Competency framework
A competency framework defines the specific skills, behaviours and knowledge a role requires, usually with descriptions of what each looks like at different levels. It gives interviewers a shared vocabulary and a basis for consistent assessment.
Frameworks fail when they are written in abstractions — "strategic thinking", "strong communicator" — that every interviewer interprets differently. Useful frameworks describe observable behaviour: what would someone actually do that demonstrates this?
For small companies a full framework is usually overkill. Four to six well-defined competencies per role captures most of the benefit.