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Description

Competency Frameworks: Describing Jobs, Grading Levels and Putting the Framework to Use

Two days to build a competency framework that HR teams and line managers can genuinely use

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Intermediate
  • Up to 6 participants

Many competency frameworks end up filed away and forgotten. They list generic verbs that nobody knows how to assess, blur the line between technical know-how and personal qualities, and no longer match real jobs two years after they were written.

These 14 hours focus on the technical craft of building a framework within a strategic workforce and skills planning approach: activity analysis, drafting job profiles, wording competencies and designing proficiency scales. Participants also work on adoption and on the rules for keeping the framework up to date. This programme complements the broader strategic workforce planning approach by concentrating on the tool itself.

Learning objectives

  • Frame a competency framework project based on the uses expected by HR processes
  • Conduct activity analysis with job holders and line managers
  • Draft job profiles that clearly separate activities from required competencies
  • Word competencies in observable and assessable terms
  • Build proficiency scales that remain consistent across the whole framework
  • Organise framework updates and its adoption by line managers

What makes this programme different

An activity analysis method applied to a real job brought in by participants
A rewriting exercise on poorly worded competencies taken from existing frameworks
A proficiency scale built and tested across several jobs within the same scope

Programme

1Framing the competency framework project

Define the use before the structure

  • Intended uses across recruitment, mobility, learning and performance reviews
  • Choice of scope and level of granularity for jobs
  • Project governance and involvement of business line managers
  • Estimating the workload and the production schedule

2Analysing activity and describing jobs

Start from the work as it is actually done

  • Conducting activity analysis interviews with job holders
  • Observing work situations and capturing frequent contingencies
  • Grouping positions into jobs and job families
  • Drafting the job profile and validating it with line managers

3Wording competencies and grading proficiency levels

Making competency assessable

  • Distinguishing between activity, competency and personal quality
  • Rules for wording competencies in observable terms
  • Building a proficiency scale and drafting level descriptors
  • Handling cross-functional and business-critical competencies
  • Checking consistency across jobs within the same scope

4Driving adoption and maintaining the framework

A framework lives or dies in the processes

  • Embedding the framework in recruitment grids and performance reviews
  • Using it to objectify skills gaps and design career paths
  • Training line managers to use it day to day
  • Revision rules and the treatment of emerging jobs

Who is it for

Workforce and skills planning managers and officers as well as HR managers leading competency projects and internal consultants.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with the general principles of workforce and career path planning

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.