Bodhih Competency Spine: an open competency framework (CC BY)
The short answer
The Bodhih Competency Spine is an open competency framework of 32 workplace competencies in 6 clusters: communication, collaboration and influence, leading people, thinking and judgement, execution and self-management, and digital and data fluency. Each competency has a code, a one-line behavioural definition and an evidence half-life, and is scored 0 to 100 in five bands. It is free to use and adapt with credit.
The five proficiency bands
| Band | Score | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| aware | 0–19 | Knows what good looks like; cannot yet do it reliably. |
| applying | 20–39 | Does it with support or in familiar situations. |
| independent | 40–59 | Does it reliably on their own in normal work. |
| advanced | 60–79 | Does it well in difficult situations and helps others. |
| expert | 80–100 | Sets the standard; others learn it from them. |
SPN.1 · Communication
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.1.1 | Written Clarity | Writes so the reader acts correctly the first time, without a follow-up call. | 900 days |
| SPN.1.2 | Spoken Fluency | Speaks at length without searching for words, at a pace an audience can follow. | 900 days |
| SPN.1.3 | Listening and Comprehension | Hears what was meant, not only what was said, and checks rather than assumes. | 900 days |
| SPN.1.4 | Presenting and Storytelling | Structures a case so a room remembers the point a week later. | 900 days |
| SPN.1.5 | Difficult Conversations | Raises the real issue early and keeps the relationship intact. | 900 days |
| SPN.1.6 | Cross-Cultural Communication | Adjusts register, directness and context for the person across the table. | 900 days |
SPN.2 · Collaboration and Influence
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.2.1 | Teamwork | Contributes to a shared result rather than a personal one, visibly. | 900 days |
| SPN.2.2 | Stakeholder Management | Knows who needs what, when, and keeps them ahead of surprises. | 900 days |
| SPN.2.3 | Negotiation | Finds the trade that both sides can defend to their own people. | 900 days |
| SPN.2.4 | Conflict Resolution | Moves a stuck disagreement to a decision without a winner and a loser. | 900 days |
| SPN.2.5 | Networking and Relationship Building | Builds the relationships needed before they are needed. | 900 days |
SPN.3 · Leading People
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.3.1 | Delegation | Hands over outcomes with the authority to achieve them, and does not take them back. | 1080 days |
| SPN.3.2 | Coaching and Feedback | Says the useful thing close to the event, specifically enough to act on. | 1080 days |
| SPN.3.3 | Performance Management | Sets expectations that are clear in advance and holds them fairly. | 1080 days |
| SPN.3.4 | Motivating and Engaging | Connects the work to something the person actually cares about. | 1080 days |
| SPN.3.5 | Leading Change | Takes a team through a change they did not choose without losing them. | 1080 days |
| SPN.3.6 | Hiring and Onboarding | Selects on evidence rather than impression, and makes the first month count. | 1080 days |
SPN.4 · Thinking and Judgement
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.4.1 | Problem Solving | Gets to the cause rather than the symptom, and knows the difference. | 1260 days |
| SPN.4.2 | Analytical Reasoning | Reads evidence carefully, including the evidence against their own view. | 1260 days |
| SPN.4.3 | Decision Making | Decides at the right moment with the information available, and says why. | 1260 days |
| SPN.4.4 | Systems Thinking | Sees the second-order effect before it arrives. | 1260 days |
| SPN.4.5 | Commercial Acumen | Understands how the organisation makes money and what their work costs it. | 1260 days |
SPN.5 · Execution and Self-Management
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.5.1 | Planning and Prioritisation | Sequences work so the important thing is not crowded out by the urgent one. | 720 days |
| SPN.5.2 | Ownership and Accountability | Owns the outcome including the parts they did not control. | 720 days |
| SPN.5.3 | Adaptability and Resilience | Recovers quickly from setbacks and changes approach rather than repeating it. | 720 days |
| SPN.5.4 | Time and Energy Management | Protects attention for the work that needs it. | 720 days |
| SPN.5.5 | Continuous Learning | Closes their own gaps deliberately rather than waiting to be trained. | 720 days |
SPN.6 · Digital and Data Fluency
| Code | Competency | Definition | Half-life |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPN.6.1 | Spreadsheet Proficiency | Builds a model somebody else can open, understand and trust. | 450 days |
| SPN.6.2 | Data Literacy | Reads a chart critically and knows when a number is not evidence. | 450 days |
| SPN.6.3 | Digital Collaboration Tools | Uses the organisation’s tools well enough not to lose work in them. | 450 days |
| SPN.6.4 | AI Tool Fluency | Gets useful output from AI tools and checks it before relying on it. | 450 days |
| SPN.6.5 | Information Security Awareness | Recognises the everyday risks and does not become the way in. | 450 days |
How to use it
- As the competency list in a training needs analysis: rate each role’s target band, then measure the gap.
- In job descriptions and interview guides, using the one-line definitions as behavioural anchors.
- To tag courses and workshops with the competencies they are meant to move, so reports show movement rather than attendance.
- As a starting point for your own model: add role-specific technical capabilities alongside these 32.
Licence and citation
Published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You may share and adapt it for any purpose, including commercially, with attribution.
Bodhih Training Solutions (2026). Bodhih Competency Spine, version v1. https://www.bodhih.org/competency-framework. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Questions about the framework
What is the Bodhih Competency Spine?
The Bodhih Competency Spine is an open competency framework of 32 workplace competencies in 6 clusters: communication, collaboration and influence, leading people, thinking and judgement, execution and self-management, and digital and data fluency. Each competency has a code, a one-line behavioural definition and an evidence half-life, and is scored 0 to 100 in five bands.
Can I use this competency framework in my organisation?
Yes. It is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, so you can copy, adapt and use it commercially, including in your own competency model, job descriptions or training needs analysis, as long as you credit Bodhih Training Solutions and link to this page.
What do the five proficiency bands mean?
Scores run from 0 to 100. Aware is 0–19, applying 20–39, independent 40–59, advanced 60–79 and expert 80–100. A movement of fewer than eight points between two measurements is reported as held steady, because a smaller change may be no more than normal variation between measurements.
What is an evidence half-life?
It is the number of days after which a reading carries half its original weight in a person’s current profile. Skills that fade quickly without use, such as tool fluency, have shorter half-lives than durable ones, so an old reading is trusted less and a re-measurement is prompted.
How do I cite the framework?
Cite it as: Bodhih Training Solutions (2026). Bodhih Competency Spine, version v1. https://www.bodhih.org/competency-framework. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
How does Bodhih use the framework?
Bodhih programmes open with a diagnostic that reads one or more competencies, train against the gaps it finds, and re-measure the same competencies at 90 days. The Bodhih LMS can tag courses with the competencies they move and report competency movement across a team.