Advanced · HR-Adjacent · Clarity-Creating
The Missing Piece
A practical framework for building competency models that actually describe the job.
At a Glance
Camp leadership roles are hard to describe on paper. They involve multiple supervisors, overlapping responsibilities, and gray areas that a traditional job description can’t capture. A competency model works differently, it starts with what success looks like in the role and works backwards to the specific behaviors and skills that produce it. This training gives directors a practical framework for building competency models that inform hiring, development, and performance management across the organization.
THE PROBLEM
Job descriptions check the HR box. Competency models give staff a roadmap for what success actually looks like.
The job description for most camp leadership roles was written to satisfy an HR requirement. It lists responsibilities without describing what it actually takes to do the job well. When something goes wrong, there’s no shared language for naming it. When something goes right, there’s no framework for replicating it.
The result is that organizations end up waiting for the person who figures it out on their own rather than building the conditions that make success predictable. Competency models change that.
WHAT’S INSIDE
4 Core Modules
Why Job Descriptions Aren’t Enough
A direct look at what job descriptions do and don’t do, and why camp leadership roles are particularly hard to capture in the standard format. Multiple supervisors, overlapping responsibilities, and complex stakeholder relationships are the norm at camp and the exception in the job description template. This module makes the case for a better tool.
A clear understanding of what competency models do that job descriptions can’t
Backwards Planning from Success
The core methodology of this training. Directors start by identifying what success looks like in a specific role, then work backwards to the behaviors and skills that produce it. This module includes a structured exercise where participants identify success markers for a role at their own camp.
A working list of success markers and the competencies behind them
Writing Your First Competency Model
A framework for organizing competencies into core, role-specific, and leadership categories, and a set of guidelines for writing behavioral indicators that are specific enough to be measurable. Participants leave this module with a drafted competency model for a real role at their camp.
A drafted competency model ready to refine and implement
Making Competency Models Work
How to use a completed competency model across the organization: in hiring decisions, staff development conversations, performance management, and policy creation. Includes a discussion of how to introduce competency models to a team without generating anxiety, and how to build the habit of updating them as the role evolves.
An implementation plan for the competency model they’ve drafted
WHO IT’S FOR
Built for
Supervisory Staff
CAMP DIRECTORS
HR & HIRING
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Designed for directors and senior leaders who are responsible for hiring and developing staff. Works well as part of a strategic planning process or during the off-season when there’s space to do organizational development work.
FORMAT & LOGISTICS
What to Expect
DURATION
1 - 1.5 Hours
1–1.5 hours depending on the amount of hands-on drafting time built in.
DELIVERY
In-Person or Remote
Available on-site at your camp or virtually. Both formats are fully interactive, not just a slideshow.
TIMING
Fall Planning
Participants leave with a template and a drafted competency model for a real role at their camp.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS WALK AWAY WITH
A framework for understanding what competency models do that job descriptions can’t
The backwards planning methodology for identifying what success looks like in a role
A drafted competency model for a real role at their camp
An implementation plan for using competency models across hiring, development, and performance management
PAIRS WELL WITH
Build a Full Training Track
DIRECTOR LEVEL · ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
“We all Jump In” Doesn’t Work
Competency models and the VARCI framework address the same organizational clarity problem from different angles.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT · STAFF COACHING
Coaching as a System
Competency models give coaches a shared language for what they’re developing toward.
STAFF TRAINING · TEAM DYNAMICS
Stop the Drama
Recurring performance problems often trace back to a missing competency model. Understanding both together accelerates the diagnosis.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
Bring This To Your Camp
Tell us a little about your organization and what you're looking for. We'll get back to you within 48 hours to talk through the details, customize the content for your context, and figure out what works for your budget and timeline.
Prefer to reach out directly?
jarod@thrivepointstudio.com