Increasing the Effectiveness
of a Core Competency Program

A Fortune 1000 company had invested considerable resources in identifying a set of core competencies found in their successful executives. Some of these were Creativity, Problem Solving, Driving for Results, Communication, Teaming, and Leadership. These competencies formed the foundation of their performance appraisal process and their selection system. The connection of the competencies to job success was clear. What was not as clear was how to accurately assess or establish a baseline for these competencies within an individual. In other words, the program was sound in concept but somewhat difficult to execute across a large organization.

Further examination showed that each one of the core competencies rested upon a foundation of core behavioral traits and cognitive ability. Those traits and abilities, when assessed with each individual's attitudes, knowledge, skills, and experience, could give a reasonably objective and accurate picture of the individual's potential in terms of the company's core competencies.

CheckStart's software was configured to identify and measure the traits and abilities critical to each core competency. The customized HermanCheckStart report then presented a description of how well each candidate was suited to deliver the behaviors necessary to produce each core competency. The same report enabled the HR department to obtain a baseline of the competencies for existing executives. This allowed them to craft performance goals consistent with each executive's strengths and potential.