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Putting
Competencies
into Practice

A guide to applying the

WHO performance competencies
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Foreword by the
Director-General
The WHO competency model is intended to guide us in our work and in how we interact with
others, reminding us of the positive behaviours we need to demonstrate in our daily activities at
WHO. It should not sit on the shelf, to be dusted off once a year at the time of the performance
appraisal. It should be seen as an aspirational blueprint which sets an agenda for on-going
learning and improvement in the context or career development and organization culture
change..

My report to the WHA in 2012 on the WHO Reform Agenda states that we all need to foster a
culture in which “self-directed” learning is widely accepted. The best learning takes place in the
workplace as you tackle real challenges. This guide is a job-aid to assist in the self-directed
learning approach. Just take one activity in the guide: apply it, practice it, perfect it and make a
small difference in the way you work. Then take another. I am convinced that these small
incremental learning activities can make an incremental change in the organisational culture.

The goal is to bring the competencies to life and as a result foster a better and more effective
work environment.

Margaret Chan
Director General
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Introduction
The WHO global competency model, introduced in 2004, contains 13
The WHO
competencies divided into three groups: core, management and
Competency leadership competencies. They are:
Model
Core
1. Communicating in a credible and effective way
2. Knowing and managing yourself
3. Producing results
4. Moving forward in a changing environment
5. Fostering integration and teamwork
6. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
7. Setting an example

Management
8. Creating an empowering and motivating environment
9. Ensuring the effective use of resources
10. Building and promoting partnerships across the Organization and
beyond

Leadership
11. Driving WHO to a successful future
12. Promoting innovation and organizational learning
13. Promoting WHO’s position in health leadership

What are Competencies are the knowledge, skills and attitudes required in order
to demonstrate successful performance. Competencies are developed
competencies? through education, training and experience by improving our
knowledge (what we know) and our skills (what we can do. To these
intellectual and kinaesthetic (practical) abilities is added the
emotional element which defines our personality - our attitudes.
Together, these three elements - knowledge, skills and attitudes -
contribute to our competence or competencies. We may have highly
developed competencies and be considered an expert, or we may still
be developing them as a novice or apprentice
Our Behaviour is the visible demonstration of our competencies; it is
what others see of our competencies.
In the WHO competency model, each competency is described by
effective and ineffective behaviours.

The purpose of This guide, while touching on some behavioural theory, is intended to
give you some very practical actions (tips, tools and techniques) that
this guide you can take in your workplace to improve your ability to demonstrate
a competency. These “tips” are indeed just that: the tip of the
competency iceberg. There may be other actions you can take to
improve a particular competency. We have just selected some that are
manageable and achievable with minimal input. While this will help
you in your performance appraisal, more importantly it will make you
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more effective at your work. This in turn should create a better climate
in your team and result in the workplace being a happier place to
achieve your objectives.

How to use the This Guide should not be read in a linear fashion – from beginning to
end. However a good starting point is to look at the first section
Guide entitled “some basics” as there are certain habits, skills and behaviours
that you should develop as they form the foundation for effectively
applying all of the competencies. We all have a gap between how we
are expected to behave (as described in the competency model) and
how we do behave. You can use the self-assessment tool in the next
section to determine where you have the biggest gaps. Better still give
the assessment tool to a colleague, a supervisee or your boss and ask
them to complete it for you. Once you determine which competencies
have the biggest gaps, that is a good place to start. Go to that
competency and undertake the activities proposed. Don’t be too
ambitious – tackle one competency at a time and consciously and
actively practise until the desired behaviours become unconscious
behaviours.

