Competency and competency frameworks

Background

Competencies emerged in the 1980s as a response to organisational changes and to wider changes in society. In 1982 the US academic, Richard Boyatzis wrote The competent manager: a model for effective performance1. This book proved to have considerable influence on the profession and, over the following two decades, competency frameworks, became an increasingly accepted part of modern HR practice.

The latest available competency benchmarking survey – undertaken by the IRS2 – found that 76 of the 100 organisations who contributed to the survey were current users of competences or were about to introduce them. The IRS authors correctly stated that competencies ‘are now part of the standard tool kit of HR professionals’.

The use of competency frameworks has extended beyond to more senior levels or the organisation (top and middle management) into clerical and administrative roles and in some cases to non-office staff.

Competencies or competences?


Although most HR professionals draw a distinction between 'competencies' and 'competences', this is by no means universal and the two terms are often used interchangeably. 'Competency' is now generally defined as the behaviours that employees must have, or must acquire, to input into a situation in order to achieve high levels of performance, while 'competence' relates to a system of minimum standards or is demonstrated by performance and outputs. In line with the CIPD publication Competency frameworks in UK organisations3, the term 'competency' will be used throughout this factsheet except when specifically referring to the use of occupational standards (ie an 'outcome-based' approach) in which case the term 'competence' will be used.

Basic principles of competency frameworks


Competencies are a signal from the organisation to the individual of the expected areas and levels of performance. They provide the individual with a map or indication of the behaviours that will be valued, recognised and in some organisations rewarded. Competencies can be understood to represent the language of performance in an organisation, articulating both the expected outcomes of an individual’s efforts and the manner in which these activities are carried out.

Originally competency frameworks consisted mainly of behavioural elements – an expression of the softer skills involved in effective performance. Increasingly however, competency frameworks have become broader and more ambitious in scope and include more technical competencies. This development has been given greater momentum by the use of the PC and the intranet.

In designing a framework care should be taken that only measurable components are included. It is important to restrict the number and complexity of competencies, typically aiming for no more than 12 for any particular role (preferably less), and arranging them into clusters to make the framework more accessible to the users. The framework should contain definitions and/or examples of each competency.

A critical aspect of all frameworks is the degree of detail. If a framework is too general (containing only general statements about communication, team working, etc), it will not provide enough guidance either to employees as to what is expected of them or to managers who have to assess their staff against these terms. If, on the other hand, it is too detailed, the entire process becomes excessively bureaucratic and time-consuming and may lose credibility.

According to the IRS study2 the most popular names found in employer competency frameworks are, in order:

team orientation
communication
people management
customer focus
results-orientation
problem-solving.
Developing a competency framework


Competency frameworks can be developed in a number of ways. It is possible to draw on the competency lists produced in support of occupational standards and the framework of National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications. Frameworks developed in this way are often linked with progression towards recognised qualifications. Competency lists are available on the web and these will come from a variety of sources. Many organisations develop their competency frameworks through an internal research programme, sometimes aided by advisers from an external consultancy. Methods of developing a framework range from importing an existing off-the-shelf package through to developing the entire thing from scratch. The best solution usually lies between these two extremes, namely internally generating a framework that builds in business relevance, but do this by adapting existing models that have already been widely used and have proved successful.

When preparing a competency framework, it is important to take account of laws such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and ensure that none of the competencies discriminate against any particular group of employees or potential employees.

The use of competencies


The early applications of competency frameworks were focused mainly on performance management and development, particularly of more senior staff. Today, however, it is recognised that an effective competency framework however has applications across the whole range of human resource management and development activities.

For example, when the CIPD Change Agenda Focus on the learner4 considered the place of competencies it concluded that ‘competencies have been a feature of progressive human resources development for more than a decade. What is new is their central importance as a means of providing a framework for the learner, with his or her manager, to take responsibility for their own learning.’

In its survey2, IRS identified the following as the top six areas of competencies in use.

Performance management/appraisal
Personal development plans
Management training and development
Job descriptions
Person specifications
Management selection.
Whatever the application of competencies in the organisation it is possible to identify some important steps that must be taken to make them effective.

Research into the implementation and ongoing use of competencies in organisations has shown that employers consistently identify the same issues that can 'make or break' the effective use competencies. This is frequently seen to rest on building the motivation, understanding and commitment of line managers and employees.

Employers report that undertaking the following activities can help to build the commitment of employees and managers and therefore make for more effective use.

Involving managers and employees in the design and implementation of the framework.
Holding group briefings to explain the competency approach and the new framework.
Providing training to managers about he use of competencies which deals with the practicalities of using the framework to assess and manage staff.
Provide information and training to all employees, perhaps by producing a special leaflet or brochure to explain the new framework.
Raise awareness by publicising it in a staff newsletter or on the Intranet.

Strengths and weaknesses
The main benefits of a competency-based system


Employees have a set of objectives to work towards and are clear about how they are expected to perform their jobs.

The appraisal and recruitment systems are fairer and more open.
There is a link between organisational and personal objectives.
Processes are measurable and standardised across organisational and geographical boundaries.
Criticisms of a competency-based system
It can be over-elaborate and bureaucratic.
The language used to describe competencies may be off-putting.
It is difficult to strike the right balance between reviewing the competencies often enough for them to remain relevant but not so often as to become confusing.
If too much emphasis is placed on 'inputs' at the expense of 'outputs', there is a risk that it will favour employees who are good in theory but not in practice and will fail to achieve the results that make a business successful.
Competencies are based on what good performers have done in the past and this approach works against rapidly-changing circumstances by setting one particular group of attitudes in stone and not finding people with the right skills and attitudes for new ways of working. It also runs the risk of producing clones rather than a team with mixed skills who balance each other's strengths and weaknesses.
They can become out of date very quickly due to the fast pace of change in organisations and it can therefore be expensive and time consuming to keep them up-to-date.
Because of earlier discrimination against certain groups in society, the models used for developing competencies tend to exclude the attitudes of these groups so it subsequently becomes difficult, for example, for women, or people with disabilities or from ethnic minorities to match the underlying assumptions of the competency framework.
Some behavioural competencies are basically personality traits which an individual may be unable (or unwilling) to change and it is not reasonable to judge someone on these rather than what he or she actually achieves.