Imagine a workplace where the key skills for every role are crystal-clear—where hiring isn’t a guess, training is targeted, and people know exactly how they can grow.
That’s the promise of a competency‑driven workforce, and it’s becoming increasingly essential for Caribbean organizations eager to thrive in a rapidly evolving global economy.
From tourism and financial services to renewable energy and digital innovation, businesses across our region need both soft skills—leadership, resilience, creative thinking and hard skills—data analytics, environmental management, and digital literacy to stay competitive.
A competency‑driven approach gives structure to this journey, ensuring you’re not just filling positions, but building capabilities.
Why a Competency-Driven Workforce Matters for the Caribbean?
The World Economic Forum shows that digital skills, leadership, and environmental roles are surging in demand across Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, our region faces unique challenges such as skill mismatches, brain drain, and technological inconsistencies that require intentional workforce planning.
Some key examples of a Competency Driven Workforce training in the Caribbean include:
- HEART Trust/NTA in Jamaica and CARICOM standards—employs a competency model where military-like discipline is used to empower youth, nurture local talent in various sectors and shape the future of the Jamaican labor force.
- Collaborations like Barbados’ Competency Framework (HelpUsTrade) identifies the skills and competencies needed by Bajan firms, provides employers with a roadmap on how to train their staff to acquire these skills and measure performance against these defined goals.
- Economic sectors across the Caribbean such as tourism, energy, and finance are primed for transformation with government and businesses seeking international agencies to incorporate fintech best practices, attract investment such as in Guyana’s now booming oil economy as well as to develop their workforce to global competency levels.
Designing a Competency‑Driven Plan: A Caribbean Roadmap
Based on research conducted by the World Economic Forum and Caribbean, the best practices, developing Competency-Driven Work models include:
1. Define What Matters Locally
Companies need to start pinpointing core competencies and skills that matter. These may include:
- Soft skills: leadership, communication, resilience
- Digital skills: data literacy, digital marketing, basic coding
- Green capabilities: sustainability awareness, energy management
- Technical expertise: finance regulations, hospitality, engineering
Identifying what is needed allows companies to recruit the right talent and develop suitable training models.
2. Map Roles to Competencies
It is essential for companies to link each role within their hierarchy from entry level staff to executive management. Highlighting the skills needed at each level indicates how these skills should evolve over time and provides clarity on how each role within the company relates to each other. This clarity helps managers, HR, and employees understand expectations.
3. Assess Your Current Workforce
Evaluate where your team stands today. Use assessments, appraisals, peer feedback, performance data, or manager ratings to determine the competency level of your current workforce. Once this competency level is established, companies can then identify gaps – where is the company currently at and where do we want to be?
4. Set Development Goals
Define SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). For example:
“By Q4, all mid‑level managers across our three corporate branches will demonstrate advanced competency in digital communication and crisis leadership.”
5. Design Targeted Learning Pathways
Structure development via blended learning:
- Formal training (e.g., digital seminars, CBET-certified workshops)
- On-the-job coaching (e.g., mentor shadowing, leadership rotations)
- Peer circles and communities of practice (especially useful in Caribbean diaspora networks).
6. Provide Ongoing Coaching and consistent follow-ups
Training in this sense should not be a one-time occurrence. In a changing and consistently developing world, companies should be regularly checking in with their teams to ensure they remain proficient, competent and globally competitive.
7. Track Progress and Measure Impact
Develop KPIs tied to competency growth such as increased digital project success, guest satisfaction scores, energy-efficiency improvements, or career advancements. Companies should want to know what benefits we are experiencing through this employee competency training. In other words, what is our ROI – Rate of Return on our employee investment?
Measuring ROI through productivity, retention, and performance improvements signals to employers whether the training is successful and if they’re gaining a more competent workforce.
8. Sustain and Refine
Make competency planning a continuous process. Companies should revisit frameworks annually or during strategic planning cycles. In the Caribbean, this means keeping pace with evolving tourism trends, green initiatives, and digital transformation efforts.
Common challenges to a Competency-Driven Workforce Model
Skill availability
Businesses sometimes find it challenging to recruit certain skills and competencies for their workforce. Skills, for example in tech or AI can be difficult to outsource in the Caribbean, compared to other developed countries.
Nevertheless, with the internet and the world becoming a global digitalized village, outsourcing these skills from other countries, consulting international training agencies or simply leveraging the knowledge wealth of the internet are effective towards building a global-level competent workforce.
Brain Drain
While addressing this issue should not be the sole responsibility of the Caribbean business sector, companies should seek to retain their talent and the next generation of talent through:
- Competitive Compensation and Benefits – providing attractive benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, housing assistance, or student loan repayment programs.
- Create Clear Career Development Paths – invest in robust training, upskilling, clear promotion opportunities and funding professional certifications.
- Leverage Remote Work and Global Projects – Develop partnerships with global companies so local employees can gain exposure to international projects without migrating.
- Promote National Pride and Purpose – engaging in CSR projects and demonstrating how employees’ work positively impacts their country or community
Pros to building a Competency-Driven Workforce model.
Better Hiring and Promotion Decisions
Competency frameworks ensure a fair, transparent process which reduces waste in recruitment and boosting career clarity.
Sharper Skill Development
Training becomes strategic and addresses true gaps rather than speculating what staff members need.
Stronger Organizational Performance
As competencies take root, particularly in digital transformation and leadership, businesses can adapt faster to change.
Positive Societal Impact
Competent local workforces in sectors like tourism, energy, and finance drive community growth and reduce dependency on imports.
A competency-driven workforce isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the cornerstone of sustainable growth in the Caribbean. By combining global best practices with the region’s own educational frameworks and economic realities, businesses can build teams that are:
- Aligned with the future of work
- Capable of delivering excellence in key sectors
- Prepared for rapid digital and environmental transitions.
Start small, think big, and commit to continuous refinement.
With thoughtful planning and regional collaboration, the Caribbean can lead the way in the workforce innovation and resilience.