The Guide is just a taste of what can be done and the pointers are
abbreviated. Do your own research on the web – there are many
websites that provide guidance on how to develop oneself and books
to read. In some cases references have been provided as a starting
point. Each staff member has a different learning style. Activists like to
learn by doing and experimenting whereas theorists like to learn by
reading and reflecting. The activities in this guide cater for both,
however if you have one preference you should not ignore the
opposite learning style. Attending a course is not necessarily the best
and is certainly not the only way to learn. Make the time in your
schedule for learning in the workplace and, more importantly, identify
best practices and apply them on a daily basis.
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Some Basics
Before you start applying a competency in the workplace there are two things that you can
usefully do.
1. Understand a few basic behavioural theories that apply to all competencies
2. Undertake a competency gap assessment

Behavioural Theory

“There is nothing so practical as a good theory”

Kurt Lewin

We will not overdo it, but there are two linked theories that are important to understand and live
by if you are going to successfully improve your competencies. Let us look at each in turn.

Emotional Intelligence

Intellect, cognitive ability, technical knowledge and skills are only part of the requirements for
being effective in the workplace. Without a corresponding measure of emotional intelligence,
technical competence alone will not allow you to reach your full potential.

What is emotional intelligence and why does it matter? It is the learned ability to perceive,
understand and express your feelings accurately and control your feelings so they work for you,
not against you. This involves knowing how you and others feel, as well as what to do about it. It
also means knowing what feels good and what feels bad and knowing how to get from bad to
good. A person with high emotional intelligence possesses emotional awareness, sensitivity and
the skills needed for long-term happiness and the ability to make others happy.

Why is emotional intelligence important? The nature of work has changed dramatically and has
become increasingly complex. Individuals and organizations are all dealing with rapid change and
the rising stress levels that accompany it. More and more, organizations are recognizing that how
you feel about what you know and do is as important to individual performance as what you
know and do. Researchers have found that emotional intelligence is twice as important as either
technical or intellectual skills for successful performance of most jobs.

Emotional intelligence is based on the two major intelligences we need to be successful. The first
is intrapersonal intelligence; this is the internally focussed intelligence we use to know,
understand and motivate ourselves. The second is interpersonal intelligence; this is the externally
focussed intelligence we use to read, sense, understand and manage relationships with others.

What is the effect of emotional intelligence on others? Emotions are contagious — other people’s
emotions affect your emotions, and your emotions affect others. For example, perpetually
pessimistic and negative colleagues seem to infect everyone around with a sense of negativity.

We affect each other’s emotions not only through such resonances, but also through our skills of
self-management and relationship management. People react when a supervisor or a colleague
loses his or her temper, stomps around the office, slams the door and raises his or her voice when
speaking to those present. Everyone present would probably react both physically and
emotionally to such lack of self-management. Here are some possible reactions to such behaviour:

Physical reactions Emotional reactions

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Increased heart rate Lack of respect for the person

Increased blood pressure Embarrassment
Face flushing Dislike for the person
Looking away or down Desire to leave
Sweating Anger

How do you measure emotional intelligence? Just as technical skills are best measured through
well-defined competencies, so too is emotional intelligence. It isn’t enough to say that a person is
really good at handling his or her emotions. We need to use emotional competencies as a
measure. Nearly all of these are already incorporated into the WHO competency model and are
consistent with it.

Emotional intelligence has four domains, and each domain contains its own emotional
competencies. Two domains are intrapersonal, focussed on the self: the first intrapersonal
domain is related to awareness, the second to actions. The last two domains are focused on
others, again with one domain each related to awareness and actions. The accompanying graphic
shows each domain and its associated emotional competencies.

Self Others

Social
Self-Awareness Awareness
Awareness

 Emotional Self-Awareness  Empathy

 Accurate Self-Assessment  Organizational Awareness
 Self-Confidence  Service

Relationship
Self-Management Management
Actions

 Self-Control  Inspiration
 Transparency  Influence
 Adaptability  Developing Others
 Achievement  Change Catalyst
 Initiative  Conflict Management
 Optimism
 Teamwork and
Collaboration

Of course, the four domains are closely linked. For example, you can’t manage your emotions very
well if you aren’t aware of them. And if your emotions are out of control, they will certainly affect
your relationships with others. Self-awareness facilitates both social awareness and self-
management, and these two together make effective relationship management possible.
Emotional intelligence, then, is built on a foundation of self-awareness. Yet self-awareness is the
most overlooked domain in most work settings.
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Self-awareness
Self-awareness involves having a deep understanding of your emotions, your strengths, your
limitations, your values and your motives—as well as their effects on others. People who are self-
aware are honest with themselves about how they are—neither overly self-critical nor naively
confident. Self-aware people know what feels right to them, and they act on it with no regrets.
People with good self-awareness usually find their work satisfying and energizing.

