Practices Performed

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Objective:

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Description:

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Task Instructions:

Individuals and workgroups are empowered to continuously improve their capability for performing competency-based processes.

1. 1. Support for continuous capability improvement is communicated throughout the organization.
   2. Practices and activities for supporting continuous capability improvement are included in the organization’s strategic workforce plan.
   3. Units include support for continuous capability improvement in planning their workforce activities.
   4. Participation in continuous capability improvement is voluntary.
   5. Where appropriate, activities for continuous capability improvement are supported in the personal development plans of those participating in improvement activities.

Individuals characterize the capability and performance of their personal work processes.

1. 1. Competency-based processes provide a framework for describing personal work processes.
   2. Individuals analyze their work activities and describe how they uniquely perform the competency-based processes involved.
   3. Measures defined during Quantitative Performance Management activities provide a framework for measuring the capability and performance of personal work processes.
   4. Individuals define measures that can be used in analyzing their personal work processes.

Individuals evaluate the capability of their personal work processes to identify opportunities for improvement.

1. 1. The strategies and methods employed in Quantitative Performance Management activities provide a framework for evaluating the capability of personal work processes.
   2. Individuals collect and retain measures characterizing the capability and performance of their personal work processes.
   3. Individuals continuously refine measures of their personal work processes to improve their analyses and insight.
   4. Individuals determine the capability of their personal work processes.
   5. Individuals identify the root causes of inefficiency or defects in their personal work processes.
   6. The capabilities of personal work processes are analyzed to determine their potential for improvement.
   7. Individuals maintain records of their capability and performance.

Individuals establish measurable improvement objectives and plans for improving the capability of their personal work processes.

1. 1. Personal work processes are prioritized according to the potential they present for improving work performance.
   2. Individuals set measurable improvement objectives for the personal work processes most likely to improve the performance of their committed work.
   3. Individuals identify the knowledge, skills, or process abilities that need to be improved to accomplish their improvement objectives.
   4. Individuals plan the improvement actions that will be taken to improve the capability and performance of their personal work processes.
   5. Individuals review their improvement objectives and plans with their workgroup, mentor, career counselor, manager, or other appropriate individuals.

Individuals continuously improve the capability and performance of their personal work processes.

1. 1. Individuals engage in timely learning activities to improve the capability and performance of their personal work processes.
   2. When appropriate, individuals use mentors to guide improvements in their capability and performance. Mentors or coaches assist individuals in defining their work processes and performance measures, evaluating the capability of their personal work processes, identifying sources of inefficiency or defects in their personal work processes, providing detailed guidance and advice for improving their personal work processes, evaluating the effectiveness of their improvement activities, making continued improvements, and taking corrective actions when improvement activities do not have their intended effect.
   3. Individuals eliminate the sources of inefficiency or defects from their personal work processes.
   4. When appropriate, individuals use competency-based assets to improve the capability of their personal work processes.
   5. When appropriate, individuals practice the skills and process abilities that will improve the capability and performance of their personal work processes.
   6. Individuals apply their improved personal work processes to their committed work and measure the results.
   7. Individuals continuously evaluate the performance of their personal work processes to assess improvements in capability and progress against improvement goals and plans.
   8. When improvement progress deviates significantly from goals and plans, individuals take corrective actions as appropriate.
   9. When individuals achieve their improvement goals, they capture lessons learned from the improvement activities, propose improvements to competency-based processes or their integration across workforce competencies, if appropriate, contribute material for inclusion in competency-based assets, if appropriate, and establish new improvement goals and plans.
   10. Individuals use the capability of their personal work processes as the basis for estimating and planning their committed work.
   11. Individuals continuously improve their ability to estimate and plan their personal work processes by evaluating their estimates against improved capability and performance results.

Workgroups evaluate the capability and performance of their operating processes to identify opportunities for improvement.

1. 1. The personal work processes through which individuals perform competency-based processes provide a framework for improving the workgroup’s capability for performing competency-based processes.
   2. Workgroups analyze how their members perform and integrate their personal work processes.
   3. Measures defined during Quantitative Performance Management activities provide a framework for measuring the capability and performance of a workgroup’s operating process.
   4. Workgroups define additional measures needed to analyze and improve how they integrate personal work processes into an overall workgroup operating process.
   5. Workgroups identify the root causes of  inefficiency or defects in their operating processes.
   6. The workgroup evaluates its capability in performing competency-based processes to determine opportunities for improvement.

Workgroups establish measurable objectives and plans for improving the capability of their operating processes.

1. 1. The competency-based processes performed by the workgroup are prioritized according to the potential they present for improving workgroup performance.
   2. The workgroup sets measurable objectives for improving their capability and performance in high priority processes.
   3. Workgroups identify the knowledge, skills, or process abilities of their members that need to be improved to accomplish their improvement
      objectives.
   4. Workgroups identify improvements that need to be made to how personal work processes are organized and integrated into an overall workgroup process.
   5. Workgroups analyze the root causes of inefficiency or defects in their work.
   6. When appropriate, workgroups use competency-based assets to improve the capability of their operating processes.
   7. Workgroups plan the improvement actions that will be taken to meet their improvement objectives and incorporate these actions into their workgroup and personal development plans.
   8. Workgroups review their improvement objectives and plans with other workgroups with whom they share dependencies, mentors or coaches, as appropriate, and those responsible for their performance .

Workgroups continuously improve their capability and performance.

