Competency Frameworks

Overview

Competency frameworks are the part of WeMatter that turns abstract expectations into something people can actually work with. Instead of relying on a vague shared sense of what "good" looks like, a framework gives that standard shape. It describes the behaviours, capabilities, and patterns of performance that matter in a role, then makes them available across the wider WeMatter flow.

The value shows up quickly once people start using it. A participant can see what the role is asking of them. A manager has a clearer basis for feedback. A WeMatter lead has more confidence that the scorecard is anchored in something deliberate rather than improvised.

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Where frameworks fit in WeMatter

Frameworks sit at a useful tension point in WeMatter. They are not as personal as Foundation, and they are not as evidential as a Scorecard. They sit between the two, translating organisational expectations into a structure that can then be reviewed, challenged, and developed.

You can think of the wider flow like this. Foundation adds context: what matters to someone, what supports them, and what may be getting in the way. Competency frameworks define the expected capability standard. Scorecards then test that standard through self-reflection, manager feedback, and shared discussion. Goals use the resulting evidence to decide what should happen next.

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What a framework is made of

In the product, a framework is more than a title and a few competency lines. It has structure and governance around it. A good framework combines a clear name, a useful description, competencies grouped under Human Performance Indicator (HPI) areas, assigned users, editors, a visibility setting, and a status that tells WeMatter whether it is still being worked on or ready for live use.

Those parts matter for different reasons. The competencies shape the review experience. The people and visibility settings shape access. The status affects whether the framework can be used operationally in scorecard launch.

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What HPI means in a framework

In WeMatter, HPI stands for Human Performance Indicator. In practice, you can also think of it simply as a performance indicator. It is the organisational performance structure that frameworks are built against. A competency does not simply sit in a long undifferentiated list. It belongs to an HPI area so expectations can be grouped in a way that is meaningful for the organisation.

Human Performance Indicators are standardised across an organisation rather than being reinvented framework by framework. That consistency gives WeMatter a stable performance model to work from, so different frameworks can still describe different roles whilst using the same organisational categories. In practice, that stops a framework becoming a flat checklist and gives it shape: one Human Performance Indicator may focus on people leadership, another on delivery, and another on data, judgement, or improvement. The framework then fills those areas with the behaviours or capabilities that matter in practice, which makes scorecards more comparable, framework governance cleaner, and downstream development work easier to interpret.

Example HPI cards

These examples are illustrative only. Your organisation may use different HPI names and different competency statements, but the logic is the same.

When a framework covers an organisation well, it gives each HPI area enough substance to support a credible judgement later in a scorecard. If an HPI area is empty or thinly covered, the framework may look finished whilst still being operationally weak.

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Why draft and published status matter

Framework status is not just there to label maturity. In WeMatter it changes how the framework behaves in the wider system.

A Draft framework is still under construction. It may be useful for writing, reviewing, and internal discussion, but it is not ready to power live scorecards. A Published framework, by contrast, is the signal that the structure is settled enough to support real review activity.

That distinction is deliberate. Once a framework becomes part of a live scorecard cycle, the quality of the competency structure starts to affect the quality of feedback, alignment, and later development work.

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How frameworks shape scorecards

Frameworks are one of the practical prerequisites for launching a scorecard. When WeMatter prepares a scorecard, it does not invent the capability structure on the fly. It looks to the participant's assigned framework and uses that as the basis for the competency rating rows that will later be completed across the review process.

This is why framework quality matters so much. If the framework is unpublished, empty, or missing coverage across the organisation's HPI structure, launch can be blocked. If it is weakly written, the scorecard may still launch, but the conversation it produces will be weaker than it should be.

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How frameworks shape goals

Frameworks continue to matter after the scorecard is complete. They help give goal generation a capability map: not only what people said in the review, but what the role or context is actually asking for.

For that reason, frameworks should be written with enough clarity to support more than rating. A good framework is also readable as development context. It helps explain what should be strengthened, not only what should be scored.

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Who interacts with frameworks

Different people meet frameworks in different ways. Admins and RPO users often own governance and rollout. Editors work directly on the framework itself. Assigned users may be able to open the framework that applies to them, depending on visibility. WeMatter leads often need access because the framework shapes the scorecards they launch, review, or discuss.

So although frameworks are often managed by a smaller group, they influence a much broader set of conversations across the platform.

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