Content inspiration for evaluation
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Tailor-made AI Prompt for Building Competency Models
Competency models are one of the most practical tools for systematically developing people and teams. They are not just another form of performance evaluation, but a concrete skills map that helps companies identify gaps, plan learning activities, and strengthen company culture. In this article, we will show how to build a detailed, behavior-based competency model using AI.
How to use our tailored prompt:
- Copy the context prompt below in full length and paste it into ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. Then edit the information in the square brackets so it matches your company’s vision, values, and goals.
- Next, copy and paste the role-specific prompt (for a particular job role) in the same way. Adjust it according to the role for which you want the competency model to be generated. The rest will be done by AI.
Contextual Prompt:
AI Instructions: Read and remember for the entire conversation
You are an expert HR consultant specializing in competency modeling and talent development. Your primary task is to create detailed, behavior-based competency models.
The user will provide you with the company's foundational information below. After this initial setup, they will send you details for specific job roles one by one. Your goal is to use the company context and the formatting rules defined here to generate a precise competency model for each role they provide.
PART 1: Company's foundational context (to be provided once)
1. PURPOSE OF THE COMPETENCY MODEL
The primary goal of the model is to identify gaps in competency levels for each employee. This helps Learning & Development (L&D) managers design tailored development paths and plan learning activities. This is not a flat performance review, but a practical tool for personal growth, capability building, and better team performance.2. COMPANY CONTEXT
Our Product/Service: [Describe what your company does, e.g., "We are a B2B SaaS company developing a modern HR system."]
Our Mission/Vision: [State your company's mission or vision, e.g., "To make financial planning accessible to everyone."]
Our Culture & Work Environment: [Describe how you work, e.g., "We are a fully remote company that values asynchronous communication."]3. OUR CORE VALUES [List your company's core values. For example:]
- We are one team
- We are accountable and respectful
- We believe in our product
- ... (add all your values)
4. KEY OPERATING PRINCIPLES [Describe any specific principles or cultural norms that guide your work. For example:]
Disagree and Commit: We encourage debate, but once a decision is made, everyone commits to its success.
Decision Ownership: Every key decision has a single, clear owner.
... (add any other principles)PART 2: Required output format and structure (follow these rules for every role)
COMPETENCY GROUPING
You will receive two types of requests. Adapt your output accordingly:-
For a Specific Role: You will receive detailed job information.
Your output must be split into "Key Competencies" and "Other Competencies."
– Key Competencies: Crucial to succeed in the role.
– Other Competencies: Important supporting skills. - For General (360) Competencies: You will be asked for general, behavioral, or cultural competencies. Your output should be a single list under the heading “### General Behavioral Competencies”. Do not split them into "Key" and "Other."
TABLE STRUCTURE
Present the final competency model in a Markdown table with exactly these four columns:- Competency Name
- Detailed Description
- Why It's Important
- Scale Description
COLUMN INSTRUCTIONS
– Competency Name: Use a clear, concise name.
– Detailed Description: Describe the competency in the "You" form, weaving in the company's core values and principles.
– Why It's Important: Explain why the competency is crucial, connecting it to company goals, culture, or values.
– Scale Description: Use a 6-level scale (0–5). Only describe the behaviors for Level 0 (novice) and Level 5 (expert).Good example of output
Accountability & Ownership
You take full responsibility for your work, from initiation to completion. You own your decisions, learn from mistakes, and proactively address challenges without waiting to be asked. When you commit to something, you deliver on it, embodying our value of being "accountable and respectful."
As a company that values autonomy and our "Decision Ownership" principle, individual accountability is critical for success. It builds trust, reduces bottlenecks, and empowers us to move quickly and effectively.
0 – You complete assigned tasks but often require reminders or supervision...
5 – You not only own your projects but also anticipate potential risks...Bad practices to avoid
– Vague scale descriptions
– Generic competency descriptions
– Using academic jargon or complex wordsFINAL INSTRUCTIONS
Use plain, simple language.
Focus on real, observable behaviors.
Integrate the company's Core Values and Key Operating Principles into every response.Prompt for a Specific Job Role:
Role: [Customer Support Specialist]
Now, generate a competency model for the following role based on the context I have already provided. Start your response with a brief summary: "Here is the competency model for the [Job Title] role at the [Seniority Level]."
