A Guide to Assessing Competency in the House …

1 A Guide to Assessing Competency in the HouseUsing the Competency Diagnostic KnowledgeJob specif c skills / ExpertiseQualif cations / ExperienceValues: Integrity Professionalism Teamwork Commitment RecognitionDelivering results for Parliament Customer Focused serviceManaging and leading peopleWorking with peopleCommunication with othersInfluencing and persuadingPlanning and organisingAnalysing and decision making Innovating and improvingHouse of Commons Competency Framework3 Competency Framework212224242424273844 ContentsJob specif c skills / Expertise25203: Participant Guide to Using the Competency DiagnosticOverviewUnderstanding your dashboardAgreeing your Competency profileCompleting your Competency assessmentAgreeing scoresAccessing your personalised report1: IntroductionAbout competencies Using the Competency Diagnostic to assess staff competencyProcess map for managers and staff using the Competency Diagnostic0405062: Manager s Guide to Using the Competency Diagnostic Overview Logging on and understanding your dashboardCreating Competency profiles for each role you manageAdding your team to the system and assigning role profilesCompleting Competency assessment(s)Agreeing scores Creating individual and team reports 091012141617184: Glossary of Terms5: Appendices House of Commons Competency Framework Overview of CompetenciesManager s Guide to Creating Job Specific Professional or Technical competencies Agreement Meeting Tips0408264 Competency FrameworkIntroductionAbout Competencies A Competency is a cluster of behaviours that are needed to do a specific job Competency framework is a set of competencies identified by an organisation as essential for effective performance.

2 How staff carry out their tasks and responsibilities is as important to the success of the House as their skills and House of Commons has nine core competencies within its Competency framework that reflect the behaviours required across the wide range of jobs found in the organisation (see Appendix 1 for further details). They are: Delivering Results for Parliament Providing a Customer Focused Service Innovating and Improving Managing and Leading People Working with People Communicating Influencing and Persuading Planning and Organising Analysing and Decision MakingEach of these core competencies has four levels which broadly correspond to the categories of staff, supervisors, managers and leaders. This means that the framework can be applied across job roles and grades. Staff members are expected to display each Competency needed to fulfil their role. It is a manager s responsibility to identify which competencies are needed to perform effectively within a given 5 Competency FrameworkUsing the Competency Diagnostic to assess staff Competency The House of Commons assesses staff Competency using the House of Commons Competency Diagnostic Tool (CDT).

3 The CDT is one of the online tools that we use to assess and develop our people. It gives both staff and their line manager an opportunity to benchmark their behaviour against House standards. The tool creates a personalised development report which can be used in conjunction with IPRs, ASRs and Job is important that you familiarise yourself with each of the 9 core competencies before using the Competency Diagnostic Tool. Detailed descriptions of the competencies and the behaviours associated with Competency at each of the four levels can be found at the end of this Guide (see Appendix 1). Competency Diagnostic Tool Overview On pages 8 & 9 you will find an overview of the Competency Diagnostic tool process for both managers and staff (participants).6 Competency FrameworkManagersStaffOnce you accept the Competency profile, you will be able to complete the online diagnosticYou will receive an email from the diagnostic tool asking you to log on and approve the Competency profileLine Manager will register your details on the CDT and assign a Competency profileContact Learning and Development to register you on the CDT and receive your log in detailsFor each role reporting to you, use the job description to identify competencies relevant to that roleCreate a Competency profile for the role on the CDTR egister your staff on your dashboard and assign a Competency profile to them7 Competency FrameworkOnce the Competency profile has been agreed, you will complete a diagnostic assessment for each individual registered Once the diagnostic is complete, arrange a meeting to discuss and agree scores with each individualDiscuss and agree learning and development priorities.

4 Which should be included in the Individual Performance Review for ongoing discussionsThe CDT will generate a report, identifying your areas of strength and areas of development. Discuss how the areas of development will be met and how you will link these to the appraisal form/process Meet with your manager to discuss and agree scores. Once you have agreed on all of the scores, your line manager will submit themWhen you and your manager have completed the assessment, your manager will receive a report combining both sets of scoresManager s Guide to Using the Competency Diagnostic This part of the Guide provides step-by-step instructions on what you will need to do as a manager using the CDT. Please have this Guide with you when you log on to use the Framework29 Competency FrameworkOverview We know how challenging it can be for line managers to set clear expectations for a role, to assess their direct reports against those expectations and to work out what development they might need.

