Competency Mapping

Definition

The process of identifying and assessing the skills and competencies required for specific roles—essentially, a detailed way to prove someone isn't qualified for a promotion.

Example Usage

After competency mapping, we determined that Keisha lacks the 'strategic thinking' required for senior management, despite her 12 years of excellent performance.

Origin

HR assessment methodology, formalized in the 1980s-1990s

Fun Fact

Competency-based hiring reduces time-to-productivity for new hires by an average of 15%.

Source: Talent management and HR assessment literature

Related Terms

Beginner

retrain

The corporate equivalent of hitting the reset button on your career because your skills have become as obsolete as a floppy disk. It's when companies decide to teach old dogs new tricks rather than hiring new dogs, usually after technology has rendered your expertise irrelevant. Often involves uncomfortable Zoom sessions where you pretend to understand AI while secretly Googling basic terms.

👥 Human Resources

Advanced

Arbitration Clause

A contract provision requiring disputes be resolved through arbitration rather than court—basically, the company's get-out-of-lawsuit card.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

separation agreement

A legal contract outlining the terms of an employment exit, typically trading severance payments for liability releases and non-disparagement promises. It's a divorce settlement for your job.

👥 Human Resources

Advanced

just cause

A legal standard requiring employers to have a fair and reasonable basis for disciplinary action or termination, typically in union environments. Seven specific tests that prevent 'because I felt like it' terminations.

👥 Human Resources

Advanced

psychometric testing

Standardized assessments measuring candidates' cognitive abilities, personality traits, and behavioral tendencies for hiring or development purposes. It's astrology for HR, but with more statistics and legal defensibility.

👥 Human Resources

Beginner

retain

To keep employees from jumping ship to your competitors by offering just enough compensation, culture, or free snacks to make them stay. In HR circles, retention is the art of convincing talented people that the grass isn't actually greener on the other side. It's also what lawyers do when you pay them a retainer—essentially putting them on standby like a professional fire extinguisher.

👥 Human Resources

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