7 Key Management Competencies to Look for When You Hire


If you are tasked with interviewing for an open management position, there are 7 key competencies you should ensure that you do not miss.

These 7 competencies were voted the most critical for management success in a study published in the Harvard Business Review that surveyed over 300,000 bosses, peers and subordinates. With these competencies your new manager is likely to succeed; without them, your new manager is likely to be ineffective.

Draw upon your interviewing skills training so that you and your team of interviewers probe for evidence that the job candidates have demonstrated competence in these key areas that fit most with your corporate culture:

  1. Ability to motivate and inspire
  2. Integrity and honesty
  3. Ability to analyze and solve problems
  4. Orientation toward results
  5. Superior communication skills
  6. Recognition and support for the value of teamwork
  7. Ability to build strong relationships
The order of importance varied slightly with the level of management represented by the study subject. But it was clear that the above skills were deemed fundamental to good management at any level. An additional competency that becomes more significant as a manager reaches the top is the ability to develop a strategic perspective.