Competency framework: definition, how to build one and examples

What is a competency framework?

A competency framework answers the question: what must someone be able to do to hold this job? It lists skills phrased in an observable way ("carry out", "diagnose", "advise"), often grouped by domain, and specifies for each the expected level and how to check it.

It is a shared reference document. Managers use it to assess, L&D to design learning paths, recruiters to write job ads and conduct interviews, and employees to know what is expected of them.

Activity, competency and assessment frameworks: what is the difference?

The official vocabulary comes from vocational certifications registered in France's national register of professional certifications (RNCP), managed by France Compétences, the national body that regulates vocational training. Article L6113-1 of the French Labour Code defines three complementary frameworks.

Framework	Definition (Article L6113-1 of the Labour Code)	In practice
Activity framework (référentiel d'activités)	Describes the work situations and activities performed, and the occupations or jobs targeted	What the person does
Competency framework (référentiel de compétences)	Identifies the skills and knowledge, including cross-cutting ones, that follow from them	What they must be able to do to do it
Assessment framework (référentiel d'évaluation)	Defines the criteria and methods for assessing learning outcomes	How we check they can do it

The same article provides that vocational certifications are made up of skill blocks (blocs de compétences), defined as homogeneous and coherent sets of skills contributing to the autonomous performance of a professional activity, which can be assessed and validated. This block logic is useful in companies: it splits a job into sets that can be assessed separately, and therefore trained and certified step by step.

Competency framework, job description and skills map

A job description covers a specific position (duties, reporting line, conditions). A competency framework describes the skills of a typical job, valid for several similar positions. The skills map then compares this framework with the skills actually held, often using a skills matrix.

How to build a competency framework in a company

1. Choose the typical job and the scope. Start with a strategic or hard-to-fill job rather than trying to cover the whole organisation at once.

2. Describe the activities. With job holders and their manager, list the activities actually performed and the key work situations, including difficult or rare ones.

3. Derive the skills. For each activity, phrase the required skills with an action verb, an object and a context. Aim for 8 to 15 skills per job, grouped into 3 to 5 blocks.

4. Reuse public sources. Compare your list with France Travail's ROME 4.0 and the European ESCO classification to check nothing important is missing and to harmonise vocabulary.

5. Define levels and assessment criteria. Set a shared scale (for example 0 to 4) and, for each skill, one or two observable criteria that distinguish the levels.

6. Validate and test. Have job holders, managers and HR review it, test the assessment on a few people, then correct ambiguous wording.

7. Plan for updates. Appoint an owner and a review frequency, especially when the job's tools or regulations change.

Example of a competency framework

The following example is fictitious and simplified. It concerns the job of payroll administrator.

Block	Skill	Assessment criterion (required level)
Payroll processing	Collect and check payroll variables	The month's variables are complete and anomalies flagged before the closing date
Payroll processing	Produce payslips	Payslips in a sample are accurate, special cases included (absences, starters, leavers)
Social security filings	Prepare and check social security filings	Filings are submitted on time and rejections handled
Monitoring and compliance	Implement a regulatory change in the system settings	The change is identified, its impact documented and the settings tested before going live
Employee relations	Explain a payslip to an employee	The explanation is accurate, understandable and given within a reasonable time
Tools	Use an AI assistant for regulatory research	The answer obtained is checked against an official source before use

Each row links an activity to a skill and a verifiable criterion. The criterion is the element most often missing from company frameworks.

Which public sources can be reused?

• ROME 4.0 (France Travail). Since March 2023, France's operational directory of occupations and jobs (ROME), maintained by the public employment service, has been in version 4.0. It contains 1,911 occupation sheets describing know-how, knowledge and soft skills, and is published under an open licence on data.gouv.fr.
• ESCO (European Commission). The European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations lists 3,039 occupations and 13,939 skills and competences, in 28 languages, free to consult.
• RNCP sheets (France Compétences). Registered certifications publish their frameworks and skill blocks: a valuable basis for jobs covered by a diploma or vocational title.

What are the common mistakes?

• Skills phrased as qualities ("rigorous", "autonomous") rather than as observable actions.
• A framework too long to be assessed.
• Levels without criteria, leaving each assessor free to interpret them.
• A document written without job holders, describing prescribed work rather than real work.