Identifying Collaborative Competencies

Increasingly, federal organizations must work together with other organizations to jointly produce public value. Thus, it is important for public employees to develop critical collaborative skills. The National Academy of Public Administration affirmed this by calling for a focus on collaborative competencies, but the question remained: What are collaborative competencies? Many skills are theoretically connected to collaboration, but these links have not been tested empirically. Following the methodology developed by McClelland and furthered by Spencer and Spencer, this article presents the results of a collaborative competency study. This investigation involved the use of matched criterion samples (superior versus average collaborators) from the federal government. Individuals in the criterion samples were interviewed using the behavioral event interview design to identify differentiating competencies and create a competency model for future validation.