Competency Mapping

A competency (often used interchangeably with skill) can be defined as a standardized requirement for an individual to perform a specific job properly. Organizations aim at constantly assessing competency requirements of different individuals to perform the jobs assigned to them effectively and provide opportunities for developing theses competencies to prepare them for future roles in the organization.

Competency is “an underlying characteristic of a person in that it may be a motive, trait or skill aspect of one‟s self –image or social role or body of knowledge.” - Boyatzis (1982). The competence approach encourages employees to develop competencies which can be used in diverse work situations rather than being boxed into the job. Employee Development also focuses on enhancing employee competencies which help them to cope up with organizational change. Competency may take the form of Knowledge, Attitude, Skill and Values. Besides these, it may also include characteristics of an individual, motives and self-conception.

In view of the significance of the competencies, for the employees and the organization, competency mapping becomes indispensable. Competency Mapping is a process of identification of competencies required to successfully perform a particular job or role or a set of tasks at a given point of time. It consists of breaking the given job into constituent tasks and identifying the competencies needed to perform the job successfully. It is a way of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the employees or organization. It’s about identifying a person’s job skills and strengths in areas like teamwork, leadership, and decision-making. Large organizations may consider using competency mapping to understand how to best use each worker or how to combine the strengths of different employees to produce the highest quality work.

The need for improved productivity has become universally accepted and that it depends on efficient and effective training is not less apparent. It is widely recognized that employee Attitude, Ability, Skills and Knowledge are the bedrocks of success in the highly competitive business environment of this challenging economy and to train manpower would be fruitful only when we know what level of skills and knowledge employees possess and what the gap in desired level and current level is.

Competence may exist but the competency might not. Let’s look at how it differs-

Competence

Competency

What needs to be achieved

How they are achieved

Ability based on work task job output

Ability based on behavior

E.g. meeting sales target

E.g. using BAF-ing of product persuasively

We at Excellential can help you assess competency levels of employee strength based on which we also suggest right training solution for optimum outcome. Connect with us for competency mapping of employees and job specific role mapping.