Competency Areas Authoring Guide for 

Workforce Frameworks 

Working Draft

June 21, 2023 
Competency Areas Authoring Guide

Working Draft

Table of Contents

1. Introduction...........................................................................................................................................1

2. What Are Competency Areas? ..............................................................................................................1

3. Competency Areas and Work Roles......................................................................................................2

4. How to Draft Competency Areas...........................................................................................................2

4.1. Competency Area Names ........................................................................................................2

4.2. Competency Area Descriptions................................................................................................3

4.3. Competency Area Associated TKS Statements........................................................................3

5. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................3

Note to Readers

This publication identifies best practices in authoring workforce framework Competency Areas. A Task, 

Knowledge, and Skill (TKS) Statements Authoring Guide for Workforce Frameworks is also available, and 

a third guide focused on authoring Work Roles is in development. 

These authoring guides and other materials that support a standard approach to developing workforce 

frameworks can be found in the Playbook for Workforce Frameworks developed by NICE, a program of 

the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. Department of Commerce that is 

advancing cybersecurity education and workforce. The playbook defines a model workforce framework 

based on the principles of agility, flexibility, modularity, and interoperability. It details framework 

components and provides developers with resources on how to build the components and describe 

common uses with their community.
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1. Introduction

This guide is intended to support the creation of Competency Areas in workforce frameworks.1 As a 

common lexicon, a workforce framework improves communication about how to identify, recruit, 

develop, and retain talent. It facilitates coordination among various stakeholders by describing and 

sharing information about a defined field of work (e.g., cybersecurity or privacy), expressed via the core 

building blocks of Task, Knowledge, and Skill (TKS) statements. These core building blocks are then 

applied to defined Competency Areas and Work Roles.

A workforce framework offers benefits to a broad variety of stakeholders, including: 

● Employers can use a workforce framework to conduct workforce assessments and identify 

gaps, improve recruitment and retention efforts, provide career development pathways, 

and establish strategic workforce development initiatives.

● Education, Training, and Certification Providers can use a workforce framework in 

developing learning programs and skills assessments that reflect real-world needs.

● Learners can use a workforce framework to learn about the wide range of work in a 

particular field and build capability in defined Competency Areas and Work Roles to prepare 

for a career in that area of work. Job seekers can use it to better understand position 

requirements and to demonstrate their capabilities. Finally, employees can use it in career 

planning and development.

Consistent use of a workforce framework’s building blocks enables 

communication at a peer level, sector level, state level, national level, 

or international level. This communication can drive innovative 

solutions to common challenges, lower barriers to entry for new 

organizations and individuals, and facilitate workforce mobility. 

2. What Are Competency Areas?

Competency Areas offer a high-level description of what learners need to know and be able to do in 

defined areas of work. As hiring becomes more inclusive of using an assessment-based approach to 

determine capabilities, applicant pools are broadened to more successfully identify candidates, 

particularly in areas such as emerging and rapidly evolving technologies. Competency Areas can also be 

used in identifying career paths, determining current and future workforce demands, and developing 

education and training to meet defined needs. Learner capability in a particular Competency Area can 

be improved through education, training, or other learning experiences. 

1 This publication was developed using the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) (NIST 

SP 800-181 Rev. 1) structure as a model for how a workforce framework is defined and the NICE Framework 

Competency Areas: Preparing a Job-Ready Cybersecurity Workforce (NISTIR 8355) publication that provides more 

insights into how Competency Areas are developed and can be used. 

Learners: Individuals who 

perform work, including 

students, job seekers, and 

employees.
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A Competency Area consists of a name, description of the 

area, and group of associated TKS statements. Instead of 

specifying only the work to be done (Tasks) or what is 

needed to do the work (Knowledge and Skills), Competency 

Areas facilitate assessment of a learner’s overall capability 

for that area of work. They offer an opportunity to increase 

alignment and coordination between employers, learners, 

and education, training, and certification providers.

Finally, Competency Areas are flexible, allowing the 

inclusion or removal of individual TKS statements in 

response to shifting needs in a changing cybersecurity 

ecosystem over time. 

