Staff Competencies

The Indiana University Staff Competencies give us a common language to describe how we work together, what to expect from each other, and how to maximize our potential at IU. Cultivating these observable skills and behaviors fosters accountability and contributes to everyone’s success in the workplace.

The IU Staff Competencies include core competencies that apply to all IU Staff and career-level competencies that define skills and behaviors for each specific level within the IU organization.

Faculty and/or academic positions are not included this initiative.

These competencies are designed to help you:

• Understand the key behaviors you should demonstrate to ensure success at IU
• Discuss your strengths, areas for growth, and developmental activities with your supervisor
• Take ownership and provide direction for your training and development opportunities
• Understand what skills and behaviors would be expected in order move to a new role or to management at IU through the career level competencies

The IU Staff Competencies define what we at IU should expect from ourselves and from one another. They allow us to approach our work with a shared understanding of how we can best work together to support the university.

Develop your core and career competencies

• Visit Career Planning at IU to create a professional development plan and consider how these competencies can help you reach your career goals
• Discuss your learning goals with your manager
• Seek and openly listen to feedback from your manager and peers to gain understanding of your strengths and what areas may need further development
• Creatively consider how you can gain skill in these areas through your work—this could include: leading or participating in a special project, mentoring, shadowing, participating in a committee or group, developing SOPs, and much more
• Take advantage of IU’s wide variety of training and development opportunities

How supervisors at IU use these tools

The IU Staff Competencies are a framework for “how we do our jobs” at IU and provide a language of accountability for work teams. Units should consider these competencies when viewing an employee’s performance and contribution.

As a supervisor, commit to practicing these behaviors yourself and help your staff develop these competencies through the work they do, training opportunities, and more.

Competencies help supervisors to better:

• Screen prospective employees during the hiring process, which results in better hiring decisions. Work with your Human Resources representative to learn more about the Competency-based Interview Guides
• Discuss with your employees their strengths and areas for growth, and determine plans for development. Use Performance at IU resources to facilitate these conversations
• Provide direction for training and development opportunities as well as empower and inform employees to seek out self-development opportunities
• Determine what types of skill sets may be needed in the future in order to support business and succession planning