Competency Mapping

Script for
Chapter - 9 Competency Mapping

Let us go through some objectives before we begin with our session on Competency mapping.

Objectives
● Explaining the meaning, definition of the concept of competency
● Discussing the process and need of Competency Mapping
● Presenting the Methods of Competency Mapping and
● Discussing the challenges of competency mapping

Introduction and background

We have discussed the Analysis of the Training Needs. We also discussed why it is done and its
advantages together with prioritising HRD needs in our previous session. We presented a short case
of ConcreteCo, a company which needed to prioritize its training needs in order to fit its reduced
budget. We will now move on to discussing the idea of competence and competency mapping.

Organisations where effectiveness is valued, people who are effective at their work would be hired.
There are multiple ways of measuring such effectiveness. One such approach is competency
mapping. As a concept, it is not just an isolated tool, but rather related to the strategy adopted by the
organization.

The competency approach to human resources management is not new. The famous Harvard
psychologist, David McClelland is credited with introducing the concept of competency into the
human resource literature. He argued that traditional intelligence tests, and school or college grades,
failed to predict job performance.

The word competency is related to the idea of competence - a concept related to skills and ability. A
'Competent' person is qualified to perform to a requisite standard of the process of a job. According
to some experts, competence refers to abilities based on work tasks or job responsibilities. For
example, it can be said that mobilizing the savings of customers as bank deposit is a competence
expected from a manager of a bank. For this the individual requires competencies such as job
knowledge, communication and interpersonal skills. In fact, Jackson and Schuler (2003) defined
Competencies as “the skills, knowledge, abilities and other characteristics that someone needs to
HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

perform a job effectively”. Other experts - such as Prasad (2006) suggest that competence should not
be confused with competency.

The following definitions of competency are frequently quoted:

● Competencies are underlying characteristics of an individual, which are causally related to
effective job performance - Boyatzis, 1982
● Competencies are measurable human capabilities that are required for effective work
performance demands - Marelli, 1998
● Competencies are those characteristics - knowledge, skills, mind-sets, thought patterns and
the like - that, when used either singularly or in various combinations, result in successful
performance. - Dubois, 1993
● Competencies are defined as ‘the skills, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics that
someone needs to perform job effectively. - Jackson and Schuler 1993.

We accept the understanding of competency which is behavior-based as acknowledged by

PeopleSoft. This definition defines competency as a set of measurable and observable knowledge,
skills and behaviours that contribute to one’s success in a job or position.

For the purpose of this course, we will understand competency as observable and measurable,
behavior-based skills, knowledge, attitudes, and other characteristics that help a person perform
effectively in their job roles.

Operational competency definitions include levels of proficiency that are described in terms of
behavioral indicators. The indicators highlight the behaviors that are expected at a certain level of
job performance ranging from the introductory and basic levels to advanced and expert levels.

An example of competency levels can be as you see on your screens:

Superior -Critically evaluates strategies for profit growth and increased revenues
Average -Assesses problems in context of organizational strategies
Marginal -Considers only immediate issues when making decisions at the expense of long-term
issues
An organization where competency is found useful, usually conducts four processes. Collectively,
they are known as Competency Lifecycle Roadmap (CLR):

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

● Competency mapping. The goal is to identify crucial competencies required for the
company to achieve its business goals. The goals may be explicitly defined or may be evident
from the business plan, the projects requirements, the group needs and the job-role
requirements. The required proficiency level for each job profile is defined as well.
● Competency diagnosis is an assessment of gaps between the number and level of
competencies needed and those currently possessed by the employees. The number and level
of competencies possessed by the employees are measured against those needed by the
organization in various job roles.
● Competency development is the third phase and it deals with the scheduling of activities
which may increase the number and proficiency level of competencies that the employees
should have, according to the previous two phases and the skill gap analysis.
● The fourth process is the monitoring of competencies, i.e. a continuous examination of the
results achieved by the competency development phase.

McClelland criticised that the traditional understanding of intelligence and correspondingly, the job-
description-based HR management do not deliver the desired outcomes to the organizations. Under
the competency-based management, processes from workforce planning and recruitment to learning
and performance management and career planning and succession management would have to be
adapted to the model of competency developed by the organization.

