By Deborah Yeats - 6 October 2026
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing about training, competence and capability. And the more I think about each of them, the more I come back to that question.
Someone completes some learning.
They apply it in the workplace.
They develop and apply their knowledge and skills, gain experience and confidence and demonstrate competence.
Their performance improves.
That should help us understand their strengths, where they need further development and where they might go next. And all of that should tell the organisation something about its wider capability.
So why are these things so often managed separately?
Different processes. Different systems. Different conversations. Sometimes even different departments.
For me, there should be a clear thread connecting them.
Learning should support competence. Competence should inform performance and development. Development should support progression and future capability.
And organisational objectives should help determine what we need from all of them in the first place.
Perhaps the question isn’t how we improve each individual process. Perhaps it’s how we connect them.
Do you see these things working together in your organisation, or are they still largely managed separately?
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