3. Competency Areas and Work Roles

Competency Areas and Work Roles are complementary and may be used together or separately. 

Competency Areas do not duplicate existing Work Roles, but they may:

● Be additive to one or more Work Roles

● Be used independently of Work Roles

● Represent a domain that spans multiple Work Roles (i.e., incorporate Knowledge and Skill 

statements from more than one Work Role)

● Represent emerging domains that do not yet have established Work Roles

However, there are important differences between them. A Work Role is work-focused and identifies a 

group of Tasks for which an individual or a team is responsible, while a Competency Area is learnerfocused and addresses what a learner must know or be able to do (Knowledge and Skill statements) to 

complete the work. Assessment for Competency Areas typically is based on capability in an area as a 

whole, while assessment for Work Roles frequently occurs at the Task level. 

4. How to Draft Competency Areas 

The following guidelines are intended for the development of individual Competency Areas as part of a 

workforce framework. 

The components of a Competency Area are:

● Name

● Description

● Associated TKS statements

4.1. Competency Area Names

The name of the Competency Area should clearly signal to all stakeholders the area that will be 

described. It should be unique in the framework (not duplicating an existing Work Role or Work Role 

Category name), and it should use commonly recognized terminology for broad understanding. 

Competency Area: A cluster of 

related Knowledge and Skill 

statements that correlates with one’s 

capability to perform Tasks in a 

particular domain. Competency Areas 

can help learners discover areas of 

interest, inform career planning and 

development, identify gaps for 

knowledge and skills development, 

and provide a means of assessing or 

demonstrating a learner’s capabilities 

in the domain.
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4.2. Competency Area Descriptions

The Competency Area description briefly and broadly describes the domain area. It should do so simply 

and clearly, so that anyone reading the description should be able to quickly and easily understand the 

scope and meaning. A goal of a Competency Area is to provide flexibility of application; the description 

should be detailed enough to clearly define its scope and meaning, but not so narrow as to restrict use 

by multiple stakeholders or time-date the Competency Area (e.g., by referencing a particular coding 

language). In addition, Competency Area descriptions:

4.2.1. Begin with “This Competency Area describes a learner’s capabilities related to....” 

Using the same standard language to introduce each description serves as a signpost for readers 

that it is a Competency Area description. Beginning each description in this fashion also 

reinstates at the onset that the focus of the Competency Area is on the learner.

4.2.2. Reflect content from associated TKS statements. 

The description may echo language from TKS statements that are associated with the 

Competency Area but should not wholly duplicate that language.

4.2.3. Omit unnecessary qualifiers. 

Qualifiers (e.g., “thorough knowledge,” “considerable skill,” or “basic understanding”) and other 

proficiency level indicators should not be included in the Competency Area description.

4.3. Competency Area Associated TKS Statements

A Competency Area comprises a cluster of related Knowledge and Skill statements, which signal what a 

learner may need to know or do to be capable in the domain. Additionally, the Competency Area may 

also reference related Task statements that can be used to apply the Knowledge and Skill statements 

and demonstrate capability. All together, these statements provide a more detailed view of the 

Competency Area. 

Note that individual statements may be associated with more than one Competency Area and may also 

be found in Work Roles. However, statements associated with a Competency Area may also be unique 

to that area. As such, development of the Competency Area will include the need to engage with subject 

matter experts to determine if existing workforce framework statements may apply to the area and 

what new ones may need to be developed. For more information on developing TKS statements, see the 

Task Knowledge Skill (TKS) Statements Authoring Guide for Workforce Frameworks. 

5. Conclusion

This Authoring Guide provides a model to support the creation of Competency Areas in workforce 

frameworks. The principles and rules outlined above may be applied to the initial creation of 

Competency Areas or in the review of existing Competency Areas. 
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NIST welcomes and encourages feedback on this Authoring Guide. It is intended to be a “living” 

document and may undergo future revisions as needed based on stakeholder needs and other relevant 

factors. Feedback may be sent to: NICEFramework@nist.gov