GVSU Employee Core Competencies
Competencies are the combination of observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes that contribute to enhanced employee performance and ultimately result in organizational success.
At GVSU, the 8 employee Core Competencies are intended to:
- Guide the culture of the organization and socialize employees to that culture. They set the standard of expectations for all employees.
- Set the foundation for performance management, employee development, leadership development, compensation, team building, talent acquisition, engagement, and more.
- Be aspirational.
The foundations of Talent Management
What Are the 8 Core Competencies?
Overview of the eight GVSU employee core competencies
Empowering
Definition
Addressed along three dimensions: self-empowerment through individual action, mutual empowerment that is interpersonal, and social empowerment in the outcomes of our actions.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Builds relationships with teammates, so that coaching efforts are received in a positive, developmental manner.
- Includes the ability to manage up and down, within your sphere of influence.
- The ability to convey confidence in others’ abilities to be successful, especially at challenging new tasks.
- Provide coaching to others regardless of performance level and work relationship, to ensure team success.
- Managing Performance (self) – The ability to take responsibility for one’s own performance. Seek feedback from manager and others with whom they interact with on the job.
- Setting specific and measurable goals with deadlines.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Delegating significant responsibility and authority and allowing employees the freedom to decide how they will accomplish their goals and resolve issues.
- Coaching Oriented Feedback – Enables co-workers to grow and succeed through feedback, instruction, and encouragement.
- Take University goals and objectives and cascade them down and relate them to the department and an individual’s day to day role.
- Provide people latitude to make decisions in their own sphere of work.
- Authorizes individuals and groups to set their own goals, consistent with business goals.
- Permits groups to resolve problems on their own; avoid prescribing solutions.
- Managing Performance (others) – Clarifying expectations about what needs to be done and necessary criteria.
Fosters Inclusive & Equitable Community
Definition
Fosters a work environment that affirms and advances diversity, promotes inclusion, and is committed to equity. Individuals intentionally and actively work to identify and remove barriers for the full participation of historically underrepresented and minoritized individuals and communities.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Recognizes the contributions and lived experiences of diverse team members particularly those from identity groups historically underrepresented in higher education; and allows all to show up as their authentic selves through our framework for inclusion and equity.
- Displays self-awareness by understanding one’s own identity and relationship to others.
- Demonstrates a desire for continuous learning and seeks out experiences that motivate learning and cultural exchange (i.e. lectures, reading groups, art and music, and travel, as examples).
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Listens objectively, stays curious, displays humility, creates opportunities for feedback and includes diverse perspectives in group processes and decision-making.
- Eliminates barriers to equity by considering how policies, procedures, processes, and cultural norms may advantage some people over others
- Demonstrates courage by challenging systems and attitudes that are misaligned with our framework for inclusion and equity.
- Holds others accountable for inclusion and equity commitments and address non-inclusive behaviors.
- Actively seeks opportunities to invest in diverse talent development.
Acts with Integrity
Definition
Drives us to be accountable to ourselves and others and following through on words with actions.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
- Take responsibility for own mistakes.
- Performance driven – Holding yourself accountable for delivering on services.
- Build capacity – The ability to close the gap between where you are and where you need to be to achieve strategic goals.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Performance driven – Establish measures, process reviews, and timelines. Holding others accountable for delivering on services.
- Build capacity – The ability to help develop others to close the gap between where they are and where they need to be to achieve strategic goals.
- Approach all we do with a care for our resources and an eye on sustainability.
- Cognizant of our people, time, fiscal responsibility, and perpetuation of all of those to continue to rise and meet the needs of our students.
Emotionally Intelligent
Definition
Ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions of oneself and others.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Self-Awareness – Able to perceive your own emotions in the moment and understand your tendencies across situations.
- Self-Reflective/Introspective – Ability to hear critical feedback and a willingness to tolerate the discomfort of focusing on feelings that may be negative.
- Self-Management – Recognizing your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior and responding to them in a healthy and constructive way.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Social Awareness – Having the ability to see things from another person’s perspective (empathy) and considering their thoughts and feelings about a situation.
- Active listening - Understands and learns from what others say.
- Relationship Management – Builds constructive working relationships characterized by a high level of acceptance, cooperation, and mutual respect.
- Maintains an open, approachable manner, and treats others fairly and respectfully. Preserves others’ self-confidence and dignity and shows regard for their opinions.
Well-being Oriented
Definition
Demonstrates a commitment to maintaining sound health.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Seek holistic opportunities to bring their best selves forward.
- Engage in university provided well-being activities, events, and resources.
- Seeks to support colleagues in ways that are culturally specific to motivate self-care and retention.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Set tone for employees to thrive.
- Ensure employees have the opportunity and capability to bring their best selves forward.
- Strives to see inclusion and equity issues broadly, recognizing that the well-being of individuals, groups and ecosystems are important locally, nationally, and globally – all of which are interconnected and interdependent.
- Supports participation in and use of university provided well-being activities, events, and resources.
Asset Mindset
Definition
An asset-based approach focuses on strengths. It views diversity in thought, culture, and traits as positive assets. Faculty, staff, and students alike are valued for what they bring to GVSU.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Embraces the unique thoughts and ideas individuals bring to the table from their individual perspectives.
- Employees look at themselves and the world through the eyes of what is working, what strengths are present and what the potentials are.
- Looking for positive facts in yourself and others to get things done.
- Find opportunity in problems and move possibilities to reality.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Growth and development of an individual based on their areas of strength.
- Appreciates the differences individuals innately possess from their lived experiences and makes space for the voices of all to be heard and valued.
Collaborative Teamwork
Definition
Promotes cooperation and commitment to achieve goals and deliverables.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Understands the mission and strategic goals of the university and how their own and department’s work contributes to it.
- Builds partnerships among different entities throughout the organization to reduce silos.
- Acknowledges and celebrates the achievements of teammates.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Foster a workplace where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
- Attention to communication – The ability to ensure that information is passed on to others who should be kept informed.
- Communication – uses multiple channels or means to reach audience with important messages (e.g. newsletters, meetings, email, social media, etc.).
Innovator Mentality
Definition
Forward-thinking approach, going beyond the obvious and seeking new solutions and ideas, while positively embracing change to accomplish goals.
For All Employees
Observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes:
- Agile – Adapts to changing business needs, conditions, and work responsibilities.
- Responding positively to change and embracing/using new practices to accomplish goals and solve problems.
- Takes initiative.
- Looking beyond the obvious, thinking “outside the box”, and not stopping with the first answer/solution.
- Recovers quickly from setbacks and finds alternative ways to reach goals or targets.
- Tolerance for ambiguity – Being comfortable with uncertainty, unpredictability, conflicting directions, and multiple demands.
For Leaders with Direct Reports
Leaders with direct reports are expected to reach for these, skills, abilities, knowledge, and personal attributes. All employees are encouraged to strive for this level regardless of position.
- Puts ideas into practice, drives us toward excellence, and represents our forward-thinking mindset.
- Inquiry – Encourage active questioning and problem solving.
- Proposes new approaches, methods, or technologies to do things better, and demonstrates support for innovation and organizational changes needed to improve the organization’s effectiveness.
- An aptitude for continuous improvement efforts. Moves us away from the mindset of “this is how it’s always been done.”
- Data informed/evidence-based decision-making.
- Adapts approach, goals, and methods to achieve solutions and results in dynamic situations.