What Is a Competency and Why Is It Important to Measure?
Competencies are the specific skills, abilities, and behavioral characteristics that determine how effectively an employee performs in a given role.
A 360-degree evaluation system makes it possible to assess these competencies from multiple perspectives:
- the employee's own view (self-evaluation),
- feedback from direct colleagues,
- evaluations from direct subordinates,
- the manager's evaluation,
- and the assessment of top management (CEO).
Why Measure Competencies?
- Enables objective performance evaluation
- Identifies development areas for each employee
- Makes company culture and values measurable
- Supports bonus and promotion decisions with data
- Enables conscious, targeted employee development
The Quarma360 Global Competency Bank
The system includes 15 predefined competencies that can be used universally in most organizations. These competencies fall into three main categories.
1. General Work Performance Competencies
These are relevant across most roles and measure core work effectiveness.
Workplace Communication
What it measures:
How information is shared, how the employee communicates with colleagues, handles conflicts, and how open and direct their communication style is.
When to use:
Essential in almost every position, especially in roles requiring teamwork.
Motivation
What it measures:
Work enthusiasm, positive attitude, openness to new ideas, internal drive.
When to use:
Valuable in all roles, particularly where motivation can positively influence others (sales, leadership roles).
Organizational Skills
What it measures:
Planning, time management, prioritization, meeting deadlines, precision.
When to use:
Project managers, assistants, coordination-heavy roles.
Effective Performance
What it measures:
Focus on outcomes, efficiency, achieving outstanding results, proactive obstacle handling.
When to use:
Sales, leadership roles, KPI-driven positions.
Decision Making and Accountability
What it measures:
Independent decision-making, weighing consequences, taking responsibility for decisions.
When to use:
Leadership and senior positions where autonomy is expected.
Independent Work
What it measures:
Ability to work effectively without supervision, self-motivation, initiative in individual tasks.
When to use:
Remote workers, senior specialists, independent project roles.
Teamwork
What it measures:
Collaboration, team spirit, contribution toward shared goals.
When to use:
Essential for anyone working in a team.
Professional Knowledge
What it measures:
Depth of domain knowledge, willingness to learn, knowledge sharing.
When to use:
Nearly all roles, especially expert, developer, and consulting positions.
Adaptability
What it measures:
Flexibility, fast adjustment to new situations, maintaining effectiveness during uncertainty.
When to use:
Fast-changing environments (IT, startups, change management).
Proactivity and Initiative
What it measures:
Forward-thinking attitude, independent action, prevention of problems.
When to use:
Leaders, project managers, initiative-driven roles.
Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
What it measures:
Identifying problems, analyzing situations, developing creative solutions, persistence.
When to use:
Analytical, engineering, and leadership positions.
Customer Orientation
What it measures:
Prioritizing customer satisfaction, understanding needs, delivering high-quality service.
When to use:
Sales, customer support, account management, and any role handling customer relationships (including internal customers such as IT support or HR).
Responsible Behavior
What it measures:
Integrity, ethics, reliability, rule compliance without supervision.
When to use:
A core value at all levels, especially in leadership and financial/legal roles.
2. Leadership-Specific Competencies
These competencies should be used only for leadership positions.
Managerial Attitudes
What it measures:
Leading by example, ability to motivate, stress management, enforcing rules, responsibility for the team.
When to use:
Leadership roles only. Not relevant for non-managers.
Managerial Workplace Communication
What it measures:
Giving feedback, open dialogue, inclusive communication, conflict-free leadership style.
When to use:
Leadership roles, especially where active people management is involved.
How to Select the Right Competencies
1. Role-Specific Consideration
Not every competency is relevant for every role. Selecting too many competencies is counterproductive: evaluations become too long, respondents get fatigued, and response quality declines.
Recommendation:
➡️ 4–5 competencies per role is optimal.
