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PrefaceAFTER having devoted a couple of years to the study ofcompetency mapping and consultancy, I observed that bothmanagement and managers are keen to develop a competencyframework in their organization but have little or no idea of whatneeds to be done. Though few organizations have a competencybased human resource system, most of the public and private-sectororganizations are striving to implement it. I also realized that theyare keen to do so but are apprehensive about the current availableparadigms. Borrowing the available models might not be veryeffective—sooner or later one’s own model has to be developed.Thus, the idea to work on this handbook was born. The purpose wasto write a book which will serve as a guide for both the managementand managers striving to develop a competency framework and mapcompetencies and experiential sharing through case studies.The text focuses on how to develop and map competencies,and design competency models. It is designed to help the managementand executives in an organization understand the complexities anddynamics of competency models and related decision making. It willhelp managers to design and implement the appropriate competencyframework. It will also help management students understand theapplication and know-how of competency mapping, which is primarilyto develop the capacity to act, implement, and bring performanceimprovement in the workplace.How Does Someone Use This Book?Part One of the book is divided into seven chapters. At first itis important to understand what competencies are all about. Oncethis is developed, the next step is to understand the ‘what’, ‘why’and ‘how’ of developing competency models. Management of change

xx The Handbook of Competency Mappingis complex and therefore comprehending the dynamic issues relatedto developing a competency framework is necessary. This bookdiscusses various competency frameworks to help understand theseissues. These need to be integrated with the human resource system.Once the strategic issues are dealt with, the formation of a competencyframework is the next action. But how should it be done and whatneeds to be done? This is explained in Chapter Five, wherein variouspossible sources of information have been provided. The next step isto map these competencies in an assessment centre. In the first year,resistance is bound to occur and thus the recommendations given inChapter Seven will be helpful in the course of implementation. Mostof the chapters are illustrated with figures and tables along withexamples for better understanding. A glossary of Jobs Task Analysiswill be helpful in job analysis, which is one of the most importanttasks in developing competency models.In This EditionIn Chapter One, business strategy, environmental imperativesand the changing role of HR as a strategic partner has been added,widening the horizon with an understanding of business, therebyleading to the formation of a customized HR strategy.Chapter Four is supported by two cases in point with templates;one of a manufacturing organization and another of telecommunication, show-casing the kind of information that may be availablein an organization.Chapter Six has further elaboration on assessment centres inthe UK, USA and in the industry.The special feature of this new edition is Part Two, which isthe outcome of research and consultancy assignments taken duringthe first edition. The Generic Competency Models for Leadership,HR and Competency Model for the automobile industry will give aninsight to the user while developing a customized model for theirorganization. The live examples of Hindustan Sanitaryware IndustriesLimited (HSIL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL), along with therespective models, individual reports of competency mapping andpotential mapping, will be very helpful for all reader in corporate,academic and consultancy sectors.Seema Sanghi

AcknowledgementsHAVING worked on this book, I can say that no individualpossesses all the competencies required to write a book oncompetencies. However, this work is an attempt tocomprehensively address the issues in and around competencymapping. In the development of this text, direct and indirectcontributions of several individuals stand out. The first edition wasvery well accepted; however, readers specially from the corporatesector wanted me to share my experience with various organizationsfor deeper insight into the subject.I am grateful to my readers and corporate managers, who gaveme feedback from time to time and helped me come out with thisedition.I owe special gratitude to my husband, Pradeep and our children,Prateek and Sakshi, whose patience and support was instrumental inaccomplishing this task.I also acknowledge my staff whose diligent efforts made thiswork possible.Finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the team atResponse Books who were involved in publishing this book.Seema Sanghi

Introduction to Competency 1PART ONE

2 The Handbook of Competency Mapping

Introduction to Competency 3CHAPTER ONEIntroduction to CompetencyAT the heart of any successful activity lies a competence or askill. In today’s competitive world it is becoming particularlyimportant to build on the competitive activities of business.There has been much thinking about business strategy over the lastthree decades, particularly regarding what competencies a businessneeds to have in order to compete in a specific environment. Topmanagement has been identifying corporate core competencies andhas been working to establish them throughout the organization.Human Resource Development (HRD) builds competency-basedmodels that drive business results.What are strategies? According to Jauch and Glucck (1984)‘Strategy is a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan that relatesthe strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of theenvironment. It is designed to ensure that the basic objectives of theenterprise are achieved through proper execution by the organization.Businesses have strategies, a formal planning cycle, a mechanism isdevised to devote the resources to it in the competitive environment.’According to Porter (1982) ‘Every firm competing in an industryhas a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit. The strategymay have been developed explicitly through a planning process or itmay have evolved through the activities of the various functionaldepartments of the firm.’There was a time when an organization had a long-term andshort-term strategy. The term would be five, 10, 15 years, but todayit has shrunk to a year or two. What are the reasons and the forcesbehind this?

