What Is Competency-Based Training?

Key takeaways

Competency-based training focuses on equipping your employees with the skills they need to succeed in their roles.

• A key advantage of competency-based training is that it helps address skill gaps.

• Competency-based training can include online course modules in which employees must pass one area before advancing to the next.

• You can implement competency-based training to help employees progress in their careers toward more advanced roles.

Discover the importance of competency-based training for employee development. When you’re ready to start implementing competency-based training opportunities for your workforce, Coursera for Business provides a wide range of learning opportunities, such as Guided Projects and Professional Certificates, so your staff can develop in-demand skills and gain practical experience with new technologies.

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What is competency-based training?

Competency-based training is an instructional method built around a specific skill, or competency, that an employee needs to learn in order to meet the expectations of their role. Unlike comprehensive training, which covers a broad topic in general terms, competency-based training focuses on one specific skill within smaller modules. Often, the employee needs to demonstrate mastery or complete understanding of a skill before advancing to the next module. Once a set of modules is successfully completed, the employee typically receives a certificate that shows they have mastered a specific skill.

You tailor competency-based training to an employee’s specific needs by offering them the chance to learn at their own pace as part of their larger workday. This method allows employees to advance quickly through modules they might have previous experience with, while allowing hires without the same background to focus on developing new skills.

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Examples of competency-based training

Because competency-based training adapts to employees’ specific needs and goals, you have a wide range of competency-based training options. Some include:

• Engaging in workplace communication training

• Completing the steps of a task, such as running a program correctly

• Creating and presenting a sales pitch

• Managing a project from creation to implementation

• Progressing through online course modules on professional development skills, such as analytical thinking or resolving workplace conflicts

What is competency-based training used for?

Competency-based training helps employers determine if employees have the right skill set to complete their assigned tasks and grow into more advanced roles. It’s focused on helping employees develop practical skills and knowledge rather than abstract concepts. It provides businesses with the tools to effectively evaluate whether their employees have the skills needed to grow and thrive in their roles and then provide valuable training opportunities when skill gaps arise.

What are the key concepts of competency-based training?

Competency-based training is learner-focused, skill-specific, and outcome-based. To create an effective competency-based training framework, keep these foundational principles in mind:

• Learner-focused: Competency-based training works best when it prioritizes the learner’s needs and goals. This means that an effective framework offers the learner opportunities to work with others, learn at their own pace, demonstrate mastery of skills, and feel supported in professional development as they grow in their role.

• Designed with specific skills in mind: Instead of choosing learning modules based on general workplace skills, an effective framework uses unique and tailored modules that focus on practical skills your employees need to thrive in your industry. This means taking the time to think about what skill gaps your employees might encounter in your workplace and addressing them.

• Outcome-based: To maximize the effectiveness of competency-based training, it's key that employees demonstrate mastery of a skill before advancing to the next course. Using analytics to track progress helps employers and employees see how far they’ve come. Plus, employees who demonstrate mastery typically feel more confident in their skills and are more eager to continue to learn.

Benefits of competency-based training

The benefits of a competency-based training program are wide-ranging and often improve the workplace for both employees and employers. For example, employees who undergo competency-based training receive concrete and transparent professional development goals, which help them track their own growth and become partners in skill advancement. It encourages employees to become proactive in their own learning, which typically increases morale and job satisfaction. Competency-based training is less overwhelming than comprehensive training, which generally means more information is retained and applied.

Employers often see the benefits of competency-based training through cost savings and increased productivity. Since this training focuses on specific skill sets, an employer can invest in more targeted and effective training opportunities. Because competency-based training is designed to support an employee and their own timeline, it’s more easily integrated into a workday versus the need to pull an entire department away from their tasks for an all-day training.

Read more: 4 Types of Competency Gaps in the Corporate Landscape

How to implement competency-based training

To successfully implement a competency-based training framework, follow these steps: 

• Make a list of the goals you have for your employees and your company, and identify the skill sets necessary to meet those goals. 

• Conduct a skills gap analysis. Doing so helps identify places where employees would benefit from targeted skills development, making the entire training system more effective and efficient.

• Choose how you will offer training opportunities, either through options like online modules or through the creation of a training program that involves steps such as completing a presentation. 

• Create a system for monitoring and tracking employee module completion and include opportunities to recognize employees for their accomplishments. 

• Continually adapt and update your training methods to create a personalized strategy for your employees that helps build a positive working relationship between them and you.

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• Training a smaller team? Explore Coursera for Teams, designed to meet the needs of teams with 5 to 125 employees.

• Discover the critical skills people need in today’s jobs with our Global Skills Report. 

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