Example Role Sets
Sales Representative:
- Customer Orientation ✅
- Workplace Communication ✅
- Effective Performance ✅
- Motivation ✅
- Adaptability ✅
Software Developer:
- Professional Knowledge ✅
- Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving ✅
- Teamwork ✅
- Independent Work ✅
- Organizational Skills ✅
Team Leader:
- Managerial Attitudes ✅
- Managerial Workplace Communication ✅
- Decision Making and Accountability ✅
- Responsible Behavior ✅
- Teamwork ✅
- Motivation ✅
Customer Support Agent:
- Customer Orientation ✅
- Workplace Communication ✅
- Stress Tolerance (if available in the system) ✅
- Problem Solving ✅
- Responsible Behavior ✅
2. Company Culture and Strategic Goals
Select competencies that reflect your organization's values and future direction.
Examples:
- Innovation-focused company → Proactivity, Adaptability
- Team-based culture → Teamwork, Workplace Communication
- Customer-centric strategy → Customer Orientation, Effective Performance
- Rapid growth phase → Adaptability, Decision Making, Results Orientation
3. Identifying Development Priorities
If you already know where the organization struggles, measure those areas intentionally.
- Frequent conflicts → Workplace Communication, Managerial Workplace Communication
- Missed deadlines → Organizational Skills, Responsible Behavior
- Low initiative → Proactivity, Independent Work
- Customer satisfaction issues → Customer Orientation
Creating Custom Competencies
If the required competency is not available in the global bank, you can create a custom competency.
When Should You Create a New Competency?
- Highly specific industry skills
(e.g. Pharmaceutical Regulatory Compliance, Food Safety Protocols) - Unique company values
(e.g. Sustainability Mindset, Innovation Culture) - Regulatory requirements
(e.g. ISO Compliance, GDPR Compliance)
How to Create a High-Quality Competency
1. Clear Naming
The name should clearly express what is being measured.
✅ Good: Data Protection Awareness
❌ Poor: Proper Attitude
2. Detailed Description
Clearly define what the competency means and why it matters.
Example:
Data Protection Awareness – The extent to which the employee considers GDPR and other data protection regulations in daily work. This includes secure handling of personal data, prevention of data protection incidents, and responsible data management. Data protection awareness is critical in any role involving customer data or personal information.
3. Well-Formulated Questions
Each competency should include 3–5 meaningful questions.
Examples from global competencies:
✅ "Always prioritizes customer satisfaction in all situations."
✅ "Quickly identifies and clearly articulates emerging problems."
✅ "Finds creative and effective solutions even to complex challenges."
✅ "Is reliable: fulfills commitments and keeps promises."
Questions should be:
- Specific (not vague statements)
- Behavior-focused (not theoretical knowledge)
- Based on observable actions
❌ Poor question: "Is a good employee."
✅ Good question: "Complies with data protection regulations in all workflows and immediately reports any identified data protection risks."
Self-Evaluation vs. External Evaluation Wording:
- External evaluators: objective phrasing
("Complies with data protection regulations…") - Self-evaluation: first-person phrasing
("I comply with data protection regulations…")
4. Scale and Labels
Quarma360 uses a 1–7 scale:
- 1 = "Not true at all"
- 7 = "Absolutely true"
For consistency, this scale should be used across all questions.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
❌ Too many competencies
Do not exceed 6 competencies per evaluation. More leads to fatigue and lower-quality responses.
❌ Irrelevant competencies
E.g. leadership competencies for non-managers, or customer focus where there is no customer interaction.
❌ Overlapping competencies
Choosing very similar competencies leads to redundant results.
❌ Overly generic wording
Terms like "Professionalism" or "Good employee" are not measurable.
Summary: Step by Step
- Analyze the role: which skills are critical for effective performance?
- Review the 15 global competencies and use them where relevant.
- Select 3–5 competencies per role.
- If needed, create custom competencies with concrete, behavior-based questions.
- Run a pilot evaluation with no stakes, and observe feedback.
A well-designed competency framework lays the foundation for a truly objective, development-focused evaluation process—one that not only measures performance, but actively supports the growth of both employees and the organization.