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Organizational Design and Effectiveness

Leadership Competencies

A competency is simply the knowledge, skill, or behaviour that contributes to successful job performance. When an organization uses competencies, it provides a common language and understanding for everyone in the organization, so that when we talk about strategic orientation or team leadership, everyone knows what behaviours are expected in those areas.

The Nova Scotia Government uses eight leadership competencies to define what is needed to be a successful leader in government.

These behavioural competencies are:

Various professional groups have selected additional competencies as part of their desire to build strength and capacity in their chosen fields. These competencies are being used for development purposes and will help professionals enhance their careers. The HR and Finance Communities are two groups within government who use developmental competencies to enhance their professional careers.

New Competencies for Professional Groups or Specialist Areas

To help guide the HR Community and line managers through the steps of adding a competency or group of competencies for their professional group or specialist area and to provide help with integrating them into their other human resource processes please refer to Adding a new Competency Portable Document Format (PDF). Please see also the Competency guide at a glance Portable Document Format (PDF) for adding new competencies.

Other Useful Competency Information