Capabilities Framework

Part of the Strategic Talent and Performance Framework

Overview

A Capabilities Framework defines the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and attributes that support effective performance and career growth at Waterloo. Rooted in our values of Thinking Differently, Acting with Purpose, and Working Together, it provides a shared understanding of what success looks like and helps guide development, learning, and career growth across the University.

We Think Differently

Great ideas are born when we challenge the status quo, ask bold questions, and embrace risk.

We Act With Purpose

We make a positive impact in the Waterloo community and around the world.

We Work Together

We are at our best when we work together – which results in fresh thinking, inspiration, and innovative breakthroughs.

Why it Matters?

The framework helps employees understand what success looks like at Waterloo. It provides a shared understanding of the knowledge, skills, behaviours, and attributes that support effective performance and career growth, while helping employees identify strengths, development opportunities, and future areas of focus.

Grounded in Waterloo's values, the framework supports meaningful development conversations and creates a common language for learning, growth, and career progression across the University.

How Can You Use It?

The framework is a practical tool designed to support your growth, development, and impact at the University of Waterloo. Here are three ways you can use it:

Reflect on Your Strengths and Opportunities: Use the framework to evaluate your skills and identify areas for growth to excel in your role.
Plan Your Development: Create personalized learning and development plans to build the capabilities you need for current and future career aspirations.
Drive Career Conversations: Use the framework as a foundation for meaningful discussions with your manager about your career goals and development journey.

For managers and leaders, the framework also supports succession planning, helping to identify and develop talent to sustain a strong pipeline for critical roles across the University.

By applying the framework, you’ll gain clarity on how to build your strengths, advance your career, and align with our values of thinking differently, acting with purpose, and working together to contribute meaningfully to our shared success.

The Framework

Develop Self

The information that follows connects the University’s job architecture career tracks to the capabilities expected at different levels of responsibility. By showing how each capability is demonstrated across the Support, Technical, and Professional, Management, and Executive career tracks, the framework helps employees and managers understand how expectations evolve as roles increase in complexity, scope, influence, and institutional impact.

There are five career tracks within the University:

Support – roles focused on the delivery of services, operational support, and customer focused outcomes
Technical – roles requiring scientific, information technology, engineering, research or technical expertise
Professional – roles requiring specialized knowledge and expertise in a professional discipline
Management – roles with people, program, resource, or organizational leadership responsibilities
Executive – senior institutional leadership responsible for enterprise wide direction, governance, and stewardship

Self-Management

Manage one’s overall behaviour and actions to anticipate and respond to changes.

Self-Assessment

Effectively evaluate personal strengths, weaknesses and values.

Lifelong Learning and Career Development

Seek learning and career development opportunities to establish a culture of lifelong learning.

Support, Technical, and Professional	Taking responsibility of one’s behaviour to adapt ways of working to anticipate and respond to changes or workplace pressures and managing timelines and expectations to deliver work effectively.	Evaluating personal strengths and contributions, understanding limits of knowledge while being aware of the opportunities available for growth and development where needed.	Seeking learning opportunities and taking initiative to connect with others to drive one’s own growth and development and internal mobility.
Management	Acting as an example for the team in anticipating and responding to changes or workplace pressures and keeping the team’s performance on track to deliver expected outcomes.	Understanding the team’s knowledge, skills, and capabilities and providing open and honest feedback to enable teams to develop and contribute to team outcomes.	Providing and fostering learning and career development opportunities to encourage and enable growth and development within teams.
Executive	Demonstrating and advocating for the need to anticipate and respond to changes or workplace pressures across the institution and holding oneself and others accountable for achieving the institution’s goals while delivering at pace.	Understanding the full range of capabilities across the institution to sponsor and foster the development of key talent and emulate the institution’s values.	Investing and promoting learning and career development opportunities to retain and nurture leadership potential within the institution.

Build Relationships

Communication

Give and receive information effectively across audiences and platforms.

Collaboration

Contribute diverse perspectives, ideas, and strengths.

Intercultural Effectiveness

Engage with empathy and adapt behaviours with others in an intercultural setting.

