Competency-Based Advancement Plans

Enablement leaders: rather than rolling out a competency framework and making it mandatory for all your reps, make it NOT mandatory, but make promotion impossible without it. “You want to move from AE to Senior AE? You need to demonstrate advanced discovery skills. Here's the certification that proves it.” Are we forcing you to take it? Oh my goodness no…we would never do such a thing. But you're not getting promoted without it. Think about it for a sec: mandatory means compliance. Compliance means checkbox. And nobody retains shit from a checkbox. But when a rep sees a direct line between a certification and their next title, their next comp band, or their next role? They look at it much differently. Rather than completing a “requirement,” they're building a case for their own promotion. Think about what this does for your front-line managers as well. Every sales manager has been cornered by a rep saying "I deserve a promotion." Usually the response is some version of "keep doing what you're doing and we'll see!" That satisfies nobody. With certifications mapped to competencies, the conversation changes: "I agree you're performing well. Before our next review, complete these two certifications and let's revisit." That gives the rep a clear path. It gives the manager time to assess readiness. And it kills the "playing favorites" accusation because the criteria are visible to everyone. To stand this up, map each certification to three things: 1. The specific competency it develops (discovery, negotiation, enterprise selling).  2. The promotion tier it corresponds to (AE to Senior AE to Strategic AE). 3. The behavior change you're measuring on the other side (qualification rate, average deal size, cycle length). Then make the whole framework visible. Post the competency ladder where everyone can see it. Make it crystal clear what skills correspond to what roles.   Then let reps decide how badly they want it. Once do you do that, take a look at who's enrolling. If your strongest performers aren't signing up, your framework is busted and the certifications don't feel connected to real advancement. If your weakest performers are flooding the programs hoping for a shortcut, your messaging is busted. The people you want as your heaviest users are the ones who are ALMOST ready for the next level and need one or two skill gaps closed to get there. The reps who take training because they want the next role will always outperform the ones who take it because you told them to. PS - oodles of companies use Sales Assembly’s Skill Certifications (Complex Selling, Deal Management, Expansion Selling, etc) for exactly this purpose. 🫣

What if one model could seamlessly connect hiring, performance, L&D, career growth, and succession planning — making every people decision clear and objective? That model exists — it’s called the Competency Framework - defines what success truly looks like through: • Knowledge (what you know) • Skills (what you can do) • Attitudes/Behaviors (how you apply it) 💡 The real strength of this framework lies in its clarity. Let’s take just one competency for an HR Manager: 🟠 Connecting with People Definition: Builds trust, listens actively, and creates open channels of communication with employees at all levels. Standard Bars (1–5): 1️⃣ Basic: Responds politely but rarely initiates conversations. 2️⃣ Developing: Listens when approached, limited follow-up. 3️⃣ Proficient: Proactively connects, addresses concerns openly. 4️⃣ Advanced: Anticipates issues, builds strong informal networks. 5️⃣ Exemplary: Serves as a trusted advisor across teams, influences culture positively. Now, see how the same competency links across HR processes: • Recruitment & Selection: Interviewers design behavioral questions (“Tell me about a time you helped resolve a conflict between employees”) and assess whether the candidate demonstrates at least Level 3: Proficient. • Onboarding & Confirmation: After six months, the manager is observed: Are they proactively connecting with their team or just reacting? If they were hired at Level 3, are they sustaining or progressing toward Level 4? • Performance Appraisal: Beyond KPIs, appraisal includes how the HR Manager engaged employees. Were they merely responsive, or did they anticipate and prevent issues (Level 4)? • Learning & Development: If the HR Manager is at Level 2, targeted training in coaching conversations or empathy building helps move them to Level 3. • Career Growth & Succession Planning: To move into a Head of HR role, Level 4 or 5 in “Connecting with People” becomes non-negotiable. The framework shows exactly where the person stands and what growth is needed. • Assessment & Development Centers: Role plays and simulations test consistency of behavior. The ratings are not abstract — they are anchored to the bar definitions. 💡 This is the power of a competency framework — the same competency becomes the thread that connects every stage of the employee journey, with no ambiguity. ✨ In my consulting work, I’ve implemented competency frameworks for multiple growth-stage clients. Each time, it has brought clarity, fairness, and alignment across all HR processes. If your organization is ready for structured growth, culture alignment, and transparent people practices, the Competency Framework is the model to start with. I’d be glad to share how it can work for you. #CompetencyFramework #HRStrategy #OrganizationDevelopment #FutureOfWork #LeadershipDevelopment #PeopleAndCulture

You spent 12 hours this week training your junior advisor. At your effective rate, that's $1,800 you 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 bill. Most RIA owners don't have a growth problem. They have a 𝗱𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Here's what I mean... You WILL spend time and money duplicating yourself if you want to grow. That's not optional. But most owners structure it wrong. They tie advancement to 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 instead of 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. ↳Year 1: Associate (learning phase) ↳Year 2: Second chair ↳Year 3: Lead advisor The problem with this:  Rigid. Calendar-based. Slow. Here's the better way:  Tie advancement to 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹, not 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 6-𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 3 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴? ✅ Reward (don't punish) them. ✅ Move them to second chair early. ✅ Increase their comp. ✅ Give them more responsibility. ✅ Accelerate them. 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 = 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Define clear competencies at each stage: 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺? 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺? 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴? Then measure against 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆, not 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗲. But... Architects don't design career paths while "operating". 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. Allowing them to get clear on: → What competencies matter at each stage → How to measure them → What compensation looks like → What will incentivize the talent that you attract You owe it to your team to be clear on what "good" looks like. 📌 What's your biggest challenge duplicating yourself?