AI Prompts for Competency Frameworks

A competency framework describes what good looks like at each level of a role family, in observable behaviors, so that hiring, development, performance and promotion assess the same things in the same terms. Frameworks fail when competencies are adjectives ('strategic', 'collaborative'), when levels differ only in adverbs ('consistently', 'exceptionally'), or when the framework describes the current senior people rather than the work.

These prompts define competencies with real behavioral indicators, build a framework for a role family, and review an existing one. The framework is the backbone other pages here use: interview question banks, development plans, career pathways and promotion assessments.

Before you use these

Have these ready to replace the highlighted [variables]:

• The role family and its levels
• What differentiates performance at each level, from managers and high performers — in examples, not adjectives
• Existing framework, if any, and how it is used
• The processes that will use the framework (hiring, development, promotion, performance)

The prompts

• 1. Define competencies with behavioral indicators by level
• 2. Build the framework for a role family
• 3. Review an existing framework for inconsistency and bias

1. Define competencies with behavioral indicators by level

Act as a job architecture specialist defining the competency [competency] for [role family] across levels [levels].

Purpose: [why this competency matters for the work]
Examples: [what people at different levels actually do that shows this competency — real situations]

1. Definition: two sentences, in terms of what the competency enables in the work.
2. Indicators per level (3–5 each): observable behaviors — what the person does, decides, produces, or influences. Levels must differ in scope (own work → team → function), complexity (routine → ambiguous), judgment (follows → adapts → sets), and influence (contributes → shapes → leads).
3. Differentiator between each pair of adjacent levels: the one thing that most clearly marks the step.
4. Examples per level from the material given, anonymized.
5. Adverb check: rewrite any indicator whose only difference from the level below is an adverb or intensity word.
6. Not this competency: behaviors that are often confused with it and belong elsewhere.

Indicators must be assessable in an interview, a review or a promotion case. If it cannot be observed, it is not an indicator.

2. Build the framework for a role family

You are assembling a competency framework for [role family] with levels [levels].

Competencies: [core and role-specific, with indicators by level]
Processes that will use it: [hiring, development, performance, promotion, career pathways]

1. Framework matrix: competency × level with the indicators; core competencies (all roles) separated from role-specific ones; no more than [n] competencies in total.
2. Level profiles: one paragraph per level summarizing the scope, complexity, judgment and influence expected — consistent across competencies.
3. Usage per process: hiring (which competencies at which stage, mapped to the question bank), development (how gaps are identified against the next level), performance (how competencies inform reviews without becoming a second rating system), promotion (the evidence standard per competency for the next level).
4. Consistency rules: the same competency means the same thing everywhere; level names align with pay bands and titles; changes go through governance.
5. One-page version for employees: what the levels mean and how to use the framework for their own development.
6. Governance: owner, review cycle, how feedback from use is collected, how role families are kept comparable.

The framework describes the work at each level, not the current incumbents. Check every indicator against that.

3. Review an existing framework for inconsistency and bias

Act as a job architecture reviewer auditing the competency framework for [role family / company].

Framework: [paste]
Usage and outcomes: [which processes use it; any evidence that outcomes differ by group]

For each competency:
1. Observability: indicators that are traits or adjectives rather than behaviors — rewrite.
2. Level differentiation: levels that differ only by adverb or intensity — rewrite with scope, complexity, judgment or influence.
3. Duplication and gaps: competencies that overlap; work that the framework does not describe.
4. Bias exposure: indicators that reward visibility, availability, a particular communication style, or 'presence' over contribution; indicators that assume a career path or background; language that describes a type of person rather than the work. Rewrite each to job-related behavior.
5. Usability: length, jargon, whether a manager could assess it from evidence.
Then at framework level: the three highest-impact changes; whether the framework describes the current senior people rather than the work; the governance gap that let the problems in.

Be specific and quote the text. A framework that cannot be applied consistently produces inconsistent decisions.

Levels that differ in substance, not adverbs

One competency across three levels, before and after the adverb check.

Related prompts

• Career Pathways and Ladders
• Promotion Assessments
• Learning and Development Plans
• Structured Interview Design
• Interview Question Banks
• Talent Reviews

Logical next step

After this, most HR teams move on to Career Pathways and Ladders.

All Human Resources prompts · Search the full library