How good is your 360° Feedback Competency Framework?3 easy steps to understand how well your Competency Framework will be understood by your staff

Well done. You have obviously worked very hard to keep the overall structure simple and clear.

Excellent

This Time metric provides an indication of the time that you might expect an average person to read and respond to this framework in a 360° Feedback questionnaire, excluding any additional (and very important!) written feedback. The longer a survey takes to complete the higher the chances of unreliable response.

Well done. This is one of the better Frameworks in terms of time taken to complete it. It is unlikely that any further refining would have a material difference on the overall quality of feedback.

Good

This Time metric provides an indication of the time that you might expect an average person to read and respond to this framework in a 360° Feedback questionnaire, excluding any additional (and very important!) written feedback. The longer a survey takes to complete the higher the chances of unreliable response.

It indicates that some thought has been taken as to the construction and length of the Framework, and it may well be fit for purpose. However, with some tweaking it could most probably be improved.

Average

This Time metric provides an indication of the time that you might expect an average person to read and respond to this framework in a 360° Feedback questionnaire, excluding any additional (and very important!) written feedback. The longer a survey takes to complete the higher the chances of unreliable response.

This would take longer than most Competency Frameworks to complete. This can be a sign of ill-considered design, or a lack of focus on the needs of those giving the feedback. It is worth spending some time to consider where the Framework does not fall into Average/Good scores and confirm if this is necessary.

It may be worth ensuring that the language is as clear and concise as it should be, or that there is no hidden repetition or redundancy within the statements.

Below Average

This Time metric provides an indication of the time that you might expect an average person to read and respond to this framework in a 360° Feedback questionnaire, excluding any additional (and very important!) written feedback. The longer a survey takes to complete the higher the chances of unreliable response.

The time taken to complete this Framework is well below the average. It is very probable that people will become bored or confused with the process and if so, this will affect the quality and consistency of the feedback.

We would strongly suggest that you revisit the Framework to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

Well Below Average

This Time metric provides an indication of the time that you might expect an average person to read and respond to this framework in a 360° Feedback questionnaire, excluding any additional (and very important!) written feedback. The longer a survey takes to complete the higher the chances of unreliable response.

This is a rare and excellent example of balance of Competencies and Behaviours kept within a minimal framework. Well done!

This is a calculation based on the number of Competencies and associated Behavioural Indicators. Too many Behavioural Indicators may suggest that you have not adequately defined the associated Competency. Too few Behavioural Indicators may question the relevance or significance of the Competency.

Obviously, a lot of work has gone into the structure of the overall Framework. This is a good example of a well-balanced mix of Competencies and Behaviours.

This is a calculation based on the number of Competencies and associated Behavioural Indicators. Empirically a good balance is between 4 and 8 behaviours (the lower the better) and 6 and 8 Competencies. Too many Behavioural Indicators may suggest that you have not adequately defined the associated Competency. Too few Behavioural Indicators may question the relevance or significance of the Competency.

Most Competency Frameworks tend to be around this kind of size in terms of overall length. There is most probably room for material improvement, although very often the difficulty is the organisational will to improve it. There may be better wins by looking at the content to consider improvement in readability (Comprehension) or reducing the length of individual statements without altering the meaning.

This is a calculation based on the number of Competencies and associated Behavioural Indicators. Too many Behavioural Indicators may suggest that you have not adequately defined the associated Competency. Too few Behavioural Indicators may question the relevance or significance of the Competency.

This is quite a complex Framework in terms of the balance and number of Competencies and Statements. There may be some quick wins to be had by looking for redundancy and duplication within the Framework. One way of reducing the ratio of Statements to Competencies is by ranking each Statement in terms of how well it compares with the other Statements in describing the Competency.

This is a calculation based on the number of Competencies and associated Behavioural Indicators. Too many Behavioural Indicators may suggest that you have not adequately defined the associated Competency. Too few Behavioural Indicators may question the relevance or significance of the Competency.

