Setting Standards – By Gus Prestera, Ph.D
These seven questions help you fix whatever’s wrong
I’m not a gambling man, but I enjoy taking bets at the start of manager or field trainer workshops on the number of hands that will be raised when I ask, “Who here has thought about or referenced the sales competency model in their work or in a conversation over the last two weeks?”
I only enjoy it because I always win the bet; in 20 years, I have never seen more than two hands go up.
Competency models are often maligned for being useless, abstract and disconnected from the day-to-day work of producing results. Yet, in organizations where we see competency models being used consistently and effectively, they enable managers to have productive field rides, coach for performance, discuss short- and long-term career development, interview and select top talent and continually grow the capabilities of their sales team.
But competencies can’t help with any of that if they are poorly designed and implemented.
To help you diagnose what’s undermining the effectiveness of your competencies, here are seven questions and common ailments to consider:
- Do your competencies truly differentiate top performers? A competency model is supposed to describe the key knowledge, skills and abilities that someone needs to have in order to succeed in their role. Competencies should be leading indicators, predictors of future success. If you can’t truly say that about your competency model, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate and reprioritize your competencies. Interview your reps to understand what your top performers are doing differently and use that insight to help you to isolate the best predictors of success.
- Has it kept up with the changing marketplace? The work of a life sciences sales professional doesn’t happen in a vacuum – it happens in an ever-changing landscape. Before COVID, not many sales competency models prioritized the importance of gaining access to the facility or of having successful Zoom meetings. Competency models should be reevaluated from time to time and tweaked to keep up with changing needs.
- Are your managers bought in? The people who are hiring, onboarding, training, supervising and coaching sales professionals need to be fully immersed in the competency model and fluent in how to have conversations that center around competency proficiency. They need to be able to talk about what “good” looks like and what differentiates “great” from “good.” If managers, trainers and others involved in talent management aren’t fully bought into the model and conversant in it, then it’s likely that the competencies will collect dust.
- Are your competencies integrated into talent management? Competencies are at their peak effectiveness when they are integrated fully into the talent management system. That means that those competencies are used in behavioral interviews and selection decisions; they are used during onboarding to anchor all the training being delivered; they are used in field coaching reports and performance appraisals; and they are used in talent reviews, succession planning and other talent management discussions that the leadership team has throughout the year.
- Are your competencies observable? To make the best use of competencies across all of those talent management processes, it’s important to make it easy for people to translate those competencies into observable behaviors. For example, if clinical acumen is a competency, what are the on-the-job behaviors that we should look for when trying to gauge someone’s clinical acumen? How do they use their clinical knowledge in the conversations they’re having with healthcare providers, how do they answer questions, address objections and build their own credibility? These are some of the behavioral dimensions that you might include under clinical acumen. Consider creating a companion piece that breaks the competencies down into observable behaviors, because it’s those behavioral dimensions that bring the competency model to life in the field.
- Is someone’s competency proficiency measurable? A list of behaviors is a good start, but how do you use that list to measure proficiency? If the list has six behaviors and I’m proficient in three of them, then am I at 50%proficiency? Sales proficiency isn’t that clear-cut, so this is where a scoring rubric can be helpful.
You can take a behavioral dimension like “Uses clinical acumen to build credibility” and describe what that would look like if it were done satisfactorily(i.e., “Good”), what it would look like if it were done really well (i.e., “Better”)and what it would look like if it were a master practitioner (i.e., “Great”). Then work with the actual master practitioners to flesh out what those specific behaviors should be for each behavioral dimension. When done, you have a scoring rubric that everyone can use to assess and discuss specific strengths and development opportunities. - Are L&D resources mapped to those competencies? If your competency model is really good, its behavioral dimensions have been fleshed out, your managers are fully immersed and bought in and the coaching interactions are yielding great insights, then you are going to find yourself with a new challenge. People will be asking what learning and development (L&D)resources are available to help reps address their development opportunities? If someone is not so good at leveraging their clinical acumen to build credibility, is there a course on that? A book, a video, anything? Fruitful development conversations create demand for L&D resources, so be ready to map learning content and activities to your competency model and its behavioral dimensions.
Conclusion
If after reviewing these questions, you find your competency model wanting in some areas, know that you’re not alone and that addressing those shortfalls can have a big impact.
A well-designed competency model that is observable and measurable – that is well-socialized and integrated into the whole talent management system – is one that promotes a culture of growth through better coaching conversations and self-improvement efforts. It pays out for years to come, yielding stronger performance, higher employee engagement and longer retention of top performers.
You can bet on that.
Gus Prestera, Ph.D., is president of Prestera FX. Email him at gus@presterafx.com.
