Leaders focus on driving progress, hitting ambitious goals, and delivering results. But in the pursuit of these challenges, one piece can get overlooked: the growth and development of the people who make it all possible.
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I’ve been there myself. I trusted my instincts to spot people’s strengths and potential, and help them grow and excel in their work. It worked — for a while. But as the team expanded, I realized that intuition alone wasn’t enough.
Questions started to surface like:
- What does success in this role look like?
- How can I grow?
- Does my performance align with expectations?
These gaps in clarity — both from my team and from new candidates — highlighted a critical need for structure.
What was missing? A competency matrix — a clear, objective framework to define roles, responsibilities, and growth paths. This article unpacks what a competency matrix is, including its benefits, how to make and use one, and practical tips for its implementation.
What is a competency matrix?
A competency matrix is a structured framework organizations use to evaluate, align, and map skills across different roles. It’s used to provide clarity and consistency for internal and external profiling.
A competency matrix is typically tailored to a specific job family.
For instance, a product manager (PM) competency matrix outlines the expectations, skills, and expertise needed across the product management job family. It pictures the career progression within the organization from entry-level PM positions, such as associate product manager, to the most senior levels, such as chief product officer.
Benefits of a competency matrix
A competency matrix brings structure and clarity to hiring, performance evaluations, and career development:
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While valuable for any role, a matrix is especially useful for product management, where responsibilities can vary widely across organizations.
How to create a competency matrix
Here’s a step-by-step process to create a competency matrix:
1. Identify key job families and seniority levels
What are the job families for your team? What are the progression levels for each of them?
Here are some examples of job families and their seniority levels:
- Product management — APM (associate product manager), PM (product manager), senior PM, director of product, CPO (chief product officer)
- Product design — Junior designer, designer, senior designer, design lead, director of design
- Software engineering — Junior software engineer, engineer, senior engineer, engineering manager, director of engineering, CTO (chief technology officer)
2. Define core competencies for the job family
The next step is to identify the core competencies required within a job family.
A competency is more than just a skill — it’s a combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed to perform a role effectively.
While skills are more specific, often technical and task-oriented, competencies are broader and focus on how those skills are applied in a real business context. For example, using roadmapping tools is a skill, but product strategy and roadmapping is a competency.
Don’t rush to create the list of competencies. It should be a thoughtful process. Collaborate with other stakeholders and think about:
- What does your organization value?
- What do you expect from each level?
- What baseline skills and behaviors are required at each level?
Allow room for flexibility and iteration as your team evolves. If you review it in a few weeks, you’ll likely spot points to improve.
Here’s an example of eight competencies for the product management job family, classified in four categories: Strategy, people, process, and product:
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Some competencies, like product strategy and roadmapping, are unique to the product management job family. Others, such as leadership and stakeholder management, are more universal and apply across multiple job families, including both product management and engineering.
3. Build the competency matrix
Now you can create the competency matrix, detailing the responsibilities and proficiency levels required for each competency across different seniority levels:
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How to use a competency matrix
Now that you have the competency matrix, here’s how to put it to work effectively:
Personal evaluations
Most organizations already have a process for performance evaluation and development. Integrate the competency matrix in the existing process to make it more actionable and focused.
Map each individual to the matrix. Assess where they currently stand:
- Are there gaps holding them back from achieving their goals? Do these areas of improvement align with their growth aspirations?
Bring these insights into your next 1on1 meeting. The key is to have an open discussion and listen to your team member’s perspective. Agreement on the next steps for improvement is critical. Without buy-in, the matrix risks becoming just another formal document with little real impact.
Identifying team gaps
The competency matrix isn’t just for individual growth — it’s also a tool to identify gaps at the team level.
Try mapping your current team’s skills and competencies to the matrix:
- Are there key skills missing in critical areas? Are there competencies you’ll need in the team to scale effectively?
Use these insights to address gaps. Consider targeted training, mentoring, or hiring for new roles.
Hiring
Before your next interview, revisit the competency matrix. It’s a great way to focus on the key areas that truly matter for the role.
After the interview, map the candidate to the matrix:
- How does the candidate measure up against the required competencies? How does your evaluation align with the feedback from the other interviewers?
The matrix brings structure, fairness, and consistency to the hiring process.
And when candidates ask, “How can I grow in this role?” — you’ll have a clear, compelling answer. You can outline growth paths, set expectations, and demonstrate that you care about people’s development.
How using a competency matrix transformed our hiring process
When I recently introduced a new role to fill gaps on my team, I knew it would be a challenge. This wasn’t just any position — it was a highly collaborative role that would touch multiple teams across the organization. Naturally, stakeholders from different departments were involved in the hiring process and eager to have their say.
The process took longer than expected. Finding the right fit wasn’t easy, but there was also another challenge we discovered: Lack of clarity and misalignment. Each stakeholder had a different perspective on the role’s responsibilities and contributions.
This created confusion — not just for us but for the candidates as well — and ultimately was slowing everything down.
We introduced a competency matrix. Developing the matrix forced us to revisit the key requirements for the role, clarify the competencies required, and formalize the growth potential of this role.
The result?
- Clarity for all stakeholders — The expectations of the new role became clear for everyone involved
- Structured interviews — Discussions with candidates were much more focused and consistent
- Aligned evaluations — Stakeholders assessed candidates using the same criteria, enabling unified decision-making
- Transparency for candidates — Candidates gained a clear picture of the role, making the process more professional and inspiring confidence
Practical tips: Make your competency matrix a living tool
Used the right way, the competency matrix can bring a lot of value. But if you treat it as a “check-the-box” task, its value quickly fades.
Keep it relevant, actionable, and impactful with these practical tips:
Use it as a guide, not a box
The matrix is a tool—not a rigid rulebook. Respect people’s unique talents and profiles.
Exceptional candidates and team members often don’t check all boxes but they have exceptional unique skills that can bring immense value.
Use the matrix to guide decisions, not to limit them.
Keep it fresh: Regular updates
Your teams evolve, your company grows, and your priorities shift. Review the matrix periodically to keep it relevant. Every iteration allows you to see things with fresh eyes and improve it further.
A good rule of thumb?
Revisit it when new roles are introduced, teams expand, or the business changes direction.
Involve teams for alignment
Collaborate with relevant stakeholders.
For competencies that overlap across job families or teams — like leadership or stakeholder management — make sure requirements are aligned. While expectations for roles differ, basic ground rules should apply across the organization.
For example, leading a team of engineers should compare reasonably to leading a team of designers or analysts.
Stay aware of industry trends
Every company is unique, but benchmarking against industry practices keeps your matrix grounded.
Is your “director of product” role in line with similar companies at your scale?
Follow the trends and use the language understandable for both internal and external hires.
Share the matrix
It’s a good approach to make the matrix accessible to team members. They would know what’s expected and how to grow.
Plus, you can get valuable feedback from the team — it’s a chance to refine the matrix and ensure it stays valuable.
Use tools that work for you
The matrix is quite simple, so there’s no need to use any advanced tooling.
Excel, Google Sheets, Miro, or Confluence, anything works perfectly well.
Choose what’s already accepted and familiar in your organization. Most important is to ensure adoption of the tool.
To wrap up
A structured approach to people development signals maturity and professionalism. If you’ve relied on gut feeling only when hiring or promoting, introducing a competency matrix can make a difference. It brings clarity for you, clarity for your team, and clarity for new hires.
That said, use the matrix as a guide, not a rulebook.
Exceptional people don’t fit into predefined boxes — their strengths and weaknesses are unique. This is what sets them apart.
Keep room for flexibility and let your talent shine.
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