A competency model at the organizational level interconnects all the competencies required for the
organization to be effective. The job roles within the organization, which are interrelated, are marked
with required competencies and their level. For example, communication skills for a new recruit, the
employee after one year, and after two years are expected to be different. At the same time, the same
skills expected of a salesman, sales manager, and Vice President of Sales would be different.

The process of modelling competencies at the organization level usually cover six steps:

First comes the creation of a competency systems team (CST) which consists of people who will be
in executive and advisory responsibilities. This team remains responsible for the entire process.
Usually the beginning is marked by understanding of the vision and mission, and the strategy of the
organization through interviews, workshops, and conferences with the employees.

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

The second step involves Identification of performance metrics and validation of sample. Help of
experts and executives is taken. Superior performers help build the behavioural as well as the
functional aspects of job performance. A scale which can help measure the superior, average and
marginal level of performance for the jobs is included in the model.

The third step involves development of a tentative competencies list, which describe the
competency model. In this step, competencies are defined and their behavioural indicators for each
level of competency are listed. The information needed for this step is collected through interviews,
focus groups, and surveys with employees. Again, the experts and executives both are roped in.
Experts may be HR specialists, job analysts, psychologists, industrial engineers etc. in consultation
with: line managers, current and past role holders, supervising seniors, reporting and reviewing
officers, internal customers, subordinates of the role holders and other role set members of the role
(those who have expectations from the role holder and who interact with him/her).

The fourth step involves development of an early version of a competency model and its subsequent
refinement. Data is analysed and verified.

The fifth step is the validation of the model where the competencies are converted into a
questionnaire, the responses to which can be used for rating individual effectiveness. The levels
identified earlier are used for evaluating individual as superior, effective, and marginal performers.
Multiple individuals, such as managers, peers, and direct reports provide the rating. The ratings on
the competency questionnaire are correlated to the performance ratings to determine if each
competency relates to the job performance.

The sixth and the last step is to finalize the model. At this juncture, anycompetencies that do not
correlate with the performance measures are removed.

Competency mapping, since it focuses on the job roles, does not consider the status of the employee
in terms of whether he or she is a probationer or confirmed, permanent or on contract.

Competencies are usually grouped into various areas. In classic article published a few decades
ago in Harvard Business Review, Daniel Katz grouped them under three areas which were later
expanded in to the following four:

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

• First, Technical or Functional Competencies (Knowledge, Attitudes, skills etc. associated with the
technology or functional expertise required to perform the role) - Competencies that pertain to
specific bodies of knowledge and skills required to perform the defined activities in an industry,
function or job. It includes the abilities to use the procedures, techniques and knowledge of a
specialized field. Example : Sales ability, behavior interview techniques.

• Second, Managerial (knowledge, attitudes, skills etc. required to plan, organise, mobilize and
utilise various resources) - Competency that relate to skills needed to perform managerial work and
process; it deals with the interaction process either with individual or group of people. Typically
generic in nature, these competencies are common skills sets required by most companies; are not
necessarily industry specific, and are not confined to managerial positions. In typical organizations,
managerial competencies will play greater emphasis as the position progresses within the
organization.

• Third, Human (knowledge, attitudes and skills required to motivate, utilise and develop human
resources)- An ability to work, understand and motivate other people as an individual or in groups. It
relates to the individual‘s expertise in interacting with others in a way that will enhance the
successful completion of the task at hand and
• And fourth, Conceptual (abilities to visualise the invisible, think at abstract levels and use the
thinking to plan future business) - An ability to understand the degree of complexity in a given
situation and to reduce that complexity to a level at which specific courses of action can be derived.

This is a convenience classification and a given competency may fall into one or more areas and may
include more than one from. It is this combination that are labeled and promoted by some firms as
competency dictionaries.

Workplace competencies focus on individuals instead of the organization, and they vary by job
positions versus enterprise endeavours. The unit of measure is people rather than the business. There
may be core competencies that appear in every competency model-most workplace competencies are
typically specific to the position. Thus, there is an enormous amount of work to set up organization -
wide competency - based applications.

