A mid-sized company with about 40 managers faced a leadership transition. The founder and long-time CEO, who had shaped the company for decades, handed over responsibility to a successor. While the founder made most decisions on his own and the managers largely followed his lead because of his expertise, the new CEO wanted to take a different approach: he aimed to build a real leadership team that would share responsibility and actively shape the future.
Step 1: Leadership framework and role profiles
Together with the managers, we developed a leadership framework and a set of shared leadership values. A small project group, which included the HR lead, then designed role profiles for the managers – structured at two levels: division heads and department heads.
Some managers, especially the more experienced ones, were initially hesitant. They feared they might “look bad” if their results were too far from the target profile. We resolved this concern by discussing the results in confidential 1:1 coaching sessions and storing only anonymized results in the organization. Each manager had full access to their own profile, but no one else could see individual data.
Step 2: Competence profiles with KODE®
The competence model we used was KODE®, which allows both self-assessment and external assessment of competences. The target profiles included 10 competences, each with the required level of expression. The managers first completed a self-assessment questionnaire. Afterward, each manager participated in a 1:1 coaching session where we reviewed the profile and defined development needs.
As agreed, the results were then consolidated and anonymized, and reviewed jointly with HR and the CEO. Based on these insights, we designed a leadership development program focused on the competences identified as development areas during the coaching conversations.
Step 3: Embedding feedback as part of the culture
To ensure sustainable competence development, the project group recommended to the CEO early on that, alongside working on competence profiles, the organization should strengthen its feedback culture. An accompanying organizational development initiative was launched to embed feedback more deeply. This included both structured team meetings and everyday leadership situations such as delegation.
Among all managers in a reporting line (e.g., division heads with their department heads, or department heads within the same division), structured 1:1 feedback was introduced on a monthly basis. The aim was not just to exchange feedback but to establish feedback as a natural part of daily leadership.
Step 4: Expanding to the expert level
Once the leadership team had established a foundation, competence management was rolled out to the expert level. The managers now took on the role of feedback givers. Together with HR, a structured talent development process was introduced that clearly differentiated between technical expertise and competences – and anchored both in an ongoing dialogue.
Key learning from the project
- Competence management only works when integrated into existing processes such as performance reviews, feedback rounds, and coaching.
- Technical skills are relatively easy to document, but competences are developmental profiles. The goal is less about evaluation and more about making progress visible.
- A strong feedback culture is essential to support competence development in daily work.
- Introducing competence management not only changes HR processes, it also strengthens leadership culture overall.
The company used the leadership transition as a chance to take a new path: moving away from the “CEO decides everything” approach toward a true leadership team that shares responsibility and grows together.
Competence management with KODE® became the lever – not as an evaluation tool, but as a development instrument that creates transparency and fosters learning.
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