Competencies can be held at various levels. Someone early in their volunteering career will need help to design a programme event, for example. They will be a trainee. Someone who has undertaken training and has significant experience will be more of an expert.

This idea that the same competency is held at different levels links well with the inexperience of new joiners versus full team members, and ultimately links to tenure and experience. It also links to the idea of career and progression. Everyone starts as a trainee and develops. In our book, Achieving with Volunteers, we see this progression as an example pathway for joining a mountain rescue team.

We recommend use of the following four levels for each competency:

·       Trainee: A Trainee has sufficient foundation skills, knowledge and understanding to allow them to contribute to the activity, though their work will be closely supervised.
·       Supervised Practitioner: A Supervised Practitioner has sufficient skill, knowledge and understanding to be able to work without placing an excessive burden on the Practitioner or Expert supervising their work.
·       Practitioner: A Practitioner has sufficient skill, knowledge and understanding to be able to take responsibility for results. They will be able to work without the need for detailed supervision.
·       Expert: An Expert will understand why things are done in particular ways. They will lead others in the development of methods. They will have sufficient technical and managerial skills to take responsibility for the performance of a capability.

In any civil society organisation (CSO), and for any competency, we might expect that about 60% of the volunteers will be Supervised Practitioners. They will be led day to day by Practitioners (25% of the volunteer force). To keep a good flow of new volunteers, some 10% will be trainees. And all will be led overall by Experts (5% of the volunteer force). Each volunteer will hold their portfolio of competencies at different levels. Supervised Practitioners will be experts in one or two competencies and even Experts will be Trainees in some.

The numbers of Trainees, Supervised Practitioners, Practitioners and Experts in each competency in a CSO will depend a lot on the nature of its activities, the technology used and the way the managers, volunteers, and employees are organised. Some CSOs rely on employees as Practitioners and Experts in most competencies, with most volunteer foot soldiers as Supervised Practitioners. Others will rely on a secretariat of employed Practitioners, with all other grades as volunteers.