ABSTRACT

Competency mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for a particular position in an organization, and then using it for job-evaluation, recruitment, training and development, performance management, succession planning, etc. The competency framework serves as the foundation for all ! applications. "s a result of competency mapping, all the ! processes like talent induction, management development, appraisals and training yield much better results.# Competency mapping is important and is an essential e$ercise. %very well managed firm should have well defined roles and list of competencies re&uired to perform each role effectively. This paper not only aims to review the key concepts of competency mapping but it actually puts forward its successful implementation# with the help of secondary data consisting of research papers, articles and case studies.

INTRODUCTION
'n all business organizations, there is one common element i.e. human resources. (eople working in the organization are one of the most important inputs. owever technically sophisticated and automated an industry may be, it cannot be denied that it is the human brain which designs, creates and maintains it. !) is a management function involving procurement of suitable human resources, train and develop their competencies, motivate them, reward them effectively and create in them an urge to be part of the management team whose aim should be rendered, dedicated, committed service for the success and growth of the organization. !) is management of employees* skills, knowledge, abilities, talents, aptitude, creative abilities etc. !) views man not only as economic person but looks at him as a full person + taking social and psychological factors in views. The efficiency and effectiveness of any organization is determined by the performance of the people working at all levels in the organization. (erformance is determined by several factors, most important of them are ability to perform and willingness to perform. -ecause of uni&ue importance of human resources and its comple$ity due to ever changing psychology, behavior and attitudes of men and women at work, !) has ac&uired a new dimension in today*s business organizations. .ow a day it is not possible to show a superior financial or operating report unless human relations are in order. /ver the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs are growing while low skilled jobs are declining. This calls for future skill mapping through proper !) initiatives. 'ndian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems, man-agreement cultures and viewpoint due to the global alignment of 'ndian organizations. There is a need for multi skill development. !ole of !) becomes more important.

Companies are greatly shifting their approach by having multi-competent employees along with master0knowledge of only one competency. Companies are interested in knowing the present competency levels of their employees so that training can be given to improve their performance. This is where Competency )apping comes in to focal point. 'n any organization, one of the major concern areas for the uman !esource 1epartment is to establish the competencies of the processes and to evaluate the strength level of the person working on it. Competency )apping has emerged as a major concern for the organization in the recent times and has attracted the attention of the top management.

WHAT IS COMPETENCY?
"ny underlying feature re&uired performing a given task, activity, or function successfully can be considered as competency. Competency may take the following forms2 3nowledge, "ttitude, 4kill, /ther characteristics of an individual include2 )otives 5alues Traits 4elf Concept etc. Competencies may be grouped in to various areas. 'n classic article published a few decades ago in arvard -usiness !eview, 1aniel 3atz grouped them into three areas which were later e$panded in to the following four2 Technical or Func ional Co!"e encie# 63nowledge, "ttitudes, skills etc. associated with the technology or functional e$pertise re&uired to perform the role7, Mana$erial 6knowledge, attitudes, skills etc. re&uired to plan, organise, mobilize and utilise various resources7, Hu!an 6knowledge, attitudes and skills re&uired to motivate, utilise and develop human resources7, and Conce" ual 6abilities to visualise the invisible, think at abstract levels and use the thinking to plan future business7.

Un%er# an%in$# O& Co!"e enc' Ma""in$

Competency mapping is a process of detection of the competencies re&uired to perform successfully a given job or role or a set of tasks at a given point of time. 't consists of breaking a given role or job into its element tasks or activities and identifying the competencies 6technical,

managerial, behavioral, conceptual knowledge, an attitudes, skills, etc.7 re&uired to perform the same successfully. Competency mapping involves the process by which we determine2 the nature and scope of a specific job role, the skills re&uired, the level of knowledge re&uired, and The behavioral capacities re&uired to apply those skills and knowledge in that role.

