What are competencies – some definitions ………
• Competencies are the characteristics of an employee that lead to
the demonstration of skills & abilities, which result in effective
performance within an occupational area.
• A cluster of related knowledge, skills and abilities that affects a
major part of ones job, that correlates with the performance on the
job, that can be measured against well –accepted standards and that
can be improved via training and development.
• An underlying characteristic of a person result in effective and / or
superior performance on the job.
In other words, competencies are characteristics that outstanding
performers do more often [Link]
more situations with better results, than
average performers
Why do we need it?
People will have to know their respective
* Roles
* Key competencies
Address employee needs
* What am I on skills?
* What are the gaps? How to improve on skills?
* What is expected of my role?
* What are possible future roles?
People have to know about competencies which help them
deliver better to customers
Address organizational / business needs
* High performance
* Expectation management on career and promotions
* Higher productivity with improved skills
[Link]
Competency
Behaviour
Knowledge
Skills
Attitude
Values & Motives
[Link]
Competency Modeling
Competency models consists of qualities required for
superior performance with respect to:
The
Job specific Functional Role Leadership Organization's
Culture &
requirements requirements attributes Attributes Value
[Link]
Competency Based Management
[Link]
Step 2 : Competency Profile
What capabilities currently exist
within the organization?
[Link]
Competency Mapping
Forced Ranking Manager 180 /360 –
Assessment centers
(Lower Level) Assessment Degree Assessment
Psychological Testing
(Managers) (Employees, Managers,
BEI
Peers
[Link]
Step 3 : Competency Review
What are the gaps between
organizational needs and
people capabilities?
[Link]
The competency review process links
current capabilities to the
organizational needs
Competency Model
Review Development Implementation
Plans
Competency Profile
[Link]
Step 3 : Development Plans
Create Plans for shoring any
identified gaps
[Link]
Developing Competency Model
[Link]
o Developing competency model depends on the nature
of the organization & some basic consideration:
o The practices for which they will be used
o The financial & personnel resource available
o Who needs to be included in the process of developing
& endorsing the applications
oWho is going to be included in the implementation process
[Link]
Select the optimal approach
Behavioral
Generic Adapted
Survey Expert Event
model Generic
Driven Panel Interviews
Model
Least Most
Rigorous Rigorous
Considerations:
* Practicality * Fairness
[Link]
* Speed * Validity
Data Collection tools
Behavioral Events Interview
Expert Panels
Surveys
Expert Systems
Job Analysis
Role Analysis
Direct Observation
[Link]
Behavioral Events Interview
Advantages:
Empirical Identification of competencies
Precision about how competencies are expressed
Freedom from gender, cultural, bias
Generation of data for assessment, training etc.
[Link]
Behavioral Events Interview
Disadvantages:
Time & Expense
Expertise requirements
Missed job tasks
[Link]
Expert Panels
Advantages
Quick and efficient collection of a great deal of
valuable data
Helps ensure better buy-in
[Link]
Expert Panels
Disadvantages
Possible identification of folklore or motherhood
items.
Omission of critical competency factors which
panelists are unaware of.
[Link]
Surveys
Advantages
Quick and cheap collection of sufficient data for
statistical analyses
A large number of employees can provide input
Help build consensus
[Link]
Surveys
Disadvantages
Data are limited to items and concepts included in the
survey
It cannot identify new competencies or nuances of
competency
Can also be ineffecient
[Link]
Expert Systems
Advantages
Access to data
Efficiency
Productivity
[Link]
Expert Systems
Disadvantages
Garbage in –garbage out
May overlook specialized competition
Cost of system hardware and software
[Link]
Job Analysis
Advantages
Produces complete job descriptions
Can validate or elaborate on data collected by other
methods
[Link]
Job Analysis
Disadvantages
Provides characteristics of job rather than those
of the people who do the job well
Task lists too detailed to be practical and do not
separate truly important tasks from the routine
activities
[Link]
Direct Observation
Advantages
A good way to check competencies suggested by
panel, survey, and BEI
Disadvantages
Expensive and inefficient
[Link]
• Kinds of competencies that can be included in competency
models:
• Differentiating competencies - that most differentiate superior
performers from mediocre performers.
Includes results orientation, influence, and initiative
• Threshold competencies- in which a minimum level of
proficiency is required for job success, but a higher level of
proficiency is not highly correlated with superior
performance.
• Transformation competencies- at which managers and employees are
generally weak, which if improved will most likely to result in improved
performance.
[Link]
Alternate ways of choosing the
Competencies in your job models
•Traditional approaches involve studying superior
performers, & identifying the traits, characteristics, and
behaviours that differentiate then from average performers:-
• First approach- follow superior and average performers as they go
about their workday
• Second approach- Perform interviews and organize focus
groups of managers and superior performers
[Link]
Competency models by position,
function, level, or company
• One universal set of competencies for all employees
and positions.
• Merits
•It builds a common language & frame of reference for
everyone
• It makes it easier to compare employees to one another across
position and job functions
• It eases administration of selection & development practices
•It helps align everyone towards a common culture & can
support the culture change process.
[Link]
Competency models by position
Difficulties:
•Developing models for each position will take considerable time,
efforts & expense if done well
•The lack of competency commonality from position to position will
make it more difficult to compare & contrast candidates currently in
different positions.
•Every time employees move from one position to another, they will
have to learn new competencies & abandon those they have been
focusing on improving.
[Link]
Competency model by job function
Advantage
•The number of competency models-generally in the range of
10 to 15 is manageable in terms of both creation & their maintenance
•The same model applies to all the positions with in a job function
•Easy to compare different employees in the same job function for
the purpose of succession planning & Organizational development
Disadvantage:
•Managers have the same competency models as individual
contributors within a job function.
[Link]
The competency matrix – level &
proficiency
Defines level of proficiency on competencies in terms
of a set of behaviors expected for a grade level or rank at
a particular position
The numbers in the rating system are replaced by job
titles
Helps employees understand the desired level of
proficiency for each competency at each job level.
[Link]
