Last week I looked at how to define your top 10-12 competencies.

This week I suggest some ways to ensure you get buy in and acceptance of your Leadership Competency Model.

Getting Buy in - Leading from the top is the best way to get buy in. Spend time with your direct reports to ensure they understand the competencies, what the associated behaviours look like and how and where they will be used.

Use the competencies as part of our everyday discussions and you will soon see a change in behaviours.

Here are some ways to embed your model and ensure your competencies can bring about positive change in your organisation:

1. Use your competencies to underpin the learning and development (training programmes) of all of your Leaders, Managers, Team leaders and Supervisors
2. Use them to provide aspirational goals for all staff to strive towards.
3. Get your HR team to design a handbook that will define the competencies, what the key actions look like and where you can get the learning’s to achieve a particular competency.
4. This hand book can break the competency down to the correct level of leader – e.g. Executive (SLT), Manager, Supervisor/Team leader
5. Use the competencies in the recruitment process when hiring new leaders, supervisors and team leaders.
6. Use the competencies in job descriptions
7. Use the competencies in the performance appraisal discussion.
8. The competency of your leaders can be measured using a 360 degree feedback programme.

As a final thought you may want to think about whether you want to reward your leaders on their level of competency.

This is an interesting debate as leaders lacking in self–awareness can often still deliver number based targets.

Let us know your thoughts on whether leaders should have a variable pay component based on competencies…

By Emma Worseldine