Competency Approach to Human

Resource Management

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What do we mean when we
say “COMPETENCY” ?

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 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.

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Competencies are seen mainly as inputs.

They consist of clusters of knowledge,

attitudes and skills that affect an
individual’s ability to perform.

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Hayes (1979) –

Competencies are generic knowledge

motive, trait, social role or a skill of a
person linked to superior performance
on the job.

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Albanese (1989) –

Competencies are personal

characteristics that contribute to
effective managerial performance.

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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.

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 What is Common in the definitions?

Competencies
• underlying characteristic of
a person’s inputs.
• clusters of knowledge,
attitudes and skills
• generic knowledge motive,
trait, social role or a skill
• personal characteristics
• set of skills, related
knowledge and attributes
Job
• superior performance in a
given job, role or a situation
• individual’s ability to
perform.
• linked to superior
performance on the job.
• contribute to effective
managerial performance
• successfully perform a task
or an activity within a
specific function or job

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 KNOWLEDGE
Relates to information
Cognitive Domain

Set of Attribute
SKILLS Relates to
qualitative
Relates to the
aspects
ability to do,
personal
Physical
Characteristics
domain COMPETENCY or traits

Outstanding
Performance of
tasksROHIT
or activities
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 Behaviour Indicators
• A Competency is described in terms of key
behaviours that enables recognition of that
competency at the work place.

• These behaviors are demonstrated by

excellent performers on-the-job much more
consistently than average or poor
performers. These characteristics generally
follow the 80-20 rule in that they include
the key behaviors that primarily drive
excellent performance.
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Example of a Competency

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 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.

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 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.
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 What is
a
Competency Model?

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 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
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 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.

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 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

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

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 Traditional Job Analysis Vs Competency Approach

Job Analysis leads to Competency model 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
• A Distilled set of underlying
personal characteristics
• Data generation from
outstanding performers in
addition to subject matter
experts and other job
incumbents
• Outstanding Performance

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Distinguish Superior From Merely Satisfactory Performance

 The approach allows executives and angers to

make a distinction between a person's ability to
do specific tasks at the minimum acceptable
level and the ability to do the whole job in an
outstanding fashion
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 Behaviour Indicators Based upon what outstanding individuals
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.
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 The Competencies are Behaviour Specific

 It is one thing, for example, to ask whether

an employee "takes initiative," a very
general concept, open to interpretation, but
it is quite another to ask, "Was it typical of
this manager to carry out tasks without
your having to request that they be done?,"
a question which has only two answers,
"Yes" and "No".

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 Holistic Application
 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.
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Alignment of HR systems

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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

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 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.

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 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
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 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

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 Competency based Pay

 Provide an incentive for employees to grow

and enhance their capabilities.

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Methodology?

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 Steps in Model Building
• Background information about the organisation
• Decide on the Occupation / Job Position(s) that
require competency Model(s)
• Discuss the application of the competency model
• Select a data collection method and plan the
approach
• Organize Data collected
• Identify main themes or patterns
• Build the model - Defining specific behaviour
Indicators
• Review the model
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 Data Collection Methods
• Resource / Expert Panels

 Structured process to get the participants (Job holders,

managers HR / training staff) to think systematically
about the job, skills and personal characteristics
needed for success.

• Critical Event Interviews

 Structured interviews with superior performers which

involves in-depth probing of a large number of events
and experiences.