This is very much at the “fat” end of Competency Frameworks in terms of number of Competencies and/or Statements per Competency. It is very probable that many of the Statements do not effectively describe the Competency and may be redundant, ineffective or duplications of other Statements. It is also probable that staff will suffer from “survey fatigue” towards the end of the survey and be more interested in completing than spending the time to provide well thought through responses.

This is a calculation based on the number of Competencies and associated Behavioural Indicators. Too many Behavioural Indicators may suggest that you have not adequately defined the associated Competency. Too few Behavioural Indicators may question the relevance or significance of the Competency.

Brilliant. It is very rare indeed for a Competency Framework to score so highly on Comprehension. You should congratulate yourselves on a job well done. If you have also scored well in Structure and Brevity you may consider putting your Competency Framework up for The Plain English Society approval!

This provides an indication of the readability of the text, using the Flesch Kincaid readability model. Many Competency Frameworks fall into the trap of using abstract management jargon or inappropriate metaphors. There is absolutely no shame in keeping the prose as simple as possible.

Relatively few Frameworks attain this level of readability. It takes time and effort to turn Corporate Competency Frameworks into easily digestible text. Well done!

This provides an indication of the readability of the text, using the Flesch Kincaid readability model. Many Competency Frameworks fall into the trap of using abstract management jargon or inappropriate metaphors. There is absolutely no shame in keeping the prose as simple as possible.

This is around the average level of Comprehension for a Corporate Competency Framework. It’s not great but it will be reasonably easily understandable for the majority of your staff. If you want to consider improving the readability look for the longer words (more than 3 syllables) and any cultural or management jargon that can be broken down into simpler, more universally understood text.

This provides an indication of the readability of the text, using the Flesch Kincaid readability model. Many Competency Frameworks fall into the trap of using abstract management jargon or inappropriate metaphors. There is absolutely no shame in keeping the prose as simple as possible.

Is everyone in your company a college graduate, or from a highly literary background? If so then you are most probably pitching this about right. However, for the vast majority of companies this level of language actually acts as a barrier to obtaining good quality feedback. Keep It Simple Simon (KISS) is the rule for good quality feedback.

This provides an indication of the readability of the text, using the Flesch Kincaid readability model. Many Competency Frameworks fall into the trap of using abstract management jargon or inappropriate metaphors. There is absolutely no shame in keeping the prose as simple as possible.

This is too complex for a normal person to read and understand. Unless all members of staff have post graduate degrees of a literary nature then it is very likely that many people will spend far too long understanding the statements, before they can even consider giving an answer.

This provides an indication of the readability of the text, using the Flesch Kincaid readability model. Many Competency Frameworks fall into the trap of using abstract management jargon or inappropriate metaphors. There is absolutely no shame in keeping the prose as simple as possible.

The simplicity with which you have structured your Statements is exceptional. Congratulations. The only slight warning bell may be that the level of simplicity does not adequately express the richness of the behaviours you are seeking to understand. If this is not the case, then you have achieved something quite special. If you have also scored well in Brevity and Comprehension you may consider putting your Competency Framework up for The Plain English Society approval!

This is a rough evaluation of the number of clauses and potential sub-clauses within each Statement. Each Behaviour should have only one statement that is clearly defined and easily understood. Anything other than this significantly increases the complexity and potential confusion as to the meaning of the Behavioural Indicator.

There is no doubt that you have achieved a great balance with the structure of the individual statements. Take a look at any orange or red highlighted statements. It should not take long to understand why they are highlighted and modify only if necessary.

This is a rough evaluation of the number of clauses and potential sub-clauses within each Statement. Each Behaviour should have only one statement that is clearly defined and easily understood. Anything other than this significantly increases the complexity and potential confusion as to the meaning of the Behavioural Indicator.

