Introduction

to
competency management

By Dr. Pooja Sharma

WHAT DO WE UNDERSTAND BY COMPETENCIES
 EVOLUTION OF CONCEPT

• Until 1970s most organizations believed:

• Success dependent on deep technical skills
• Cognitive ability mattered the most

• In 1973, David McClelland, introduced the concept of “Competence” in his paper “Testing for
Competence rather than Intelligence”
• Limitations of traditional tests to predict job performance or success
• Traditional modes were biases against minorities, women, persons from lower
economic strata

• 1980s -performance management and 360 degree feedback

• Late 1980s and 1990s -recruitment, training assessment, change management, and rewards
 WHAT IS A COMPETENCY?

It is an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion

referenced superior performance in a job

• Underlying characteristic: deep and enduring part of a person’s personality and can
predict behavior in a wide variety of situations and job tasks
• Causally related means that a competency causes or predicts behavior and
performance
• Criterion referenced means that the competency actually predicts who does
something well or poorly as measured on a specific criterion or standard (e.g.: volume
of sales for a sales person)
 SOME DEFINITIONS OF COMPETENCIES

Competency is an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., a motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s self-image,
social role, or a body of knowledge) which results in effective and/or superior performance. (Prof. Boyatzis,
1982)

A Competency is a set of skills, related knowledge and attributes that allow an individual to successfully perform
a task or an activity within a specific function or job. (UNIDO, 2002) Competencies are coachable, observable,
measurable, and critical to successful individual or corporation performance.

The pieces of the puzzle….. ……that form a common language about success 7 …that reflect the values and
culture of the organization
 WHAT IS COMPETENCY?

Is ‘competence’ and competency the same?

Some dictionaries may present them interchangeably, however, ‘competence’ means a skill and the
standard of performance reached, while ‘competency’ refers to the behaviour by which it is achieved. In
other words, one describes what people can do while the other focuses on how they do it. Therefore there is
an interface between the two, i.e., the competent application of a skill is likely to make one act in a
competent manner and vice versa. The plural of each word, therefore, gives two different meanings—
competences and competencies are not the same. Competences refers to the range of skills which are
satisfactorily performed, while competencies refers to the behaviour adopted in competent performance.
The Interface between Competence and Competency

Competence ________________Competency
Skill-based ___________________Behaviour-based
Standard attained _______________Manner of behaviour
What is measured_____________ How the standard is achieved
 What is Competency?

The driving test analogy is useful to understand learning and development at three separate levels.
1. Knowledge—reading (one understands the meaning of driving a car)
2. Skill—practising (one is shown how to drive a car and is allowed to practise in a non-traffic area)
3. Competence—applying (one exhibits an ability to drive in traffic)

There are five types of competency characteristics.

Motives—The things a person consistently thinks about or wants and that which causes action. Motives ‘drive, direct or
select’ behaviour towards certain actions or goals and away from others.
Traits—Physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information.
Self-concept—A person’s attitudes, values or self-image.
Knowledge—Information a person has in specific content areas.
Skill—The ability to perform a certain physical or mental task.
What is Competency?

 As illustrated in the figure, knowledge and skill competencies tend to be visible and
relatively ‘on the surface’ characteristics of people. Self-concept, trait and motive
competencies are more hidden, ‘deeper’ and central to personality. Surface knowledge and
skill competencies are relatively easy to develop; training is the most effective way to
secure these employee abilities. Core motive and trait competencies at the base of the
personality iceberg are more difficult to assess and develop; it is most cost effective to select
these characteristics. Competencies can be defined as skills, areas of knowledge, attitudes
and abilities that distinguish high performers. These are characteristics that may not be easily
observable but rather exist ‘under the surface’—behavioural questions can help draw out
examples of these competencies
THE CONCEPT OF “OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOUR
 THE CONCEPT OF “OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOUR

Core Personality: Most difficult to develop.

Surface: Motive Most easily developed

You can teach a turkey to climb a tree but it is

easier to hire a squirrel
 Competencies are components of a job which are reflected in behaviour that are
observable in a workplace. The common elements most frequently mentioned are
knowledge, skills, abilities, aptitudes, personal suitability behaviour and impact
on performance at work. There are various definitions with little difference in
them. However, the common denomination is ‘observable behaviour’ in the
workplace. The criteria of competency are superior performance and effective
performance. Only some competencies can predict performance.
 UNDERLYING CHARACTERISTIC

• Motive: Drive, Direct & Select towards certain action or goals Achievement motivated people will consistently set
challenging goals, take personal responsibility, use feedback to do better.

