Protege - the HR forum of SCMS

COMPETENCY PROFILING

The subject matter under consideration shall be understood by answering the following questions:

[ WHAT IS COMPETENCY?

[ WHAT IS COMPETENCY PROFILING?

[ WHY IS COMPETENCY PROFILING IMPORTANT?

[ WHERE ALL CAN WE DO COMPETENCY PROFILING?

[ HOW IS COMPETENCY PROFILING DONE?

[ WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF COMPETENCY PROFILING?

WHAT IS COMPETENCY?

There are various definitions given for the term competency. Combining the basic ideas embedded in all definitions, competency can be defined as:

“The underlying sets of abilities, skills, knowledge (ASK) and personal characteristics needed to effectively perform a role in the organization and help the company to meet its strategic objectives.”

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.

In a nutshell competencies can be defined as “cluster of successful behaviours.”

Five Types Of Competency Characteristics:

Competency has various characteristics and it is broadly divided into 5 types, they are:

1. Motives: The things a person consistently thinks about or desires a particular cause action. Motives “drive, direct, and select” behaviour toward certain actions or goals and away from others.

Eg:- Achievement – motivated people consistently; set challenging goals for themselves and use feedback to do better.

2. Traits: Physical characteristics and consistent response to situation or information.

Eg:- Hand-eye coordination and speed of perception are Physical Trait competencies of Technical Operators.

3. Self-concept: A person’s attitude, values, or self-image.

Eg:- Self-confidence, a person’s belief that he can be effective in any situation is a part of that person’s concept of self.

4. Knowledge: Information a person has in specific content areas

Eg:- A surgeon’s knowledge of nerves and muscles in the human body.

5. Skill: The ability to perform a certain physical or mental task.

Eg:- A dentist’s physical skill to fill a tooth without damaging the nerve.

The Ice Berg Model of Competencies explains the Visible and Hidden Traits of Competencies. Knowledge and Skills tend to be visible and are relatively surface characteristics of people. But Attitude (Self-concept), Trait and Motive competencies are more hidden, deeper and central to personality.

Surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop. But core motive and trait competencies are at the base of the personality iceberg which is more difficult to assess and develop. Any process requiring competencies must not be depended upon or concentrated on the core motive and trait competencies, as they form part of ones’ inborn or innate traits.

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The competencies develop into the ultimate behaviour of the people within the organisation. The innate and learned characteristics combine together to form the competencies which turn out to be the observable behaviour and thus results in Effective Outcome (Performance on Job).

The innate characteristics are basic and within a person whereas the learned characteristics are acquired or imbibed from the environment. These traits can be developed and enhanced to suit the organisational objectives. On the other hand, the innate traits are mostly inborn and hence are difficult to develop or enhance.

WHAT IS COMPETENCY PROFILING?

Competency Profiling is the process of identifying the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and judgment required for effective performance in a particular occupation or profession or job. `Competency Profiling is business/company specific.`

WHY IS COMPETENCY PROFILING REQUIRED?

Competency Profiling sends a strong message about the

- Specific Knowledge,

- Skills,

- Capabilities,

- Attitudes and Behaviours, that are important and relevant for the job.

Any organisation that does Competency Profiling believes that building intellectual capital and maintaining core competencies are the keys to achieve sustained success, and that it is willing to make the investment required to support continuous learning and development as a business strategy.

The Competency Profiling leads to the following:

ü A Distilled set of underlying personal characteristics

ü Data generation from outstanding performers in addition to subject matter experts and other job incumbents

ü Outstanding Performance

ü Translating strategic direction/decision into action

ü Clarifying behaviours that support important values and principles

ü Establishing standards of excellence that are shared across various functions or organs

ü Focused learning and development on the achievement of business outcomes

ü Providing a basis for ongoing performance feedback and development

ü Identifying emerging vs. declining skill sets to help facilitate organizational transitions

ü Accelerating development of a learning culture

ü Identifying and leveraging high performers or “competency carriers”.

WHERE ALL CAN WE DO COMPETENCY PROFILING?

The Competency Profiling can be done for the following activities:

– Recruitment and Selection

– Career Development

– Potential Appraisal

– Succession Planning

– Identification of Potential Employees

– Personality Development

– Training Need Assessment

– Management Development

HOW IS COMPETENCY PROFILING DONE?

There many ways of Competency Profiling, of which some are mentioned hereunder:

1. Literature Review

2. Focus Groups

3. Observations

4. Behavioural Event Interviews

5. Work Logs

6. Surveys

7. DISC Competency Profiling

Literature Review:

A preliminary approach to defining job content and identifying required competencies, which are to be assessed, is to conduct a review of the literature about previous studies of the job or similar jobs. Quite often, no previous studies exist. However, if they do exist, they can be extremely helpful in providing an introduction to the job and a preliminary list of competencies to consider. It may be noted that the literature review supplements, but does not replace, assessment methods. It simply provides a quick overview of various competencies identified with respect to a job.

One of the main sources of literature review is analyzing the Job Description. This will provide an insight into the essential competencies expected out of that particular post or job. Other Sources of published literature include Internet, Books, Professional Journals, Association Magazines, Thesis and Dissertations. Unpublished studies may be availed from Professional Associations, Consulting Firms, Colleges and Universities that offer training programs for the target job. The quality of these studies will vary widely and they need to be critically evaluated before use.