Most Competency Frameworks have to strike a compromise between number of statements and content of statements. It may be that you have fallen into this trap, as several of your statements appear to contain either extra punctation or conjunctions that are indicative of a sub clause or extra statement within a statement. You are effectively asking at least two questions which will confuse the poor guys who have to answer them! Definitely take the time to read each statement carefully and strip out the extra or redundant text.

This is a rough evaluation of the number of clauses and potential sub-clauses within each Statement. Each Behaviour should have only one statement that is clearly defined and easily understood. Anything other than this significantly increases the complexity and potential confusion as to the meaning of the Behavioural Indicator.

It looks as if there are many Statements within your Competency Framework that contain sub clauses, more than one statement or redundant information. It will take some time to work through these, but a good starting place is to look for any punctuation marks within the statement, or conjunction words (if, but, and etc), then strip them out into new statements and see how they stand up on their own. Do not be tempted to reduce the number of overall statements by “cramming” extra content into a single statement.

This is a rough evaluation of the number of clauses and potential sub-clauses within each Statement. Each Behaviour should have only one statement that is clearly defined and easily understood. Anything other than this significantly increases the complexity and potential confusion as to the meaning of the Behavioural Indicator.

This looks like it will be extremely difficult for people to understand the precise meaning of many of the statements. Very often extra text that is meant to simplify or clarify just ends up confusing people. In simple terms if you can’t be sure that people have understood the statement then it is unlikely you can be sure that they have answered the question you think you have asked! It may take quite a bit of work to improve this, but if you take the time to work through it, you will significantly improve the quality of the feedback you are seeking.

This is a rough evaluation of the number of clauses and potential sub-clauses within each Statement. Each Behaviour should have only one statement that is clearly defined and easily understood. Anything other than this significantly increases the complexity and potential confusion as to the meaning of the Behavioural Indicator.

It just doesn’t get shorter than this. Well done for a great attempt at keeping things simple. If you have also scored well in Structure and Comprehension you may consider putting your Competency Framework up for The Plain English Society approval!

Simply calculates how many words in each Behavioural Indicator. As each Behaviour Indicator should only contain one statement, which should be straightforward and direct, our simple rule is that anything less than 10 words should be brief and pretty good.

Overall this is a very good rating. Spend a little time reviewing the orange highlights. You may find that there are some very simple things you can do to improve the score here. It also may be that there is the odd red highlighted statement, which you feel that you cannot improve. Don’t worry. This is a good score.

Simply calculates how many words in each Behavioural Indicator. As each Behaviour Indicator should only contain one statement, which should be straightforward and direct, our simple rule is that anything less than 10 words should be brief and pretty good.

There is a tendency to take too long to describe your statements. It’s not terrible but it could most probably be quickly improved with a little judicious pruning to make the language in the statements crisper and the intention of the statement clearer.

Simply calculates how many words in each Behavioural Indicator. As each Behaviour Indicator should only contain one statement, which should be straightforward and direct, our simple rule is that anything less than 10 words should be brief and pretty good.

The length of most of the statements will almost certainly make it difficult for people to understand the intent. In the first instance work through the statements concentrating in the first instance on any red highlights for Brevity and Structure, as these will most probably be the easiest to modify. Working on these will give you the practice to examine the orange highlights.

Simply calculates how many words in each Behavioural Indicator. As each Behaviour Indicator should only contain one statement, which should be straightforward and direct, our simple rule is that anything less than 10 words should be brief and pretty good.

This is going to be a real problem for people to read and understand the intent of the statements. There is a good chance that they are scattered with jargon and contain more than one statement within their structure. It is unlikely that there are valid reasons for such long winded statements. If there are, then it is almost certain that most statements could be split into two or even three shorter, clearer statements.

Simply calculates how many words in each Behavioural Indicator. As each Behaviour Indicator should only contain one statement, which should be straightforward and direct, our simple rule is that anything less than 10 words should be brief and pretty good.