I wish I had a buck for every “new and revolutionary” employee development system that I’ve seen in my career. Most of the pitches involve the use of technology, wrapped around some iteration of competency language. Most of these systems are interesting, and a few are even pretty good. But if you are not attending to a basic building block, they’re likely just a waste of money.
For a development planning tool or system to make sense, it has to be grounded in something. That “something,” is well defined and measurable job objectives (outcomes). These objectives, in conjunction with clearly articulated company values, provide the target for what “good” looks like. Once you have a target, it becomes easy and obvious to measure shortcomings (read skill deficits).
Think of it this way…Would you ever be able to assess how good a marksman is who never shot at at target? Well, if you are developing your employees against a set of skills/competencies, with no regard for outcomes, you are, in effect doing just that. They may know how to load, hold and shoot a rifle, but without a target, there is no way to determine whether they can hit the mark.