Taking an Asset-Based Approach to Competency Models
When I create a competency model, there are so many things I look at. The one thing I don’t look at?
Indicators of poor performance.
I’m sure we all already know what poor performance looks like. To me, the lowest behavior you want is one that meets expectations. And everything should just go up from there.
That’s why today we’re discussing why I don't memorialize poor behavior in competency models, and why asset-based competency models work.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
00:58 The one thing I don’t look at when creating a competency model
04:43 Why I don’t memorialize poor behavior in a competency model
07:30 Taking an asset-based approach to competency models
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Taking an Asset-Based Approach to Competency Models
I attended a learning session recently that was all about competency models.
Now, I've created competency models internally at a national nonprofit, as well as for my nonprofit clients since starting my business, Skill Masters Market. It's one of my favorite types of projects.
When we do these projects,
We spend time researching trends, disruptors, and future skills.
We spend time reviewing the organization's strategies, mission, vision, and values.
We look at where the organization is headed and we start to imagine what it would take to help them get there.
We talk to staff about how they do their work.
We ask about star performers and what makes them so great.
We synthesize all of this information into key insights that help us identify the skills needed to be successful in your organization.
Do you want to know one thing I NEVER do?
Never once do I look at this research, or this organization, or their staff and think you know what this organization needs - a clear picture of poor performance.
Most of us know what poor performance looks like.
We've experienced it.
We're quick to complain about what the other person did wrong or brag about how we would have done things differently.
We notice poor performance, even our own.
So in this learning session, when we started looking at examples of competencies with their behavioral indicators and I saw a set of behaviors that qualified as “poor”, my body had a physical reaction.
I loved this learning session. Great people, great facilitator, great learning. But if this had been a test, I would have failed. I knew there was no way I would write a poor behavioral indicator.
To me, the lowest behavior you want is one that meets expectations. And everything should just go up from there.
Maybe I've just been in the nonprofit world too long, but I'm a big believer in asset-based approaches so in this blog post, we’re covering the following:
1) Why I Don’t Memorialize Poor Behavior in a Competency Model
Have you ever been in a pool and heard the lifeguard yell walk?
That's intentional.
They could have said don't run or no running. But when they say that, all you can think about is running. And it becomes harder for your brain to process that you need to walk.
So they say, walk or please walk, and they say it a lot. If you've ever been to a pool with kids, you’ll know.
Here are some other examples:
Instead of saying to a classroom of kids stop talking, you hear, be quiet.
When people go on diets, the current narrative is to focus on what you can have versus what you can't. We want to think about what our options are, versus the restriction.
When you watch commercials you see an image of what you want to have or who you want to be, not of where you are. You see that perfect vacation, not your messy couch. You see the to-die-for bag that you just have to have. You see the shoes that make you jump higher and run faster. You see the truck that makes heads turn. The focus is on the positive.
And yet, when we talk about leadership development, in general, not just competency models, we tend to focus on the negative.
We have conversations like:
Here's where you're lacking.
Here's what you still need to develop.
Here's what I think you need to work on.
Here's what you need to change.
I don't think that's the right approach.
So you'll never find me including poor behaviors in a competency model.
“My minimum expectation is that you meet expectations. And we only go up from there. I want you to see how high you can go, how good you can be, how much you can excel at your work. Not get focused on what you lack.” - Heather Burright, Learning for Good Episode 79
But why does this work? That’s what we’re looking at next.
2) Why an Asset-Based Approach to Competency Models Works
When we focus on the positive, when we take an asset-based approach, why does that work?
Well, I asked ChatGPT to tell me a little bit about why asset-based approaches work in other areas like community development. I already know they’re used there.
Here's what ChatGPT shared.
Asset-based approaches help you operate from your strengths rather than your deficit.
They help you maintain agency and ownership.
They help you work more innovatively, and solve problems more effectively, as you rely on your strengths to achieve those goals.
They promote positive narrative.
Asset-based approaches can help create more sustainable change.
Now, that's from the community development perspective, but let's think about it from a leadership development perspective.
Do you want people to operate from their strengths? Yes, absolutely.
I don't want the person who isn't great at visual design creating my slides. They're going to feel frustrated and I'm going to be disappointed. I want people to operate from their strengths.
Now, if you are good at visual design, can you become great? Also, yes. We can lean into that strength and help you see a vision of something even better.
So yes, I want people to operate from their strengths.
Do you want people to maintain agency and ownership in their development? Again, yes.
I want people to feel like they have a choice in how they learn. I've always heard, as a parent, that you decide what your kids eat and they decide how much. I feel like there's some translation for talent development too. We can decide what those skills are that are needed, but individuals need some choice in how they learn and how they approach those things.
So yes, I want people to maintain agency and ownership in their development.
Do you want people to work more innovatively and solve problems more effectively?
I mean, yes, right? Who doesn't want that?
Do you want to promote a positive narrative?
Hello rest and well-being; goodbye stress and burnout.
I want people to know they are capable of doing their jobs. That's why you hired them. And that's why you continue to invest in them.
I want to promote that positive narrative. And I don't want a competency model bringing somebody down.
Do you want to experience sustainable change in your nonprofit?
I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes, right?
So many organizations can't get all the way through the change curve; they get stuck somewhere along the way. That's not what we want. We want staff and leaders who can take us all the way through the change curve. We want them and need them to operate from their strengths. We need to take that asset-based approach so that we can experience sustainable change.
So those are the reasons you won't find me including poor behaviors in a competency model.
“We need to shift the narrative to something that's more asset-based. It's consistent with the outcomes we want. And it's consistent with who you are as a nonprofit.” - Heather Burright, Learning for Good Episode 79
If you want to learn more about competency models, check out these past episodes:
Episode 51: How to Use Your Competency Model to Develop a Comprehensive Training Program
Episode 39: Ask These Two Questions to Identify Your Nonprofit's Core Competencies
Episode 20: How to Determine Which Competencies Are Right for You
Episode 19: One Nonprofit's Honest Opinion after 6 Months with a Competency Model
Episode 18: Four Reasons Your Competencies Don't Work
To hear the full conversation I had on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 79.
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