Foundation for 'Geospatial Technology' Competency Model

Tier Name

Tier Block

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1	Personal Effectiveness

Integrity	Initiative	Professionalism
Interpersonal Skills	Willingness to Learn	Dependability and Reliability

2	Academic Competencies

Reading	Writing	Mathematics	Active Learning
Basic Computer Skills	Science and Technology	Critical and Analytical Thinking	Communication - Listening and Speaking

3	Workplace Competencies

Teamwork	Customer Focus	Creative Thinking	Business Fundamentals
Planning and Organizing	Adaptability/Flexibility	Scheduling and Coordinating	Workplace Computer Applications
Working with Tools and Technology	Checking, Examining and Recording	Problem Solving and Decision-Making

Tier Name	Block Information
Tier 1  - Personal Effectiveness Competencies	Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrating concern for others - Shows sincere interest in others and their concerns, and demonstrates sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others; helps others resolve sensitive interpersonal problems as appropriate; looks for ways to help people, and pitches in to help others. Demonstrating insight into behavior - Recognizes and accurately interprets the verbal and nonverbal behavior of others; shows insight into the actions and motives of others, and recognizes when relationships with others are strained. Maintaining open communication - Maintains open lines of communication with others; encourages others to approach him/her with problems and successes; establishes a high degree of trust and credibility with others. Respecting diversity - Demonstrates sensitivity and respect for the opinions, perspectives, customs and individual differences of others; values diversity of people and ideas. Working with diverse people - Is flexible and open-minded when dealing with a wide range of people; listens to and considers others' viewpoints; works well and develops effective relationships with diverse personalities. Learning about other cultures - Takes action to learn about and understand the climate, orientation, needs, and values of other groups, organizations, or cultures.   Integrity: Behaving ethically - Abides by a strict code of ethics and behavior; chooses an ethical course of action and does the right thing, even in the face of opposition; encourages others to behave accordingly. Acting fairly - Treats others with honesty, fairness and respect; makes decisions that are objective and reflect the just treatment of others. Taking responsibility - Takes responsibility for accomplishing work goals within accepted timeframes; accepts responsibility for one's decisions and actions and for those of one's group, team, or department; attempts to learn from mistakes.   Professionalism: Demonstrating self-control - Demonstrates self-control by maintaining composure and keeping emotions in check even in very difficult situations; deals calmly and effectively with stressful situations. Professional appearance - Maintains a professional demeanor; dresses appropriately for occupation and its requirements; maintains appropriate personal hygiene; Substance abuse - Is free from substance abuse. Maintains a positive attitude - Projects a professional image of oneself and the organization; demonstrates a positive attitude towards work; takes pride in one's work and the work of the organization.   Initiative: Persisting - Pursues work with energy, drive, and a strong accomplishment orientation; persists and expends extra effort to accomplish tasks even when conditions are difficult or deadlines are tight; persists at a task or problem despite interruptions, obstacles, or setbacks. Taking initiative - Goes beyond the routine demands of the job; takes initiative in seeking out new work challenges and increasing the variety and scope of one's job; seeks opportunities to influence events and originate action; assists others who have less experience or have heavy workloads. Setting challenging goals - Establishes and maintains personally challenging but realistic work goals; exerts effort toward task mastery; brings issues to closure by pushing forward until a resolution is achieved. Working independently - Develops own ways of doing things; is able to perform effectively even with minimal direction, support or approval and without direct supervision. Achievement motivation - Intrinsically driven to succeed and excel; strives to exceed standards and expectations; exhibits confidence in capabilities and an expectation to succeed in future activities.   Dependability and Reliability: Fulfilling obligations - Behaves consistently and predictably; is reliable, responsible and dependable in fulfilling obligations; diligently follows through on commitments and consistently meets deadlines. Showing up on time - Demonstrates regular and punctual attendance; rarely is late for meetings or appointments. Attending to details - Diligently checks work to ensure that all essential details have been considered; notices errors or inconsistencies that others have missed, and takes prompt, thorough action to correct errors. Complying with policies - Follows written and verbal directions; complies with organizational rules, policies and procedures.   Willingness to Learn: Demonstrating an interest in learning - Demonstrates an interest in personal learning and development; seeks feedback from multiple sources about how to improve and develop, and modifies behavior based on feedback or self-analysis of past mistakes. Participating in training - Takes steps to develop and maintain knowledge, skills, and expertise necessary to achieve positive results; participates fully in relevant training programs and actively pursues other opportunities to develop knowledge and skills. Anticipating changes in work - Anticipates changes in work demands and searches for and participates in assignments or training that address these changing demands; treats unexpected circumstances as opportunities to learn. Identifying career interests - Takes charge of personal career development by identifying occupational interests, strengths, options and opportunities; makes insightful career planning decisions based on integration and consideration of others' feedback, and seeks out additional training to pursue career goals.
