Skills Framework: the definition that helps avoid common misunderstandings

A skills framework lists the competencies required to perform a specific job, together with the resources each competency draws upon and the associated level of proficiency. It is a fundamental tool for skills management within a company, supporting recruitment, annual performance reviews, internal mobility and training plans.

Many definitions found online confuse two distinct concepts: the competencies themselves and the resources that underpin them, such as knowledge, practical know-how and interpersonal skills. This article clarifies that distinction, as well as another equally important one: the difference between a skills framework and an activities framework, from which the former is directly derived.

In Summary

A skills framework formalizes the competencies required to carry out the activities of a specific job—not the activities themselves. For each competency, it specifies the resources involved (knowledge, practical skills and interpersonal skills), the expected level of proficiency, and the situations in which it is applied. A robust skills framework can only be developed on the basis of a prior analysis of real work: the activities framework.

What Is a Skills Framework?

A skills framework is a document that formalizes all the competencies required to carry out the activities associated with a particular job. For each competency, it specifies the resources involved, the expected level of proficiency, and the situations in which it is applied. It answers the following question: what must this professional be able to do, and to what level, in order to perform these activities?

A competency is neither a piece of isolated knowledge nor simply a box to tick on a form. It is the ability to act effectively: the capacity to combine and mobilize several resources in a way that is appropriate to a given situation in order to produce a relevant action. A skills framework therefore does not simply list pieces of knowledge; it defines each competency as an action within a specific context: “diagnose an electrical fault on an injection molding machine,” rather than “knowledge of electricity.”

What Does a Skills Framework Contain?

The most common misconception is to treat knowledge, practical skills, and interpersonal skills as if they were competencies in themselves. In reality, they are the resources that enable a competency to be applied - not the competency itself. A robust framework distinguishes four key elements:

• Competencies: formulated as complex abilities to act (action verb + object + context). For example: “isolate an electrical installation before carrying out work,” rather than simply “electrical isolation.”

• Resources: what the competency draws upon. These include knowledge (theoretical knowledge, regulations and standards), practical skills (technical expertise, techniques and procedures), and interpersonal skills (professional attitudes, behaviours and ways of interacting in a given situation).

• Levels of proficiency: observable descriptors of the level at which a competency is performed, ranging from beginner to expert.

• Assessment criteria: what makes it possible to determine, in a real-life situation, whether the competency is genuinely being applied rather than merely claimed.

	Knowledge	Practical Skills	Interpersonal Skills
Nature	Theoretical knowledge acquired through initial or continuing training	Technical and practical mastery of a trade, acquired through experience	Behavioural qualities and professional attitudes mobilized in the workplace
Examples	Standards and regulations applicable to the position	Diagnosing a malfunction in a real-life situation	Communicating clearly with the team and the manager

These three resources are not interchangeable “types of competencies.” They work together to enable a competency to be applied. It is this combination, in a real-life situation, that makes the difference between someone who knows the theory and someone who is genuinely able to act.

Skills Framework or Activities Framework?

Skills frameworks are often incorrectly compared with job descriptions. However, the distinction that truly matters, the one that determines the strength and consistency of everything that follows, is the distinction between a skills framework and an activities framework.

An activities framework is a descriptive and normative document that identifies all the professional activities characteristic of a particular job, as they are actually carried out in real working situations. It answers the question: What does this professional actually do as part of their job?

A skills framework answers a different question: What must this professional be able to do, and to what level, in order to carry out these activities?

	Activities Framework	Skills Framework
Focus	The work itself	The individual
Key question	What does the professional do?	What must they be able to do?
Foundation	The real world of work	Human development
Developed by	Experienced professionals and subject-matter experts	Learning and development specialists and HR professionals

The two documents are not equivalent; they have a foundation-to-structure relationship. The activities framework provides the underlying structure for the skills framework. Building a skills framework without first analysing the actual activities involved in the job is, in the words of France Compétences, like “building a structure on sand”: the result is a list of declared knowledge that has never been tested against the reality of the work.

