Staff Sergeant Competency Profile
9 Key Competencies
Level 2/4 Proficiency
What is a Competency Profile?
A competency profile is a set of competencies selected as the most important for
successful job performance. It lists them and specifies the required proficiency level of
each competency expected for a position.
Rank – Staff Sergeant
General Policing Role
Manage the operations of a division of a police service. They supervise and coordinate
activities of uniform officers and personnel engaged in providing services within the
police service.
This initiative was funded by the Government of Canada’s Sector Council Program
This is a living document. Last updated July 2009
© POLICE SECTOR COUNCIL
STAFF SERGEANT PROFILE
COMPETENCY
CRITICAL JUDGEMENT
Evaluates ideas and information while referring
to objective criteria to reach rational conclusion.
DEVELOPING SELF AND OTHERS
Contributes to learning and development.
Provides guidance and feedback to improve
performance and achieve objectives.
ETHICAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Takes responsibility for actions and makes
decisions that are consistent with high ethical
policing standards.
INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION
Utilises communication strategies in an effort to
achieve common goals, influence and gain
others’ support.
ORGANIZATIONAL AWARENESS
Understands and uses organizational awareness
to deliver optimal services. Seeks to understand
the critical concerns and most important issues
of stakeholders to find optimal solutions.
PLANNING AND ORGANIZING
Effectively plans and organizes self and/or
others to achieve goals, prioritise tasks and
allocate time and resources accordingly to
ensure completion within set timelines.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Identifies problems, implements solutions and
evaluates the outcomes.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Ensures the effective and efficient use of
resources, whether human, financial, material or
informational.
STRATEGIC THINKING
Analyzes and understands information from a
broad perspective to anticipate problems or
consequences and address issues strategically.
ROLE LEVEL AND INDICATORS
Identifies and handles ambiguity. (Level 3)
 Exercises sound judgment in new situations in the absence of specific guidance
 Identifies and considers emerging opportunities and risks when articulating astute and
defensible options and recommendations
 Strategically provides new information or data to key decision makers or stakeholders to
enhance their understanding and decisions
 Identifies alternate recommendations or solutions, including some that are not based on
precedent
 Applies guidelines and procedures that leave considerable room for discretion and
interpretation
Provides the means for development of staff within area of responsibility. (Level 4)
 Ensures that resources and time are available for development activities
 Ensures that all employees have equitable access to development opportunities
 Provides opportunities for development through tools, assignments, courses and other
training
Promotes policing values and standards of ethical behaviours. (Level 4)
 Advises others in maintaining fair and consistent dealings with others and in dealing with
ethical dilemmas
 Facilitates values and ethical training
 Keeps current with issues relevant to ethical behaviours in policing services
 Participates in an environmental scan of ethical issues relevant to the policing environment
Communicates complex messages (Level 4)
 Handles complex on-the-spot questions
 Communicates complex issues clearly and credibly with widely varied audiences
 Facilitates the understanding of complex messages
 Expresses concerns effectively in a confrontational setting
Understands organizational politics, issues and external influences (Level 4)
 Anticipates issues, challenges and outcomes and effectively operates to best position the
organization
 Supports the changing culture and methods of operating
 Understands, and addresses, the reasons for on-going organizational behaviour or the
underlying problems, opportunities or political forces affecting the organization
Plans and organizes multi-team policing activities and operations. (Level 3 )
 Considers a range of factors in the planning process
 Develops back-up plans to handle potential obstacles in delivering policing activities and
operations
 Renegotiates plans and resources with other teams to ensure effective delivery of policing
activities and operations
Solves complex problems (Level 4 )
 Identifies complex problems based on a broad range of factors, many of which are
ambiguous or difficult to define
 While remaining guided by organizational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first
in terms of possible approaches and flexibilities in the system vs. blind adherence to rules
or procedures
 Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions after they have been implemented
and identifies needed changes
Monitors the use of resources (Level 3)
 Allocates and controls resources within own area
 Implements ways of more effectively utilizing resources
 Assigns and communicates roles and accountabilities to maximize effectiveness of
policing activities
Integrates and interprets broad and complex issues (Level 2)
 Integrates and interprets multi-faceted information from varied sources on a range of
complex issues
 Recommends optimal approaches to address critical issues in the immediate and mediumterm
 Recognizes the need for a modified approach to data/ information gathering/ analysis
 Demonstrates awareness of the impact of own work on aspects of organizational strategy
and the impact of organizational strategy on own work
 Identifies implications of own analysis (e.g., potential impact on certain stakeholders).
 Anticipates how others in own and other affected organizations will respond to and use the
information/data generated