The competency management methodology in organizations PDF

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In recent years, organizations have begun to worry about ethical issues, at least to a greater extent than before, as a result of certain financial scandals where it became clear that personal values, such as ethics and integrity, are not only related to individual sphere or with private life, but, ...

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THE COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Introduction The Competency Management methodology is a vehicle to achieve cultural change. In matters of mergers, acquisitions and other situations derived from the world of business, you must analyze, ask yourself (and answer yourself) if you want to achieve a cultural change. In this case, the current competency model and its representativeness should be analyzed in the face of the cultural change that is to be achieved. For a better analysis of the subject we will raise some situations in order to establish a position on the matter. Company mergers We will use the name mergers to define the case in which two companies join together to form a new one. For example: company A merges with B to together form a new company (C). In this case, neither has superiority over the other. A new company emerges. In this case, the new company C will have its mission, vision and strategic plans to achieve. Based on these, your competency model will be defined. The members of company C who come from both company A and B will have the new skills to a greater or lesser extent. The gaps should be measured and the necessary development actions to reduce them should then be initiated. A new culture emerges, which will be shaped little by little: the culture of company C. Anyone who has experienced this type of situation knows how difficult it is to reach that new culture. The processes for its creation can last months or years. It is not enough to define the symbols of the new culture, it must be built through achieving an organizational behavior that represents it. Business acquisitions We will use the term acquisition to define those cases in which one company buys from another. By extension, it could be related to mergers, when one company has cultural supremacy over the other. Example: company A acquires B. In this case, the culture to be preserved is that of company A (acquirer). The members of company B become part of company A, and may or may not possess the new competencies required. The gaps should be measured and the necessary development actions to reduce them should then be initiated. Gradually, the members of company B will take as their own the culture of company A.

As with mergers, in all cases it will be very difficult to reach the new culture. The processes for its creation can take months or years. In the case of acquisitions, the task is simpler, since it is based on the model of the acquiring company. If the type of activity of both companies is similar (for example, a bank buys from another bank or a financial services company), the competencies of the model will be the same. In this case, only the gaps for new employees should be determined and the skills development actions begin. If it were the case that the business lines of both companies were totally different (for example, a bank buys a food company - a type of situation that is frequently observed, when a company is heavily in debt and its creditor remains with the share package–), the competencies model should be reviewed. The most frequent situation that arises, in this case, is that the same cardinal competencies are used and the specific competencies that the business requires in particular are defined. Although it is not the most common, it could happen that company A acquires B because it wants to transplant the culture of B to company A (acquirer). In this situation, B's competency model will be the one adopted by company A. It is also possible that some (or many) of the company's management positions are entrusted to the executives of B, since in this operation of When purchasing, the culture of the acquired company (B) and, consequently, the competencies of its managers and employees is especially valued. Cultural change in relation to corporate or management issues Sometimes organizations change management for various reasons: the share package passes to the new generation and they want to take a turn at the helm; new shareholders join; the environment changes in such a way that the organization decides to drastically modify its business approach ... In any of these situations, from the maximum leadership and without the need for a precise diagnosis, a cultural change must be faced. How to do it? In addition to working on the external elements that make up the culture - such as changing the logos or the location of the offices, the advertising style and the employees' uniforms - it is suggested to modify the competency model or design a new one. As already mentioned, the competencies of the new model must reflect this cultural change. Examples: • An organization wishes to change the axis of its business from a domestic structure (within its own country) to a transnational business network. • Move from the traditional administration to a paperless office - that is, to operate only through computers. • Move from wholesale distribution channels to local retail chains. • Change the product line for others that are diametrically different (for example, from industrial products to others for mass consumption).

Any of the examples presented, related to business and strategy, require a change in the competencies model. In short, cultural change, whether derived from a new strategy, through mergers, acquisitions, new shareholders or owners, change of course in business for whatever reason, implies modifying organizational behavior. The way to act on cultural change in relation to the people who make up the organization is by modifying the Human Resources subsystems, including in their management the competencies that represent the change to be achieved. Synthesizing, for the change to take place, from a given moment (decision to make the change), it is necessary to select people who already have the new desired characteristics, evaluate the performance of all the people in the organization taking into account these competencies, with the ultimate purpose of developing them, to reduce the gaps between the desired behavior of people - according to the new culture - and the current one. How to incorporate values into the organizational culture One of the concerns of many company managers is how to put organizational values into practice, to management. According to the most traditional literature on Business Administration, values are fundamental concepts within the organization, to which all its members must adhere. The key is how to transform these values into practical tools, to stop being concepts to which it adheres, to become true management indicators. Those responsible for the Human Resources or Human Capital areas, with good judgment, carry out campaigns and programs to manage by values. However, the lack of continuity in this task or its disconnection with the day to day results in these programs not being effective, or at least not to the extent that was expected or that would have been possible. Although the programs to manage by values can continue their course, in order for them to become operational and be incorporated into the daily life of all employees and managers of the organization, the way forward is to transform them into competencies. Should not be done this way, ie leave the values in a sists m to separate, they must be carried indicators and included in HR subsystems. In this way, the processes of Selection, Performance Evaluation and Development of competencies include the values within their measurement tools (measurement of competencies, both in Selection and in Performance), and actions for the development of competencies referred to the Organizational values. If you do not work in this way, you run the risk that, after being defined, the values will not become elements to be taken into account in daily management. In recent years, organizations have begun to worry about ethical issues, at least to a greater extent than before, as a result of certain financial scandals where it became clear that personal values, such as ethics and integrity, are not only

