The Challenge
A high-caliber, global law firm, distinguished by its team of accomplished and proficient professionals, was actively seeking strategies to effectively retain and foster the growth of its team members. In search of a talent-centric strategy, they desired to enhance their existing competency framework to become a foundational tool for creating a positive and engaging employee experience. The firm understood that anchoring their competency framework to the firm’s core values and mission would foster a greater sense of clarity, purpose, and enrichment to offer their people the best enablement, growth, and fulfillment opportunities.
Calibrate’s Solution
In partnership with the firm’s senior leadership, Calibrate guided this global law firm through the following structured approach to enhance their competency framework to support definition, assessment, and development of the key skills and behaviors required for success:
- Competency Identification: Interviews with senior leadership identified gaps between their current talent, skills, and proficiencies and the desired vision for their team’s capabilities. Interview analysis uncovered both core and leadership competencies relevant for everyone within the team, with competencies unique to each department and proficiencies aligned to the appropriate career levels within the broader team.
- Testing & Validation: A comprehensive review of the competency framework by senior leadership at the firm validated relevancy, accuracy, and correct alignment to the firm’s internal mission, vision, values, and processes.
- Implementation: A robust competency framework inclusive of core, leadership, and role specific (technical and functional) competencies, career leveling, and performance factors was delivered. This framework enabled the firm to identify high-performance individuals, build effective teams, drive retention, and nurture a culture of continuous growth and excellence.
- Integration: The competency framework was developed to be integrated into various talent–related processes such as recruitment, performance management, succession planning, and professional development serving as a building block in the firm’s talent strategy.
- Continuous Growth: As technology continues to transform the way of work and firms adjust to the rapidly changing world and workplace, the framework will serve as a foundation to help identify potential future competencies, provide greater transparency of required skills, identify leadership potential, and advance the strategic advantages of the firm.
By implementing a well-defined competency framework, the firm set up the structure for adaptive and high-performing teams. This framework ensures that both current and future employees have a clear understanding of the skills and abilities required for success in their roles while also providing a defined outline to support individual and team performance management, as well as professional development based on these skills and abilities. Through alignment with the firm’s strategic goals and culture, the competency framework actively contributes to its overall advancement.
Let’s Connect
To learn more about how Calibrate can help your firm develop a Competency Framework that supports both performance management and professional development please reach out to Haley Revel, Managing Director of HR & Talent Management at Calibrate.