Focus Groups:

In Focus Groups, a facilitator works with a small group of employees, their managers, supervisors, clients, or others to define and identify the competencies they believe are essential for performance of a particular post or job. A series of focus groups is often conducted to allow many people in the organization to provide input.

There are different approaches to conducting focus groups. Typically, the facilitator will use a prepared protocol of questions to guide a structured discussion.

Expert Panels are a special type of focus group in which only persons, who are considered highly knowledgeable about the job and its requirements, meet to develop a list of the competencies required for success. The members of expert panels are typically persons who write about or do research in the relevant discipline, such as published academics.

Observations:

In this Competency Profiling method, the research team visits high performing employees and observes them at work. The more complex the job and the greater the variety in job tasks, the more time is required for an observation. For a very routine job in which the same task is repeated over and over throughout the day, an observation of a couple hours might suffice. For very complex jobs, observation of a week or more may be required. If the job changes based on work cycles, seasons, or other factors, the observations may have to be conducted over a period of weeks or months.

The observation process may include asking employees to explain what they are doing and why. Sometimes observations of average and low performers are also conducted to establish a basis for comparison. The competencies required for effective performance are then inferred from the observations by persons who are experts in competency identification.

Behavioural Event Interviews:

In Behavioural Event Interviews (BEI), top performers are interviewed individually about what they did, thought, said, and felt in challenging or difficult situations. The competencies that were instrumental in their success are extrapolated from their stories. Often, average and low performers are also interviewed to provide a comparison. The interviewer can ask questions such as: “Give me an example of a situation at work in which you had to make a difficult decision.”

These interviews are mainly aimed at extracting those competencies that make an employee successful or superior in his job. However, such competency assessment methods are purely subjective and qualitative in nature.

Work Logs:

In the Work Log method of Competency Profiling, employees enter into logs or diaries their daily work activities with stop and start times for each activity. Depending on the complexity and variety of the job, employees may be asked to make log entries for several days, weeks, or months. Their log details are then analysed and studied by an expert panel and competencies required for a particular task is indentified and thus they arrive at a cluster of competencies required for the job or position. The competencies thus arrived are rated according to their best judgment process and also after studying the respective nature of tasks.

However, this method is laborious and requires more time and moreover this method relies heavily on employee subjectivity, thus lacks quantitative or scientific analysis.

Surveys:

In Surveys, employees, their supervisors, and perhaps senior managers are required to complete a questionnaire administered either in print or electronically. The survey content is based on previous data collection efforts such as interviews, focus groups, or literature reviews. The respondents are typically asked to assign ratings to each listed competency.

For example, respondents may be asked how critical a competency is to effective job performance, how frequently the competency is used on the job, the degree to which the competency differentiates superior from average performers and even whether the competency is needed for job entrants or can be developed over time. Survey respondents are usually asked to provide in writing any additional information that they feel is important.

DISC Competency Profiling:

DISC Competency Profiling is a method of Competency Profiling wherein a four stage competency identification process is carried out.

The first stage is where the present employee is asked to list down the entire competencies that according to him are required for that particular job. The employee is also asked to mention the level of competencies required. However, the employees can be given a list of competencies which are extrapolated from the Job Description, Literature Review, Focus Groups, Observations, Surveys, Work Logs, etc. In such a case he can mention the level of competency required and also modify the list, thus it saves time and is also cost efficient.

The second stage is where the Supervisor of the employee steps in. The Supervisor is required to validate the list made by the employee and then add or remove any competencies along with their respective required level of proficiencies.

In the third stage, the Level 1 Boss or Line Manager revalidates the list so prepared or approved by the Supervisor. Here also, the levels of competencies are reviewed and validated accordingly.

The Last phase is taking a positional mapping from an employee who has held the position earlier. These will infact cover most probable means of extracting a competency required for a job. The benefit of DISC Competency Profiling is that the human errors such as personal bias, presumptions and suppositions not supported by scientific foundation are eliminated.

DISC COMPETENCY PROFILING MATRIX (DCPM)
Position: Job ID: Job Grade: Date / Period:				RATING X Not Required 1 Basic 2 Intermediate 3 Advanced
Competency	Employee	Supervisor	Manager	Ex-Position Holder
1.
2.
3.

WHAT ARE PROS AND CONS OF COMPETENCY PROFILING?

Benefits and Criticisms of Competency Profiling are listed hereunder:

Benefits: -

– 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 organizational and personal objectives.

– The processes are measurable and standardized across organizational and geographical boundaries.

– It gives a clear insight in the necessary qualifications for a job and therefore;

– It provides a common language for discussing job requirements and/or individuals' capabilities;

– It increases identifying the best resources to fill a given role

– It provides a tool to help an employee, manager or organization assess its competencies and identify its future needs;

– It ensures the link between business strategy and Human Resource functions;

– It allows strategic-level tracking of the collective strengths and areas of expertise within an organization.

Criticism:-

[ It can be over-elaborate and bureaucratic.

[ If too much emphasis is placed on ‘inputs’ at the expense of ‘outputs’, there is a risk that it will favour employees who are good in theory but not in practice and will fail to achieve the results that make a business successful.

[ They can become out dated quickly due to the fast pace of change in organizations and it can therefore be expensive and time consuming to keep them up-to-date.

NOTE: Some behavioural competencies are basically personality traits which an individual may be unable (or unwilling) to change and it is not reasonable to judge someone on these rather than what he or she actually achieves.

contri- Viswanath V S (PGDM-HR)