Staff Competence, Training Needs and Skills Development
Competence in Brief
- Define the competence each role needs to do its work safely and well
- Identify gaps for each individual and close them through training, mentoring or experience
- Keep evidence of competence and review it as roles or risks change
Competence and Training in a Management System
Competence and training sit at the heart of every management system. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 27001 all require you to determine what people need to know to do their work properly, and to retain evidence that they have it. The wording varies slightly between standards, but the principle is the same.
A common misconception is that competence and training are the same thing. They are not. Competence is the ability to apply knowledge and skills to achieve an intended result. Training is one of the ways you build that competence, alongside experience, education and qualifications.
Determining the Competence and Training Needed
The starting point is identifying what competence each role needs. This is usually driven by the job description, the risks associated with the work, and any external requirements such as client expectations, regulatory duties or specific standards like ISO 9001 Clause 7.2.
A practical way to map this is a competency matrix, which lists each role alongside the skills, qualifications and training required. The matrix makes gaps visible and helps plan training in advance rather than reacting once something goes wrong.
Where a role carries health and safety risk or legal obligations (a forklift operator, first aider, or electrical competent person for example) the competence requirements may be set by legislation or industry standards and must be met before the person begins the work.
Building Competence Through Training
Once the need is identified, the delivery method depends on the type of competence being built. Induction training covers company-wide essentials such as the quality policy, H&S basics, information security and the management system itself. Role-specific training builds the skills a person needs for their day-to-day work. Refresher training maintains competence over time, particularly for safety-critical tasks.
Training can be internal or external, classroom-based, on-the-job, online, or a mix. What matters is that it produces the competence required, not which format was used.
Recording Competence and Training
All the ISO standards that reference competence require documented evidence. In practice that usually means training records for each person, copies of certificates where relevant, and the competency matrix that shows the overall picture. Records should be kept for long enough to demonstrate current competence and meet any retention requirements.
Where competence comes from experience or education rather than a training course, that should still be recorded. A CV on file, notes from an annual review, or a signed off induction record all count as evidence.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Competence and Training
Several standards, including ISO 9001 Clause 7.2, require you to evaluate whether the actions taken to build competence actually worked. A training certificate on its own is not evidence of competence - it is evidence that training was delivered. Evaluation can be as simple as a post-training test, a supervisor check after observation, a later audit, or feedback captured during an annual review.
The point is not to create extra paperwork but to make sure your people can actually do the job.
When I audit against competence I look for three things: that the organisation has worked out what competence each role needs, that there is evidence people have that competence, and that gaps are being actively managed. A training matrix with obvious blanks that nobody is addressing is a red flag.
I do not expect everyone to produce a certificate for every task. Experience counts, and a signed record from a manager confirming someone is competent after observation is perfectly acceptable evidence.
The standards are specific about what they want: determine the competence needed, make sure people have it, take action where they do not, and keep documented evidence. They deliberately do not tell you exactly how to do this, which gives you flexibility to build something that fits your organisation.
Where people often go wrong is overcomplicating it. A training matrix, a filing system for certificates and a simple process for annual reviews covers the requirement for most small and medium businesses.
We keep a competency matrix in a shared spreadsheet, colour-coded by role and skill. Green means competent, amber means in training, red means a gap. It took half a day to set up and it has saved us countless audits and handovers.
The bit people forget is refresher training. Some of our safety-critical tickets need renewing every three years and without a tracker you only notice when something expires.
Practical Compliance Guidance
To keep an effective overview of training within your company, it can be a good idea to set-up a training matrix with all staff, their roles and required competencies. A training matrix can also be used to schedule training ahead of time and keep track of any training certificates which are due to expire. In addition to this, to ensure you have a formalised induction process, you can implement induction checklists to ensure all staff are taken through a checklist of all essential training, this might include; company policies, PPE issued, procedures, awareness, right-to-work checks and health and safety arrangements.
Section 3 of the IMS1 IMS Manual covers competence and training, including the new employee onboarding procedure, with references to staff induction forms, training talk templates, staff annual reviews and a staff leaving checklist.
A range of supporting documents is available to build and maintain training records, competency matrices and staff development plans:
| alphaZ document | How to use it |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001 Management System Toolkit | The complete toolkit for a quality management system, including the documents needed to meet Clause 7.2 Competence. |
| ER2 Staff Training Competency Matrix | A register to map each role against the skills, qualifications and training needed. Shows gaps and progress at a glance. |
| F-Q5 Staff Training Record | Individual training record form to log all training delivered to each member of staff over time. |
| F-Q4 Staff Induction Record | Template induction record for new starters, covering company-wide essentials and the management system. |
| F-Q6 Staff Annual Review | Annual review form to discuss performance, identify development needs and pick up any competence gaps. |
| ER19 Staff Competency Training Development Planner | A planner for tracking staff development against long-term competence goals and training needs. |
| TT-1-03 Training and Competence Toolbox Talk | A short briefing to raise staff awareness of why competence and training matter in the management system. |
| GEN1-1 General Staff Handbook | An ISO-aligned staff handbook template covering company policies, the management system and key procedures. |
Note - all the above files can be downloaded with an alphaZ subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions
UK Legislation
The following UK legislation relates to competence and training. Organisations outside the UK should identify the equivalent legislation applicable in their jurisdiction.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997