4 The Handbook of Competency MappingRealities are changing fast. Instead of seeking to create newmarkets where managers can occupy the competitive advantage bysimply being the first ones to get there, they have become toopreoccupied with their competitors for existing markets. Competitionis to maximize the arena for sharing future opportunities. Organizations, that possess inherent strengths that are core competencies,are likely to have an edge over others. The issues to be addressedare: Is it possible to fit neatly the future opportunities within theexisting SBU boundaries?Is it possible to spread across a number of business units,competencies needed to access the new opportunities?What is the investment and time required to build the requiredcompetencies?Is it possible to bring together and harmonize widely disparatetechnologies, varying capabilities, diversity in work roles andjob demands, stretched out targets, standards and fast changingprocess?The answer to all these is in building competencies for an organizational future. Organizations need: A conceptual framework for performance measurement, andmanagement system.Effective internal and external communications for successfulperformance measurement.To assign clarity and understanding in accountability for betterresults.Performance management systems for decision-making and notjust compilation of data.Performance measurement to be linked for compensation,rewards and recognition.To share the results and commitments openly with theemployees.Combine the competency-based interventions into theperspective.

Introduction to Competency 5Today the business environmental imperatives have made businessdynamic (Table 1.1).Table 1.1: Environmental Imperatives Impact of globalizationBusiness has taken ownership for performanceRegulatory mechanisms and converging industriesIncreased sensitivity to shareholder valuesDemand side and competitionNew models of business growthFast changing technologiesCommunication channelsIT services and IT enabled servicesValue-based managementGrowth opportunitiesIncreased operational efficiency and effectiveness with technology supportOn and off shore delivery from/to third world economiesFocus on competency buildingHR strategy is derived from the corporate objectives, goalsand broad competitive strategies adopted by an organization.Organizations have realized the need and importance of human beingsas an asset. Managers know that their success lies in effectivemanagement of HR. In any business strategy, people are more criticalthan the plan. Strategies can only be effectively implemented iforganizations have a competent force of employees. During the pastdecades, the HR has also evolved and has a more strategic functionthan ever before (Fig. 1.1).As the environmental imperatives are playing an important rolein redefining the role of HR the challenge of tuning with theenvironment is increasing. An efficient HR strategy will give directionand bring in change in an orderly fashion. This will include retention,more competent employees, change and conflict resolution, allocationof human resources for the right fit, major business changes affectinghuman resources, linking the HR process to the mission and goals ofan organization and HR functions emerging as a cost or a profitcentre.

Fig. 1.1: HR Becoming a More Strategic Function6 The Handbook of Competency Mapping

Introduction to Competency 7The HR strategy will evolve around building the HR visionand objectives, leading to an action plan through effective and optimalutilization of organizational resources integrated with businessprocesses in order to provide a competitive edge to the organization(see Fig. 1.2).Fig. 1.2: Strategy Linked Action PlanHR functions today are facing challenges never faced before: The areas where the rules of competition are yet to be writtenare unstructured.

8 The Handbook of Competency Mapping Senior management has a different way of thinking about thestrategy.Attaching value to capabilities.Risk is involved in managing the realization of value.All organizations are talking about competencies. Some have trulyworked the concept into several of their processes. A few have afully implemented competency modelling and reporting system inplace. These address the development of people from process designthrough succession. However, quite a few organizations are stillstriving to build a competency model and implement it. Most organizations, of all sizes, are still struggling with defining, designing andimplementing competency model projects.The process is completely customizable. The decisions ofcompetency design are driven by a number of organizational factors,including management philosophy, customer requirements, businessneeds, and in-place processes. These factors vary from one organization to another, requiring a customized approach to competencies inthe workplace. Customization is essential to the overall success ofcompetency efforts, since every organization must integrate competency concepts into its own job design, recruitment, hiringorientation, development and succession processes.What is Competency?Is ‘competence’ and competency the same?Some dictionaries may present them interchangeably, however,as shown in Fig. 1.3, ‘competence’ means a skill and the standard ofperformance reached, while ‘competency’ refers to the behaviour bywhich it is achieved. In other words, one describes what people canCompetenceSkill-basedStandard attainedWhat is measuredCompetencyBehaviour-basedManner of behaviourHow the standard is achievedFig. 1.3: The Interface between Competence andCompetency

