Competencies & Capabilities
A Symbiotic Relationship

By Jenn Kammerdiener
October 15, 2024
Word on the street says it may be time for a new L&D Glossary.
Over the last decade, as the “training” landscape has shifted to performance-based “learning,” there has also been a shift from simply defining general job competencies to understanding the corresponding capabilities. Competencies guide job selection and definition. A capabilities view describes how and to what levels the skills and knowledge encapsuled in the competency must be displayed (by individuals and by teams) in order to prove and produce proficiency and performance.
But these words – all of them: competency, capability, skills – are almost always used interchangeably and often incorrectly.
It's a somewhat dangerous and confusing space for those of us who are responsible for clearly defining roles and responsibilities and setting our organizations up for success.
Let’s clear this up!
Definition of competency: possession of sufficient set of knowledge or skill to contribute to a job or set of responsibilities. (The HCM Handbook further defines the professional use of competencies: “Competency is a term frequently used in the world of work, education, and personal development. It is an essential aspect of understanding one’s capabilities and potential for growth”).
A general set of “competencies” is good and absolutely necessary for defining roles and responsibilities of your job families, writing proper job descriptions, and recruiting your talent. But then what? How do you ensure that every next step taken from onboarding into job performance, through performance management, and ultimately into career-pathing remains aligned to drive the business outcomes you were expected to meet by defining those roles in the first place?
Definition of capability: this one is pretty simple – it’s merely the ability to do something.
But first, let's back up.
Inside the definition of competency is the word “capability.” It’s just a quick mention and easy to miss, but it really is key.
In order to properly define a clear set of capabilities, we must look at the complexity of the competencies.
The big question: why has the industry at large not been defining capabilities and using this work actively to prove and sustain performance?
The actionable question: how is it done?
At Clearpath, over the last two decades we have navigated the shifts and shores of human and organizational performance – and we have instinctively developed methods that both clarify and activate the proper relationship between competencies and capabilities.
The result of such methodologies measures and proves that an individual in your organization (who came with a set of competencies) is able to do the job you have defined at a specific level of proficiency in the environment and with the tools and methods established for the job within your company. This all must be defined.
A performer may come with a strong set of competencies in Sales, for example, but…
- How does that competency translate to your organization’s sales models, job levels, environments, client types, and product or service offerings, and the career path available to this performer?
- What does the role look like and how is it performed at defined levels of proficiency? Where does the role land on the scale from novice to master? How does one identify where they are and then move along the continuum?
- Which specific/observable skills, inherent abilities, and tools is the performer using (or expected to use). How will they use them and to what extent?
- What are the outcomes or KPIs you are measuring and how does the performer know where they stand at any given time?
When you define the competencies to this level of detail for the roles in your specific organization, then you truly understand the capabilities that you can then develop, grow, measure, scale, and reward.
As with all work worth doing well, creating your Capabilities Framework should be a focused effort with a solid method for capturing and distilling the detail and proper mapping and alignment across your organization. Though this may sound daunting, we can help. It’s what we do.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jenn Kammerdiener, Founder and CEO, Clearpath Learning Group
Jenn is a Global Learning & Performance Architect with more than 20 years of business strategy and executive consulting experience. She’s led vital initiatives for Fortune 1000 to 100 organizations across industries with a systematic approach to org design, change management, and learning path objectives. In 2009, Jenn launched Clearpath to provide world-class performance solutions and services with a team approach. Under her leadership, Clearpath’s reach has grown to extend beyond 250,000 learners globally.