1. 1. Workgroups engage in timely improvement activities that satisfy their improvement objectives and plans.
   2. When appropriate, workgroups use mentors to guide improvements in their capability and performance. Mentors assist workgroups in defining their work processes and performance measures, analyzing the coordination of their work processes, evaluating the capability of their operating processes, identifying sources of inefficiency or defects in their operating processes, providing detailed guidance and advice for improving their operating processes, evaluating the effectiveness of their improvement activities, making continued improvements, and taking corrective actions when improvement activities do not have their
      intended effect.
   3. Workgroups eliminate the sources of inefficiency or defects in their work.
   4. When appropriate, workgroups use competency-based assets to improve their capability and performance.
   5. When appropriate, workgroups practice performing the competency-based processes that will improve their capability and performance.
   6. Workgroups apply their improvements to their committed work and measure the results.
   7. Workgroups continuously evaluate their capability and performance to assess progress against improvement goals and plans.
   8. When improvement progress deviates significantly from goals and plans,
      workgroups take corrective actions as appropriate.
   9. When workgroups achieve their improvement goals, they capture lessons learned from the improvement activities, propose improvements to competency-based processes or their
      integration across workforce competencies, if appropriate, contribute material for inclusion in competency-based assets, if appropriate, adjust capability baselines and other quantitative models that characterize their capability or predict their performance, and establish new improvement goals and plans.
   10. Workgroups continuously improve their ability to estimate and plan their operating processes by evaluating their estimates against improved capability and performance results.

Recommendations resulting from improvements in personal work processes or workgroup operating processes are reviewed to determine if they should be incorporated into competency-based processes.

1. 1. Individuals and workgroups are encouraged to recommend improvements to competency-based processes that result from their efforts to improve capability.
   2. Individuals with responsibility for making improvements to competency-based processes evaluate improvement recommendations from individuals and workgroups.
   3. Individuals and workgroups are informed of the disposition of their improvement recommendations.

Within each critical workforce competency, capability objectives are defined for critical competency-based processes.

1. 1. The organization’s performance objectives are analyzed to determine the business activities that must be performed to achieve them, the quantitative results required of these business activities if they are to achieve the organization’s performance objectives, which competency-based processes are most critical to achieving these quantitative results and how they interact, and the performance capability required for each of these critical competency-based processes to satisfy the organization’s performance objectives.
   2. The capability required of each critical competency-based process is defined to an extent sufficient to be incorporated into the organization’s Quantitative Performance Management activities, communicated to those responsible for managing or developing the
      affected workforce competencies, established as a target performance objective and communicated to those in the affected competency communities, and used in setting performance objectives for individuals, workgroups, and units performing the competency-based process, as appropriate.
   3. The capability objectives for competency-based processes are refined and adjusted, as necessary, based on changes in business strategy, conditions, or objectives, the results of capability analyses, or improvements in the performance of competency-based processes.

Within each critical workforce competency, capability objectives for competency-based processes are compared to process performance baselines to identify improvement objectives.

1. 1. Capability objectives for critical competency-based processes are compared to their process performance baselines to identify gaps between current capability and the capability required to satisfy business objectives.
   2. Significant gaps between current and required capability levels for critical competency-based processes are used to establish improvement objectives for competency-based processes.
   3. Improvement objectives for critical competency-based processes are prioritized and submitted to involved in improving relevant competency-based processes.

Within each critical workforce competency, responsible individuals identify opportunities for improving the capability and performance of competency-based processes.

1. 1. The organization identifies the workforce competencies where committing responsible individuals to proactive continuous improvement of competency-based processes are determined to have sufficient business benefit.
   2. Data on the capability and performance of competency-based processes are analyzed to determine which competency-based processes are most in need of improvement.
   3. Root cause and similar analytic techniques are applied to identify systems of causes that affect the capabilities of critical competency-based processes with the highest priorities for improvement.
   4. The causal systems underlying these critical competency-based processes are analyzed to identify the types of improvements from which these processes would most benefit, including candidate improvements to the method by which the competency-based process is performed, the structure or sequencing of tasks within the competency-based process, the integration of the competency-based process with other competency-based or business processes, the workforce practices and activities impacting on the performance of the competency-based process, technologies that would support or automate the process, or the preparation of individuals or workgroups to perform the process.
   5. The results of these analyses are used to guide investigations of potential improvements to critical competency-based processes.
   6. When these analyses indicate that the actual impact of workforce practices and activities on the capability and performance of critical competency-based processes deviates significantly from expectations or capability objectives, corrective actions are taken.

Within selected workforce competencies, responsible individuals identify, evaluate, and select improvements to competency-based processes.

1. 1. Responsible individuals investigate methods or technologies that have the potential to approach or achieve quantitative improvement objectives.
   2. Candidate improvements to competency-based processes are evaluated to determine their anticipated benefits.
   3. When appropriate, trial implementations are conducted to determine the suitability of improvements to competency-based processes.
   4. Improvements to competency-based processes are selected for deployment based on appropriate criteria.

Selected improvement recommendations are incorporated into competency-based processes and made available for use.

1. 1. Improvements selected for inclusion are incorporated into the descriptions of competency-based processes.
   2. Improvements selected for inclusion are incorporated into the relevant competency-based assets.
   3. Individuals and workgroups are informed of improvements to competency-based processes.
   4. Improved competency-based processes are deployed for use by individuals
      and workgroups.
   5. Information is gathered and evaluated on the use and benefits of improved competency-based processes.
   6. Lessons learned in improving competency-based processes are incorporated into the criteria for evaluating and selecting improvement recommendations.

The organization’s workforce practices are adjusted, as needed, to accommodate continuous improvement activities by individuals and workgroups.

1. 1. Individual improvement objectives and data on personal work processes are confidential and should not be revealed without the agreement of the individual.
   2. Objectives and data for improving personal or workgroup performance are not used in performing any workforce activities without the agreement of the individuals affected.
   3. Improvements in workgroup capability are incorporated into the organization’s capability baselines.