Support, Technical, and Professional	Actively sharing ideas and opinions, when applicable, and seeking others' perspectives to drive work outcomes.	Proactively seeking and respecting the opinions, ideas, and expertise of others working together to build trust, mutual support and understanding with colleagues.	Seeking out different perspectives when applicable, and showing appreciation, respect, and empathy for diverse backgrounds, experiences, and contributions to strengthen connection with others.
Management	Communicating ideas effectively tailored to the audience and circumstances to drive change and team outcomes.	Building and leveraging internal and external relationships to enable teamwork within and across the organization.	Encouraging diversity of thought and valuing everyone’s contributions to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion.
Executive	Communicating purpose and direction across multiple platforms in the institution to drive strategic priorities.	Fostering relationships and strategic partnerships across internal and external stakeholders to create synergies and champion cross institutional collaboration.	Championing cultural changes and initiatives that promote inclusion and address systemic barriers within and outside the institution to inspire a sense of community and connection.

Expand and Transfer Expertise

Role Specific Skills

Develop knowledge and skills relevant to work contexts, and actively integrate ideas across multiple settings.

Information and Data Literacy

Leverage data to the work at hand to inform meaningful conclusions.

Technological Agility

Adapt and apply new technologies to achieve better results.

Support, Technical, and Professional	Proactively seeking new and innovative ways to develop and apply specific knowledge and skills, fostering a growth mindset, and embracing continuous learning to drive effective work outcomes.	Identifying and synthesizing relevant data from multiple sources into meaningful information to drive work outcomes.	Being open to new and evolving technologies to deliver work outcomes and achieve better results through being flexible, applying different skills and a willingness to explore alternative approaches.
Management	Applying relevant knowledge and skills and integrating ideas across contexts, while motivating, supporting, and enabling individuals to apply relevant knowledge to drive outcomes.	Leveraging information and data to establish patterns and inform meaningful conclusions and drive team outcomes.	Motivating, supporting and enabling individuals to be open to new and evolving technologies and explore alternative approaches to drive team outcomes and achieve better results.
Executive	Applying subject matter expertise, integrating ideas across contexts to maximize value and deliver results for the institution.	Leveraging information and data to make sound judgments and proactively drive decisions around institutional strategic objectives.	Investing in and advocating for the use of current and new technologies to improve ways of working across the institution.

Design and Deliver Solutions

Innovation Mindset

Approach challenges with curiosity, creativity, and a focus on continuous improvement.

Critical Thinking

Analyze and evaluate information and ideas to make informed decisions, identify solutions, and offer well-reasoned recommendations.

Implementation

Translate plans into actions to achieve desired outcomes effectively and efficiently.

Support, Technical, and Professional	Demonstrating curiosity by exploring new ideas and opportunities for improvement and applying creative approaches to enhance the effectiveness of work outcomes.	Identifying multiple solutions to problems and using data, information and/or patterns to achieve intended work outcomes.	Identifying steps and resources required to complete tasks efficiently, executing solutions with attention to detail, and holding oneself accountable to achieve outcomes within established timelines.
Management	Supporting opportunities for continuous improvement and fostering the early adoption of new ideas to improve current practices and enhance team outcomes.	Evaluate diverse perspectives and potential solutions, connect decisions to broader organizational goals, and use evidence-based reasoning to guide the team toward impactful outcomes.	Fostering accountability and trust within teams by clearly defining responsibilities, providing necessary support, and ensuring alignment toward achieving team objectives and outcomes.
Executive	Foster our unconventional spirit and challenge convention to drive strategic priorities, creating an environment where positive impact is encouraged and expected.	Anticipate internal and external trends, connect decisions to the broader vision, and use evidence-based insights to shape strategies and drive institutional priorities.	Leveraging diverse strengths and expertise across the institution to drive the implementation of solutions and advance strategic priorities, ensuring alignment with the institutional values.

Alignment with the Future Ready Talent Framework

In developing our Values Informed Capabilities Framework, we built upon the foundational work of Co-operative and Experiential Education’s Future Ready Talent Framework (FRTF). Designed to help students prepare for the future of work, the existing framework was adapted to aid University of Waterloo employees adapt to those same fundamental shifts in the workforce in their own career planning.  

Capabilities Framework