5 The Competency Diagnostic tool enables line managers to define what is expected of any role based on the House of Commons Competency Framework. The framework describes nine core competencies at four levels; you can see the full framework at the end of this Guide . As a Line Manager, you need to use the Competency Diagnostic with each of your direct reports. As a manager, you need to build a role profile for each role you manage, based on a template profile tailored to suit your needs, or from scratch. Each team member will check and agree the role profile to ensure that it is appropriate. If the person does not agree the profile you will be notified and you should arrange a meeting to discuss the discrepancies. After that the profile should be amended, if necessary, and a line manger you are expected to: Create Competency profiles for each of the roles that you manage Add the members of your team to the CDT and assign each a role profile (this will prompt the individual to complete their self-assessment) Complete the Competency assessment for each team member Hold a meeting with each team member to reconcile substantial differences and agree final Competency scores Use the personal report generated by the system as the basis for their IPR Competency objective and to identify wider development needs Download your team report for a collated assessment of your team s strengths and development areas to identify where they have shared development needs and allow you to consider how you might build on their collective FrameworkLogging on and understanding your dashboard Contact the Learning and Development team in order for them to register you on the CDT and give you line manager permissions.

6 When your details have been registered on the tool you will receive an e-mail from Competency Diagnostic , which will include a link to the Diagnostic Tool ( ) and a password. You can change the password to something more memorable once you have logged you have forgotten your password, you can ask for it to be reset on the main page of Click on forgotten password , this will generate an email with a new password which you can use to login. Understanding Your Dashboard When you log in you will be presented with the main dashboard (below) where you can get started. From the system, you can project manage the assessment of your direct reports through to completion. From the dashboard you can: Create Competency profiles for each member of staff Register your staff to the system and assign a profile to them View individual staff member reports Generate collective team reports Initiate retakes Keep an eye on required actions for next steps you need to take 11 Competency Framework12 Competency FrameworkYou need to create a Competency based role profile for each role that you manage.

7 A role profile is a set of competencies, chosen by you, that are required to perform a job. Profiles are based on what is expected of the role, regardless of the post creating a role profile, you would usually select four to six competencies from the Core Competency Framework that are key to the role. Each Competency has four levels which gives flexibility in terms of the level to which you would expect to see good performance in a role. You will find descriptors under each of the four levels and these are cumulative - so a person working at Level 3 in, say, Working with People, would also be expected to be competent in Levels 1 and 2 in that Competency . To complement the nine behavioural competencies, you also have the option to add functional competencies, which describe the generic knowledge and skills that are needed to do a job to a required standard, for example financial skills. You will find the option to add these below the core behavioural competencies.

8 Because the framework is behavioural, it is relevant for all roles and pay bands. We appreciate, though, that in some areas there may be particular skills which cannot be assessed through these core competencies or perhaps the functional Competency is too generic. The CDT gives you an option to create job-specific competencies to assess professional and technical skills or job-specific behaviours. Details on creating job-specific competencies can in Appendix 2 of this Guide . Please remember that the total number of competencies in a role profile should be no more than six to eight. On the dashboard click Create New Profile and the following page will appear:Step 1 Creating Competency Profiles 13 Competency Framework Identify the competencies needed for the role and choose the level at which each Competency is required (use the full Competency framework for the level breakdown). Remember, not all jobs require every Competency choose those which are needed for success, rather than those which are nice to have Select the payband and department/team which this profile is for Enter the job title and submit This profile will now show at the bottom of your dashboard.

9 You can still edit and delete the profile if needed. 14 Step 2 Adding Your Direct Reports to the system and assigning them a role profile Once you have created all the role profiles, you need to register each of your direct reports on the CDT. Click Register New Staff on the dashboard and the following page will appear: Follow the on screen instructions until all staff members are added and appear on your dashboard. You are responsible for assigning each of your team members to an appropriate role profile. However, the individual will check and agree the profile ( agree that it matches their job role) before you both complete the Competency assessment to ensure it is appropriate. In the list, click Choose Profile next to each staff member s name to assign a profile to them. You will also need to choose a deadline by which the staff member needs to approve their profile. Then click Assign and the staff member will be emailed a link to their assigned Framework16 Competency FrameworkStep 3 Completing Competency Assessments Once you have assigned a role profile to a staff member and they have agreed that profile, you will receive a confirmation email prompting you to log into the CDT and complete their diagnostic assessment ( your assessment of them against the competencies in the profile).

10 When you log in you need to click Complete Diagnostic next to the staff member s name to begin the assessment. Follow the on screen instructions to complete the and what they rating staff members, it is important to keep in mind that everyone has strengths which can be better used and areas that can be developed. In the assessment, scores are on a five-point scale. A score below 3 signifies a development need with which the person should be assisted. 3 equates with an area of competence. 4 is an area of strength. 5 should be reserved for exemplary performance. You are also given the opportunity to rate an element as unseen where you have no evidence of either a strength or development need. Finally, please note that the ratings you give are not anonymous. The next step in the process will be to sit down with the person you are Assessing and discuss their scores and how they compare to the scores you gave. 17 Competency FrameworkStep 4 - Agreement Meeting Once both you and your staff member have completed the diagnostic, you will receive an email prompting you to complete a score agreement meeting.