasoning and outcomes
  • Role profiles separate essential, differentiating and future-oriented competency requirements
  • Subject-matter expert calibration resolves conflicting evidence and role assumptions
  • Draft competency statements use action, object, context and standard

Participants can write clear competency definitions, behavioural indicators and progression scales.

  • Competency definitions specify intent, boundaries and links to business outcomes
  • Behavioural indicators distinguish observable actions from personality labels and intentions
  • Progression scales describe increasing autonomy, complexity, influence and risk
  • Proficiency descriptors avoid vague qualifiers such as strong, good and effective
  • Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales connect performance evidence with defined levels
  • Writing rules test indicators for observability, relevance, discrimination and fairness

Participants can test competency frameworks for relevance, consistency, fairness and maintainability.

  • Content validity review checks coverage against role requirements and strategy
  • SME panels test relevance, clarity and level differentiation
  • Inter-rater reliability identifies inconsistent interpretation of competency indicators
  • Adverse impact checks examine whether criteria disadvantage protected groups
  • RACI governance assigns ownership for approval, maintenance and exceptions
  • Version control records definitions, sources, decisions and review dates

Participants can apply competency requirements to selection, onboarding and internal movement decisions.

  • Competency-based job descriptions state outcomes, accountabilities and required proficiency
  • Structured interview guides align questions, probes and scoring criteria
  • Selection matrices compare evidence against essential competency thresholds
  • Onboarding plans sequence early evidence, coaching and proficiency milestones
  • Learning pathways target gaps through 70:20:10 development planning
  • Internal mobility decisions use transparent competency evidence and readiness criteria

Participants can set competency expectations, gather evidence and calibrate performance ratings.

  • Performance agreements combine objectives, competency expectations and evidence sources
  • SMART objectives separate deliverables from behavioural standards and development goals
  • Check-in conversations use SBI feedback: situation, behaviour and impact
  • Evidence logs reduce recency bias, halo effects and unsupported ratings
  • Calibration meetings compare standards, evidence quality and rating distributions
  • Performance improvement plans specify behaviours, support, milestones and review dates

Participants can select and interpret assessment methods appropriate to competency decisions.

  • Assessment centres combine simulations, observations, scoring guides and assessor calibration
  • Work samples measure job-relevant competency application under realistic constraints
  • 360-degree feedback gathers multi-source perceptions against behavioural indicators
  • Evidence triangulation combines interviews, outputs, observations and feedback data
  • Assessor training addresses bias, note-taking, scoring and feedback discipline
  • Assessment reports distinguish demonstrated strengths, gaps and confidence levels

Participants can convert competency evidence into focused development actions and follow-up reviews.

  • Individual development plans prioritise critical gaps, goals and evidence measures
  • 70:20:10 plans combine assignment, coaching, peer learning and formal training
  • Developmental assignments build competency through stretch, exposure and accountability
  • Coaching questions convert assessment findings into behavioural practice commitments
  • Mentoring matches address experience transfer, networks and career perspective
  • Learning transfer reviews examine application evidence at agreed intervals

Participants can use competency evidence to support talent segmentation, readiness and succession decisions.

  • Nine-Box Grid separates performance evidence from future potential judgments
  • Talent reviews test readiness, risk, mobility and development actions
  • Successor slates identify critical roles, candidate depth and readiness horizons
  • Competency-based career paths clarify lateral moves and advancement requirements
  • Workforce segmentation prioritises scarce capabilities, pivotal roles and investment
  • Talent decisions document evidence, challenge assumptions and protect confidentiality

Participants can plan a practical rollout and review cycle for competency-based management.

  • Implementation roadmap sequences design, pilot, communication, training and review
  • Pilot criteria define representative roles, success measures and decision gates
  • Change impact assessment identifies manager workload, systems and policy implications
  • HRIS data fields support competency profiles, assessments and development tracking
  • Adoption measures track completion, rating quality, mobility and stakeholder feedback
  • Personal application plan schedules first actions, sponsors and evidence checkpoints

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Competency framework design template
  2. Critical incident interview guide
  3. Behavioural indicator writing checklist
  4. Competency-based performance review template
  5. Talent review evidence matrix
  6. Competency implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partners — need consistent standards for advising managers on people decisions
  • Talent Management Managers — design career, succession and development processes using competency evidence
  • Learning and Development Managers — translate capability gaps into targeted development pathways
  • Performance Management Specialists — improve rating quality, feedback and calibration practices
  • Recruitment and Resourcing Managers — align selection methods with role-specific competency requirements
  • Line Managers — assess, coach and develop staff against clear behavioural expectations

Skills and tools covered

Competency framework designBehavioural indicator writingJob analysisPerformance calibrationTalent assessmentSuccession planning

Tools and standards

Critical Incident Technique, Behavioral Event Interview, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales, Nine-Box Grid

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to establish the methods, followed by case work based on role profiles, interview records, appraisal evidence and talent-review data. Participants draft competency statements, assess behavioural evidence, compare ratings and practise calibration discussions. Group exercises examine recruitment, development and succession decisions using the same competency language. Assessment-centre and feedback scenarios show how evidence is gathered and interpreted. Each participant develops an application plan for a role family, competency framework or talent process relevant to their workplace.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of HR, line management, learning and development, recruitment or performance management. They should understand their organisation's job roles, appraisal process and basic people policies, even if these are informal. Familiarity with competency frameworks is useful but not assumed; the course starts by defining the main concepts and distinctions. No psychometric qualification, statistical expertise, HR certification or prior framework-design experience is required. Participants will benefit most if they can identify one role family or people-management process they want to improve.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience in HR, line management, recruitment, learning and development, or performance management. You do not need previous competency-framework design experience or a psychometric qualification.

Bring a current job description, competency library, appraisal form or talent-review process if you can share it appropriately. These materials are optional, but they make your application plan more directly relevant.

The course is intended for HR and talent professionals, L&D practitioners, recruitment leaders, performance specialists and managers with responsibility for assessing or developing people. It is particularly useful where standards differ between managers or business units.

Performance management and recruitment courses usually focus on one people process. This course establishes the competency framework that can provide consistent criteria across recruitment, performance, development, talent reviews and succession.

You can use the templates to analyse a role, revise competency statements, improve interview guides or prepare a rating calibration meeting. The final application plan identifies first actions, relevant sponsors and evidence of progress.

The five days cover framework design, job analysis, competency writing, validation, recruitment, performance, assessment, development, talent and implementation. Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30, with about 6.5 contact hours, using instructor input and applied case work.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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