Designing a Capability Framework and Landing It

Client Overview

An Australian construction and development group delivering projects across commercial, residential and industrial sectors, with a workforce spanning site delivery, design, commercial and corporate functions.

The Challenge

The organisation had an internal capability lead with the mandate to build a capability framework and the practical problem every internal lead faces: designing the framework and landing it in the business are two different jobs, and the second one is where most frameworks fail.

The business needed a framework that would hold up structurally and a plan for introducing it that would not lose the workforce along the way.

The Solution

Ben and the client's capability lead first met on AHRI's Developing a Capability Framework course, which he facilitates. They began working together several months later.

Rather than taking the build off the client, Ben worked alongside the internal lead across both the design and the rollout. The support covered:

• Structural design of the capability framework, including domain architecture, proficiency levelling, and the writing standard for behavioural indicators.
• Review and challenge of draft content, holding the line between capabilities and role-specific competencies.
• Change management planning, covering stakeholder sequencing, messaging, and how the framework would be introduced to different parts of the business.
• Practical advice on the decisions that determine whether a framework gets used or shelved.

Results (In Progress)

• Delivered a capability framework designed to the client's own operating context rather than a template.
• Built internal capability in the client's team, so the framework can be maintained without ongoing external support.