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Vinay Ravindran
 Data Collection Methods
• Generic competency Dictionaries
– Conceptual frameworks of commonly
encountered competencies and behaviour
indicators.
– Serve as a starting point to the model building
team.
– Can be used in resource panel by asking the
participants to select a set of generic
competencies related to the job and rate the
importance

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 Competency
model building

A detailed approach

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 A Detailed Approach
• Info about the company.
• Decision on the job position(s) .
• Discussion on the CM application.
• Basic data collection on the job
responsibilities(using customized menu)
• Focus group
 Review job description
 understand performance criteria
 Discuss specific behaviours
 List top ten competencies

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Vinay Ravindran
 A Detailed Approach

• Critical incident technique - interviewing top

performers

– incidents that lead to effective performance

– incidents that lead to in effective performance
– Discuss specific behaviours
– List behaviours
– List competencies

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 A Detailed Approach
• Content Analysis

– Group behaviours
– Match behaviours to competencies using
competency dictionary as a guideline
– Evolve new set of competencies if any
– Match behaviour indicators identified through
CIT to the top 10 competencies identified by the
focus group
– Review the model and make corrections

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 COMPETENCY MAPPING MODEL
ORGANISATION
ORGANISATIONDIRECTION
DIRECTION
••VISION
VISION
••MISSION
MISSION
••SHORT
SHORTTERM
TERM&&LONG
LONGTERM
TERMGOAL
GOAL
••STRATEGIES
STRATEGIES
••VALUES
VALUES

TRANSLATING THEM INTO ACTIONS FOR

ACTUALISATION

THROUGH
 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
 ROLES, POSITIONS, JOBS

CORE COMPETENCY OF THE ROLE COMPETENCY

ORGANISATION
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COMPETENCY MAPPING PROCESS

1.0 DESIGNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

While designing the questionnaire

following factors are to be taken into
consideration:
1.1 Part - I

1.1.1 Purpose of the job.

1.1.2 Critical Success Factors
1.1.3 Key Result Areas
1.1.4 Key Activities
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 JOB

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

CSF - 1 CSF - 2 CSF - 3 CSF - 4 CSF - 5

KEY RESULT AREAS

KRA- 1 KRA - 2 KRA - 3 KRA - 4 KRA - 5

KEY ACTIVITIES

KA - 1 KA - 2 KA - 3
Each Critical Success Factor (CSF) is the end result of multiple Key Result Areas.
Each Key Result Area (KRA) is theROHIT
end result
JHA of multiple Key Activities.
DESIGNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE CONTINUED

1.1.5 Relationship.
1.1.6 Organization Structure.
1.1.7 Empowerment of the position.
1.1.8 Challenges in the job.
1.1.9 Changes expected in the technology, product,
process etc in the next 2-3 years.
1.1.10 Budget and Controls.
1.1.11 Investment Plan.

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 DESIGNING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

1.2 PART - II

1.2.1 Academics, Knowledge

Skills Sets
Experience
1.2.2 Competencies

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 2.0 DATA COLLECTION

2.1 Clarity of Organisation Direction

2.2 Clarity of Organisation Structure.
2.3 Interview Job Holder.
2.4 Interview Job Holder's Reporting Officer.
2.5 Discuss with the Focus Group if the job are
of the same family.

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 3.0 C0MPETENCY DRAFTING

3.1 Rank Order of the list of competencies .

- Guided / Unguided.

3.2 Comparing good performer and average performer

with select list of competencies.

3.3 Use research data and assign competencies

to positions.

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4.0
4.0 FINALISE
FINALISEROLE
ROLEDESCRIPTION
DESCRIPTION
AND
AND
COMPETENCIES
COMPETENCIES--JOB
JOBWISE
WISE

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5.0 FINALISING CORE COMPETENCIES FOR

• Front Line Management

• Middle Management
• Senior Management / Top Management

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 6.0 PURPOSE OF COMPETENCY MAPPING

"Effectiveness
"Effectivenessof
ofan
anorganisation
organisationisisthe
thesummation
summationof
ofthe
the
required
requiredcompetencies
competenciesininthe
theorganisation".
organisation".
 Gap
GapAnalysis
Analysis
 Role
RoleClarity
Clarity
 Selection,
Selection,Potential
PotentialIdentification,
Identification,Growth
GrowthPlans.
Plans.
 Succession
SuccessionPlanning.
Planning.
 Restructuring
Restructuring
 Inventory
Inventoryof
ofcompetencies
competenciesfor
forfuture
futureplanning.
planning.

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