Competencies are determined by an individual's job category. There are two general categories - People Leaders and Individual Contributors.
People Leaders' performance is measured based on the results of those they manage.
Individual Contributors' performance is evaluated by the results of their actual work product.
An individual can belong to both categories, but how that individual spends the majority of their time on most days is what determines which category they belong to. For example, a person who manages others but spends most of their day working on specific projects or tasks is still an individual contributor even though they are also a People Leader.
Understanding competencies expected of a given role is key to establishing what methods are expected of that role in achieving their goals. We'll be going into more detail on specific competencies in the next section.