Core Competencies · Building · Component
The absorption check
Whether the competence has actually entered the organisation, or is still sitting with the individuals who acquired it.
The deliverable
What it is
A competence acquired by hiring or partnering is not yet the organisation’s. It becomes so only when it is held in more than one place and in more than one form.
The test is simple and uncomfortable: if the person or partner left tomorrow, what proportion of the capability would remain?
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The holding
Where the competence currently lives — in people, process, systems or documentation.
3 attributes: Held in · Number of holders · Depth
LearnThe departure test
What would remain if the key holders left.
3 attributes: Retained · Key holder · Mitigation
LearnThe embedding actions
What is being done to move the competence from individuals into the organisation.
3 attributes: Action · Owner · By when
Learn
Ask what would remain if the key holder left tomorrow. The answer is usually less than the investment implies.
The other components in building
The route decision
How a needed competence will be obtained — built, bought, partnered or hired — decided against what it will be worth in three years.
LearnThe build plan
How the competence will actually be developed — the work, the people, the sequence, and what it displaces.
Learn