|
WHAT ARE
COMPETENCIES?
Competencies are
defined as a cluster of observable behaviours and actions, which can include
personality, ability, interest and motivation, that lead to superior
performance in a role. These are the 'How to' skills that contribute to the
outcome or the person's performance - it is the manner in which the person
carries out his / her activities. For example in the competency of
'Leadership', a leader may display the ability to empathise with their staff,
understand their needs and therefore speak with them in a way that will
motivate them.
WHY ARE ORGANISATIONS INTERESTED IN COMPETENCIES?
- Competencies provide
organisations and individuals with a 'blue print' of the types of skills,
behaviours, standards and values that are important to the organisation
- Enable the organisation to
drive development in line with the company strategy e.g. focus on developing
leadership skills
- Provide a fair and
transparent means for HR processes such as: recruitment, assessment and
appraisal, succession planning and development
- Enable employees to show more
flexibility by developing a wider range of skills and adapting to changes in
working practices
As organizations change and
develop new visions and strategies so do the competencies and skills needed to
execute them.
WHAT DO COMPETENCY FRAMEWORKS PROVIDE?
Effective use of competency frameworks provides
employees with a clearly-defined set of objectives and managers with a
consistent measurement tool that could be used across geographical, cultural
and work boundaries.
Uses of competencies
- Training
and development: identifying gaps and
helping employees develop in the right direction.
- Development, promotion and succession planning: assessing employees' readiness or potential to take on
new challenges.
- Annual
appraisals and/or performance related pay: appraising and managing performance according to
competency.
- Recruitment and selection:
choosing the right people to join and progress in an organisation.
- Change
management: using competencies when
restructuring or dealing with other cultural changes.
- Grading
structures.
Recent research has reported
that the top 5 uses of competencies were appraisal/ performance management,
training and development, selection, recruitment and promotion. An effective
competency framework however has applications across the whole range of human
resource management and development activities.
BENEFITS
The main benefits of a competency-based system
are:
- Employees have a set of
objectives to work towards and are clear about how they are expected to perform
their jobs.
- The appraisal and recruitment
systems are fairer and more open.
- There is a link between
organisational and personal objectives.
- Processes are measurable and
standardised across organisational and geographical boundaries.
WHAT SERVICES
CAN Q-OPD INTERNATIONAL OFFER?
- Build and develop
organization-wide competency frameworks
- Work with your existing
competency framework in order to update it
- Offer existing 'of the shelf'
competency frameworks for a range of roles such as Management, Customer
Service, Leadership. These can be adapted and tailored to meet your
organisational needs.
- Define the skills and
competencies needed for success in a Role / Level
- Transfer knowledge to HR
teams enabling self-sufficiency in competency design
- Link competencies to a range
of HR processes including 360 Degree Appraisal
- Redesign HR processes to
integrate new competencies
COMPETENCY
FRAMEWORK BACKGROUND INFORMATION
It
is important that the competency framework is a good fit with the rest of the
organisation's HR practices and reflects its mission statement and values.
Experience has shown that employee involvement is the single most important
factor in the introduction of competency frameworks. Usually there are between
8-12 competencies in a framework. It is important to restirict the number of
competencies as this can complicate matters.
A critical aspect of all frameworks is the degree
of detail. If a framework is too general (containing only general statements
about communication, team working, etc), it will not provide enough guidance
either to employees as to what is expected of them or to managers who have to
assess their staff against these terms. If, on the other hand, it is too
detailed, the entire process becomes excessively bureaucratic and
time-consuming and may lose credibility.
Examples of some of the most widely used competency
headings include:
- team orientation or
teamworking
- communication skills
- people management
- customer focus
- results orientation
- problem solving
- planning and
organising.
These were reported as the most
commonly used competency headings in recently published research.
DEVELOPING A COMPETENCY
FRAMEWORK
There are several models
of competency framework, and deciding which one will be most suitable for your
organisation will depend on the profile of staff jobs, size of the organisation
and who the framework is aimed at.
Some organisations opt for one framework for all employees across
the organisation, which is often known as a 'core framework'. This has the
advantage of being simple and easy to communicate, but has several drawbacks in
terms of how relevant it ends up being to different types of employees. As a
core framework tends to be very general, some organisations have problems
getting employees to accept it as something that is relevant to them. Because
of this, core frameworks must be carefully prepared and designed so as to be
accessible and relevant to all levels of worker.
Some organisations prefer instead to produce a core
framework, but then supplement it with role specific competencies to
acknowledge the special responsibilities and needs of managers and other
important groups. Examples of role specific competencies are people management,
financial decision making and project management. This approach offers a
relatively simple way of improving the acceptability of a core framework to a
diverse workforce.
Another option
to consider is a 'menu' style approach. This involves producing a framework,
from which employees with their manager selected a few competencies which are
seen as relevant to the role an individual performs. This approach enables an
organisation to provide a much broader range of behavioural competencies which
apply to many different types of employee, thus improving the likelihood that
the competencies are seen as realistic and relevant. However, one problem with
this approach is that menus often appear to be lengthy, intimidating sets of
materials which can be off-putting for end-users. However, some organisations
are solving this problem by publishing them on an Intranet which enables users
to navigate their way round a complex menu of competencies with greater ease.
Many organisations using this approach provide guidelines to staff to help them
to choose competencies, such as requiring a certain number are selected.
The final option is to create
different framework for different groups within the organisation in order to
take account of diverse needs. Identifying suitable groups should be done to
reflect each organisation's situation and priorities, but they are often based
on either major functions (eg HR, IT, sales) or on responsibilities (eg
managers, senior managers). These types of frameworks can be more relevant and
can be more easily customised or revised to take account of changing priorities
and needs. However, there are disadvantages. It can be difficult to control the
development and maintenance of numerous separate sets of competencies, in terms
of ensuring consistency and fairness. But also, in terms of ensuring they are
linked to the organisation's objectives and values.
IMPLEMENTATION
Research into the implementation and ongoing use of
competencies in organisations has shown that employers consistently identify
the same issues that can 'make or break' the effective use competencies. This
is frequently seen to rest on building the motivation. Q-OPD intenational will
ensure the active implementation of the process to ensure its success.
LEGAL
REQUIREMENTS
When preparing a
competency framework, it is important to take account of laws such as the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and ensure that none of the competencies
discriminate against any particular group of employees or potential
employees.
APPLICABILITY OF COMPETENCY FRAMEWORKS
In many organisations, the use of competencies was
initially limited to managers, either because it was felt to be of more
relevance for those roles or because it would have been too expensive and
time-consuming to introduce competencies across the board. There is no reason
why competencies may not be applied at any level but the potential benefits of
a widespread scheme have to be weighed against the costs (both of time and
money).
|
