Related concepts: Proactivity, Resilience and ‘Vigour’, Drive and Initiative, Following Process

The individual is comfortable setting their own direction and making sure the work gets done. They are driven and will look for opportunities to take on more work and add value to the business. They tackle work with energy and enthusiasm and see it through to completion. They are not discouraged by difficult challenges or setbacks. They understand the need to work within organisational boundaries, but seek to get as much done as possible within these.

This competency may be less important in a role where specific tasks will be assigned to employees rather than allowing them to exercise their initiative. It may also be less important where employees are monitored closely to make sure things get done.

Related concepts: Decision Making, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Judgment, Creativity, Problem Solving

The individual is concerned with thinking through problems rationally and effectively, gaining the relevant facts and using these to make objective decisions. They think of multiple solutions to problems and creatively work out the best way forward. This is particularly important in a role where employees are expected to exercise their own judgment to solve tasks set for them.

This competency may be less important if there are already prescribed solutions to the problems or where employees will be trained in how they are supposed to tackle problems. It may also be less important where employees will generally be applying existing skill and knowledge rather than needing to think beyond what they already know.

Note: This could also include raw thinking power (general reasoning ability) but the SJT would not measure this.

Related concepts: Teamwork, Emotional Intelligence, Understanding Others, Empathy/Care, Communication

The individual considers the thoughts and feelings of others and lets this guide what they do. They show sensitivity to individual differences and use this to guide how they interact with others. They are effective at building working relationships and using these to get the job done. They are likely to be viewed as easy and enjoyable to work with.

This competency may be less important in roles where employees tend to work on their own on tasks that have little interaction with others. For example, some technical roles may require an employee to spend a lot of time focused on their own task rather than working with others.

Related concepts: Planning, Organisation, Time Management, Managing ambiguity, Adaptability

An individual who stays organised thinks ahead and uses this foresight to structure how they work. They are likely to consider what they can get done and set realistic deadlines that they can meet. However, they also understand that plans may change, and will make contingencies to deal with this. They are likely to be adaptable and continue to make progress even when working in deeply ambiguous situations.

This competency may be less important when an employee does not have to manage their own time but has this managed by others. Furthermore, it may also be less important with a relatively uncomplicated workload, for example, when somebody will only be expected to work on one or two tasks at any one time, so it is clear where they should focus and what they should be doing.

Related concepts: Personal Development

Somebody who focuses on their own development is keen to make the best use of their work time to enhance their skills and capabilities. Where they lack important capability, they will seek to address this, but they will also look at other areas they need to be skilled in and aim to develop these too. This is very important at the start of somebody’s career as they will need to pick up lots of skills for their workplace toolkit to become effective as quickly as possible.

This competency may be less important when an employee will come equipped with the skills needed to be effective in the role. It may also be less critical if they are going to be put into a role with a clear development plan already in place, which they won’t need to take control of themselves – but if they are not provided with specific compulsory activities it is likely that this will still be important.

Related concepts: Commercial Awareness, Customer Care

The individual shows an understanding beyond their immediate role, to think about how they fit within the business as a whole. They consider the wider implications of their work and are keen to ensure they add positive value to the company. The customer is likely to be of prime importance to them. They view customer satisfaction as key to the success of the business and will put in extra effort to make sure customers are happy.

This competency is likely to be less important in ‘back office’ roles where there is little need to focus on pleasing customer directly and where there is negligible responsibility for business development.