Anchors

Anchors are specific, easy-to-apply examples of behaviours that demonstrate the competency. Every anchor has a number of positive and negative indicators, or a specific behaviour associated with it.

Indicators – or observable behaviour – can be associated with multiple anchors. In fact, a behavioural anchor is something that is used to define the level someone has reached on a particular competency from 1 to 10. In this sense an anchor is very similar to an indicator. Indicators, however, tend to be simple ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ poles, whereas the anchors define all points in between.

For instance, ‘team working’ would be a behavioural anchor for the ‘working with others’ competency, which is further translated into positive indicators such as ‘listens to others’ or ‘waits for another to finish speaking before voicing their own contribution.’ This behaviour is also considered as part of the ‘communication’ and even ‘leadership’ competencies. This means that competencies are interrelated or overlapping. Certain anchors or indicators are the hallmark of a given competency but can have a clear relation with some other competencies as well. 

See also:

Indicators | Competencies | Understanding EPSO Competencies and Values

Related links:

The New EPSO Competency Framework