Competency canvass

Competency has become a buzz word in the business circles. We talk of developing competencies for competitive advantage. What is a competency? What components are associated with it? What is the relevance of it, particularly to Sri Lankan managers? Today’s column will shed light on these by discussing a “competency canvass”.

 

Overview

The word “canvass” has many meanings assigned to it, according to any typical dictionary. I would go by the idea that it is a “large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel”. In other words, something that propels in giving direction and protects in guarding against outside forces.

Competency has been discussed rather confusingly in the management literature. There is an overlapping between the terms competence and competency. Let’s sort out that first.

Competence vs. competency

Competence is a notion where a particular demonstration of skills, knowledge and understanding in a work setting is involved. Researchers identify three “recurring features” in the notion of competences:

• Competences are positively associated with superior performance
• A competence is seen in the context of a particular job or job role and the organisation in which that job exists
• Competences can be described in terms of specific behaviours which can be observed in the job

The definition of occupational competence provided by the Manpower Services Commission of UK was “the ability to perform activities in the jobs within an occupation, to the standards expected in employment”. This definition ‘appears to include a mix of models: work expectations, input measures (knowledge and skills) and psychological attributes’.

Boyatzis (1982) defines managerial competency (and competencies) in terms of the attributes of an individual, which are “causally related to effective or superior performance in a job”. Burgoyne (1988) similarly distinguishes “being competent” (meeting the job demands) from “having competencies” (possessing the necessary attributes to perform competently).

The clearest statement to overcome the confusion is offered by Woodruffe (1991) that goes as follows:

• Competence: aspects of the job which an individual can perform
• Competency: refers to a person’s behaviour, underpinning competent performance.

Bartlet and Ghoshal (1997) discussed the management competencies needed for the new roles, in terms of attitudes/traits, knowledge/experience and skills/abilities. In the case of top-level leaders, they mention the need to create an overreaching sense of corporate purpose and ambition, for which the ability to combine conceptual insight with motivational challenge is sighted as a skill requirement.

In summary we can simply say individuals have competencies that collectively contribute to the institutional competence.

Components of a competency

Competencies are the measurable or observable knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours critical to successful job performance. Choosing the right competencies allows employers to:

• Manage and train employees effectively.
• Determine which job classes best fit their business needs.
• Plan how they will organise and develop their workforce.
• Recruit and select the best employees.
• Develop staff to fill future vacancies.

In broad terms, we can identify three specific categories, namely knowledge, skills and behaviours. In other words, these three form the three main compartments in the competency canvass. Let’s discuss them in detail.

Knowledge component of a competency

Knowledge essentially refers to the understanding of a particular subject. It includes information acquired through experience or education. It also refers to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. In other words, knowledge is what is known in a particular field or in total, facts and information.

Ikujiro Nonaka, a veteran researcher of knowledge management, describes two types of knowledge, namely tacit and explicit. Let’s start with the easily seen one. Explicit is also known as the coded knowledge. It is the one which is available in soft and hard forms in text books, manuals, CDs, etc. It is easily communicated and shared, as in product specifications, a scientific formula or a computer program.

Tacit knowledge is based on personal experience. It is hard to explain and, therefore difficult to communicate to others. It could be a craft or profession, a particular technology or product market, or the activities of a work group or team. As tacit knowledge is within individuals, the challenge is how to capture individual-based knowledge to make it explicit and common knowledge for use across the entire organisation. We have many examples of tacit knowledge getting trapped without properly translated. Take the case of an indigenous physician. He might touch a patient and heal. Whereas the “golaya” (student) might be taking notes of his teacher’s behaviour and try to learn which may be not fully successful. Why some of the ancient technologies used to construct stupas, dagobas, tanks and canals are not available now could be easily attributable to non- transferring the tacit knowledge of our ancient forefathers to a coded form.

Even in a corporate scenario, resigning of a well-experienced manager might create a dearth of knowledge unless a proper plan is in place to ensure translation of at least some of his/her tacit knowledge to his/her successor. This can be a critical knowledge challenge in order to ensure business continuity.

Skills component of a competency

A skill or ability refers to a natural or learned capacity to perform an act. A skill is also, the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both.

It was Robert Katz (1974) who classified management skills as technical, human and conceptual.

Technical skills pertain to what is done and to working with things. They comprise a person’s ability to use technology to perform an organisational task. An engineer using his/her engineering expertise is one such example.

Human skills refer how something is done and to working with people. They comprise a person’s ability to work with people in the achievement of goals. An engineer using his/her persuasion skills in motivating his/her team is an example. Essential they refer to interpersonal relations.

Conceptual skills involve with why something is done and to a person’s view of the organisation as a whole. They comprise the ability to understand the complexities of the organisation as it affects and is affected by its environment. These can be defined as the ability to co-ordinate and integrate the organisation’s diverse activities and are most important at the top of the organisational hierarchy where strategic or long-term decisions are made.

Behavioural component of a competency

Behaviour refers to a pattern of actions or conduct. This in fact is the most complex, and most controversial component. Some authors tend to simplify things in calling the three components of a competency as knowledge, skills and attitude (KSA), in highlighting the behavioural aspects as the attitude.

According to Hogg & Vaughan (2005), an attitude is a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols. It has a heavy behavioural component.

Interestingly, there is a model that combines the behavioural aspect with others. It is called the ABC of an attitude.

Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”.

Behavioural (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”.

Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

Behaviours are typically evaluated in terms of consistent adherence to a set of behavioral standards.

Examples of behavioural competencies and associated standards include:

Customer focus

• Seeks customer feedback and ensures needs have been fully met.
• Builds and maintains customer satisfaction with the products and services offered by the organisation.
• Focuses on the customer’s business results, rather than own.
• Delivers products and services when and where the customer needs them. Explores options when unable to deliver a requested product or service, and pursues solutions until the customer is satisfied.

Business alignment

• Integrates executive direction into every decision and consultation.
• Aligns the direction, products, services and performance of a business line with the rest of the organisation.
• Seeks to understand other programs in the department, including their services, deliverables, and measures.
• Advocates for and positively represents other programs and services when working with customers and stakeholders.

In combining all the elements and sub-elements, the competency canvass can be depicted as shown in figure1.

Uses of competencies

Competencies offer a variety of uses in getting the best out of employees. Several such specific uses are listed below:

1.In developing job descriptions with clear identification of knowledge, skills and behavioural requirements

2.In recruitment and selection. where proper assessment of the candidate is required

3.In employee performance management, where objective evaluation is essential

4.In training and development, where identified competency gaps should be filled

5.In career and succession planning, where required competencies at next level should be identified

6.In compensation, where due recognition should be involved with competency-based pay

One may think that it is all in HR domain. Yet, the fact remains that every functional manager has to work with people and hence their competencies are of high importance.

Way forward

Competency canvass assists us in clearly identifying the components of a competency with the associated components. Sri Lankan managers have to be more objective in clearly identifying the required competencies of their team members. Else, it will be a case of rushing to deciding on people based on mere opinions.



(Dr. Ajantha Dharmasiri is a learner, teacher, trainer, researcher, writer and a thinker in the areas of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. He can be reached on [email protected].)