• Traits: consistent responses to situations or information. People will act above and beyond call of duty to solve
problems under stress.

• Self Concept: A person’s attitudes, values and self image. People who do not like to influence others motives struggle
as leaders.

• Knowledge : specific content areas. Which facts exist that are relevant to a specific problem and where to find them.

• Skill: ability to perform a certain activity. Mental or cognitive skills to handle complexity
COMPETENCIES: THE KSA FRAMEWORK
competencies can be divided into two
categories
 Threshold competencies—These are the essential characteristics that everyone in
the job needs to be minimally effective, but this does not distinguish superior
from average performers.
 Differentiating competencies—These factors distinguish superior from average
performers.
Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad (1994) in their book Competing for the Future wrote, ‘core competencies transcend
any single business event within the organization’. Certain projects are so massive and persuasive that no individual
can possess the competencies required to see them through to completion. Therefore, organizations have to identify,
develop and manage organizational core competencies that drive large enterprise critical projects. Workplace
competencies focus on individuals instead of the organization, and they vary by job positions versus enterprise
endeavours. The unit of measure is people rather than the business. There may be core competencies that appear in
every competency model position, most workplace competencies are typically specific to the position. Thus there is an
enormous amount of work to set up organization-wide competency-based applications. ‘Competent’ is when a person
is qualified to perform to a requisite standard of the processes of a job. ‘Competence’ on the other hand means the
condition or state of being competent. The difference between the core and workplace competencies is given in Table:

Core Competencies vs. Workplace Competencies

Core Workplace
Scope Organization Individual
Purpose Strategic Tactical
Participant(s) Business unit Worker
Tasks Processes Activities
Competencies Global Position
Myths about Competency

 Competence is not performance but is a state of being, a qualification to perform.

It is, in relation to performance, a necessary but not sufficient condition.
 Competency measurement should not be confused with performance
measurement. Competencies are all about being qualified to do the work in a
particular position. Performance, on the other hand, is the result of the actual
work. A blend of these two activities may cause confusion and eventually disaster.
 Competence is not process input—The classic four M’s of Total Quality
Management have nothing to do with a worker’s qualification to do a job. They
are resources that are used to complete the process. Herein, manpower denotes the
number of people required to perform the process, not their capabilities; materials,
methods and machinery are part of the process as designed.
 Competence is not process output—Outputs are the business results of a process.
They are productive outcomes of competent workers. Results are not
competencies. Process results are just one of the many measures of competence.
 Competence is not a trait—A trait is a distinguishing characteristic of personality.
Personality traits are formed at an early age and it is believed that certain elements
of personality may be genetically determined. Even with the help of a trained
therapist it is hard to change personality. Traits end up being what someone brings
to the job.
• Competence is not capability or ability—Capability is a workplace capacity. It connotes potential future performance.
Ability is a reflection of talent, of being able to perform. Neither of them guarantees performance.
• The competency process should consider not what workers can potentially do or what talents they could have, if they
choose to use them, but what workers actually need, to be qualified to do. Thus capabilities and abilities are not part of
the model.
• Competence is not a motivational attitude—Motivational attitudes are integral to the personality of a worker, such as
aggression, self-confidence, decisiveness, ambition, commitment. Do not make the mistake of including motivational
elements while defining competence.
• A popular performance analysis tool that allows this approach is the Can Do/Will Do chart (see Fig. 1.9). ‘Can do’ refers
to the employees’ qualification to do the job. ‘Will do’ refers to the employees’ motivation to perform as given by
Kenneth Carlton Cooper (2000). This results in four possible alternatives as shown in Figure
Cannot do Can do

Will do
Train Motivate

Won’t do

Job in Counsel
 Can Do/Will Do. This is the ideal situation. The employee is fully qualified and is doing
the job as designed.
 Cannot Do/Will Do. Here, the employee is putting in the effort, but is not getting the
results (skills problem).
 Can Do/Won’t Do—Here the employee possesses the competencies to do the work but
does not complete work processes as designed (a motivational problem).
 Cannot Do/Won’t Do—This employee has deficiencies in both skills and motivation. A
decision has to be made regarding the development/counselling resources required versus
the expected success of the effort. The result may well be a job-in-jeopardy situation.
The ‘Can Do-Can’t Do’ dimension of this model is certainly within the purview of a
competence effort. But the ‘Will Do-Won’t Do’ dimension is not competency based. It is a
matter of motivational attitude. Attitudes cannot be developed, only counselled. Therefore,
they cannot be part of a definition of competence.
THANK YOU