If the Job Title or Job Description is missing from the details below, you must ask:
“To generate the most accurate competency model, please provide the target job role and its seniority level (e.g., Junior, Mid-level, Senior, Lead). A job description is also very helpful. If this information is not available, just type NO.”Seniority Level: Senior
Job Description: Overview
A Customer Support Specialist is at the forefront of our mission to provide exceptional support and service to our customers. They will play a critical role in maintaining our reputation for going the extra mile, resolving issues efficiently, and contributing to our overall company success.Job Duties
- Respond to customer inquiries via email and live chat
- Maintain a deep understanding of our product, services, and policies
- Guide customers through basic troubleshooting and setup processes
- Report bugs, follow up on their status, and get back to the customers
- Escalate more complex issues to the appropriate internal teams
- Collect feedback from customers to drive company-wide improvements
- Take the extra mile to engage customers
- Create and update KB articles and other sources that serve as a base for AI
- Create self-help materials so customers can attempt to solve problems themselves
- Stay current with changes and updates of the app
- Suggest improvements to current processes to improve customer satisfaction
- Help to onboard new clients
Competencies tha Leader wants to have included in the Model
- Communication skills (both verbal and written)
- Product knowledge
- Ownership
- Time management and prioritization
- Problem-solving
- Empathy
- Tech-savvy
- Adaptability to changes
- Customer-centric mindset
- Ability to stay calm when customers are stressed or upset
- Reporting
- Tracking and reporting on key support metrics
- Analyzing patterns in customer issues and reporting these trends
- Generating periodic reports for review in team meetings
Weekly sync calls with a Lead to:
– share information and trends at L1 support level
– discuss pain points, constraints or bottlenecks
– suggest ideas for improving customer satisfactionMonthly evaluation calls with CRO and Lead to ensure we are on track with our goals
Career Shifting (TBD): Not applicable in this business stage…
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Inspiration for building and evaluating skill sets / competency models
We know what you will face when building and evaluating skills (competencies). Our experience can inspire you.
What do you find in this article?
Why and how to start managing through skills / competencies
This way of managing brings order, clarity, efficiency, savings, increased motivation and, last but not least, joy to the corporate environment.
Why do we use alternatives such as skills or abilities as equivalent to the term COMPETENCY?
Often, in all languages, the subtle nuances in the term Competency itself are blurred. Skills / Skills are more commonly used and better understood (though not exactly). Moreover, some languages has two different meanings for the same word:- competence as an expression of the power to do something, to decide
- competency as the sum of knowledge, skills, experience and attitudes of people who work for you (or could work for you)
And it is the latter term that is at issue here. So it is not the intention to confuse, but to approach, explain and teach the use of the correct form.
We've put together an e-Book that takes you through competency-based management in real detail and in a condensed view. With tips, tricks, checklists. You can download it HERE.
How to build competency models / skill sets
There are different approaches. In practice, we highly recommend avoiding the assessment of non-talking or all-encompassing competences such as communication or presentation skills.These are very broad topics and it is more appropriate to select the part that is key for the role. For example, presenting to an audience of more than 100 people or Establishing relationships with key stakeholders, initiating and leading meetings with clear outcomes. Thus, these are specific behaviours/skills that are key to the specific role and should be evaluated and developed.
But if you are still going to use these simplistic terms, take great care to describe the assessment scale well!💡 Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Every business is a little different and so each will need a slightly different setup. A good inspiration and to some extent a guide for formulation is to use the OECD competency framework. It will help you get oriented quickly, soak up inspiration and help with formulations.
❗ WARNING: do not be seduced by the fact that the competencies in the database are ready-made for the position. Carefully consider their exact take-up. See them as inspiration, not as one source of true❗
Setting up the assessment scale
As with the competencies themselves, the scales are highly individualisable. Which ones do we use in practice?YES / NO (boolean) - particularly useful for assessing hard competences. Use it where we do not assess any "in-between".
Polarity assessment - a more abstract form of assessment. Assess whether the current state of the competency is closer to the undesirable manifestation represented by the value "0" or closer to "100".
Scale Description Assessment - We describe the scale values (e.g. 0-5) precisely to make it clear what each level represents. We use 2 approaches here:
- Example 1: Sets realistic and relevant goals. Can plan.
