competency strategy

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TALENTS AND COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR

PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE: INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS.

BY

UKERTOR GABRIEL MOTI (Ph.D)

UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA

INTRODUCTION

The changing global economy, dramatic technological change, and increased

expectations for government performance demand new attention to the complex set

of public skills and capacity. Public servants are experiencing great pressures

emanating from increasing global integration-economic, political, social and

cultural. New technology, new ways of organizing work, new means of delivering

services and an increasing reliance on temporary employment have redefined the

nature of public service. Meeting all these challenges requires a unique

combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes and effective human resource

development policies and strategies to nurture those competencies. Public sector

performance aims to move public management beyond bureaucracy and promote

greater economy, efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.

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DEFINITION

The competency movement has taken hold in a number of countries, among them,

Australia, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States of America and the

Scandinavian countries. It was tightly linked with the efforts of companies tocreate a setting for the empowerment of their workforce in order to increase

competitive advantage and effectiveness (Houtzagers, 1999). Competency

approaches were expected to help identify the skills, knowledge, behaviours and

capabilities needed to meet current and future personal selection needs, in

alignment with variations in strategies and organizational priorities and to focus the

individual and group development plans to eliminate the gap between the

competencies requested by a project, job role, or enterprise strategy and those

available (Draganadis and Mentzas, 2006).

Richard Boyatzis adopted the term competency and described it as an

underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to effective or

superior performance in a job. According to ASTD (American Society for

Training and Development), competencies are areas of personal capability that

enable people to perform successfully in their jobs by achieving outcomes or

completing tasks effectively. A competency can be knowledge, skills, attitudes,

values, or personal characteristics. For example the position of government

pharmaceutical agency sales manager requires the following competency levels.

Competency Level

Knowledge of Business ethics Intermediate

Knowledge of local physician market Advanced

Selling Skills Advanced

Communication Skills Basic

Group Presentation Skills Intermediate

Leadership Skills Intermediate

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Negotiations Skills Expert

Once we define competencies for this position, it is much easier to identify and

evaluate individuals who can effectively fill it. Likewise, when we know what

competencies individuals possess, we can then determine their levels of

proficiency for that competency, and more easily determine who qualifies for this

or another position.

TYPES OF COMPETENCY

There are two types of competencies: Technical competency and Behavioural

competency.

Technical competency: These are specific knowledge and skills needed to be able

to perform ones job effectively. They are job specific and relate to success in a

given job or job family, and also focus on job. They are specific to a given

function. Example, knowledge of accounting principles, knowledge of human

resource law and practice relate to Accounting and Administration Positions.

Behavioural competency: Known also as Generic competency, these refer to

behavioural, knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, and other characteristics that

contribute to individual success in the organization. They apply to all jobs andfocus on the person. Examples include teamwork, cooperation and communication.

Margaret Butteriss has likened competencies to an iceberg, saying that most

organizations focus on technical competencies, the ones most visible and easily

assessed. However, experience shows that it is the competencies below the

waterline that differentiate between average and superior performers. This means

that while technical competencies (skills, knowledge) can be trained, the

behavioural competencies are more difficult to develop.

COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

Competency management is central to every organizations ability to maintain and

enhance its human resources. This approach is directly linked to improving

competitiveness. Organizations need to stay at the forefront of technology, starting

with the development of this human capital. Competency-based management

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therefore focuses on identifying the necessary technical skills and developing those

competencies that will produce superior results. Competency management supports

other components of talent management in the following ways:

Performance management: Competencies help provide the level of knowledge,the skills, and the types of behaviours expected from the employee who fills each

position.

Career development: As employees map out their future goals and desired

positions, they can view the specific competencies required to achieve them.

Succession planning: Managers who seek candidates for succession of a position

can compare the competencies requirements of that position, and seek candidates

who meet those requirements.

Learning management: To improve competencies and to meet performance,

career development, or succession goals, employees engage in learning activities

that are tied to those competencies.

Compensation management: Helps managers perform compensation planning for

their organization. Many times, bonuses and merit increases are tied directly to

individual competency ratings. This may be difficult in an inflexible public sector

environment.

Workforce acquisition: Competencies set the right expectations for each position,

and ensure that job descriptions result in more effective and successful recruiting

efforts.

OTHER BENEFITS OF COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

Smooth the transition of retirees by grooming their successors in advance,

based on the competency requirements of the position.

Motivate and reward employees by giving them the tools to model their

career goals toward the talent needs of the organization.

Meet performance targets and support career goals by providing learning

and development opportunities that are directly tied to improving needed

competencies.

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Capitalize on existing talent before recruiting, using up-to-date competency

profiles on existing employees.

Improve overall stability by lengthening employing tenure.

RATIONALE FOR INTRODUCTION OF COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT IN

THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Competency needs a well-developed human resource function to be in place to

lead and support the implementation of human resources policies. Traditional

human resource organizations have focused on administrative tasks and the

enforcement of rules and regulations. The new role of the human resource

professional is to act as an internal consultant to line managers on a wide range of

organizational issues. Also, human resource managers should become members ofthe strategic management teams and play a crucial role in linking human resource

policy with strategic goals of the agency.

Furthermore, competency management allows more flexible personnel policies,

essential for public servants to become more responsive and effective. It is seen as

a strategic instrument of human resource management, which can help to identify

the skills, knowledge, behaviours and capabilities needed to meet current and

future personnel selection needs.

COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK

Competency frameworks are a method of describing the underpinning values that

shape and define the culture of an organization. They provide clear focus to

support the development of staff in order to deliver the best possible services.

Competency framework serves several purposes such as:

1. Informs prospective recruits what is expected of them.

2. Informs staff of the sort of attitudes and behaviours that the organizationencourages when carrying out their duties.

3. Informs staff of what they can expect from their managers.

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4. Shapes and defines a culture based around strong principles such as

partnership, continuous improvement, constructive challenge, and being

citizen centred.

5. Supports staff at all levels in their development in order to maximize theirpotential.

METHODS OF ESTABLISHING COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

Methods here refer to ways an organization can establish an organizational

structure to implement competency management. One such method is the

Competency Modeling Process. Steps in the Competency Modeling Process are:

1. Define your competencies.

2. Assign competencies to positions.

3. Assess individuals according to their competencies.

4. Analyze gaps between individuals (Required and Actual competency

levels).

5. Remediate through learning activities.

6. Trackprogress.

7. Refine the process.

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DEFINE ASSIGN ASSESS

ANALY

ZE

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Competency Development Process

BEHAVIOURAL AND COGNITIVE COMPETENCY MODEL

This model attempts to connect Corporate identity competencies with Actions,

Relations and Cognitions.

Corporate Identity: (Seeing)

Integrity

Ambassadorship

Self motivation and discipline

Cross cultural sensitivity

Actions: (Doing)

Results orientation

Planning and organization

Customer focus

Responsible risk-taking and decision-making

Relations: (Interacting)

Communication

Lead and motivate others

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Relationship and management

Team work

Cognition: (Thinking)

Continuous learning

Systems and strategic thinking

Innovation and creativity

Problem solving

BEST PRACTICES OF COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

Ensuring your staff have the proper skills and competencies to consistently

perform the tasks required of them is sometimes a daunting challenge. Managing

and tracking individual skills levels in a regulated environment (like the public

sector) is a continuous process. It requires the following steps:

1. Integrate competencies into training and development programmes.

2. Reengineer performance management processes with competencies that

account for the highest performance variance.

3. Determine the return-on-investment or economic value of competency

initiatives.

4. Assess and build team competencies.

5. Implement competency-based organizational transformation and change

strategies.

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6. Assess and develop leadership competencies.

7. Recruit and select top performers.

8. Implement succession planning and executive development processes.

9. Strengthen functional or technical competencies.

10.Link individual or team-based competencies with core competencies and

strategic intent.

11.Design and implement a comprehensive competency-based system architecture

and process.

PRECONDITIONS FOR THE INTRODUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT

The preconditions which need to be taken into account in order to introduce

competency management needs to be explored and analyzed.

Firstly, the competency management approach cannot be introduced in a stand-

alone fashion; it needs to be part of the public administration reform strategy and

to complement human resource policies. This implies that the legal framework

defining the model and functioning of the public service including human resource

policy should be in place.

Secondly, competency approach should be well understood and appreciated by the

political leadership and public servants. Experience in other places proves that very

often different reform strategies and tools are introduced without paying sufficient

attention to the training and awareness raising needs. The lack of understanding

and knowledge about the usefulness and impact which the competency

management is going to have on career development and daily duties of public

servants can generate resistance among public servants, which is very difficult to

overcome in the course of the reform.

Thirdly, a successful introduction of competency management requires very strong

leadership support by human resource managers in public institutions. However, in

Nigeria, human resources offices are weak and their activities are mainly limited to

the management of personnel issues, Extensive training and consultation

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programmes are needed to develop the required capacities and to introduce

necessary changes in the roles and responsibility of human resource managers.

Finally, an introduction of the competency management requires extensive

capacity building effort, it is extremely important that the training activities are ofthe highest quality and targeted to priority groups of government employees, such

as top civil servants, human resource managers and heads of departments. A

comprehensive training strategy needs to be developed to support the

implementation of competency approach.

CONCLUSION

Based on the discussion above, it can be concluded that competency management

can be instrumental to enhance policy coherence and facilitate a change in culture.

Also, it can be a strategic instrument for improving the performance of the whole

government, its agencies and individual public servants and make them more

responsive to citizens needs. However, it should be noted that the introduction and

implementation of competency management requires strong political will and

commitment. Sufficient skills and knowledge within government administration

are required to develop and to implement the strategy. This calls for a very

comprehensive assessment to analyze the existing pre-conditions for the successful

introduction and implementation of competency-based management.

REFERENCES

Butteriss, M. (1999), Reinventing HR.Changing Roles to Create the High

Performance Organizations. John Wiley & Sons, Canada Ltd.

Draganadis, F.; and Mentzas, G. (2005), Competency Based Management: A

Review of Systems and Approaches. Information Management and Computer

Security, 14 (1), 51-64.

Garavan, T.N.; and McGuire, D. (2001), Competencies and Workplace Learning:

Some Reflections on the Rhetoric and the Reality. Journal of Workplace

Learning, 13 (4), 144-163.

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Horton, S. (2000), Competency Management in the British Civil Service. The

International Journal of Public Sector Management, 13 (4), 354-368.

Houtzagers, G. (1999), Empowerment, Using Skills and Competence

Management. Participation and Empowerment: An International Journal, 7 (2),27-32.

Rothwell, W.J.; and Lindholm, J.E. (1999), Competency Identification, Modeling

and Assessment in the USA. International Journal of Training and Development,

3 (2), 90-105.

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