The emotional competencies of self-aware individuals enable them to act with conviction and
authenticity. Here are the competencies:

Can read your own emotions and recognize their impact on

Emotional self-awareness yourself and others. Can use your gut sense to guide decision
making
Accurate self-assessment Know your own strengths. Know your own limitations
Self-confidence Have a sound sense of your own self-worth and capabilities

Self-management
From self-awareness flows self-management. If you can’t recognize what you’re feeling (and
especially if you can’t recognize the feelings that drive your behaviour), you can’t manage your
feelings (or your behaviour). And if that happens, your emotions are in control. This may not
cause problems when a positive emotion such as enthusiasm is involved, but no one who wants to
be personally effective can risk being controlled by a negative emotion such as frustration,
anxiety or a fear of failure.

Self-management is the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, as well as
the ability to suspend judgment — to think before acting. Self-management is like an inner
dialogue that frees you from being a prisoner of your feelings and gives you the mental clarity
demanded for effectiveness. It also maintains positive resonance with those around you.

These are the emotional competencies associated with self-management:

Emotional self-control Keep disruptive emotions and impulses under control

Transparency Display honesty, integrity and trustworthiness
Show flexibility in adapting to changing situations and
Adaptability
overcoming obstacles
Demonstrate a drive to improve your performance to meet your
Achievement
own inner standards of excellence
Initiative Demonstrate readiness to act and seize opportunities
Optimism See the positive possibilities in events

Social awareness
Social awareness is the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people, to recognize
their needs and to contribute to meeting those needs. Being aware of our own feelings and
effectively managing them is a good start toward emotional intelligence, but we do not exist in a
vacuum and must constantly interact with others.

Empathy — the ability to read another person’s emotional state — is the fundamental element of
social awareness. Empathy is not the same as sympathy, which is more sharing the feelings of
another. The sympathetic person thinks, ‘Oh, she hurts so I hurt with her’ while the empathetic
person thinks, ‘Oh, it looks as if she’s hurting. I wonder how I can best respond to her?’ Empathy
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involves accurately recognizing and responding appropriately to the feelings of others without
necessarily feeling the same emotions yourself. It is this tuning-in ability that enables an
emotionally intelligent individual to inspire others by catching their common dream, articulating
it and triggering a sweep of positive emotion.

Empathy is the greatest requirement for real social effectiveness at work. It makes you
approachable, helps you listen well and helps you identify the emotional messages that so often
lie beneath the words. It makes the people who interact with you feel understood and accepted.

In addition to empathy, social awareness includes the emotional competencies of organizational

awareness and service:

Sense others’ emotions, understand their perspective and take

Empathy
active interest in their concerns
Read trends, decision networks and politics at the
Organizational awareness
organizational level
Service Recognize and meet client needs

Relationship management
Managing relationships skilfully essentially involves managing other people’s emotions by being
attuned to your own and being able to empathize with others. The first requirement is
authenticity — acting from your true core values. People are quick to pick up on any note of
falseness and to become distrusting at any hint that they are being manipulated. Friendliness is
important, but managing relationships is more than just being socially skilled.

Here are the emotional competencies associated with relationship management:

Raise people’s spirits by stating or embodying a purpose and

Inspiration
values that resonate with them
Influence Use a range of tactics that others find persuasive
Take a genuine interest in the goals of others, offering feedback
Developing others
and support
Change catalyst Initiate, manage and lead in new directions
Understand differing perspectives, help find common ground
Conflict management
that others can endorse
Contribute to an atmosphere of friendly congeniality, acting as a
Teamwork and
model of respect, helpfulness and cooperation. Cultivate and
collaboration
maintain relationships.

What has this all got to do with this Guide?