Competency )apping involves mapping the competencies re&uired for a particular position 6what the position demands i.e. (osition (rofiling7, and toning them to the competencies of the position incumbent 6what skill a person actually possesses i.e. (erson (rofiling7. 'n competency mapping all details of the behaviors 6apparent, detailed, measurable etc7 to be shown by the person occupying that role are specified. Competency )apping can be defined as a process through which one assesses and determines one8s strengths as an individual worker and in some cases, as part of an organization. The individual*s level of competency in each skill is measured against a performance standard established by the organization. Competency mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for a particular position in an organisation, and then using it for job-evaluation, recruitment, training and development, performance management, succession planning etc.9The competency framework serves as the bedrock for all ! applications. "s a result of competency mapping all the ! process like talent induction, management 1evelopment, appraisal and training yield much better results.9 Competency mapping is a way of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a worker or organization. 't8s about identifying a person8s job skills and strengths in areas like teamwork, leadership, and decision-making. :arge organizations may use some form of this techni&ue to understand how to best use each worker or how to combine the strengths of different employees to produce the highest &uality work. 'ndividuals may also find that this type of assessment can help them prepare for a career change or advance in a specific job field.

WHY COMPETENCY MAPPIN(?

Competency )apping is e$cessively used in the organization to determine the crucial elements and activities. The basic reasons due to which the mapping of the competencies is done are as follows2 /nce the competencies are determined, proper training can be provided to the individuals to work more efficiently on the processes.

3ey performance areas can be improved by understanding the fields where there is a gap between the actual and the desired results. 'f the competencies are determined for the given job, then the person whose career panning phase is taking place can consider those competencies and can be ready for the same. Through competency mapping, the individual is preparing himself for the ne$t set of responsibilities. ;ith the help of the competency mapping the individual can alter the style of work where the gap e$ists. -y overcoming the differences in the desired level and the actual status of performance the individual can feel the increase in the self confidence and the motivation level. Competency based approach can lead the individual to derive much efficient results 6with more accuracy7 as compared to work in a non-competency derived situation. elps the individual to determine the areas where the development is re&uired and thus leads the individual to develop a self development plan. Competency mapping leads the individual to understand the actual position and the gap from the desired status of work. Competency mapping plays a crucial role in career planning of the individual in the organization.

OB)ECTI*ES OF THE STUDY

<nderstanding the concept of competency mapping. 's the process of competence mapping being implemented successfully in the companies=

+ITERATURE RE*IEW
"ccording to )d.'shtiak <ddin, 3hadiza !ahman Tanchi and )d..ahid "lam >?@ in their article, tried to understand the to trace the concept of competency mapping and it*s impact on ! practices and suggests that Competency mapping can ultimately serve the individual who decides to seek employment in an environment where he or she perhaps can learn new things and be more intellectually challenged. -asically, it is not only done for Confirmed employees of an organization and it can also be done for contract workers or for those seeking employment to emphasize the specific skills which would make them valuable to a potential employer.

Tom (arks >A@ in his paper says that every institution, organization, region, country, etc. has research strengths. "ccording to him !ankings are done at disciplinary levels, and cannot identify sub-disciplinary or multidisciplinary competencies 6strengths7, wherein )aps can identify competencies and show actual research strengths. e emphasizes on the point that Competency-level information is actionable. Tom (arks suggests that 1istinctive research competency mapping identifies an institution*s current and developing research strengths. 't may be useful in2 - -building collaborations, -retaining and recruiting key members, -recruiting graduate students, and -fund-raising. )aria %tiennette 'rigoin, and (aula Tarnapol ;hitacre. 1ana ). Baulkner and Cloria Coe, eds. >D@ in their report emphasizes that there are a variety of social, political, economic, and technological trends that pose interesting implications for the competencies needed by professionals in the area of communications for development and social change. The specific purpose of the conference was to begin the multi-step process of defining competencies in Communication for 1evelopment and 4ocial Change, to be used as the basis for ultimately designing and creating competency-based curricula for education and training of professionals in the field. (ooja Tripathi and Eayanthi !anjan >F@ has come up with the development of e$pert system to assist in the operation of competence management in educational institution and to overcome most of the problems encountered in typically competence management and the performance management. The information ac&uisitions in developing the system involved interviews with the domain e$pert and literature review from several books. " secondary data was taken from the 4ample Technical 4chool, in order to validate the system and the final conclusion of the system was e$pected and consistent with the predictions of the domain e$pert. "nd the end result was C)" is verified, can be implemented and applied in educational institutions. Botis 1raganidis and Cregoris )entzas >G@ in their paper tried to review the key concepts of competency management 6C)7 and to propose method for developing competency method. They found out that the areas of open standard 6H):, web services, !1B7, semantic technologies 6ontology and the semantic web7 and portals with self-service technologies are going to play a significant part in the evolution of C) systems. "part from defining the concept of competency# they have identified the four macro-phases in a competency lifecycle in a C) system2 namely, competency mapping, diagnosis, development, and monitoring, and was analyzed in detail. They have come up with an algorithm for developing a competency model, the core around which a C) system is based. "ccording to 4hruti "huja >I@, Competency mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for a particular position in an organization, and then using it for job-evaluation, staffing, training and development, performance management, succession planning, etc. The competency framework serves as the foundation for all ! applications. "s a result of competency mapping,

