Why defining them is important to individual and team success.
Capabilities in the workplace are defined as skills, knowledge or sets of behaviours that contribute to overall performance and are instrumental in enabling people to deliver outcomes or achieve objectives. Qualifications, ongoing learning and experience all contribute to and strengthen capabilities.
Most leaders only consider capabilities when there is a vacancy in their team and they need to conduct a selection process. This is a good time to do it of course, but being more proactive and having an in depth, ongoing understanding of the capabilities required by their team members to be successful in their roles, is much more productive. It directly impacts a leader’s ability to successfully navigate the dynamic and ever-changing organisational landscape and to manage and guide their team effectively.
Your responsibility as a leader is to ensure that you have a comprehensive understanding of the strategic objectives of the organisation, and can easily explain these to your team and describe how your team contributes to the achievement of these goals. Aligning the team’s purpose with the overall organisational objectives ensures that the team is well-positioned to achieve long-term goals and can execute and deliver on the organisation's plans.
Once the team understands their overall strategic contribution and the associated accountabilities, the team’s objectives can be described and meticulously detailed. The team structure and each of the positions in it need to be defined too.
The individual positions are the key building blocks of a team, so it is essential that these are thoroughly understood and correctly represented. Describe each role comprehensively in terms of responsibilities and the technical and behavioural capabilities required to deliver the accountabilities effectively. These capabilities should preferably be defined within the guidelines of a capability framework, which provides a structured approach to defining different capabilities required for success in each specific role and at every level.
These descriptors of each role can then be used to inform the following :
Job/Position Descriptions: The duties and responsibilities of each role and the related capabilities can be used to create Job Descriptions. These documents should be used throughout the employee lifecycle to ensure that both the employee and their leader have a shared understanding of the role. The document needs to be updated whenever there are significant changes which affect the role.
Recruitment and Selection: The required capabilities guide the recruitment and selection process by providing a basis for evaluating candidates against, as well as comparing candidates to each other.
Learning and Development: Human Resources professionals use capabilities to identify skills gaps within the workforce. This information is based on the capabilities that are required for different roles and is valuable in designing training programs and development initiatives to enhance employees' capabilities and address organisational needs.
Performance Management: Capabilities play a crucial role in setting performance expectations and goals. They provide a clear standard against which employees' performance can be assessed, helping in performance appraisals, feedback, and individual development planning.
Career Development: Employees can use capabilities to understand the skills and competencies required for their current role, but more importantly the capabilities they need to develop when planning and pursuing development opportunities aligned with their career goals.
Succession Planning: By understanding the capabilities required for various roles, organisations and leaders can identify and develop potential successors for key positions. Capabilities contribute to effective succession planning by aligning talent development efforts with organisational and team goals.
Well defined capabilities contribute to individual, team and organisational success. The more accurately these are described and understood, the easier it is to create an environment where both individuals and teams can thrive.
If you would like to discuss the topic further or need assistance with defining your team’s Capabilities, please reach out to JJ Talent Solutions.
