Competency Approach to Human

Resource Management
WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY
COMPETENCY ?
A Competency is an underlying
characteristic of a person which enables him
/her to deliver superior performance in a
given job, role or a situation.
Competencies are seen mainly as inputs.


They consist of clusters of knowledge,
attitudes and skills that affect an
individuals ability to perform.
Hayes (1979)

Competencies are generic knowledge motive,
trait, social role or a skill of a person
linked to superior performance on the
job.
Albanese (1989)

Competencies are personal characteristics
that contribute to effective
managerial performance.

UNIDO (2002)-
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.

Set of
SKILLS
Relates to the
ability to do,
Physical
domain
Attribute
Relates to
qualitative
aspects
personal
Characteristics
or traits
KNOWLEDGE
Relates to information
Cognitive Domain
COMPETENCY
Outstanding
Performance of
tasks or activities

ANALYTICAL THINKING
The ability to break problems into component parts
and consider or organize parts in a systematic way; the
process of looking for underlying causes or thinking
through the consequence of different courses of action.

KEY BEHAVIOUR INDICATORS
Independently researches for information and solutions to
issues

Ability to know what needs to be done or find out
(research) and take steps to get it done

Ask questions when not sure of what the problem is or to
gain more information.

Able to identify the underlying or main problem.

Shows willingness to experiment with new things.

Develops a list of decision making guidelines to help arrive
at logical solutions.
WHAT IS
A
COMPETENCY MODEL?
COMPETENCY MODEL
A competency model is a valid, observable, and
measurable list of the knowledge, skills, and attributes
demonstrated through behavior that results in
outstanding performance in a particular work context.

Typically A competency model includes
Competency titles
Definitions of those titles
Key Behaviour indicators
COMPETENCY - BROAD CATEGORIES
Generic Competencies
Competencies which are considered essential for all employees
regardless of their function or level. - Communication, initiative,
listening etc.

Managerial Competencies
Competencies which are considered essential for employees with
managerial or supervisory responsibility in any functional area
including directors and senior posts.
COMPETENCY - BROAD CATEGORIES
Technical / Functional

Specific competencies which are considered essential to perform any
job in the organisation within a defined technical or functional area of
work.

e.g.: Finance, environmental management,etc


Competency modeling begins the process of building
tools to link employee performance to the mission and
goals of the organisation .



Why Competencies ?

TRADI TI ONAL J OB ANALYSI S VS COMPETENCY APPROACH
J ob Analysis leads to
long lists of tasks and the
skills / knowledge required
to perform each of those
tasks
Data generation from
subject matter experts; job
incumbents
Effective Performance
Competency model leads to
A Distilled set of underlying
personal characteristics
Data generation from
outstanding performers in
addition to subject matter
experts and other job
incumbents
Outstanding Performance

BEHAVI OUR I NDI CATORS BASED UPON WHAT OUTSTANDI NG
I NDI VI DUALS ACTUALLY DO
The competency definitions are based upon
outstanding current performance in the organization.


These competencies do not reflect someone's
management theory or an academic idea of what it
takes to do the job well, but rather are based on what
works within the organization and most directly
contributes to top performance.

HOLI STI C APPLI CATI ON
Competencies

Help companies raise the bar of performance expectations.

Help teams and individuals align their behaviours with key
organisational strategy.

Each employee understand how to achieve expectations.

ALIGNMENT OF HR SYSTEMS
Competency
Model
COMPETENCY BASED RECRUITMENT
Competency based interviews reduce the risk of making a
costly hiring mistake and increase the likelihood of
identifying and selecting the right person for the right job

COMPETENCY BASED PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Competencies Enable

Establishment of clear high performance standards.

Collection and proper analysis of factual data against
the set standards.

Conduct of objective feedback meetings.

Direction with regard to specific areas of improvement.

COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING
Competency based appraisal process leading to effective
identification of training needs.

Opportunity to identify/ develop specific training programmes -
Focused training investment.

Focused Training enabling improvement in specific technical
and managerial competencies
COMPETENCY BASED DEVELOPMENT
Competencies

Contribute to the understanding of what development really
mean, giving the individual the tools to take responsibility for
their own development.

Give the line managers a tool to empower them to develop
people

COMPETENCY BASED PAY
Provide an incentive for employees to grow and enhance
their capabilities.