Behaviours and attributes

Several distinct strands emerged.

• Some contributors suggested that the existing behaviours and attributes may no longer fully reflect what is expected of professionals today and called for a contemporary review.
• Others highlighted specific areas such as adaptability, the capability to lead and respond to change, and the broader set of soft skills required of technology professionals. Human capabilities including empathy, teamwork and leadership were also emphasised as increasingly important as work becomes more AI enabled.
• There were also focused suggestions about individual items such as attention to detail, and about the language SFIA uses in this area.
• Some contributors noted the relationship between the term business skills and the emerging terminology of durable skills. 

How we will take these suggestions forward

We will work through these suggestions as we develop SFIA 10.

• Some may lead to changes in how behavioural factors and generic attributes are described and structured.
• Others will be considered alongside related work, particularly the questions raised about how AI capability is reflected in SFIA.
• Some ideas may not be the right direction for SFIA when considered against the framework’s design principles.

In all cases we will be transparent about what we conclude and why, and will report back through this site as our thinking develops.

Related suggestions raised at SFIA 10 workshops.

Disclaimer: These suggestions reflect the personal views of individual workshop attendees. They are provided substantially verbatim and do not represent the official position or endorsement of the SFIA Foundation.

• Expand behavioural skills, as the current set can hide a person's aptitude to perform their role
• Include not just the skills people need to do their current job but the skills they need for future jobs, including the ability to respond to change quickly, growth mindset, leading change, accepting and leading disruption, testing and exploring, continually learning, and applying process improvement to themselves. This may be best expressed through behaviours
• Place more emphasis on so-called "soft" skills for technology professionals, where these are often the biggest weakness and can be given secondary status
• SFIA talks about "business skills" while the wider community is increasingly using "durable skills". A stronger alignment with durable skills language may make SFIA 10 more appealing
• Review the behavioural factors. Are they contemporary?
• With the progress of AI, the more important skills for people will increasingly be empathy, teamwork, leadership and governance. This should be considered as the framework evolves
• Consider including attention to detail, either in the generic attributes or in ADMN where it is implied but could be made explicit