Levels of Proficiency

A framework that lists competencies without specifying levels of proficiency remains of limited practical use: it is impossible to determine whether an employee is truly operational. A four-level scale is common, although some organisations use three or five levels depending on their sector and the degree of detail required. What matters is not the number of levels, but the fact that each one is defined using observable criteria. Here is an example of a four-level scale:

Level	Title	What can be observed
1	Basic	Understands the fundamentals and works under supervision
2	Independent	Performs the competency independently in routine situations
3	Proficient	Handles complex cases without support
4	Expert	Trains others and optimizes methods

In the field, particularly for technical roles or positions subject to strict safety requirements, this scale is only meaningful if the observed level is demonstrated in real working conditions. Simply ticking a box on a form is not enough.

Why build a skills framework?

A skills framework serves as the foundation for workforce and skills planning (GEPP, formerly GPEC): it makes it possible to measure the gap between available competencies and required competencies, helping to guide recruitment, internal mobility and training plans.

• Your recruitment: instead of looking for a diploma or relying on a vague job title, you can target specific competencies that are immediately applicable on the job.

• Your internal mobility: you can identify natural career pathways between roles by mapping transferable competencies.

• Your skills development plan: your investments can focus on real needs and the gaps observed in the field.

💡 Gerardo Marcotti, CEO of Daylindo, shares his perspective : “The most carefully designed framework in the world is worthless if it describes the job as seen from headquarters rather than the reality of the work on the production line. Before finalising it, we always test it against several weeks of real-world observation on the job. And the gaps we uncover at that stage are often more valuable than the final document itself.”

How to Get Started, in Practical Terms

Many guides suggest a five-step approach: define the objective, bring together a working group, identify the required competencies, define proficiency levels and formalize the framework. In practice, particularly for technical roles, you often start from scratch. No job description may exist yet, and this reality needs to be taken into account from the outset.

Here is what works in practice :

• Identify the right people in the field. The people who truly understand a job are not always the same profiles: sometimes it is management, and sometimes it is a senior operator recognized as the go-to expert.

• Map the role through interviews rather than theoretical questionnaires: how people enter the role, what they actually do, and what career paths are available afterwards.

• Break the role down to specific job tasks : precise, observable actions, rather than stopping at generic labels. “Understands electrical lockout/tagout procedures” tells a manager very little: it does not specify what should be practiced, by whom or how.

• Accept an initially uneven result rather than trying to create a rigid, standardized framework from the start. Standardizing too early can smooth over genuine differences between roles instead of helping you understand them.

💡 Gerardo Marcotti, CEO of Daylindo, shares his perspective: “The step that almost everyone skips is updating the framework. A framework created once and then forgotten in a shared Excel file starts losing its value as soon as the job changes. And for field-based roles, that happens faster than most people think.”

This field-based approach - selecting the right stakeholders, conducting interviews, analysing tasks at the right level of detail and identifying pathways between roles, is explained in greater detail, with a practical case study, in our article on How to get started with a GEPP approach ?

FAQ

Is a Skills Framework Mandatory?

No, no legal provision requires companies to have a skills framework as such. However, companies with at least 300 employees (or at least 150 employees in France for a Community-scale group) are required to negotiate on GEPP, generally every three years, or every four years if a methodological agreement provides for it, pursuant to Articles L2242-20 and following of the French Labour Code. A skills framework is a fundamental tool for supporting this process.

What Is the difference between a Skills Framework and a Skills Map?

A skills framework defines what is expected for each role, whereas a skills map provides a picture of the competencies actually available within the company, employee by employee. The framework evolves when the role changes, while the skills map is updated with each individual assessment.

How long does it take to build a skills Framework?

For a limited scope involving just a few roles, allow several weeks for interviews and structuring the framework. For a company-wide scope, the process can take several months. The most important factor is the availability of the right people in the field—not the size or complexity of the tool being used.

A starting point, not an end goal

A well-designed skills framework is a starting point, not an end goal. It must be updated as the role evolves, whether due to a new procedure, new equipment or new regulations, and regularly tested against real-world observation to remain reliable.

This is what the Daylindo platform helps bring to life on a daily basis, by building on the actual work carried out by your teams rather than relying on a file sitting unused in a shared folder.

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