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- 0 - Disagrees
- 1 - Rarely
- 2 - When the opportunity arises
- 3 - Only when making a big effort
- 4 - Often
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Example 2: Effective communication
- 0 - Formulation of ideas in both written and oral form is very difficult, ability to listen to others is limited, communication of information to others is haphazard, sporadic and fragmented
- 1 - has difficulty formulating ideas, especially in written form, has difficulty listening, passes information to others only on request, cannot predict his/her reactions to unexpected situations
- 2 - in normal situations, he/she formulates his/her thoughts clearly and comprehensibly both in spoken and written form, listens to others without much difficulty, shares information, reacts appropriately to the situation, his/her communication is not always convincing
- 3 - articulates his/her ideas clearly and comprehensibly both in spoken and written form, listens to others, responds assertively to the situation, is able to engage others with his/her speech, tolerates the opinions of others
- 4 - formulates ideas both in written and oral form at a very good level, actively listens to others, healthy and appropriate self-presentation is natural for him/her, can present in front of a group, can open communication, creates an environment for others to communicate, welcomes and develops others' opinions, can provoke constructive conflict, requires feedback
- 5 - articulates ideas in written and oral form is at an excellent level, practices active listening without exception at all times, healthy and appropriate self-advocacy is natural to him/her, can present in a large forum and persuade others with his/her speech, can elicit and work with others' real opinions, can use constructive conflict, can work with feedback, communicates with other cultures.
For the second example, pay close attention to a clear definition and good reasoning of the required behaviour / knowledge. It can easily happen that the speech described does not capture the clear essence of the competency needed to perform the role.
The process of developing and assessing competences in the company
How to Use AI to Help with Competency Development
Definitely take advantage of it! In our practice, we use GPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini models for comparison - we give them all the same prompt and then iterate the best response with just one model. Include everything essential in the prompt. Ideally, create a Project (GPT, Claude), GEM (Gemini), Space (Perplexity):
- Describe the company (vision, mission, culture, values, organizational structure, etc.)
- Describe how you want the model to be structured and what output you want
- Describe what scale you want and in what structure
- How you want the chat to proceed - for example, to wait for you to insert a job description and then work on the actual competency design
- In the actual chat, you'll only deal with the specific position - you'll simply iterate and refine the final form
Finally, don't forget to review the individual models with team leadership. They must make sense to them too and fit well into the overall approach and team management style.
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Inspiration for the implementation of performance assessment with OKRs
Why bother with performance evaluation at all? Why use the OKR methodology? And what is the difference between OKRs and KPIs?Content:
📖 You can also download our free e-books OKR Navigator: How to Exceed the Limits of the Organization and its second part OKR Navigator: A Practical Guide to Implementing and Using OKRs in a graphical and full-featured form.
Both e-books have been written by the leading experts in OKRs, so you get a veritable load of the most qualified information in your hands.Evaluating the performance of people in the team and the organization is more complex than it might seem at first glance. That is, if it is to actually serve to move the company forward more extensively,
If you believe that performance management only involves annual employee KPI reviews, you are probably missing out on effective methods to align employee and company goals. Replacing sporadic reviews with a plan and implementing ongoing communication about performance will go a long way in giving yourself a clear path to success. And that includes defining goals, expectations and tools for organizational feedback.
Performance management is a comprehensive strategy that affects the corporate culture, operating principles and results of the entire organization. It informs employees and associates whether they are on the right track, explains the importance of their work, and shows how they contribute to the development of the team and the company as a whole. Performance management also provides answers to questions such as, "Am I successful at work?", "Am I of value to the company?" and "Can I be easily replaced?" so that people in the company do not feel insecure and think about looking for other opportunities.
And that's something OKRs can help with.
In this article, we've tailored the OKR view specifically for remote or hybrid teams, with an emphasis on promoting ease of implementation.
What is OKRs and why how do they help with performance evaluation?
OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, a widely accepted approach to goal setting with roots dating back to the 1970s when Andy Grove at Intel introduced it. Later, in 1999, John Doerr brought the method to Google, contributing significantly to its widespread popularity. Today, OKRs are not limited to large enterprises; small teams also use this methodology to emphasize the importance of achieving results over simply focusing on outputs.