Tier 2  - Academic Competencies	Reading: Comprehension - Locates, understands and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, reports, memos, letters, forms, graphs, charts, tables, calendars, schedules, signs, notices, applications and directions; understands the purpose of written materials; attains meaning and comprehends core ideas. Attention to detail - Identifies main ideas; notes details and facts; detects inconsistencies; identifies implied meaning and details; identifies missing information; identifies trends. Integration - Critically evaluates and analyzes information in written materials; integrates and synthesizes information from multiple written materials. Application - Integrates what is learned from written materials with prior knowledge; applies what is learned from written material to follow instructions and complete specific tasks; applies what is learned from written material to future situations.   Writing: Organization and Development - Creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts; communicates thoughts, ideas, information, messages and other written information, which may contain technical material, in a logical, organized and coherent manner; ideas are well developed with supporting information and examples. Mechanics - Uses standard syntax and sentence structure; uses correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization; uses appropriate grammar (e.g., correct tense, subject-verb agreement, no missing words). Tone - Writes in a manner appropriate for business; uses language appropriate for the target audience; uses appropriate tone and word choice (e.g., writing is professional and courteous).   Mathematics: Quantification - Reads and writes numbers; counts and places numbers in sequence; recognizes whether one number is larger than another. Computation - Adds, subtracts, multiplies, and divides with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents; calculates averages, ratios, proportions and rates; converts decimals to fractions; converts fractions to percents. Measurement and estimation - Takes measurements of time, temperature, distances, length, width, height, perimeter, area, volume, weight, velocity, and speed; uses and reports measurements correctly; converts from one measurement to another (e.g., from English to Metric). Application - Performs basic math computations accurately; translates practical problems into useful mathematical expressions and uses appropriate mathematical formulas and techniques.   Science and Technology: Comprehension - Understands basic scientific principles and to use commonly available technology; understands the scientific method (i.e., identifies problems, collects information, forms opinions and draws conclusions); understands overall intent and proper procedures for set-up and operation of equipment. Application - Applies basic scientific principles and technology to complete tasks.   Communication - Listening and Speaking: Speaking - Expresses information to individuals or groups taking into account the audience and the nature of the information (e.g., technical or controversial); speaks clearly and confidently; information is organized in a logical manner; speaks using common English conventions including proper grammar, tone and pace; tracks audience responses and reacts appropriately to those responses; effectively uses eye contact and non-verbal expression. Listening - Receives, attends to, interprets, understands, and responds to verbal messages and other cues; picks out important information in verbal messages; understands complex instructions; appreciates feelings and concerns of verbal messages. Two-way communication - Practices meaningful two-way communication (i.e., speaks clearly, pays close attention and seeks to understand others, listens attentively and clarifies information); attends to nonverbal cues and responds appropriately. Persuasion/Influence - Influences others; persuasively presents thoughts and ideas; gains commitment and ensures support for proposed ideas.   Critical and Analytical Thinking: Reasoning - Possesses sufficient inductive and deductive reasoning ability to perform job successfully; critically reviews, analyzes, synthesizes, compares and interprets information; draws conclusions from relevant and/or missing information; understands the principles underlying the relationship among facts and applies this understanding when solving problems. Mental agility - Identifies connections between issues; quickly understands, orients to, and learns new assignments; shifts gears and changes direction when working on multiple projects or issues.   Active Learning: Learning strategies - Applies a range of learning techniques to acquire new knowledge and skills; processes and retains information; identifies when it is necessary to acquire new knowledge and skills. Application - Integrates newly learned knowledge and skills with existing knowledge and skills; uses newly learned knowledge and skills to complete specific tasks; uses newly learned knowledge and skills in new or unfamiliar situations.   Basic Computer Skills:Using a personal computer and related applications to convey and retrieve information Comprehending the basics - Understands and efficiently uses basic computer hardware (e.g. PCs, printers) and software (e.g. word processing software, spreadsheet software) to perform tasks; understands common computer terminology (e.g., program, operating system) and is familiar with the fundamental capabilities of computers. Entering data - Enters data into computer files quickly, with an acceptable degree of accuracy; double checks data entry carefully; notices when data are missing or look wrong and takes steps to ensure computer files are complete and accurate. Preparing documents - Uses word processing programs to create, edit, and retrieve document files; types materials quickly and accurately; checks work carefully and identifies/corrects typographical errors; uses basic reference materials and tools (e.g., spell check) to ensure accuracy.