It reinforces the notion that a competency has two dimensions: the technical and the
emotional. No matter how technically skilled you are, you cannot reach your full potential,
indeed you can have a negative impact on others, if you are not emotionally competent. This
particularly applies to managers, much of whose job is to manage relationships. The
effective application of WHO competencies depends on every staff member understanding
and applying emotional intelligence in everything you do.
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Johari Window 1

The Johari Window model is a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-
awareness and for facilitating mutual understanding between staff.

The Johari Window model is also referred to as a 'disclosure/feedback model of self-awareness'.

The Johari Window represents information - feelings, experience, views, attitudes, skills,
intentions, motivation, etc. - within or about a person - from four perspectives. Johari Window
terminology refers to 'self' (you). 'Others' means other people with whom you interact, including
your supervisor.

The four Johari Window perspectives are called 'areas' or 'quadrants'. Each of these areas
contains and represents the information - feelings, motivation, etc. - known about the person, in
terms of whether the information is known or unknown by the person, and whether the
information is known or unknown by others in the group.

known by self unknown by self

Seek feedback -ask
known by others

Open self Blind self

Self-disclosure - tell
unknown by others

Hidden self Unknown self

The standard representation of the Johari Window model, shows each quadrant the same size.
The Johari Window 'panes' can be changed in size to reflect the relevant proportions of each type
of 'knowledge'. If you are new to you team, your open quadrant is likely to be relatively small. As
you become better established and known, the size of your open area is likely to increase.

1The model was devised by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955, while researching group
dynamics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Luft and Ingham called their Johari Window model 'Johari' after
combining their first names.
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The Johari Window's four areas or quadrants are as follows:

Open self
This is the information about the person - behaviour, attitude, feelings, emotion, knowledge,
experience, skills, views, etc. - known by the person ('the self') and known by the group ('others').

The aim in any group should always be to develop the 'open area' for every person, because when
we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive, and the group is at
its most productive too. The open area can be seen as the space where good communications and
cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.

The size of the open area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by seeking and
actively listening to feedback from other group members. This process is known as 'feedback
solicitation'. Also, other group members can help a team member expand their open area by
sensitively offering feedback. The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically
downwards into the hidden quadrant by the person's disclosure of information, feelings, etc.
about him/herself to the group and group members. Also, group members can help a person
expand their open area into the hidden area by asking the person about him/herself. Managers
and team leaders can play an important role in facilitating feedback and disclosure among group
members, and in directly giving feedback to individuals about their own blind areas. Leaders also
have a big responsibility to promote a culture and expectation for open, honest, positive, helpful,
constructive, sensitive communications, and the sharing of knowledge throughout the
organization.

Blind self
The area that is known about a person by others in the group, but is unknown by the person
him/herself. This blind area is not an effective or productive space for individuals or groups. This
blind area could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues in which one is deluded.
A blind area could also include issues that others are deliberately withholding from a person. We
all know how difficult it is to work well when kept in the dark. People who are 'thick-skinned'
tend to have a large 'blind area'.

Group members and managers can take some responsibility for helping an individual to reduce
their blind area - in turn increasing the open area - by giving sensitive feedback and encouraging
disclosure. Managers should promote a climate of non-judgemental feedback, and group response
to individual disclosure, which reduces fear and therefore encourages both processes to happen.

Hidden self
The area that is known to ourselves but kept hidden from, and therefore unknown, to others. This
is sometimes known as our 'facade'. This hidden or avoided self represents information, feelings,
etc., anything that a person knows about him/self, but which is not revealed or is kept hidden
from others. The hidden area could also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative
intentions, secrets - anything that a person knows but does not reveal, for whatever reason. It's
natural for very personal and private information and feelings to remain hidden, indeed, certain
information, feelings and experiences have no bearing on work, and so can and should remain
hidden. However, typically, a lot of hidden information is not very personal, it is work- or
performance-related, and so is better positioned in the open area.

Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc., should be moved into the open area through the
process of 'disclosure'. The aim should be to disclose and expose relevant information and
feelings - hence the Johari Window terminology 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process', thereby
increasing the open area. This enables better understanding, cooperation, trust, team-working
effectiveness and productivity. Reducing hidden areas also reduces the potential for confusion,
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misunderstanding, poor communication, etc., which all distract from and undermine team
effectiveness.

The extent to which an individual discloses personal feelings and information, and the issues
which are disclosed, and to whom, must always be at the individual's own discretion. Some
people are more keen and able than others to disclose. People should disclose at a pace and depth
that they find personally comfortable. As with feedback, some people are more resilient than
others - care needs to be taken to avoid causing emotional upset.

Unknown self
This area contains information, feelings, latent abilities, aptitudes, experiences etc. that are
unknown to the person him/herself and unknown to others in the group. These unknown
attributes can be quite close to the surface or they can be deeper aspects of a person's personality,
influencing his/her behaviour to various degrees. Large unknown areas would typically be
expected in younger people, and people who lack experience or self-belief.

Examples of unknown factors are as follows, and the first example is particularly relevant and
common, especially in typical organizations and teams:
• an ability that is under-estimated or un-tried through lack of opportunity, encouragement,
confidence or training
• a natural ability or aptitude that a person doesn't realise he or she possess
• a fear or aversion that a person does not know he or she has
• an unknown illness
• repressed or subconscious feelings
• conditioned behaviour or attitudes from childhood

The processes by which this information and knowledge can be uncovered are various, and can
be prompted through self-discovery or observation by others, or in certain situations through
collective or mutual discovery. Counselling can also uncover unknown issues, but this would then
be known to the person and by one other, rather than by a group.

Whether unknown 'discovered' knowledge moves into the hidden, blind or open area depends on
who discovers it and what they do with the knowledge, notably whether it is then given as
feedback, or disclosed.

Uncovering 'hidden talents' - that is unknown aptitudes and skills, not to be confused with
developing the Johari 'hidden area' - is another aspect of developing the unknown area, and is not
so sensitive as unknown feelings. Providing people with the opportunity to try new things, with
no great pressure to succeed, is often a useful way to discover unknown abilities, and thereby
reduce the unknown area. Creating a culture, climate and expectation for self-discovery helps
people to fulfil more of their potential and thereby to achieve more, and to contribute more to
organizational performance.

What has this all got to do with this Guide?

First, if you are to be effective in applying this guide you need to develop your self -
awareness and enlarge your “open self” quadrant. To do that you need to seek out the
honest opinion of others. The first step would be to honestly complete the gap analysis
below and have others complete it about you.

Second, just like applying the skills of emotional intelligence in your daily work, you
regularly should strive to develop a safe and frank dialogue with your supervisor, peers and
subordinates, so that in the workplace colleagues frequently seek out advice and such
advice is given in a constructive and friendly manner.

The tasks in this Guide will often require that kind of openness and honesty if you want to
succeed in improving your competencies.
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Competency Gap assessment

You should have read and understood the importance of self-awareness and accurate self-
assessment from reading about Emotional Intelligence and the Johari Window. Now, applying
your “accurate self-assessment” skills, answer the questions below. Be as honest as you can. This
is for your eyes only, but if you would like a more complete perspective (which may or may not
reach the same conclusions) copy the questionnaire and ask colleagues (peers, supervisees, even
your supervisor) who are familiar with the way you work and ask them to complete it about you
(putting Johari Window into practice – seeking feedback). If you want a really honest response
ask someone you trust to administer the questionnaire and collect the responses anonymously.
Transfer your scores to the score sheet. Add up the scores and see which competency has the
highest score. That is the competency with the biggest gap and thus the one you should tackle
first. Although all staff, irrespective of job function, should demonstrate managerial and
leadership qualities, if you feel that one of the management or leadership competencies are not
central to your work, choose a competency to work on which is more relevant.
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Always Often Occasionally Never

1 Speak clearly, adapting communication style and content appropriate to the needs of the
① ② ③ ④
intended audience
2 Does not share useful information with others ④ ③ ② ①
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Competency number Score sheet

Insert your score in the empty box next to the question number. Add the totals.
Question number

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