Behind every service, every metric, and every transformation is a person — or more accurately, a network of people. The Capability and Competence theme ensures that the right skills, behaviours, and knowledge are available, nurtured, and applied at the right time and in the right place to support organisational performance.

This theme is concerned not only with individual training or hiring decisions, but with building systemic capability — across teams, functions, and service lines.

Why Capability Matters

Performance gaps are often blamed on tools, processes, or strategy. But in many cases, the root cause is capability: teams that don’t have the skills, experience, or confidence to deliver at the required level.

When this theme is neglected:

Critical roles are under-resourced or misaligned
Processes fail in practice due to lack of skill or buy-in
People are overwhelmed, under-supported, or resistant to change
Organisations become reliant on individuals instead of building sustainable capability

SPARA sees capability as a structural performance lever — not an HR function.

Common Capability Challenges

Many organisations struggle with:

Undefined or outdated role expectations
Skills gaps not being identified until after failure
Training plans disconnected from performance needs
Over-reliance on contractors or “hero” individuals
No framework for capability growth, career paths, or succession

This leads to fragility, inconsistency, and a lack of confidence in delivery.

Capability & Competence Pillars

To embed this theme, SPARA identifies five core pillars:

Role Clarity
- Define responsibilities, required competencies, and success criteria
- Use role maps or matrices to show relationships and accountabilities
- Ensure alignment to service or process requirements, not just job titles
Skills Assessment
- Assess current competence against defined roles or goals
- Use self-assessment, peer review, and objective evaluation where appropriate
- Identify gaps at both individual and team levels
Targeted Development
- Align training and mentoring to actual performance needs
- Focus on practical, contextual learning over generic modules
- Reinforce development through opportunity, not just instruction
Capability Planning
- Forecast future capability needs based on strategy and change plans
- Identify succession risks and future role evolution
- Embed capability reviews into service or team planning cycles
Knowledge Management

- Capture and share operational knowledge effectively
- Use communities of practice, wikis, or structured documentation
- Balance tacit and explicit knowledge to avoid key-person risk

Systems of Competence

SPARA encourages organisations to move from ad hoc training to a system of competence — an architecture that links roles, performance, learning, and outcomes. This includes:

Competency frameworks mapped to service performance
Onboarding programmes tied to service realities
Governance over knowledge currency and relevance

Such systems reduce risk, increase resilience, and support cultural maturity.

Application of This Theme

Use this theme when:

Restructuring teams or redefining service roles
Recovering from a delivery failure linked to skills or knowledge gaps
Designing a transformation, operating model, or service blueprint
Embedding performance accountability into roles
Planning future workforce needs based on business change

Capability and competence are not static; they evolve as services, technologies, and expectations change. This theme helps make that evolution intentional.

SPARA Alignment

This theme aligns most strongly with Alignment and Results within SPARA:

Alignment ensures capabilities match actual service and performance needs
Results are improved when people have the confidence, knowledge, and tools to succeed

Without capability, performance is theoretical. With it, performance becomes achievable, repeatable, and resilient.