To sum up, organizational competencies are an organization's most important resources because they
are valuable, rare and difficult to imitate. A source of organization’s competencies is the competency
HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

of its employees. Organizations can capitalize on these resources when the managers identify them
and decide how to exploit them and expand them.

PROBLEMS WITH COMPETENCY MAPPING

On the other hand, Robert Hayes (1985) criticized what he called the ends-ways-means approach to
strategy planning. He questioned whether managers should decide on a strategy before deciding on
the means of implementing that strategy. He advised managers not to develop plans and then seek
capabilities; instead they should build capabilities and then encourage the development of plans for
exploiting them. Whether it is corporate strategy or internal competencies, competencies mapping is
most important and has to be related to the corporate strategy.

Competency mapping should focus more on what the organisations as a whole can manage
than looking at the formal knowledge that each individual worker has. But of course, we need to start
with each individual, to fulfill that each individual has the wanted formal knowledge and the
necessary skills and know-how to do a good job for the company. The problem is that it is here the
gap comes It's between what can be measured and what is known about each individual on one side
and what is required or needed by the organization on the other side.

When a manager starts along the Competency Lifecycle Roadmap or CLR, the features of it with
their definitions as you see on your screen, come in handy. Other competency data attributes can be
seen in the online content accompanying this session.

Feature Definition

Competency Categories Clusters to which homogeneous competencies belong, for example people
management competencies

Competency definitions Statements that help people to comprehend and describe competency

Proficiency scale A 0-4 or 0-5 scale to grade the proficiency level of competency required by
the employee

Behaviors associated with Actions and characteristics to be exhibited by the employee when the
specific competency defined competency is possessed

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

Job Descriptions Role definitions and itemised tasks required to be performed by the
employee

Assessment tool Instrument which helps identify and rate employees’ ability to meet
competencies, based on 360 degree feedback and other methods

Tracking competency A dashboard or other visual rendering which shows the updates
through position, competencies possessed by an individual, department, and organization
department and
organization

Customised competency Training program which is designed to help employees learn and develop
training program competencies which they need in light of strategic goals and current level
and number of competencies possessed

Visit our online forum to get a summary table of various companies which maintain information
about their competency mapping efforts. You can visit the websites for more information.

SUMMARY
• Skill development by Competency mapping is one of the most accurate means in identifying the
job and behavioral competencies of an individual in an organization.
• A Competency is something that describes how a job might be done excellently; a Competence
only describes what has to be done, not how.
• Competency also embodies the capacity to transfer skills and abilities from one area to
another.
• Core competency is something which cannot be copied and it is the pillar upon which individual
rest.
• Competency mapping should not be seen as rewards.
• Competencies lead the demonstration of skills and abilities. Therefore, competency must be
demonstrated and, hence, must be observable. It must not be inferred or extrapolated.
• Competency mapping can ultimately serve the individual who decides to seek employment in an
environment where he or she perhaps can learn new things and be more intellectually challenged

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University
 Competency Mapping

• Competency mapping is not only done for Confirmed employees of an organization and it can
also be done for contract workers or for those seeking employment to emphasize the specific
skills which would make them valuable to a potential employer.
• Competencies must lead to effective performance. This means that the performance of a
person with competency must be significantly better than that of a person without it.
Competency, thus, refers to behaviour, differentiating effectiveness from merely doing
the job.

An example of the indicators for the competency is on your screen:

Competency: strategic thinking

● Formulates strategies that are achievable, cost-effective and address organizational goals by
themselves or in coordination with other strategies
● Formulates strategies that take organization’s strengths and weaknesses into account
● Researches, interprets and reports on long-term customer/client trends for the purpose of
formulating policy and strategy
● Provides analysis of policy issues, develops program proposals and develops plans that address
long-term customer and stakeholder needs and concerns

For the purpose of this introductory session, this much discussion is sufficient, but if interested, you
may think about how these competencies could be expressed in terms of levels, and what behaviors
could distinguish the levels of competencies.

With this, we come to an end of this session. We will see you soon for our upcoming session on
make -or- buy HRD decision for the training, and more.

Thank you!

HRD : Systems & Strategies /MOOC-2021/B.K School of Professional and Management Studies/Gujarat University