related to individual sphere or with private life, but, on the contrary, the unethical behavior of a manager can make the organization where he works bankrupt. However, the mere preparation of Codes of Ethics, although necessary, is not enough. Defining Ethics as an organizational value is not either. From our perspective, ethics must take the form of a competence, so that people are selected according to ethical behaviors and, once they already belong to the organization, are evaluated in their performance considering the ethical aspects as one more competence. Finally, development plans must also work on ethics to reinforce appropriate behaviors in people. A methodology has been developed for the implementation of competency models, based on two main pillars: the briefly pre-existing theory that was studied, which has undergone some transformations over time until we reach what we will present. This implies having had the opportunity to carry out countless implementations of competency systems, learn about many models in organizations in all kinds of different countries, adjust models designed by others, seek solutions to different problems. Knowing many different models, in addition to your own, provides a very broad picture. The wealth of knowledge in terms of skills is obtained not only by knowing good working methods, but also those that have not been satisfactory. You learn a lot by looking at which processes have not worked. Although a popular saying says that man is the only animal that trips twice on the same stone, in professional activity we try to prevent this from happening. Definition of competencies The term competence refers to personality characteristics, become behaviors, that generate a successful performance in a job. Each job can have different characteristics in different companies and / or markets. Although the management models in relation to competencies refer, in all cases, to the so-called behavioral competencies, there are authors and professionals in the area who confuse the subject by encompassing both these and knowledge under the name of competencies. Although it can be said that knowledge is technical skills and behavioral skills are management skills , when we want to refer to knowledge we will use only this term . L you know which are easier to detect or assess the COMPETENCIES- form the basis on which you can apply a competency model as the one we propose. Let's see an example: if a selection is being made, the simplest thing will be to evaluate the knowledge of the person applying, which –on the other hand– is usually exclusive in a search process; Therefore, it is suggested to start the evaluation process with the easiest thing to evaluate and which is, in turn, exclusive: the required knowledge. In this way, the candidates who possess the exclusive knowledge would then be evaluated on their deepest competencies or characteristics.

The competencies differ according to the specialty and the level of the collaborators within the organization. We have said that, on occasions, the same competence, such as Leadership, may be required for young professionals and, at the same time, for top executives, but have different importance (required degree) between both levels. It can also happen –with Learning Capacity, for example– that the competence is defined as required for initial levels and not included in the management levels. The implementation of competency models For the implementation of competency models, there are various paths, some already put aside as they are overtaken by new trends . Most of the specialists in the so-called developed countries, where these working methods were used initially, work in a similar way to the one we have adopted in our consultancy. In order to define a competency model, one starts, in all cases, from the organization's strategic information: its mission and vision, and all the material available in relation to the strategy. This starting point can be based on the information available or by redefining all these aspects, to ensure that work will be done based on updated information. The next step will be to involve the managers of the organization in the definition of the competency model. The competencies, defined according to the strategy of each organization, are classified as: • Cardinal competencies: those that all members of the organization must possess. • Specific competences: for certain groups of people, with a vertical cut, by area and, additionally, with a horizontal cut, by functions. In general, both groups are combined. Although in the early days the definition of competencies was based on the study of certain references within the organization, this was left aside when it was verified that not only the virtues of these references were transferred to the models, but also some non-convenient characteristics . Furthermore, these models were not strategic. Likewise, common sense indicated other changes, such as the simplification of the model definitions, to ensure their implementation and subsequent validity. In descriptive positions, competencies are indicated with your name and grade level. The definition of the competences, as well as their opening in degrees, can be found in the document called Dictionary or Catalog of Competences, tailored to each organization. It is important to highlight how a competence is defined, since with some frequency there are organizations that, as a result of incorrect definitions of the model, work in the wrong way. If the different levels are defined with only one word (for example, grade A as an excellent level of proficiency), without a definition of the

