Competency Framework Design Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partners, Talent Management Specialists and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-039

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in at least one HR area, such as talent management, learning and development, recruitment, performance management or workforce planning.

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 frameworks translate organisational strategy, role requirements and expected behaviours into a common language for hiring, performance, development and succession decisions. Poorly designed frameworks create generic competency lists, inconsistent manager assessments and development plans that do not address business priorities. A well-designed framework identifies the capabilities that distinguish effective performance, defines observable behaviours and sets clear proficiency expectations for different job families and levels.

This course equips participants to design, validate, implement and maintain competency frameworks suited to their organisation’s structure and talent processes. Participants examine framework architectures, job and role analysis methods, behavioural competency writing, technical competency mapping and proficiency-scale design. They learn how to gather evidence through interviews, critical incidents, document review and facilitated workshops; convert findings into practical competency statements; and test content with job holders, managers and subject-matter experts.

Instruction combines short tutor briefings with cases from banking, public services, NGOs and multinational businesses. Participants analyse sample role data, draft competency definitions and behavioural indicators, calibrate proficiency levels, and assess implementation risks. Each participant develops a competency framework design pack for a selected role family or organisational need. The pack includes a framework architecture, role-analysis plan, competency dictionary structure, validation approach, governance model and phased implementation plan.

The course is intended for HR professionals who already support talent, learning, performance or workforce planning activities and need to build a credible competency-based system. It is also relevant to business partners and line leaders involved in defining roles, assessing people or setting capability priorities.

What you will be able to do

  • Design a competency framework architecture aligned with strategy, job families and career levels
  • Conduct role analysis using critical incident interviews, document review and stakeholder workshops
  • Write behavioural competency definitions with observable positive and negative indicators
  • Build proficiency scales that differentiate scope, complexity, autonomy and influence
  • Map technical and functional competencies to role families and critical positions
  • Validate competency content through subject-matter expert review and calibration sessions
  • Integrate competency frameworks into selection, performance, learning and succession processes
  • Produce an implementation roadmap with governance, communications, measures and review cycles

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Create credible competency dictionaries rather than relying on generic behaviour lists
  • Conduct structured role-analysis interviews with managers and job holders
  • Write observable indicators that support fairer assessment conversations
  • Diagnose weak framework design and recommend practical corrections
  • Lead cross-functional validation discussions with clearer evidence and decision criteria

For your organisation

  • Creates consistent capability expectations across job families and career levels
  • Improves selection criteria, interview guides and evidence-based hiring decisions
  • Strengthens performance discussions through observable behavioural standards
  • Targets learning investment at verified role and capability gaps
  • Supports succession planning with clearer readiness and development criteria

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a competency framework architecture linked to organisational and talent priorities.

  • Business strategy translated into critical capabilities, role families and workforce segments
  • Competency framework purposes: selection, performance, development, mobility and succession
  • Architecture choices: core, leadership, functional, technical and future-focused competencies
  • Job families, career streams and grades mapped through role segmentation
  • Distinguishing competencies, skills, knowledge, values, accountabilities and performance objectives
  • Framework design principles balancing relevance, usability, consistency and maintenance effort

Participants can collect and organise reliable evidence for competency design decisions.

  • Critical Incident Technique identifies behaviours behind effective and ineffective performance
  • DACUM workshops capture duties, tasks, knowledge and worker attributes
  • Semi-structured interviews planned with job holders, managers and subject-matter experts
  • Document review examines strategies, role profiles, procedures and performance data
  • Sampling roles by business unit, grade, geography and operating context
  • Evidence matrices separate repeated behavioural patterns from isolated stakeholder opinions

Participants can write clear behavioural competencies from validated role evidence.

  • Competency definitions combine intent, behavioural focus and business contribution
  • Behavioural statements use observable actions rather than personal traits or values
  • Action verbs distinguish influencing, analysing, planning, delivering and collaborating behaviours
  • Positive indicators describe effective performance under realistic role conditions
  • Negative indicators identify common risks without creating punitive competency descriptions
  • Overlapping competencies removed through comparison of intent, scope and evidence

Participants can construct proficiency scales that distinguish increasing role demands.

  • Proficiency scales differentiate autonomy, complexity, impact, expertise and stakeholder reach
  • Four-level and five-level scale designs compared for usability and discrimination
  • Behavioural indicators calibrated against role scope rather than employee tenure
  • Level descriptors avoid inflated language, duplicate behaviours and unsupported precision
  • Vertical progression tested across entry, professional, management and executive roles
  • Calibration rules resolve disagreements between job evaluation and competency levels

Participants can map technical competencies to role families and critical work outputs.

  • Technical competencies linked to regulated tasks, systems, standards and professional knowledge
  • Functional maps connect work outputs, decisions, controls and required expertise
  • Role-family matrices identify common, specialist and role-specific competency requirements
  • Mandatory certifications separated from demonstrable technical competence and experience
  • Future capability requirements assessed through strategic plans and technology changes
  • Skill taxonomies aligned with competency dictionaries without duplicating content

Participants can validate framework content and document defensible design decisions.

