Competency development in a pan-European marketing organisation
The Background
A brand-name manufacturer and marketer wanted a competency framework that could be used across Europe for recruitment, appraisal and development.
What we did
The initial development was undertaken using a bespoke spreadsheet questionnaire to understand better how roles with similar impact on the organisation's bottom-line could be grouped. Following the agreed grouping (and by testing its "sense" against the organisation's structure and salary distributions) workshops were undertaken where lists of the real skill requirements, by role group, were discussed and agreed. Definitions of the key competencies were drawn up from this information.
Following this, Critical Incident and Repertory Grid Interviews were held with managers in the key European centres, and lists of behavioural indicators, by job level, were compiled.
To introduce the competency model, and competency assessment, workshops were devised and run across Europe, illustrating and providing practice in how the technique could be used in the organisation's annual appraisal process. The HR community was also introduced to the use of competencies in recruitment and development.
The Outcome?
Bespoke creation of a competency framework, with direct impact on the appraisal scheme, but with immediate application to recruitment and development across the European organisation. Importantly, because of the involvement of the most senior managers throughout the development process, a great deal of buy-in to the methodology was secured. This was increased as it was clear that tte behavioural indicators reflected the actions and skills that employees required daily.
"Nelson Griffiths has worked with us for a number of years on key European activities, including our European Graduate Talent programme, European Competency Recruitment project .... Dave has high integrity, provided high-quality, creative, tailored solutions on time ... and was always flexible to meet our changing business needs."