by The term “Competency Mapping” has gained a wider circulation and importance among academicians and businesses in recent times. In a competitive business scenario, organizations have felt the utmost need for procuring and retaining competent employees and developing distinct competencies. Most of the jobs contain some critical elements or parts.
To perform or fulfill these parts, it is important for the employees to have special competencies. It is also natural that some people perform a particular job more effectively than others. This difference exists because a particular individual may have certain competencies that other individuals might lack. This might help him/her to have an edge over the other in a particular job.
An organization examines every job to ascertain the component parts and the work environment in which it is performed. The process of examining a job is termed as job analysis. Job analysis comprises two functions, namely, job description and job specification. These are interrelated, interactive, and interdependent. Job description comprises job orientation, whereas job specification is oriented towards the jobholder.
In other words, job description is a broad statement, which consists of the purpose, duties, and responsibilities of a job, all taken together. Job specification, on the other hand, is also a broad statement, which specifies only the qualities required for a job holder.
It is evidenced that in earlier days, people in an organization were convinced that technical skills of the people in the research and development team was primarily responsible for the increased performance/ output. On further exploration and extended study, it was revealed much to their surprise, that one of the most important differentiators between top performers and all others was their presentation skills.
The key to validate these competencies is to determine the competencies (technical or interpersonal skills) and differentiate the best from the rest. Otherwise, one ends up with a very subjective data.
Features
The concept of competency mapping now exists in organizations with well-developed HR practices. HR directors and their top management have always paid attention to consider competencies and incorporated them in the appraisal forms in order to improve the performance management system. Companies such as Larsen & Toubro, National Dairy Development Board, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Hindustan Lever Ltd (presently Hindustan Unilever Ltd), NOCIL Ltd, Bharat Petroleum, and so on, have felt the utmost need for management of competencies and revised their performance appraisal systems.
Some of their objectives while performing their competency mapping are as follows:
- Identifying the key success factors
- Pinpointing triggers for each role
- Laying direction for superior performance
- Setting defined expectations from employees
- Serving means for communicating performance expectations
- Ensuring that the employees obtain greater transparency about their roles
- Providing opportunities for development
- Creating a more empowered workforce
- Employing the workforce effectively
Therefore, from the discussion, it is clear that competency mapping is important.
Purpose:
The main purpose of competency mapping is to ensure effectiveness of an organization in terms of having a clear idea regarding the summation of the required competencies.
This facilitates further:
- Gap analysis in competencies
- Role clarity
- Selection, potential identification, growth plans.
- Succession planning.
- Restructuring
- Inventory of competencies for future planning.
Need
Competency mapping has gained commonness, momentum, and popularity. The old maxim, ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ has lost its validity in view of the fast changing business environment. In order to cope with the changing world economy and keeping in view that the world is becoming a global village, companies have become more aware of the need for having competent employees and developing distinguished competencies for every organization.
In terms of quality of people, organizations need fast and consistent manpower. As such, in the sharper focus of management, competency mapping is engaged in the collection and constellation of information about the appropriate talent in various levels.
The needs for competency mapping are enumerated here:
- The cost of manpower is becoming increasingly high.
- Realization of the truth that people can transform an organization.
- Getting more from the people rather than getting more people.
- Increased customer focus; identifying and fulfilling implied customer needs and expectations.
- Recognizing the fact that the right kind of human resources can monitor and manage the technology, finance, market, customers, customer relationship, processes, procedures, and the system effectively.
- Importance of role performer vis-a-vis time management.
Importance
- For employees, it increases the awareness of existing skill, sets as well as skill gaps in the organization.
- To ensure that the employees are going in the right direction.
- To guide the competencies to increase their productivity.
- It’s an approach to build trust between the employees.
- Competency helps the employees to reach the organizational objectives.
- It avails to integrate management practices.