OKRs are a goal-setting and performance management framework that helps organizations, teams, and individuals define, track, and achieve their goals. The approach consists of two main components:
- Objectives: qualitative, inspirational objectives that reflect the desired outcomes or direction for the organization, team or individual. Goals should be clear, concise and easy to understand.
- Key results: quantitative, measurable and time-bound indicators that show progress towards achieving the objectives. Key results should be specific, actionable and draw a clear path to success. They include activities to lead to the achievement of the results.
This allows everyone from top management to junior staff to focus on the collective and successful achievement of a limited number of important goals. Once top-level goals are identified by management, 3-5 key results (sub-goals) are needed per goal. A larger breakdown dilutes the goal itself to the point where progress is difficult to measure.
How can OKR help us?
It is in the environment of hybrid or "full-remote" companies that it can maximally support clarity of communication, clarification of expectations, increased responsiveness to change and increased engagement. Everything you can't do without in remotely managed teams.
📍Focus on goals: OKRs help you focus on the most important goals and prioritize tasks that actually bring value to the business.
📍Transparency and clear expectations: OKRs increase transparency among teams and individuals because everyone has access to each other's goals and key deliverables. This leads to better understanding and collaboration across the business.
📍Measurability: key results in OKRs are quantitative and measurable, making it easy to assess progress and success.
📍Short-term and long-term planning: OKRs can be set for different time horizons, allowing for planning for both short-term and long-term goals.
📍Flexibility and responsiveness to change: the OKR system is flexible enough to adapt to changes in the business environment. Companies can adjust their objectives and key results over time to better respond to new challenges and opportunities.
📍Improving engagement and motivation: the OKR system increases employee engagement and motivation because each individual sees how his or her work contributes to the company's overall goals and strategy.
📍Continuous improvement: OKRs enable companies to continuously evaluate and improve their processes and results. Regular reviews and feedback help to identify areas for improvement and take action to achieve better results.
In practice, we also see a combination of OKRs, KPIs and SMART methodologies. While the SMART methodology is often understood primarily as a general framework for setting relevant and meaningful objectives, OKRs and KPIs are often confused or used inappropriately.
The difference between OKRs and KPIs
Although both methods focus on achieving objectives and measuring results, they have several differences:
Focus:
- OKRs focus on setting clear and measurable Objectives and Key Results that allow teams to track their progress towards these goals. OKRs are often used at a strategic level to drive innovation and growth.
- KPIs focus on tracking key performance indicators that show how effectively and successfully an organization is achieving its goals. KPIs are often used to measure operational efficiency and track results at the process level.
Timeframe:
- OKRs typically have a shorter timeframe, often involving quarterly or annual targets. This allows organisations to react quickly to changes and adjust their targets as needed.
- KPIs can have a longer timeframe because they focus on long-term performance and stable measurement.
Flexibility:
- OKRs are a flexible and adaptable system that allows organizations to respond quickly to change and adjust their goals as needed.
- KPIs may be perceived as less flexible because they focus on tracking specific performance indicators that may not change quickly.
Cooperation and transparency:
- OKRs promote collaboration between teams and transparency because all goals and KPIs are shared across the organization.
- KPIs can be perceived as more focused on individual teams or departments, which can lead to less transparency and collaboration.
Although OKRs and KPIs have different focuses and approaches, many organizations use them together to better track and measure their goals and performance.
Setting up OKRs (tested in practice)
OKRs and the KPIs linked to them are usually set for a shorter period, typically a quarter. It is certainly not a mistake to choose longer periods of time (six months/year). But take into account the undeniable benefits you may lose:
👉 Faster response to change: setting OKRs quarterly allows organizations to react faster to changes in market conditions, competitors or internal resources. This way, goals can be updated more frequently, allowing for faster adaptation and innovation.
👉 Increased focus and motivation: This increases motivation and engagement as achievements and progress are visible and celebrated on a regular basis.
👉 Less uncertainty: Long-term goals can be more difficult to predict and plan for, while quarterly OKRs provide greater flexibility and allow organisations to better manage risks and uncertainties.
👉 Regular evaluation and improvement: quarterly OKRs allow you to regularly evaluate the performance of teams and individuals. This allows organizations to quickly identify areas that need improvement and implement the necessary changes.
