The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office is the agency for Filipino war veterans. Under the Department of National Defense, the organization serves to fulfill a national commitment as embodied in Section 7, Article XVI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. PVAO's core functions include the administration of veteran’s pension and benefits, memorialization of veterans’ heroic deeds, and promotion of policies and management of services for veterans’ affairs and welfare. As part of its Kagitingan Road Map, the organization sought to enhance the competence of its members, and provide the groundwork that will enable the achievement of its other strategic objectives.

The project involved four components – (1) discover the competencies critical to PVAO’s strategic objectives, (2) identify the standards for the competencies identified, (3) validate and define the required proficiency level for applicable competencies for each position, and (4) use the profiles as basis for the assessment of PVAO employees to determine each individual’s development plan. The following interventions, workshops, activities and tools were used – Competency Model Development Workshop, Competency Card Play, and Behavior Collection + Validation.

With the Competency Model Development Workshop serving as the backbone, PVAO was able to identify the critical dimensions for its strategy and the key divisions of the organization. Through the use of Competency Card Play, PVAO was able to generate behavioral criteria per competency while validating the more exemplary standards that fit into their requirements relative to their strategic imperatives. Behavior Collection + Validation helped establish the key competency requirements per division and positions in the organization, and the expected proficiency required to fulfill each position’s respective mandate. Finally, the Competency Framework was measured against the organization’s strategy map to validate its relevance to the organization’s key objectives. Additional competencies were added and articulated.

After investing in its most important and crucial asset – its employees – through the Competency Program, a moral renewal program was implemented, introducing employees to the competency framework and sharing their best practice with other DND institutions. PVAO recently renewed its strategic agenda to focus on the transformation of veterans’ organizations to being united and empowered, making commemorative events pervasive and community based, rationalizing veteran pensions and benefits structure, and ensuring veterans’ overall welfare and well-being.