Competencies for new professionals has been on my mind lately. My son graduated from university this past May, and just got his first ‘real’ job as an analyst.
He is technically qualified to be an analyst, but as I know from years of OD, assessment and coaching work, technical skills are just one piece of the puzzle on the way to a successful career.
Working on technical skills while concurrently working on how to manage change, focus on being collaborative and honing our communication skills gives us the best chance to be successful in our work life.
So, I reviewed a long list of behaviors, organized by competencies/topics, that I thought would help guide him in this first professional job.
I wanted the list to be short enough that he would read it (more than once), and yet long enough to really have some depth.
As I was assembling this list it occurred to me that this list can be a good guide to others like him, just starting out (and not a bad refresher list for those of us who have been in the workplace a while).
Here is the list. What do you think? Is there something I missed? Or something that would not be one of your top 40 behaviors on the list?
List of competencies for young professionals
Approach |
Shows resilience in the face of constraints and frustrations |
Accepts responsibility for mistakes |
Brings conflicts and disagreements into the open and attempts to resolve them collaboratively |
Persists in achieving goals despite obstacles and opposition |
Collaboration |
Consistently uses a positive approach in working with people, challenges, and problems |
Is a reliable team member |
Actively contributes as a team member to achieve results |
Maintains smooth, effective working relationships |
When working with others, regularly generates new ideas |
Communication |
Communicates clearly, concisely and in an organized manner |
Makes clear and convincing presentations |
Practices active listening to understand before being understood |
Produce reports, proposals, and other documents that are accurate and meet the quality expectations of the recipient |
Seeks to understand others views and priorities |
Customer Focus |
Anticipates and addresses emerging customer needs |
Clearly communicates customer needs/requirements |
Demonstrates a customer service focus within the organization |
Listens carefully to customers to determine their goals, needs and expectations |
Integrity |
Consistently treats others with respect |
Keeps commitments |
Keeps sensitive and personal information confidential |
Models a work ethic of achievement and excellence |
Respectful of gender and cultural differences |
Shows consistency in principles, values and behavior |
Managing Change |
Copes with unclear lines of authority and ambiguous situations |
Remains productive when dealing with change |
Contributes ideas and resources to help realize desired changes |
Is flexible in dealing with changing or new circumstances |
Problem Solving / Decision Making |
Generates innovative ideas and solutions to problems |
Considers a broad range of issues or factors in making decisions |
Makes effective decisions in a timely manner |
Takes initiative to solve problems |
Results Driven |
Handles day-to-day work challenges confidently and routinely |
Consistently produces quality results |
Demonstrates strong industry, business and technical knowledge |
Has high performance standards and expectations |
Self-Leadership |
Actively requests feedback for personal improvement |
Eagerly pursues new knowledge, skills, and methods |
Recovers quickly from setbacks |
Knows own strengths and limitations |