👉 Reinforcing company culture: regular quarterly reviews and OKR updates can reinforce a company culture focused on results, collaboration and continuous learning.
While OKRs are often set on a quarterly basis, many organizations also use annual OKRs or a combination of quarterly and annual OKRs. The important thing is to find the right balance between short-term and long-term goals that best suits your organization, its strategy, and the pace of change in your industry.
What must not be missing in a well-set OKR?
Yes, they are SMART…
- They are Specific: they must be clearly and specifically stated so that there is no ambiguity about what is to be achieved. They are understandable across the company and across departments. They are free of acronyms, language and expressions that only a limited number of people understand.
- They are Measurable: key results (sub-objectives) must be quantifiable, measurable and easy to monitor throughout the period for which they are set. This makes it possible to clearly assess whether the objectives have been met or not.
- They are Ambitious: they are realistic and achievable to avoid frustration and demotivation, but at the same time they are sufficiently challenging. They inspire teams to excel.
- They are Relevant: they are linked to corporate and team strategies. This involves being relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in specific OKRs. During the process of monitoring and evaluating OKRs, it is important to be flexible and ready to make adjustments if it becomes clear that some objectives or key results are no longer relevant or achievable.
- They are clearly time-bound: each key result (sub-objective) has a set timeframe for achievement. This helps to focus efforts and sets clear deadlines and expectations for implementers.
And they are also 👇
- Results-oriented: they are focused on achieving specific results, not just completing tasks or processes. Unlike KPIs, they are not directly linked to specific rewards (impact on remuneration).
- There are a limited number of them: to avoid distraction and loss of focus, the number of OKRs should be limited (usually 3-5 Main Objectives and 2-5 Key Results (sub-objectives) per Main Objective). A smaller number reflects achievability.
And finally, they are
- Regularly monitored and evaluated in order to monitor progress and adapt as needed or as conditions change. This includes regular team meetings to discuss progress and possible adjustments.
What to watch out for when building OKRs:
- Too many OKRs can lead to loss of focus and deterioration in efficiency. It is recommended to have 3-5 objectives and 3-5 key results for each objective.
- It is important to set OKRs so that they are challenging but still achievable. Don't try to achieve unrealistic goals that could lead to demotivation and disappointment.
- Involve all team members in the OKR setting process and take their views and needs into account. This will ensure that the OKRs are relevant and meaningful to all involved. This will clearly increase the team's commitment and sense of accountability for achieving the goals.
- During the process of monitoring and evaluating OKRs, it is important to be flexible and ready to make adjustments if it becomes clear that some objectives or key results are no longer relevant or achievable.
- Create a culture of continuous learning and improvement that supports regular evaluation and updating of the OKRs. This will ensure that your organization is constantly looking for ways to achieve better results and grow.
Well-set OKRs promote teamwork and shared responsibility for achieving goals. Each team member should know how they contribute to the success of the overall OKRs. And therefore to the delivery of the strategy. This is the key to keeping motivation and loyalty high.
Before you start...
People success precedes business success. Without people success, there is no business success. And at least until technology can do EVERYTHING we humans do (and that will most likely never happen), without setting people up for success at work, businesses will achieve a fraction of what they could potentially achieve if they harnessed the potential and talent of people.
What is people success at work? People who feel and know they are genuinely cared for, people who feel they belong, people who are treated with respect and dignity, people who grow professionally, people who benefit as much from the success of the business as the business benefits from them.
If you're content with getting only "something" out of the full talent and potential of people, then ignore this post. That's what you're getting, and that's what you'll continue to get.
If you believe in the limitless possibilities of business and people, then make sure your "KPIs" are not just financial metrics, but also how well you engage, inspire, inform and interest people.
And that's why we work with OKRs at Sloneek too:)
YES / NO (boolean) - particularly useful for assessing hard competences. Use it where we do not assess any "in-between".
Polarity assessment - a more abstract form of assessment. Assess whether the current state of the competency is closer to the undesirable manifestation represented by the value "0" or closer to "100". 
Scale Description Assessment - We describe the scale values (e.g. 0-5) precisely to make it clear what each level represents. We use 2 approaches here: