Looking to run a successful organisation? Then you need to measure how capable and skilled your workforce is. The capability of your workforce can be measured if you have specified job competencies for different functions in your organization.

The area of job competencies have held the attention of the corporate world for a long time now and are really useful when it comes to improving organizational productivity. 

Competencies are the characteristics or skills required to do a job or task. How do you define which characteristics qualify to be competencies? Most managers consider formal education as a reliable measure while others argue that personal skills should be considered as competencies.

This article will walk you through about what are job competencies and why they are important for your organization.

How to gauge competency?

A competency is a set of specific skills or abilities required to do a job. It’s the ability to complete a task efficiently. A person should be able to perform various tasks at a target proficiency level to achieve competence in something.

Job competencies give employees a clear idea of what is expected of them in terms of their performance and extends an understanding of what behaviours they should cultivate at the workplace to be valued and rewarded.

These competencies are broadly categorized into two types:

  1. Behavioural Competencies
  2. Functional / Technical Competencies

Also read: 7 Successful Strategies To Conduct A Stay Interview

What is Behavioural Competency

Behavioural competencies help you define an employee’s behavioural strengths that can contribute to organizational success. They define not just the ability to do something, but how something should be done.

When managers hire an employee they generally look for behavioural competencies like interpersonal skills, ability to accept constructive criticism, ability to understand the perspective of others, decision making skills, time management, taking responsibility for their actions etc.

Examples of behavioural competencies:

1. Managerial Competency is showcased by clear goals for team members, work plan created based on organizational objectives, honest and regular feedback provided

2. Commitment Competency is defined by how widely is one trusted, capability to take ownership, delivery on commitments

3. Values and Ethics Competency adheres to code of conduct, alignment with company values

What is Functional Competency

Functional competencies are more like technical skills of an employee that contribute to overall organizational productivity. It is more about skills that employees need to possess to perform technical operations in an organization.

Examples of functional competencies:

1. Job Role: HR

Competencies – HR policies, Recruitment, HR strategy, Workflow planning, Employee retention, Performance management

2. Job Role: Computer Programmer

Competencies – Ruby on rails, desktop application development, mobile application development

Now that you’ve gained an understanding on what competencies are, we are sure you understand why job competencies play such a role in every organization. 

Also read: Creating A Performance Based Culture At Workplace During A Crisis

Workplace Competencies and their benefits:

Companies today are investing resources to align their organizational strategies and plans with the competencies of their employees. Wondering why workplace competencies are so important? Here’s a list of benefits you can derive from having workplace competencies.

1. They communicate performance expectations clearly and help HRs ease the recruitment process.

2. They help employees identify the behavioural standards of an organization and improve job satisfaction.

3. Managers can easily identify the need for development in the performance of their team members based on their fulfillment of the competency.

4. Competencies promote improved operational efficiency in the organization.

5. Having a clear list of workplace competencies helps you conduct better training sessions for employees.

6. They help HRs improve their talent planning strategies.

Defining Competency Mapping:

Competency mapping is the process of identifying key competencies in an organization and including them throughout various organizational functionalities like onboarding, training, performance evaluation etc. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of an individual.

Though competency mapping requires lot of time, effort and money, it is said to be one of the best practices for performance management. It is recommended for every organization to have a proper competency model or a framework based on their organizational requirements and the industry they belong to.

The process of competency mapping usually consists of the following steps:

  • Employees fill a job analysis questionnaire.
    The questionnaire asks for information like the skills required to do their jobs effectively, various behavioural and functional skills that help them do their jobs effectively.
  • Using the above information, a competency based job description is created.
  • Now, competencies will be mapped. These job competencies will be later used to assess employee performance.
  • After the assessment, a report with possible development opportunities will be given to employees.

Also read: Chasing Goals When Motivation Is Low

Engagedly is offering a suite of products part of its Remote Work Toolkit free to any organisation, until Sept 30th, 2020. 

The Coronavirus has affected the way we work today and for months to come. Unprecedented events require unprecedented measures. We at Engagedly believe it is our responsibility as socially conscious corporate citizens to help equip organisations with additional tools and resources during this time of crisis.

Get in touch with us to know more about the free remote working tool-kit. 

Get In Touch With Us