Sample competency review comments
The next time you are completing a competency review, give some thought to the comments that you choose to leave. Qualitative responses offer depth to the assessment, rather than just a number at the end of the day. Remember that a competency assessment is a fantastic development exercise, it’s designed to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Put yourself in the shoes of an employee. Your manager has just completed a competency assessment of your Problem Solving skills. From this assessment, it’s clear that there are some areas for improvement, namely around following up and seeking input from others. Here’s a table showing how your manager has rated you against the problem solving competency.
| Problem Solving | Never | Rarely | Sometimes | Usually | Always |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analyses problems to prevent future occurrences | X | ||||
| Follows up to ensure problems are solved satisfactorily | X | ||||
| Develops alternative solutions where needed | X | ||||
| Seeks input from a variety of sources to determine the best solution | X | ||||
| Resolves problems in a timely manner | X |
Which of these comments would you find helpful?
Comment 1:
You rarely seek input from others. This needs to be addressed. Also your follow up is pretty poor.
Comment 2:
Problem solving is one of your strengths. However, I think that you could improve the value of your solutions significantly by doing a couple of things:
- Developing a follow up process. This will bring a more customer centric focus to your approach and help you to build relationships with others in the business. At the moment, once the solution is out the door it tends to get forgotten about.
- Keeping an open mind about the best possible solution. Often others will be able to provide you with some insight that will take your solution from good to great.
The second comment is by far the more valuable one. Not only does it identify problem solving as a strength, but it also outlines two practical solutions to help you improve. These are an immediate and obvious catalyst for your development.