Introduction to Competency 9do while the other focuses on how they do it. Therefore there is aninterface between the two, i.e., the competent application of a skillis likely to make one act in a competent manner and vice versa.The plural of each word, therefore, gives two differentmeanings—competences and competencies are not the same.Competences refers to the range of skills which are satisfactorilyperformed, while competencies refers to the behaviour adopted incompetent performance.The driving test analogy is useful to understand learning anddevelopment at three separate levels.1. Knowledge—reading (one understands the meaning of drivinga car)2. Skill—practising (one is shown how to drive a car and is allowedto practise in a non-traffic area)3. Competence—applying (one exhibits an ability to drive in traffic)There are various definitions of competency but most of them referto competence. Hogg (1993) defined competency as ‘competenciesare the characteristics of a manager that lead to the demonstration ofskills and abilities, which result in effective performance within anoccupational area. Competency also embodies the capacity to transferskills and abilities from one area to another.’An analysis of the definition reveals: Competencies are the characteristics of a manager. This goesalong with our promise that competency is a characteristic of aperson.Competencies lead to the demonstration of skills and abilities.Therefore, competency must be demonstrated and hence mustbe observable. It must not be inferred or extrapolated.Competencies must lead to effective performance. This meansthat the performance of a person with competency must besignificantly better than that of a person without it. Competencythus refers to behaviour, differentiating success from merelydoing the job.Competency also embodies the capacity to transfer skills andabilities from one area to another. A sales person may be ableto deliver his sales pitch flawlessly but may be tongue-tied

10 The Handbook of Competency Mappingelsewhere. He lacks the competency of communication. Thuscompetencies cannot be restricted to a single job alone but theperson must be able to carry them along. This dispels the needto differentiate between generic and functional competenciessince this part of the definition excludes functional competence,which is associated with a particular job.Another relevant definition, widely accepted among human resourcesspecialists in the corporate environments, is ‘an underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superiorperformance on the job’ (Klemp 1980). A more detailed definitionsynthesized from the suggestions of several hundred experts in humanresources development who attended a conference on the subject ofcompetencies in Johannesburg in 1995, is ‘a cluster of relatedknowledge, skills and attitudes that affects a major part of one’s job(a role or responsibility), that correlates with performance on thejob, that can be measured against well-accepted standards and thatcan be improved via training and development’ (Parry 1996).Spencer and Spencer (1993) in their work Competence at Workhave defined competency as ‘an underlying characteristic of anindividual that is casually related to criterion-referenced effectingand/or superior performance in a job situation’.An ‘underlying characteristic’ means the competence is a fairlydeep and enduring part of a person’s personality and can predictbehaviour in a wide variety of situations and job tasks. ‘Casuallyrelated’ means that it causes or predicts behaviour and performance.‘Criterion-referenced’ means that the competency actually predictswho does something well or poorly, as measured on a specific criterionor standard.There are five types of competency characteristics. Motives—The things a person consistently thinks about or wantsand that which causes action. Motives ‘drive, direct or select’behaviour towards certain actions or goals and away from others.Traits—Physical characteristics and consistent responses tosituations or information.Self-concept—A person’s attitudes, values or self-image.Knowledge—Information a person has in specific content areas.Skill—The ability to perform a certain physical or mental task.

Introduction to Competency 11As illustrated in Fig. 1.4, knowledge and skill competencies tend tobe visible and relatively ‘on the surface’ characteristics of people.Self-concept, trait and motive competencies are more hidden, ‘deeper’and central to personality.Surface knowledge and skill competencies (Fig. 1.5) arerelatively easy to develop; training is the most effective way to securethese employee abilities. Core motive and trait competencies at thebase of the personality iceberg are more difficult to assess and develop;it is most cost effective to select these characteristics.Competencies can be defined as skills, areas of knowledge,attitudes and abilities that distinguish high performers. These areVisibleHiddenFig. 1.4: The Iceberg ModelFig. 1.5: Central and Surface Competencies

12 The Handbook of Competency Mappingcharacteristics that may not be easily observable but rather exist ‘underthe surface’—behavioural questions can help draw out examples ofthese competencies (see Fig. 1.6).Fig. 1.6: What are Competencies?Competencies are components of a job which are reflected inbehaviour that are observable in a workplace. The common elementsmost frequently mentioned are knowledge, skills, abilities, aptitudes,personal suitability behaviour and impact on performance at work.There are various definitions with little difference in them. However,the common denomination is ‘observable behaviour’ in the workplace. The criteria of competency are superior performance andeffective performance. Only some competencies can predict performance. Thus competencies can be divided into two categories. Threshold competencies—These are the essential characteristicsthat everyone in the job needs to be minimally effective, butthis does not distinguish superior from average performers.Differentiating competencies—These factors distinguish superiorfrom average performers.

Introduction to Competency 13Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad (1994) in their book Competingfor the Future wrote, ‘core competencies transcend any single businessevent within the organization’. Certain projects are so massive andpersuasive that no individual can possess the competencies requiredto see them through to completion. Therefore, organizations have toidentify, develop and manage organizational core compet

4.4 Succession Planning Candidate Evaluation Form 72 4.5 Succession Planning 74 4.6 Format of Competency-based Application 76 9.1 Generic Competency Model for Leadership Role 165 10.1 Competency Model for HR Head 177 10.2 Competency Model for HR Manager 181 10.3 Competency Model for HR Exec