The Laguna Lake Development Authority, created via Republic Act No. 4850 (as amended by Presidential Decree 813), was charged to promote, and accelerate the development and balanced growth of the Laguna Lake area and the surrounding provinces, cities and towns. In a nutshell, this meant that the organization is responsible for managing, developing and transforming the Laguna de Bay Region into a vibrant economic zone through conservation of lake basin resources and good governance with the participation of empowered and responsible stakeholders.

In 2016, LLDA sought the assistance of the Civil Service Institute to develop the Competency Framework of the organization. The framework seeks to support and enable the fulfillment of the organization’s mission, as well as its vision of an ecologically balanced resource that fosters vibrant economic development and sustains the needs of the present and future generations through the participation of empowered and responsible stakeholders by 2040.

LLDA’s Competency Framework was developed through a series of write shops and learning sessions for the Development of Competency Framework, Tables and Position Profiles. A total of 68 competencies and its corresponding tables have been identified and developed that were deemed relevant to LLDA at a vision, mission and mandate level, as well as critical to the department level, as well as key positions throughout the organization.

The organization’s competency framework is modeled against the backdrop of its logo. The green circular border, signifying a holistic approach or integrated management of the basin being undertaken by the the agency and the multifarious stakeholders in rehabilitating and giving back the life of the lake and its watershed, is framed against the critical core, organizational, leadership and technical competencies of the organization.

To strengthen LLDA’s framework, we looked at their competency headings, descriptors and underlying behaviors for overlaps with other competencies. We also looked at the extent a single competency was trying to cover multiple behavioral areas and decided to a competency’s scope limited to behaviors that relate well to a key construct or theme. The end result was a better and streamlined competency framework for the organization.

An assessment of the organization’s competence landscape was subsequently conducted. Through multi-rater feedback, we were able to determine the competency strengths and areas of opportunity for the different units within LLDA, as well as per employee group and key talents. Based on the results of the assessment, we also drew out the key priorities of the organization when it comes to Learning and Development, mapping out a three-year development agenda to strengthen units and individuals who need to demonstrate critical competencies that ultimately affect their effectiveness.

Today, LLDA has catalyzed Integrated Water Resource Management in the Laguna de Bay Region, showcasing the symbiosis of man and nature for sustainability, with focus on preserving ecological integrity and promoting economic growth with equitable access to resources. It is taking sustainable development as the centerpiece of its development efforts, LLDA sets its direction from a regulatory agency to a market client-driven development agency.