Competence is the set of demonstrable personal characteristics at a high level with consistency and minimal difficulty. Competency in human resources is a series of knowledge, abilities, skills, experiences and behaviors, which leads to effective performance in an individual's activities. Competency is measurable and can be developed through training. It can also be broken down into smaller criteria. Some scholars see "competence" as an aspect that can be developed through training because it is a combination of practical & theoretical knowledge which involves cognitive skills, behavior, and values used to improve performance. Competency is the state or quality of being adequately or well qualified, possessing the ability to perform a specific, measurable job. For instance, competency needed for management, depending on the sector, might include system thinking and emotional intelligence, as well as skills in influence and negotiation.
Etymology The term "competence" first appeared in an article authored by R.W. White in 1959 as a concept for performance motivation.White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66(5), 297–333. In 1970, Craig C. Lundberg defined this concept as "Planning the Executive Development Program". The term gained traction in 1973 when David McClelland wrote a seminal paper entitled, "Testing for Competence Rather Than for Intelligence". The term, created by McClelland, was commissioned by the State Department to explain characteristics common to high-performing agents of embassy, as well as help them in recruitment and development.Lyle M. Spencer Jr., Signe M. Spencer (1 March 1993). Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. It has since been popularized by Richard Boyatzis, and many others including T.F. Gilbert (1978), who used the concept in performance improvement.
Its uses vary widely, which has led to considerable misunderstanding. Studies on competency indicate that competency covers a very complicated and extensive field, with different scientists having different definitions of competency. In 1982, Zemek conducted a study on the definition of competence. He interviewed several specialists in the field of training to evaluate what creates competence. After the interviews, he concluded: "There is no clear and unique agreement about what makes competency." Competency has multiple different meanings, and remains one of the most diffuse terms in the management development sector, and the organizational and occupational literature.
Here are several definitions of competence by various researchers:
Hayes (1979): Competence generally includes knowledge, motivation, social characteristic and roles, or skills of one person in accordance with the demands of organizations of their clerks. Boyatzis (1982): Competence lies in the individual's capacity which superposes the person's behavior with needed parameters as the results of this adaptation make the organization to hire him. Albanese (1989): Competence is made of individual characteristics which are used to effect an organization's management. Woodruff (1991): Competence is a combination of two topics: personal competence and personal merit at work. Personal merit refers to the skill a person has in a particular work environment. This is dependent on a person's true competence in his/her field. Mansfield (1997): The personal specifications which effect a better performance are called competence. Standard (2001) ICB (IPMA Competence Baseline): Competence is made of knowledge, personal attitudes, skills and related experiences which are needed for the person's success. Rankin (2002): A collection of behaviors and skills which people are expected to show in their organization. Unido (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) (2002): Competence is defined as knowledge, skill and specifications which can cause a person to act better. This does not consider their special proficiency in that job. Industrial Development Organization of United States (2002): Competence is a collection of personal skills related to knowledge and personal specifications which can create competence in people without having practice and other specialized knowledge. CRNBC (College Of Registered Nurses Of British Columbia) (2009): Competence is a collection of knowledge, skills, behavior and power of judging which can cause competence in people without having sufficient practice or specialized knowledge. Hay group (2012): Measurable characteristics of a person which are related to efficient actions at work, organization and special culture.
The following definitions are applicable to the term competency: Chan and her team (the University of Hong Kong) (2017, 2019): Holistic competency is an umbrella term inclusive of different types of generic skills (e.g. critical thinking, problem-solving skills), positive values, and attitudes (e.g. resilience, appreciation for others) which are essential for students' life-long learning and whole-person development. The ARZESH Competency Model (2018): Competency is a series of knowledge, abilities, skills, experiences and behaviors, which leads to effective performance in an individual's activities. Competency is measurable and can be developed through training. It can also be broken down into smaller criteria.
The most recent definition was formalized by Javier Perez-Capdevila in 2017. He stated that competencies are fusions obtained from the complete mixture of the fuzzy sets of aptitudes and attitudes possessed by employees, both in general and singular ways. In these fusions, the degree of belonging to the resulting group expresses the extent to which these competencies are possessed.