Tier 3  - Workplace Competencies	Teamwork: Acknowledging team membership and role - Accepts membership in the team; shows loyalty to the team; determines when to be a leader and when to be a follower depending on what is needed to achieve the team's goals and objectives; encourages others to express their ideas and opinions; identifies and draws upon team members' strengths and weaknesses to achieve results; learns from other team members. Establishing productive relationships - Develops constructive and cooperative working relationships with others; exhibits tact and diplomacy and strives to build consensus; shows sensitivity to the thoughts and opinions of other team members; delivers constructive criticism and voices objections to others' ideas and opinions in a supportive, non-accusatory manner; responds appropriately to positive and negative feedback. Identifying with the team and its goals - Identifies the goals, norms, values, and customs of the team; is a team player and contributes to the group's effort; uses a group approach to identify problems and develop solutions based on group consensus; effectively communicates with all members of the group or team to achieve team goals and objectives. Resolving conflicts - Brings others together to reconcile differences; handles conflicts maturely by exercising "give and take" to achieve positive results for all parties; reaches formal or informal agreements that promote mutual goals and interests, and obtains commitment to those agreements from individuals or groups.   Adaptability/Flexibility: Employing unique analyses - Employs unique analyses and generates new, innovative ideas in complex areas; integrates seemingly unrelated information to develop creative solutions; develops innovative methods of obtaining or using resources when insufficient resources are available. Entertaining new ideas - Is open to considering new ways of doing things; actively seeks out and carefully considers the merits of new approaches to work; willingly embraces new approaches when appropriate and discards approaches that are no longer working. Dealing with ambiguity - Takes effective action when necessary without having to have all the necessary facts in hand; easily changes gears in response to unpredictable or unexpected events, pressures, situations and job demands; effectively changes plans, goals, actions or priorities to deal with changing situations.   Customer Focus: Understanding customer needs - Demonstrates a desire to understand customer needs; listens to what customers are saying and asks questions as appropriate; demonstrates awareness of client goals. Providing personalized service - Provides prompt, efficient and personalized assistance to meet the requirements, requests, and concerns of customers; provides thorough, accurate information to answer customers questions and inform them of commitment times or performance guarantees; actively looks for ways to help customers by identifying and proposing appropriate solutions and/or services; establishes boundaries as appropriate for unreasonable customer demands. Acting professionally - Is pleasant, courteous and professional when dealing with internal or external customers; develops constructive and cooperative working relationships with customers, and displays a good-natured, cooperative attitude; is calm and empathetic when dealing with hostile customers. Keeping customers informed - Follows up with customers during projects and following project completion; keeps clients up to date about decisions that affect them; seeks the comments, criticisms and involvement of customers; adjusts services based on customer feedback.   Planning and Organizing: Planning - Approaches work in a methodical manner; plans and schedules tasks so that work is completed on time; keeps track of details to ensure work is performed accurately and completely. Prioritizing - Prioritizes various competing tasks and performs them quickly and efficiently according to their urgency; finds new ways of organizing work area or planning work to accomplish work more efficiently. Allocating resources - Estimates resources needed for project completion; allocates time and resources effectively and coordinates efforts with all affected parties; keeps all parties informed of progress and all relevant changes to project timelines. Anticipating obstacles - Anticipates obstacles to project completion and develops contingency plans to address them; takes necessary corrective action when projects go off-track.   Creative Thinking: Generating innovative solutions - Uses information, knowledge, and beliefs to generate original, innovative solutions to problems; reframes problems in a different light to find fresh approaches; entertains wide-ranging possibilities others may miss; takes advantage of difficult or unusual situations to develop unique approaches and useful solutions. Seeing the big picture - Has broad knowledge and perspective; pieces together seemingly unrelated data to identify patterns and trends and to see a bigger picture; understands the pieces of a system as a whole and appreciates the consequences of actions on other parts of the system; possesses a big-picture view of the situation.   