In this article:
Overview
Competencies in Quantum Workplace provide a consistent, scalable way to measure expectations and behaviors across your organization. By using a shared framework and defined scale, competencies promote clearer feedback, fairer comparisons, and more actionable insights.
What are competencies?
Competencies describe how we work, including the behaviors, capabilities, and expectations that contribute to success in a role or across an organization. They go beyond task-based evaluation and toward a more holistic understanding of performance.
By using a shared set of competencies and a consistent scale, organizations can:
- Align performance expectations across teams
- Create a shared language for feedback and development
- Compare results more easily across individuals, roles, and time
Competencies vs. skills
While competencies and skills are often used interchangeably, they serve different purposes:
- Skills are narrow and task-specific (for example, running a report or using a specific tool). They often vary significantly by role.
- Competencies are broader, transferable capabilities (for example, communication, problem-solving, or leadership) that apply across roles and contexts.
For example, an accountant may be skilled in financial analysis, while a teacher may be skilled in lesson planning. However, both can demonstrate the same competency, such as communication or time management.
Quantum Workplace’s competency model uses levels to represent increasing proficiency within a competency. Levels provide a clear progression framework and make it easier to evaluate performance consistently across the organization.
Types of competencies in Quantum Workplace
Quantum Workplace supports two categories of competencies: Org-Wide Competencies and Role-Based Competencies.
Org-Wide Competencies
Org-Wide Competencies measure shared expectations that apply to all employees, regardless of role.
Common use cases include:
- Company values
- Leadership expectations
- Core behaviors and cultural standards
Org-Wide Competencies:
- Apply to everyone in the organization
- Are available for users of Performance Reviews
- Are managed by administrators to ensure consistency
Use Org-Wide Competencies when you want to reinforce organization-wide expectations and create a shared foundation for performance discussions.
Role-Based Competencies (in Growth)
Role-Based Competencies measure expectations tied to specific jobs and levels. They describe how performance expectations differ across roles and seniority levels.
Role-Based Competencies:
- Are mapped to job roles and levels
- Automatically appear in reviews based on an employee’s role
- Support career development, progression, and succession planning
- Are available only with Growth
Use Role-Based Competencies when you want performance reviews to reflect role-specific expectations and support long-term employee development.
How competencies are used in Performance Reviews
Competencies are added to Performance Review templates as question types. Once added, they function like other review questions, with a few important considerations:
- All competency questions within a template must use the same scale
- Competency ratings can optionally contribute to the Overall Score
- Competencies are attached to participants when they are added to a review cycle
Because competencies rely on a shared framework, they make it easier to calibrate on results and compare across teams and time periods.
Managing competencies
Admins can manage competencies in one shared system and reuse them across multiple templates, saving time and maintaining consistent performance expectations.
Who can define and manage competencies depends on the type:
- Org-Wide Competencies are managed under Global Settings > Competencies by Admins and Focused Admins with Performance Review access
- Role-Based Competencies are managed in Growth and require Admin or Focused Admin in Growth access
Keeping competency definitions up to date ensures reviews remain aligned with organizational expectations and role requirements.
Competency Analytics
If a template uses org-wide or role-based competency question types, competency results appear directly in the Results tab alongside your other scaled question data, allowing you to view and analyze competency insights in the same place as the rest of your results.
For organizations using role-based competencies, all competency data is also available in a single unified view.
While migrating to a new, centralized competency approach in 2026, any templates including legacy competency question types will continue to see competency results in the separate Competencies tab within Analytics, as shown below.
