Competency Modeling

Worker Effectiveness

Jobs are changing.  Less supervision, increased technical skills, increased use of information technology, and the ever-changing nature of the work itself all create a need for a different set of competencies.  Concurrent with this is the fact that organizations are now more fluid and dynamic.  Technologies change and competitive pressures are constantly changing how jobs are defined.  This drives a critical question for today’s organizations: “What are the competency requirements of our jobs?” 

What are Competencies?

Competencies are the observable and measurable attributes that are causally related to enhanced employee performance and organizational success.  They include:

  • Knowledge—learned information used for the job.
  • Skills—proficiency acquired through practice.
  • Abilities—a capacity to acquire skill and/or knowledge.
  • Work Styles—a preferred style of behaving, frequently attributed to one’s personality (i.e., Flexibility).
  • Motivation—recurrent thoughts and tendencies that drive behavior (i.e., Achievement Drive).

Developing Competency Models

We undertake a systematic and valid process to define the key drivers of success in your organization.  This includes:

  • Review of Job Documentation—including job descriptions, training materials and job outputs.
  • Management/Employee Interviews—including critical incident interviews with star performers and key managers.
  • Focus Group Sessions—to “tease out” the specific nature of the competencies that make a difference.
  • Confirmation & Validation—to assure that the identified competencies actually drive superior performance.

What are the Benefits?

There are several important benefits from developing Competency Models.  These include:

  • Greater focus on the behaviors that make a difference.  Managers and employees are more acutely aware of precisely those behaviors that separate the highly effective from the average.
  • A much more productive and effective workforce.  All HR systems can leverage key competencies and will more directly contribute to productivity, quality and profitability.
  • Greater coherence and synergy in Human Resource programs because of a common language of competence.  Using the same competencies across HR programs will save time and money.
  • Greater legal defensibility of HR programs because of their demonstrated job relatedness.  This may provide greater peace of mind and help avoid potentially costly litigation.