all the ! processes like talent induction, management development, appraisals and training yield much better results.# 'n the given paper it was e$plained, e$isting competencies in the targeted group and gaps between re&uired and e$isting competencies, identify the training and development needs of individual. )anagers were interviewed with the help of &uestionnaire to identify gaps between e$isting competencies and necessary competencies. The study reveals suggested training program and incentive plans for the different employees in different departments, in different positions. "ccording to !.Juvaraj >K@, in his paper he emphasizes that Competency mapping cannot only be done for confirmed employees of an organization but can also be done for contract workers or for those seeking employment to emphasize the e$act skills which would make them valuable to a potential employer. These kinds of skills can be found 0 realized, when one is ready to do the work. Competency mapping is one of the most accurate source in identifying the job and behavioral competencies of an individual in an organization. Competency is a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes re&uired to perform a job effectively and efficiently. " Competency is something that describes how a job might be done e$cellently, a Competence only describes what has to be done, not how. Core competency is something which cannot be copied and it is the pillar upon which individual rest. e suggests that Competency mapping should not be treated as rewards. "ll the stakeholders must accept it as an opportunity for long-term growth. "ccording to 3.5. 3annan >L@ competency mapping helps an organization to identify the critical competencies that are essential for employees to e$cel in an organization. -y identifying the critical competencies e$isting with well performing employees, the other employees can also be stressed with the same by conducting training and development programs. e suggests that competency describes what superior performers actually do on a job that produces superior results. "rmed with this information, selection, retention, training, succession planning and performance management systems can be integrated and designed to attract, develop and retain top performers.

FEW CASES
)rs. ( ima -indu >M@ has conducted a &ualitative research on the !ole of ! in business e$cellence - competency mapping as a tool in business e$cellence in selected (4<# wherein she found out that ! tools define and direct modern organization. They provide a systematic process and components which results in performance e$cellence and which leads to business e$cellence. Talking about competence mapping in particular in the given case study, it was found out that the selected (4< had outsourced the process to a consultant who have implemented the process for F years and ?? competencies were identified of grade I and above. 't was revealed that the process got temporarily discontinued as the person who had championed the idea of competency mapping got retired and lack of support for the process is again one of the reasons, a whopping amount was allocated for the purpose. There was a lack of interest from the employees end and were averse to attend programs conducted at assessment centers. They stated the reason that assessment process is wrong for reasons such as short performance appraisals time for assessment i.e. D days for all the three programmes business, organizational and leadership

