In Employees > Jobs, each family, function, role and level of your job catalog has a Competencies tab where you add competencies, set expected levels and see which competencies are inherited. You can pick competencies from your company library, search the Factorial catalog, or add suggested competencies that Factorial proposes for the job.

Before you start

• You need See job catalog roles and levels and See job catalog competencies to see the Competencies tab, and Edit job catalog competencies to change it.
• To create new competencies, search the Factorial catalog or use Suggested competencies, you also need Manage competencies.
• Your job catalog is a tree: Company > Family > Function > Role > Level. Competencies added at one point of the tree are inherited by everything below it.
• Employees are assessed on the competencies of the job level in their contract, including inherited ones.

Steps

See the competencies of a job

1. Go to Employees > Jobs.
2. In the Graph or Table view, click a family, function, role or level. A side panel shows the competencies under Details; inherited ones show a link icon with "Inherited from [name]".
3. Click Go to details and open the Competencies tab.
4. The table shows Competency name, Description and Inherited from. On a role, there is one "[level] expected level" column per level. On a level, there is one Expected level column.

Add competencies to a job

1. Go to Employees > Jobs and open the family, function, role or level.
2. Open the Competencies tab.
3. Click Add competency (or Assign competencies if the tab is empty).
4. In Assign competencies for [name], use Search in the catalog to find competencies. Results include your company competencies and competencies from the Factorial catalog.
5. Under Suggested competencies, click Add next to any suggestion you want to keep.
6. To create a new one, type its name and click New [name] competency, fill in Competency, Competency group and Description, and click Save.
7. Click Assign. The message "Competencies successfully updated" confirms it.

Set the expected level of a competency

1. Go to Employees > Jobs and open a role (with levels) or a level.
2. Open the Competencies tab.
3. Click a competency row, or open its row actions (...) and click Assign levels (on a role) or Assign level (on a level).
4. In Assign expected levels, for each job level choose the competency level that is expected ("Select a competency level for each job").
5. If the competency has no suitable level, click Add level to create one.
6. Click Save.

Unassign a competency from a job

1. Go to Employees > Jobs, open the node where the competency was added and open Competencies.
2. Open the row actions (...) of the competency and click Unassign.
3. In Unassign competency, type the competency name and confirm.

Rules and behavior

• If you add a competency to a family or function, then every role and level below it inherits the competency.
• If you add a competency at the top of the tree (the company), then every job level in the catalog inherits it, and everyone with a job in their contract is assessed on it.
• If a competency is inherited, then you can see it on the lower node but can only change or unassign it on the node where it was added (shown in Inherited from).
• Expected levels are set on job levels. Families, functions and the company don't have expected levels.
• If you select a competency from the Factorial catalog or from Suggested competencies, then it's first added to your company library (in Performance > Competencies) and then assigned to the job.
• Factorial catalog results don't include competencies you already have with the same name.
• Suggested competencies appear when the job has a name and a description, and it's a role, a function with at least 2 roles, or a family with at least 2 functions. Levels and the company node get no suggestions.
• For a role, suggestions come from matching the role's title and description (and your company's industry) to similar occupations in the Factorial catalog.
• For a function or family, Factorial uses AI to rank the competencies of the roles below and propose up to 12. If the AI ranking isn't available, Factorial shows the top 12 candidates without ranking.
• If you don't have Manage competencies, then you can only assign competencies that already exist in your library.
• If you unassign a competency, then reviews launched afterwards don't include it for people in that job; reviews already launched keep their questions.

Limitations

• You can't edit a competency's name or levels from the job catalog; use Performance > Competencies.
• You can't override an inherited competency's assignment on a lower node; change it where it was added.
• You can't set an expected level on a family, function or the company node.
• Suggestions aren't available for levels or for nodes without a description.
• The Factorial catalog is read-only; you can't edit its entries before adding them, only after (in your library).

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: "There is no Competencies tab on my roles." → Cause: Your company's plan doesn't include Performance (Business or Enterprise) (you see an upsell instead), or you lack See job catalog competencies. → Fix: Check your company's plan (Business or Enterprise) and Settings > Permissions > Job catalog.
• Symptom: "I don't see Suggested competencies or Factorial catalog results." → Cause: You don't have Manage competencies, the job has no description, or it's a level or a small function/family. → Fix: Add a description to the role, or ask for Manage competencies.
• Symptom: "I can't unassign a competency." → Cause: It's inherited from a higher node. → Fix: Open the node shown in Inherited from and unassign it there.
• Symptom: "Assign levels does nothing useful; it says 'No levels created for this competency yet'." → Cause: The competency has no levels. → Fix: Click Add level in the panel or add levels in Performance > Competencies > [competency] > Levels.

FAQ

1. Is the Factorial catalog AI-generated?

No. It's a catalog of standard competencies in several languages. AI is only used to rank suggestions for functions and families.

2. What's the difference between adding a competency here and in Performance > Competencies?

The result is the same link between competency and job. Here you work job by job and can assign at family or function level; in Performance > Competencies you work competency by competency.

3. Can One answer questions about the competencies of my jobs?

Yes. One can tell you which competencies and expected levels each job has, and where they're inherited from. It can't create competencies. See AI, One & analytics.