by Jeff Wulf

Top-performing manufacturers recognize the importance of aligning talent with strategy, but ensuring that talent is doing all the right things in pursuit of overall strategy is an ongoing challenge.

Competency modeling is an effective means for meeting that challenge. It links the work force with business goals and identifies the key knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for successful employee and organizational performance—performance that leads directly to strategy attainment.

Put another way, it’s a targeted process that accelerates employee development, improves work force outcomes, attracts the right talent, and keeps manufacturing operations laser-focused on behaviors that have the most positive impact on the bottom line.

Because of its tremendous effect on performance, manufacturers often adopt competency modeling as part of lean implementation and continuous improvement initiatives. Changes to a business model or mergers and acquisitions and reorganizational activities can also present prime opportunities to engage in competency modeling.

Other signs that a manufacturer could benefit from competency modeling include rapid growth without profitability, ineffective training or lack of formal development activities, and a lack of a clearly identifiable “next generation” of leaders.

A framework for performance

Competency lists abound, and each contains a profusion of performance traits, all wide open for interpretation. Lists alone are not helpful until they are made relevant to a manufacturer’s unique business goals and they become operational. This requires a deliberate strategy alignment process to determine those competency traits that are vital to achieving a company’s objectives.

Ideally, top leadership initiates the discovery process to identify those specific competencies that have strategic importance. Often, these critical traits are already being demonstrated by high-performing individuals in key company positions and include a range of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Beyond identifying desired competencies, companies must also define what these competencies mean in the context of their unique environments and in ways employees will understand and can readily adopt.

For example, XYZ Manufacturing recognizes that strong problem-solving skills are critical to its business strategy. But for competency modeling to be truly effective, the company must further define those skills; for instance, as “the ability to consider the costs and benefits of potential actions so as to choose the most appropriate ones.” By crystallizing the definition of problem solving, employees can better recognize and consistently demonstrate the right problem-solving behaviors.

Equally important is the need to integrate expectations for competencies into performance measurement. With objective measures in place, an entire work force can be galvanized behind the shared sense of the required competency – what problem solving means, for example, and how it is measured.

With its list compiled, a manufacturer can promptly determine where the competency gaps are within its work force and then concentrate its training and development resources accordingly.

Meaningful results

Although competency models are very specific about the outputs a manufacturer can expect, the process is highly adaptable, flexible, and scalable to any size business. Choosing from multiple methodologies, a company can decide to compile high-level competencies only or go for more detailed modeling. The process can even be applied to a single department or division rather than the entire organization.

Wherever and however a manufacturer implements competency modeling, the benefits are tremendous. They include optimized training investments, better employee utilization and retention, stronger alignment of roles and responsibilities, enhanced succession planning, sustained continuous improvement, and accelerated organizational performance.

About the author

Jeff Wulf, a senior manager in Wipfli’s Continuous Improvement consulting practice, provides valuable insights to clients seeking to maximize their productivity. In addition to competency modeling, Jeff helps clients with business  process analysis and redesign, change management, issues facilitation, and organizational development. Please call Jeff in our Madison office at 608.274.1980, or e-mail him at jwulf@wipfli.com.