effectiveness for ?? competencies, lack of clarity evaluation, mismatch of original appraisal and competency assessment results. The same was &uestioned to ! department and they e$pressed it as2 lack of understanding of assessment and re&uirements for competencies at various levels. 1r. 4haukat "li >?N@ conducted a &uantitative 4tudy at "mbassadors 43J C %B, )umbai, and found out that the concept of competency mapping is in the mid of introduction O growth stage. 't was found that competency mapping is useful in economical use of the most important resources, human capital by ensuring the best suitable job to person. "ccording to him it also ensures individual growth and development. 1hananjay Cokhale >??@ conducted an empirical study on )apping (roject )anagement Competency and came with a conclusion that over and over again competency mapping runs the risk of being just another new-fangled process that happens to be the savor of the season. 4uch a powerful organizational tool is often resorted just because rival organizations have implemented it and not because there is genuine approval of its benefits. 'n such instances one finds management pressures to grade as many ()s as high as possible thus beat the very purpose of the e$ercise. "ccording to him (roject )anagement Competency )apping should not be seen as just another means to allocate and distribute rewards. e emphasizes that all the stakeholders must see in the e$ercise a prospect for long-term growth. The key is to look at project management competency mapping as going beyond mere processes. 4hashi Tiwari and 4ushmita Chosh >?A@, in their paper -uilding a Competent ;orkforce through %ffective Competency )apping# attempted to present a view on how effective competency mapping may help organizations to achieve and realize organizational objectives. "ccording to them, competency and its recognition is the buzz word in today*s corporate world. ;hile organizations have always thought that it is important to have right person at the right time in the right job, it has in recent times begun to evaluate the competencies. They said that organizations need to either follow the recognized competency approach models that cater to their diverse businesses or need to create their own definite models. /n the basis of the e$isting policies, and available resources, the organizations need to assess or map the competencies by using the various methods. The organizations are actually developing newer models and approaches which are bringing out more vitality in the conte$t of competency mapping. The concept is no more limited to the academic and research barriers but is definitely part of the practical field where it is getting implemented not only as ! approaches in the organizations but also being considered as career development tool and emerging as a consultancy service. Eac&ueline ). de Chabert >?D@, in her research tried to find out whether firms that implement and develop core competencies perform significantly better than firms that do not. "ccording to her firms that have a higher degree of alignment between critical success factors 6Critical success factors are those crucial activities and processes within a company that are industry0business environment specific7 and core competencies perform better. 'n conclusion, the theory of core competencies and their benefits certainly have advantage in logical thought processes and through this study also appear to have basis in reality. E,AMP+E2 Co!"e enc' Ma""in$ a -en#ar . +.T In&o ech -ENSAR

Pensar has a behavioral competency model which is based on various job roles in the organization. The following is the process of implementation of competency mapping. aving defined the various job roles, a focused study was initiated where job role holders were interviewed on the critical incident method and the data of success-critical factors collated. The job roles and deliverables were finalized on the basis of the competencies derived from the data. This data was further analyzed, and on the basis of this competencies that had an impact on the job roles and deliverables were finalized. "fter identifying the competencies, a job analysis e$ercise was carried out where the importance level of every competency was ascertained before freezing the competency model.

Bor team leaders and project managers, the company also runs development centres in-house, here, individuals are profiled on behavioural competencies re&uired for their position. 9This process creates awareness in the individual about his behavioural traits in detail, and helps him chalk out an individual development plan. 1evelopment centres help map an individual8s potential, which is useful to both the individual and the organisation. + . T INFOTECH :OT 'nfotech, a (C)) :evel G company, has a successful competency-based ! system. !ecruitment, training, job rotation, succession planning and promotions-all are defined by competency mapping. .early all ! interventions are linked to competency. Competencies are enhanced through training and job rotation. "ll people who have gone through job rotation undergo a transformation and get a broader perspective of the company. Bor instance, a person lacking in negotiation skills might be put in the sales or purchase department for a year to hone his skills in the area.

CONC+USION
" number of organizations are trying to define and implement the process of competence mapping for various purposes. The importance of segregating competencies into different categories such as conceptual, technical, conte$tual, interpersonal, etc has gained momentum. The organizations wish to reduce the losses they incur due to wrong allocation of work to the personnel. The other uni&ue factor is each job in the organization has its own profile, specification and description. 4imilarly people have specific competencies which are either inherent or can be developed. The organizations need to match the competencies of the people with that of the job re&uirements before allocating the tasks to them. owever, there is a much greater challenge of avoiding a Qme too* mindset as well. The key is to go beyond mere processes and create a mapping e$ercise based on action oriented competency statements. Competency mapping has become a realistic approach in managing the performance effectively, but we also have to realize one truth that competencies are built up over time and are not innate. 't typically takes e$perience on the job to build competencies. -oth 1evelopment and e$perience are needed to become competent.

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