You’re not alone if you’ve ever hired an employee who ticked all the boxes on their resume but flopped once hired. Many hiring managers struggle to find employees because they don’t understand the basic difference, as seen in the skills vs competencies definition, and instead use the terms interchangeably. If you think you’re hiring the wrong employees, that may not be the case — sometimes, it takes a little focus on developing your employees’ workplace competencies to succeed in their roles. In this article, we discuss how to define competence vs. skills with some examples, explain why both skills and competencies matter in any business setting, how to develop competencies in the workplace, and finally, how to hire for skills and competencies.

Skills vs. Competencies: How are they different?

To understand how skills and competencies differ from each other, let’s take a look at their individual definitions:

Skill Definition:

Skills are specific abilities that employees require to do their job. Skills learned through training are dependent on levels of expertise, years of experience, and roles performed during specific projects — what skills do your employees need to complete a task successfully?

There are two types of skills:

Skills vary significantly from role to role and include anything from an accountant’s knack for understanding numbers to a computer programmer’s ability to code to the compassion veterinarians require when working with animals.

Competency Definition:

Competencies combine skills, behaviour, and knowledge into a larger concept. Competencies can include specific skills, but they’re not just the skill alone — how does your employee perform their job duties as a whole? A few of the top workplace competencies are:

Competencies require employees to have specific knowledge and behaviour patterns that, when combined with their skill sets, can successfully complete the task at hand.

Examples of skills vs. competencies

All industries require both skills and competencies for a successful workplace, so employers must know which skills and competencies to look out for when hiring and which ones they can develop after the hiring process.

Examples of skills

Here are some examples of common skills that are needed for all jobs regardless of the industry:

Positive attitude

When employees are generally positive, they increase the energy and motivation across your organization. A positive attitude means better company morale, the ability to solve problems creatively, improved teamwork, and higher collaboration. You can look for positivity in your employees by watching their actions and listening to the language they use when they speak.

Managerial

Managerial skills are vital for guiding your team toward a shared vision. These skills include helping other coworkers complete their duties, showing initiative, delegating tasks, and encouraging team members to do great work when limited resources are available. Having employees with leadership qualities creates a more accountable and productive environment.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking uses logic and practical knowledge to make decisions or find solutions to problems. This skill branches out to excellent observation skills and knowing how to analyze information to make informed decisions. You can test your employees’ critical thinking skills by asking them how they would react in a given situation or by observing how the employee shares information.

Communication

Having strong communication skills makes it easier to explain and understand shared information because it avoids the possibility of misunderstandings. In addition, employees with strong communication skills improve workplace efficiency and have higher morale and customer satisfaction rates.

Time management

Time management skills directly correlate to efficient task performance. Therefore, excellent time management skills boost productivity in the workplace as they keep assignments and duties organized, consistent, and completed on time.

Customer service

Customer service skills branch out to interpersonal skills, which correlate to the strategies and behaviours for effectively interacting with others, such as empathy, cooperation, and active listening. For example, employees with excellent interpersonal skills have an easier time collaborating with coworkers on projects, interacting with customers, and giving constructive criticism to team members who work on the same tasks.

Examples of competencies

Here are some examples of most in-demand competencies that enable employees to carry out their tasks more efficiently:

Flexibility

Flexibility is a crucial behavioural competency when workloads need adjusting or priorities change. Flexible employees understand that change happens and move on with their schedules without delay or interrupting productivity.

Coaching

Coaching is similar to leadership skills. When employees are competent in coaching, they improve their team’s productivity. Effective coaching manages others while building team spirit and strengthening the talents of others.

Teamwork

Teamwork is an invaluable competency in areas needing collaboration as it helps the organization work together to reach shared goals. Strong communication and managerial skills enable employees to demonstrate their teamwork competency.

Conflict resolution

An employee competent in conflict resolution anticipates, diffuses, and settles troubles in the workplace positively. Employees with excellent conflict resolution skills are ideal candidates for working in customer service settings.

Decisiveness

Being decisive allows employees to make fast decisions, increasing productivity and keeping the workflow progressing. Quick decision-making helps create plans and reach targets without wasting time or human power.

Why do both skills and competencies matter?

Here’s an example showing why both skills and competencies matter — when a veterinarian helps an animal in need, they require specific skills to do their jobs, such as excellent diagnostic skills, surgical skills, and the ability to operate all the latest equipment. Without competencies, the vet may fix the animal but not the underlying cause. You could be the best veterinarian in the world, but if you’re not committed and motivated to work, your skills are only half of what they could be.

However, when a veterinarian takes the time to discuss different measures to avoid or prevent a reoccurrence of why the animal needed the vet in the first place, they’ve not only fixed the animal but used their competencies to offer the owner new knowledge and guidance. They used their skills to fix the animal and their competencies to fix the problem and promote prevention. Likewise, to ensure successful recruitment for any job position, the employee requires both skills and competencies to fill the position.

How to enhance workplace competency?

Certain behavioural competencies come more naturally to some people than others, but it’s certainly possible for others to learn them — every workplace benefits from improving its employees’ competencies. Use the following 4 strategies to enhance competencies in your workplace.

1. Create developmental plans that include competencies

Since competencies are vaguer than skills, your management team should communicate with their staff about how employee performance relates to the required job competencies. An example may be a newly hired manager who thinks they’re showing leadership skills by assigning projects and managing results. However, they fail to show leadership behaviour by not ensuring fair distribution of workloads. To enhance your new manager’s competency, you must offer clear, constructive criticism and be specific about areas requiring growth, then periodically check in on the progress.

2. Provide opportunities for growth

Most competencies develop with experience. Instead of telling employees to follow pre-defined instructions to enhance their strategic thinking abilities, allow them to plan independently and problem-solve. Cross-training opportunities to develop competencies are critical components of your employee development plan.

3. Offer training programs outside of the workplace

Some places offer training programs outside the workplace to focus on enhancing competency by giving employees the space and framework needed for applying their skills and identifying the necessary behaviours for building competencies like leadership and strategic thinking. In-house experience is important, but it doesn’t always give the proper framework for gaining and examining the essential knowledge for growing crucial competencies.

4. Mentorship

Developmental plans go hand-in-hand with mentorship opportunities. Many employees prefer learning from a one-on-one mentorship with a trusted colleague they don’t directly report to directly. Competencies within the workplace usually apply across all departments, so mentors aren’t limited to a specific company area. For example, a newly hired department manager may benefit from mentoring with an experienced marketing director who offers them guidance and feedback on their leadership competency journey.

Hiring for skills vs. competencies

Competency-based job descriptions are becoming more popular as organizations realize that a combination of knowledge and skills defines a successful job candidate. The best approach to finding suitable matches for your open job positions is to request competencies that fit the job, rather than focusing solely on narrow skill sets. Determine the knowledge and behaviours best suited for the job by creating job descriptions using the traits that will likely lead to success in the role. However, keep in mind that employees can learn some skills and competencies on the job, and each job position has its unique balance of abilities and behaviours — and make your decision accordingly.