  • Subject-matter expert panels test relevance, clarity and behavioural accuracy
  • Content validity review compares draft competencies with collected role evidence
  • Focus groups identify ambiguous wording, missing requirements and impractical indicators
  • Inter-rater calibration tests whether assessors interpret indicators consistently
  • Pilot feedback analysed by role, grade, manager experience and business area
  • Version-control protocols record decisions, approvals, owners and review dates

Participants can apply competency frameworks across major talent and performance processes.

  • Structured interview guides convert competencies into behavioural evidence questions
  • Performance review forms connect objectives, behaviours, ratings and development actions
  • Learning needs analysis compares assessed capability against role proficiency requirements
  • Career pathways show competency progression across lateral and vertical moves
  • Succession criteria combine performance, potential, experience and competency evidence
  • Assessment centres use behavioural indicators, scoring guides and assessor calibration

Participants can establish ownership, controls and data practices for framework maintenance.

  • RACI matrices assign framework ownership, approvals, consultation and maintenance responsibilities
  • Governance forums review change requests, exceptions and annual refresh priorities
  • HR information system fields configured for competencies, levels and role profiles
  • Data-quality checks identify missing assignments, duplicate records and obsolete competencies
  • Access controls protect assessment data, development records and sensitive role information
  • Change-control criteria distinguish minor wording updates from material framework revisions

Participants can plan a phased framework implementation that builds manager and employee adoption.

  • Stakeholder mapping identifies sponsors, users, critics, decision makers and advocates
  • Implementation sequencing prioritises critical roles, business units and talent processes
  • Manager briefings explain assessment standards, evidence requirements and rating implications
  • Employee communications clarify purpose, personal data use and development opportunities
  • Pilot plans define scope, success measures, feedback channels and decision gates
  • Resistance risks addressed through consultation, practical guidance and visible leadership support

Participants can measure framework effectiveness and prepare a practical workplace application plan.

  • Adoption measures track role coverage, trained managers and completed assessments
  • Quality measures examine rating distributions, assessor agreement and user feedback
  • Talent outcomes monitor internal mobility, development completion and succession readiness
  • Equity checks test competency language and assessment patterns for unintended bias
  • Annual review cycles incorporate strategy shifts, role changes and user evidence
  • Application plans define priorities, stakeholders, milestones, resources and decision points

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

What you take back to work

  1. Competency framework architecture template
  2. Role-analysis interview guide
  3. Behavioural competency dictionary template
  4. Proficiency-scale calibration matrix
  5. Framework validation checklist
  6. Phased implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partners — translate business priorities into role and capability requirements
  • Talent Management Specialists — build consistent frameworks for succession and career pathways
  • Learning and Development Managers — identify development needs from defined competency gaps
  • Performance Management Leads — improve assessment criteria and manager rating consistency
  • Recruitment and Resourcing Managers — define selection criteria and structured interview evidence
  • Line Managers and Subject-Matter Experts — contribute credible role content and validation evidence

Skills and tools covered

Competency architecture designRole analysisBehavioural indicator writingProficiency scale calibrationFramework validationTalent process integration

Tools and standards

Critical Incident Technique, DACUM, RACI matrix, Content validity review

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce competency architecture, role analysis and behavioural writing methods. Case work examines framework decisions in regulated, public-service and international organisations. Small-group exercises use role evidence to draft competencies, indicators and proficiency levels, followed by structured peer review and facilitator feedback. Simulated stakeholder sessions develop validation and calibration skills. Participants apply each method to a selected role family or organisational requirement, then prepare an implementation plan for workplace use.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in at least one HR area, such as talent management, learning and development, recruitment, performance management or workforce planning. They should understand their organisation’s role structure, reporting lines and existing people processes. Familiarity with job descriptions and performance reviews is useful. No prior competency-framework design experience is required. Statistical modelling, psychometric qualification, HR information system configuration and advanced organisational design expertise are not required. Participants may bring examples of role profiles or existing competency materials, subject to their organisation’s confidentiality requirements.

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 an HR, talent, learning, recruitment or performance-related role. You do not need prior experience designing competency frameworks, psychometric qualifications or advanced data-analysis skills.

Bring a current job description, role profile, career framework or competency document if you can share it appropriately. These materials are useful for applying the methods, but they are not mandatory.

The course suits HR business partners, talent specialists, learning leaders, performance managers, recruitment leaders and subject-matter experts. It is designed for people who will design, review, implement or use a framework.

This course focuses on defining the capabilities and behaviours required for effective role performance. Performance management training focuses on goal setting and review processes, while job evaluation focuses on determining relative job value.

You can use the design pack to begin a role-family review, improve an existing competency dictionary or plan a framework pilot. The templates support discussions with managers, subject-matter experts and HR process owners.

The course includes approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally delivered from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is allocated to framework architecture, evidence gathering, writing and scaling competencies, validation, integration, governance and implementation planning.

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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