Developing a competency framework for general managers at non-profit organisation retirement facilities

Abstract

Aged-care managers in South African retirement facilities are currently grappling with urgent and persistent competency gaps, most notably in leadership and clinical governance, financial and strategic management, and formal management education. These gaps are significantly undermining the quality of care and operations, necessitating immediate attention and action. Aim and research questions. The study aimed to (1) identify the critical managerial competency gaps and (2) design an integrated competency framework to address them, asking: What gaps are most salient, and how should a framework be structured to close them? Design. A positivist systematic literature review (PRISMA 2020) with quantitative content analysis. Searches yielded 110 records; screening left 46 peer-reviewed studies for analysis. Data and sources. Purposive sampling of 46 English-language studies from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, published January 2015-June 2025. Measures/analytic approach. Texts were analysed in Word Stat 9 using a custom dictionary to generate frequency counts and cross-tabulations of competency domains and gaps. Key findings. The most frequently reported gaps were leadership and change management (38/46; 82.6%), communication/interpersonal skills (37/46; 80.4%), workforce development and retention (36/46; 78.3%), and quality and safety management (35/46; 76.1%); governance/business/financial acumen was also prominent (33/46; 71.7%). The review also confirms that gaps are primarily managerial and relational, rather than clinical. Contribution. The study proposes a comprehensive and integrated framework grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities (DC). This framework specifies nine interrelated domains (leadership and strategy, workforce, communication, clinical/health-systems knowledge, regulatory awareness, quality/risk, culture and staff wellbeing, ethical/person-centred care, and digital v literacy) to guide recruitment, training, and appraisal, providing a robust solution to the identified competency gaps. Practical relevance. The proposed framework is not just a theoretical construct, but a practical tool that providers and policymakers can use to target leadership programmes, strengthen supervision, and build data and digital skills. By doing so, they can significantly improve service quality and retention, making the framework highly applicable and valuable in the real-world context of aged-care management. Scope/limitation. Evidence is secondary and English-language only (2015-2025), with no primary fieldwork; findings are scoped to retirement facilities in South Africa.