Problem Solving and Decision-Making: Identifying the problem - Anticipates or recognizes the existence of a problem; identifies the true nature of the problem by analyzing its component parts; uses all available reference systems to locate and obtain information relevant to the problem; recalls previously learned information that is relevant to the problem. Locating, gathering, and organizing relevant information - Effectively uses both internal resources (e.g., internal computer networks, company filing systems) and external resources (e.g., internet search engines) to locate and gather information; examines information obtained for relevance and completeness; recognizes important gaps in existing information and takes steps to eliminate those gaps; organizes/reorganizes information as appropriate to gain a better understanding of the problem. Generating alternatives - Integrates previously learned and externally obtained information to generate a variety of high-quality alternative approaches to the problem; skillfully uses logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses, the costs and benefits, and the short- and long-term consequences of different approaches. Choosing a solution - Decisively chooses the best solution after contemplating available approaches to the problem; makes difficult decisions even in highly ambiguous or ill-defined situations; quickly chooses an effective solution without assistance when appropriate. Implementing the solution - Commits to a solution in a timely manner, and develops a realistic approach for implementing the chosen solution; observes and evaluates the outcomes of implementing the solution to assess the need for alternative approaches and to identify lessons learned.   Working with Tools and Technology: Selecting tools - Selects and applies appropriate tools or technological solutions to frequently encountered problems; carefully considers which tools or technological solutions are appropriate for a given job, and consistently chooses the best tool or technological solution for the problem at hand. Keeping current - Demonstrates an interest in learning about new and emerging tools and technologies; seeks out opportunities to improve knowledge of tools and technologies that may assist in streamlining work and improving productivity. Troubleshooting - Learns how to maintain and troubleshoot tools and technologies.   Scheduling and Coordinating: Arranging - Makes arrangements (e.g. for traveling, meetings) that fulfill all requirements as efficiently and economically as possible; handles all aspects of arrangements thoroughly and completely with little or no supervision. Informing - Responds to the schedules of others affected by arrangements; informs others of arrangements, giving them complete, accurate and timely information; insures that others receive needed materials in time. Verifying - Takes steps to verify all arrangements; recognizes problems, generates effective alternatives, and takes corrective action. Coordinating in distributed environments - Coordinates schedules of colleagues, co-workers, and clients in regional locations (i.e., across time zones) to ensure that inconvenience is minimized and productivity is enhanced; leverages technology (e.g., internet, teleconference) to facilitate information sharing in distributed work environments; takes advantage of team member availability throughout business hours in multiple time zones to enhance productivity. Shiftwork - Effectively coordinates the transition of employees at the beginning and end of each work shift; disseminates crucial information in an organized manner to rapidly bring employees up to speed at the start of their shifts; ensures that employees are updated on work completed on past shifts and work that still needs to be completed.   Checking, Examining and Recording: Detecting errors - Detects and corrects errors, even under time pressure; notices errors or inconsistencies; forwards or processes forms in a timely and accurate manner. Completing forms - Selects and completes appropriate forms quickly and completely; attends to and follows through on important information in paperwork; expedites forms, orders or advances that require immediate attention. Obtaining information - Obtains appropriate information, signatures and approvals promptly; verifies that all information is present and accurate before forwarding materials. Maintaining logs - Keeps logs, records and files that are up-to-date and readily accessible; updates logs, files and records, noting important changes in status.   Workplace Computer Applications: Keyboarding and word processing - Skillfully uses word-processing software; streamlines document processing by employing a variety of common software functions; uses correct style and format, even when confronted by uncommon requirements that deviate from standard guides; consults appropriate manuals when uncertain about the correct style and format. Internet applications - Effectively uses the internet and web-based tools to manage basic workplace tasks (e.g., timekeeping, maintaining employee records, conducting information searches); understands and performs internet functions requiring the use of log-in and password information; is aware of company guidelines surrounding internet usage and complies with those guidelines. E-mailing - Composes professional e-mails to communicate business-related information to coworkers, colleagues, and customers; understands the company e-mail system and its basic functions (e.g., replying to/forwarding messages, using electronic address books, attaching files); ensures that key stakeholders are kept informed of communications by copying (i.e., "CCing") them on important e-mails when appropriate. Spreadsheets - Uses spreadsheet software to enter, manipulate, edit and format text and numerical data; effectively creates and saves worksheets, charts, and graphs that are well organized, attractive, and useful.   Business Fundamentals: Situational awareness - Understands the organization's mission and functions; recognizes one's role in the functioning of the company and understands the potential impact one's own performance can have on the success of the organization; grasps the potential impact of the company's well-being on employees. Business ethics - Demonstrates respect for coworkers, colleagues, and customers; acts in the best interest of the company, the community, and the environment; complies with applicable laws and rules governing work and reports loss, waste, or theft or company property to appropriate personnel. Market knowledge - Understands market trends in the industry and the company's position in the market; knows who the company's primary competitors are, and stays current on organizational strategies to maintain competitiveness.