Levels, Competencies and Behaviours

In this article:

• Overview
• Levels — what you do
• Competencies — what you need to be good at
• Behaviours — how you show it
• How this maps to the Roadmap grid
• How they work together
• Things to keep in mind
• FAQs
• Who can do this

Overview

Every Roadmap in SuperPath is built from three ideas: the Levels someone progresses through, the Competencies expected of them, and the Behaviours that show a competency in practice. Understanding how the three relate is the difference between a Roadmap people actually use and a grid of good intentions — so this article explains each one and how they fit together.

Levels — what you do

A Level is a stage of progression on the Roadmap, and in most organisations it maps to a job role or seniority band — Junior Engineer, Engineer, Senior Engineer, and so on. Levels are the columns of your Roadmap and they run left to right in the order people move through them.

• What it is: a position or stage within your organisation that carries its own responsibilities, tasks and expectations.
• Why it matters: it gives someone a clear picture of what is expected of them in terms of deliverables, accountability and overall contribution.
• Example: Sales Associate — an entry-level position responsible for assisting customers, organising merchandise and supporting the sales team.

Note: Levels were previously called "roles" in SuperPath and in older help articles. The product now labels them Levels throughout — same concept, clearer name.

Competencies — what you need to be good at

A Competency is a measurable skill, knowledge area or ability someone needs in order to perform. Competencies are the rows of your Roadmap, and each one runs the full width of the grid so you can describe how it grows from one Level to the next.

• What it is: a capability an individual must develop or demonstrate to succeed.
• Why it matters: it turns "get better at your job" into something specific enough to develop against and assess.
• Types: technical capabilities specific to the work, and softer capabilities that apply across Levels.
• Example: for a Sales Associate — CRM software proficiency (technical), persuasive communication and negotiation (soft).

In SuperPath you can record both Key skills and Technical skills against a competency at a given Level — see How to Add Skills to a Competency Level.

Behaviours — how you show it

A Behaviour is an observable action, attitude or way of working that demonstrates a competency at a particular Level. Behaviours are what an assessor can actually see, which makes them the practical anchor of the whole Roadmap.

• What it is: an observable action or way of working, tied to a competency, that supports performance and progression and reflects your organisation's values.
• Why it matters: it captures how someone approaches their work and works with others, keeping development aligned with your culture as well as your capability needs.
• Example: for a Sales Associate — listens actively to customer needs and preferences (communication); uses persuasive techniques to influence customer decision-making (negotiation).

Behaviours are added per competency, per Level — see How to Add Behaviours to a Competency Level.

How this maps to the Roadmap grid

A Roadmap is a grid. Competencies are the rows, Levels are the columns, and the point where one competency meets one Level is a cell. The cell is where the real detail lives:

• a description of what that competency looks like at that Level;
• the Key skills and Technical skills expected;
• the Behaviours you want to see demonstrated;
• any Learnings — content, Pathways, Events, Knowledge or Forms — that help someone get there, which can be auto-assigned when the Level is assigned;
• internal Notes for whoever maintains the Roadmap.

See How to Edit a Competency-Level Cell for how to fill a cell in.

How they work together

• Level — defines what you do.
• Competency — describes what you need to do it well.
• Behaviour — shows how you approach it.

Read a Roadmap down a column and you have a complete picture of one Level. Read it across a row and you can see how a single competency deepens as someone progresses. That combination is what lets a person see where they are, what they need to develop next, and how their growth lines up with your organisation's goals.

Things to keep in mind

• A person is assigned one Level at a time on a Roadmap, not the whole Roadmap at once. Their current Level is what they see and what they are assessed against.
• Competencies apply across every Level — the same competency is expected of a beginner and an expert, just at very different depths. Describe that difference in each cell rather than creating separate competencies per Level.
• Behaviours work best phrased as something you could genuinely observe, so it is clear whether they are being demonstrated.
• You do not have to fill in every cell. An empty cell simply means you have nothing to say about that competency at that Level yet.
• Assessment against a Level uses the Roadmap's rating scale — see How to Set the Rating Scale for a Roadmap.

FAQs

What's the difference between a Level and a Competency?
A Level is a stage of progression and forms a column of the grid. A Competency is a capability and forms a row. Where they meet is a cell, which holds the detail for that competency at that Level.

Why do older articles talk about "roles" instead of Levels?
The grid's columns used to be called roles. They are now labelled Levels in the product. If you see "role" in an older article, read it as "Level".

What's the difference between a Competency and a Behaviour?
A competency is the capability itself ("Negotiation"). A behaviour is something observable that demonstrates it ("uses persuasive techniques to influence customer decision-making"). One competency usually has several behaviours at each Level.

Are skills the same as competencies?
No. Competencies are the rows of your Roadmap. Skills are tags you attach inside a cell — Key skills and Technical skills — to record the specific capabilities expected of someone at that competency and Level.

How many Levels and Competencies should a Roadmap have?
There is no limit in SuperPath. Most organisations find a handful of Levels and somewhere between five and ten Competencies keeps a Roadmap readable.

Who can do this

Anyone can read this article — it explains concepts rather than an action. Building and editing Roadmaps (adding Levels, Competencies and Behaviours) is available to Owners, Admins, Managers and Content Managers; People Managers, Instructors, Employees and Restricted users cannot edit Roadmaps. Learners of any role can see the Levels, Competencies and Behaviours of a Roadmap that has been assigned to them.

Updated on: 25/07/2026