Human resource management Competency is also used as a more general description of requirements for human beings in organizations and communities. Competencies and competency models may be applicable to all employees in an organization or they may be position specific. Competencies are also what people need to be successful in their jobs. Job competencies are not the same as job task. Competencies include all the related knowledge, skills, abilities, and attributes that form a person's job. This set of context-specific qualities is correlated with superior job performance and can be used as a standard against which to measure job performance as well as to develop, recruit, and hire employees.
Competencies provide organizations with a way to define, in behavioral terms, what people need to do to produce the results the organization desires, in a way that is consistent with its culture. By defining competencies within the organization, employees are able to understand what they need to do to be productive. When properly defined, competencies allow organizations to evaluate the extent to which employees are demonstrating the desired behaviors and identify areas where they may be lacking. In areas where employees lack competencies, they can receive training and development. This enables organizations to determine the resources needed to help employees develop and improve those competencies. Competencies can also distinguish and differentiate an organization from its competitors. While two organizations may achieve similar financial results, the methods used to achieve those results may differ based on the competencies that align with their particular strategy and organizational culture. Lastly, competencies provide a structured model that can be used to integrate management practices throughout the organization. Competencies help align recruiting, performance management, training and development, and reward practices to reinforce the key behaviors that the organization values.
Competencies required for a post are identified through job analysis or task analysis, using techniques such as the critical incident technique, work diaries, and work sampling. A future focus is recommended for strategic reasons. If someone is able to do required tasks at the target level of proficiency, they are considered "competent" in that area. For instance, management competency might include system thinking and emotional intelligence, as well as skills in influence and negotiation. Identifying employee competencies can contribute to improved organizational performance. They are most effective if they meet several critical standards, including linkage to, and leverage within an organization's human resource system.
Competency development The process of competency development is a lifelong series of doing and reflecting. As competencies apply to careers as well as jobs, lifelong competency development is linked with personal development as a management concept. And it requires a special environment, where the rules are necessary in order to introduce novices, but people at a more advanced level of competency will systematically break the rules if the situations requires it. This environment is synonymously described using terms such as learning organization, knowledge creation, self-organizing and empowerment.
Within a specific organization or professional community, professional competency is frequently valued. They are usually the same competencies that must be demonstrated in a job interview. But today there is another way of looking at it: that there are general areas of occupational competency required to retain a post, or earn a promotion. For all organizations and communities there is a set of primary tasks that competent people have to contribute to all the time. For a university student, for example, the primary tasks could be handling theory, methods or the information of an assignment.
In emergencies, competent people may react to a situation following behaviors they have previously found successful. To be competent a person would need to be able to interpret the situation in the context and have a repertoire of possible actions to take. Being sufficiently trained in each possible action included in their repertoire can make a great difference. Regardless of training, competency grows through experience and the extent of an individual's capacity to learn and adapt. Research has found that it is not easy to assess competencies and competence development.
Skill acquisition Dreyfus and Dreyfus introduced nomenclature for the levels of competence in competency development. The five levels proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus are part of what is now referred to as the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition: Novice: Rule-based behavior, strongly limited and inflexible Experienced Beginner: Incorporates aspects of the situation Practitioner: Acting consciously from long-term goals and plans Knowledgeable practitioner: Sees the situation as a whole and acts from personal conviction Expert: Has an intuitive understanding of the situation and zooms in on the central aspects
Four areas of competency Dreyfus and Dreyfus also introduced four general areas of competency: Meaning competency: The person assessed must be able to identify with the purpose of the organization or community and act from the preferred future in accordance with the values of the organization or community. Relation competency: The ability to create and nurture connections to the stakeholders of the primary tasks must be shown. Learning competency: The person assessed must be able to create and look for situations that make it possible to experiment with the set of solutions that make it possible to complete the primary tasks and reflect on the experience. Change competency: The person assessed must be able to act in new ways when it will promote the purpose of the organization or community and make the preferred future come to life.
Four stages of competence
Types of competencies