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 in 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
Competency










Behaviour
Knowledge
Skills
Attitude
Values & Motives
Competency Modeling
Competency models consists of qualities required for
superior performance with respect to:
Functional
requirements
Leadership
Attributes
Job specific
requirements
Role
attributes
The
Organization's
Culture &
Value
Competency Based Management
Step 2 : Competency Profile
What capabilities currently exist
within the organization?
Competency Mapping
Forced Ranking
(Lower Level)
Manager
Assessment
(Managers)
180 /360
Degree Assessment
(Employees, Managers,
Peers
Assessment centers
Psychological Testing
BEI
Step 3 : Competency Review
What are the gaps between
organizational needs and
people capabilities?

The competency review process links
current capabilities to the
organizational needs

Competency Model
Review
Competency Profile
Development
Plans
Implementation
Step 3 : Development Plans
Create Plans for shoring any
identified gaps
Developing Competency Model
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
Select the optimal approach
Generic
model
Adapted
Generic
Model
Survey
Driven
Expert
Panel
Behavioral
Event
Interviews
Most
Rigorous
Least
Rigorous
Considerations:
* Practicality * Fairness
* Speed * Validity
Data Collection tools
Behavioral Events Interview
Expert Panels
Surveys
Expert Systems
Job Analysis
Role Analysis
Direct Observation
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.
Behavioral Events Interview
Disadvantages:


Time & Expense

Expertise requirements

Missed job tasks

Expert Panels
Advantages

Quick and efficient collection of a great deal of
valuable data
Helps ensure better buy-in




Expert Panels
Disadvantages
Possible identification of folklore or motherhood
items.
Omission of critical competency factors which
panelists are unaware of.



Surveys
Advantages

Quick and cheap collection of sufficient data for
statistical analyses
A large number of employees can provide input
Help build consensus


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


Expert Systems
Advantages
Access to data
Efficiency
Productivity



Expert Systems
Disadvantages

Garbage in garbage out
May overlook specialized competition
Cost of system hardware and software



Job Analysis
Advantages

Produces complete job descriptions
Can validate or elaborate on data collected by other
methods



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


Direct Observation
Advantages
A good way to check competencies suggested by
panel, survey, and BEI

Disadvantages
Expensive and inefficient

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.


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


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.
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.
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.
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.