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Competencies: The Core of Human Resource Management

Guest post by: Suzanne Simpson

Article Overview: Competency-based human resource management is currently all the rage. Unfortunately, it also has all the dangers of being relegated to the place of Management by Objective (MBO), Total Quality Management (TQM), and other similar programs that also really worked, but were so little understood and so poorly implemented by most that they are now considered unacceptable programs.

Competencies: The Core of Human Resource Management

What are Competencies?

Competencies in various forms have been in existence from the early 1960s and are at the moment enjoying a rediscovery. In and of themselves they are quite a simple concept. A competency is the knowledge, skills and abilities required to be successful in a job. Unfortunately, despite this relatively simple definition and obvious requirement for job success, the application of these ideas to all aspects of the management of people is difficult to grasp by both line trained managers and human resource personnel.

Competencies are related to the job, not the person. It is the requirements for the job they must be determined first. It is important to also note that while we speak of a job this is for the convenience of writing and not implementation. By this I mean that the definition applies to a group of jobs or a whole range of jobs. For example, airline pilots regardless of what aircraft they fly or what airline they fly for have similar job related knowledge, skills and abilities that are required to be successful in that job. Therefore for certain competencies, once determined, they can be applied to all pilots. An exaggerated example of this might be that an analysis determines that pilots must not be color blind. Therefore, no pilot applicant that is color blind can be hired. To ensure that this is universally applied there is means to determine that condition through recognized tests.

The Value of Competencies

To see the value of a competency-based system, one only needs to consider that a list of scientifically determined knowledge, skills, and abilities are defined for each and every job or family of jobs in an organization. These competencies include the knowledge requirements, i.e, a university degree or trade certificate, skill requirements (usually based on experience and responsibility requirements for the job) and the abilities such as the ability to speak clearly and persuasively. Once these are known it is then possible to devise tools and implement practices based on the competencies to manage all aspects of the organizations human resources. When these are tied, as they must be, to the goals and objectives of the organization, then all personnel regardless of their function are aligned to achieving those goals and objectives and therefore the likelihood of organizational success is greatly increased.

Applications of Competency-based Management

Consider, downsizing. It is possible, when faced with this difficult task, exactly who should be affected by the downsize. One first determines what the new organization will look like and what knowledge skills and abilities (competencies) will be required in the new structure. By examining the competencies of the people in the organization it can be determined quickly what people already have the required competencies, who could have them after a little retraining and those who cannot fit into the new structure. The downsizing plan therefore, includes only those who are not able to make the transition and training is planned for those who require it. The chance of causing a major disruption to the operational capability of the organization and possible failure from having released the wrong people is reduced considerably.

The same argument can be applied to expansion. If you know what is required in terms of competencies, you can develop recruiting and hiring techniques tools and practices to conserve funds and yet get the best available employees to implement the expansion. These procedures can, at the same time, virtually eliminate the problem of employment equity questions and the potential for human rights challenges.

Once you have the employees, you must management them. Next in consideration may be to ensure that the employees are performing correctly or that the new program is working as anticipated or those who are the most effective employees are recognized and rewarded. Knowing the knowledge, skills and abilities (competencies) required and the level of expectations for the implementation of those competencies, measurement tools and practices can be established to ensure that all people, policies and practices are contributing effectively to the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives.

The development of an effective work force requires training and experience opportunities for the deserving employees, through the knowledge of the competency structure of the organization training can be provided, just in time, to the right person with a concurrent effect on budget control and the proper application of training programs. Special teams can be designed and career development opportunities can be provided to those being considered for increased responsibility as part of a succession plan.

Even pay evaluation can be determined through an analysis of the competencies. Those with similar competency requirements may be qualified for the same pay scale although they are in unrelated jobs. This process may also eliminate the requirement for special initiatives such as pay equity.

While all of this may seem like the obvious, there is considerable work required by knowledgeable and well-trained people to ensure that the competencies are in fact the correct and valid ones. The definition of the levels of knowledge, skill and ability must be determined for each level in the organization, for example, if communications skills are a core competency required by everyone in the organization, the ability to communicate well will likely differ between the lowest level of employee and the most senior manager. The correct definitions are therefore critical to using the competencies in other human resource management programs.

The Benefits

There can be no question that while takes effort and time to determine the competencies for an organization, the rewards are worth it. Less time will be spent dealing with human resource issues and more time devoted to the operational mandate of the organization. Training will be timely and effective. Performance effectiveness can be measured for both employees and programs. Make no mistake that the task is an easy one. All staff from management to employee must accept that the descriptions are valid for their positions and that they adequately reflect their job. Everyone must also see the benefits of such a program for them personally. So while it may be easy to articulate a few of the obvious competencies, determining all of them and the subsequent implementation will require skilled practitioners if the process is to be successful.

A competency-based system, while relatively easy to see at a surface level, require considerable experience, human resource knowledge on a broad level and an understanding of the psychology of the work place to implement effectively. Just as with Total Quality Management (TQM) and Management by Objective (MBO), the implementation requires knowledgeable people to both implement and manage a successful competency based program.

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Article Tags: competencies, competencybased management, human resource management



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