grade, and without the examples of observable behaviors, there is no competency model available. For all those who are not familiar with these topics, we want to clarify more what a competition is and the importance of its openness in degrees. In the first instance, and when faced with a specific question, any future boss will tell you that they want their collaborator to have the maximum initiative or high or high initiative. Faced with a cross-question about the degree of decision that, for example, the seller has, they will almost certainly answer that they must have initiative within the guidelines, that is, complying with the directives received. Therefore, the initiative has a reference limit. From the Initiative competence we have taken the fundamental concepts, where grade A refers us to an ability to anticipate situations with a long-term vision. In a simple analysis, it could be said that this should be required by a high-level managerial level. Grade B implies the ability to anticipate with a medium-term vision, perhaps required for a managerial level (not first level). And below you can see the lower degrees of competition, called C and D. There you can identify two types of skills that may be required for a supervisor and an employee, salesperson, qualified operator, etc. Grade D, which at first appears to be low, as can be seen is reflecting a type of ability that may be optimal for many jobs: React to opportunities or problems. Based on the aforementioned Dictionary of Competencies, examples of behaviors are then defined, compiled in a document called the Dictionary of Behaviors and which is also prepared to suit each organization. Once the competencies have been defined along with their levels or grades, the assignment of competencies to positions is made. As is easy to see, the analysis carried out in previous paragraphs will be defining in this instance. In our methodology, two separate documents are made: the competencies with their definition and opening in degrees, and the Catalog or Dictionary of Behaviors. In the latter, at least five examples of behaviors are prepared for each grade. These examples are observable behaviors that are used to detect and measure competencies. The existence of two documents is based on the following: • Competencies define the personality characteristics (ability to do things in a certain way) that a position requires to be carried out successfully or with superior performance; For this reason, the job descriptions indicate the competencies as well as the other capacities (knowledge) that the positions require: formal studies, special knowledge, required experience, etc. • Behaviors are indicators that allow the measurement of competencies. Behavior Dictionary be the document that will use both the specialist Human Resources or Human Capital as the internal client to assess skills in the various subsystems of Human Resources. Using simple language, we could say

that observable behaviors or behaviors are the indicators to be used to evaluate or measure competencies. In summary, the necessary steps to implement a competency management system are: • Definition (or revision) of the vision and mission of the organization. • Definition of competencies, both cardinal and specific, with the participation of the organization's top management. • Preparation of the necessary documents: dictionaries of skills and behaviors. • Assignment of competencies and grades or levels to the different positions of the organization. • Determination of gaps between the competencies defined by the model and those possessed by the members of the organization. • Design of Human Resources processes or subsystems by competencies: Selection, Performance and Development are the three important pillars of the methodology. In short, when a comprehensive program or model of Human Resources Management by Competencies is implemented, it affects –or is related to– the different Human Resources subsystems. The initial steps The implementation of the model requires certain initial steps, beginning with the definition of competencies, together with their opening in degrees, and then assigning these competencies and their degrees to the different positions. Once these steps have been completed, it is suggested to make an inventory of the degree of development of competencies of all the collaborators of the organization. At this rate it is called Inventory. Its purpose is to determine, by comparison (inventory versus the competencies assigned to each position), the existing gaps. This determination of gaps is carried out with a single purpose: to design development actions as soon as possible. So that the importance of this step is properly understood (determination of gaps at the beginning of the model implementation) . On the left are the four initial steps. If these are carried out, skills development actions can be started immediately in order to narrow or reduce the gaps determined in step 4. Once the model is defined, the performance evaluation processes are started, the results of which will be available at the end of the evaluated period (in this case, after 12 months). Once the evaluation process is finished, you will be in a position to carry out skills development actions based on the results obtained.

Application of the model When the Competency Management model is working, in the first instance it must be ensured that people who do not have the necessary competencies and to the required degree do not enter the organization, depending on the job position to be filled. The follow-up of the career of each collaborator will make it possible to draw up, with professional accompaniment and guidance for the development of their skills, succession plans in key positions. The performance evaluation subsystem provides information on the degree of development of skills in people and their adequacy, or not, to the positions they occupy. To know the person-position adequacy, different instances and tools are available. The most used are: • Performance evaluation. On the occasion of the annual evaluation (or with any other frequency) of performance -in our methodology we combine it with the setting of objectives-, it is highly recommended to include an instance of evaluation of competencies, with three views: that of the individual himself (self-evaluation) , the boss's, and the boss's boss. • 360º Feedback or 360º Evaluation. Through a consultation at different levels of the organization –and, on occasions, with people outside it, such as clients or suppliers– different views are provided on the evaluated...