The Process and Competency Based Learning (APC) proposal aims to provide an approach and methodology that contribute to capitalizing and managing knowledge centered on individuals, in line with the strategic objectives of organizations.
It proposes a change in the way of understanding and valuing learning in the context of the accelerated process of global change and the demands that it imposes on the survival and development of companies at the beginning of the century.
“The change, fast, pervasive and for many confused, is the driving force of the last years of the 20th century, and from it comes the need for continuous learning. It is not an ephemeral trend. New advances in technology will accelerate it for years to come and affect the lives of more and more people, whether they like it or not. Only a great human catastrophe can slow it down. The educational structures cannot oppose its advance, they will have to assume it and prepare people to face it, and for this they will accept and applaud new content, new methodologies and new approaches ”.
Norman Longworth "Learning throughout life".
“The learning process goes beyond formal education and is extended by learning by doing: developing skills to acquire and apply new theoretical and analytical knowledge. Education is at the center of this new economy and learning is the fundamental tool of workers and companies. Organizations have to become a learning company. ”
Edilberto Cervantes Galván "The knowledge society".
Current relevance of educational processes in the company - The intelligent organization that knows how to learn.
On the one hand, we find the over-demand that the new economy and unstoppable change impose on organizations to give innovative and practically instantaneous responses that ensure survival. On the other, with the inability of the traditional structure of education and training to provide organizations with people capable of reinventing themselves by learning on the go. This is the situation.
The response of organizations to this inconvenient circumstance has been to revalue and modify their own training structures - "in house" -, in search of an alignment to their strategic and operational needs, optimizing the cost-benefit ratio of investment in training and capitalization of the knowledge generated by one's experience. The question then is, can this be done under the paradigm, processes and methodologies with which these issues were previously addressed? The answer is definitely no.
This is because the management of Human Capital went from being a merely transactional matter (an administrative problem responsible for the HR department), to being a strategic factor that defines the competitiveness of companies. Incidentally, N. Longworth himself says: “The reason is that modern companies have realized that their strength and their future lie in the performance of the people who work in them, and that the development of skills and personal values is the most important thing they can do to survive in a very competitive world ”.
Therefore, the educational process in organizations cannot continue to be limited to the physical, conceptual and methodological walls of traditional training. Companies aware of this are exploring new approaches that help them synergize the learning process and productivity technologies, in order to likely face these strong winds of change.
Learning based on Processes and Competencies (APC).
This APC approach seeks to contextualize the development of competencies in all their complexity and richness (set of knowledge, abilities, skills, values, attitudes and other elements that combined in a certain way produce high performance), to the "natural map" of the work that processes mean. This, because they are the processes where these capacities can be applied by the competent people to add value.
It is specifically about contributing a systemic set of concepts and tools to the process of learning and applying, in which the development of competences and process management are specifically related.
Some basic precepts
- Knowledge represents the most relevant economic and social value in the current world economy. That the production, development and management of knowledge and information are a powerful push for growth, competitiveness, employment and the development of social capital. The APC considers that the focus of the process is on those who learn and not those who teach. That the process is continuous. Consider any learning modality as valid. That the person is competent insofar as he knows how to do it, can do it and wants to do it and that, consequently, those who provide or facilitate the learning must incorporate as part of the process the transfer of what has been learned, the motivation and the provision of suitable conditions for work.The APC takes as a basis to insert and give operational context and applicability to learning in organizations, to the process management approach. In particular, what refers to the conception of the organizational system as a set of interrelated processes, which must be managed with an inter-functional vision in order to take advantage of synergy and thus achieve the highest efficiency, effectiveness and effectiveness.The basic objective of this approach is that learning should facilitate the development of competencies, to increase the capacity of people to add value and introduce verifiable and measurable improvements in work processes.
Paradigm shift: from training to learning by competencies and processes
We hope that this short introductory article will stimulate those looking for new ways to meet these challenges. This taking into account the profound implications that learning has for the social, political, economic and cultural systems that determine contemporary life. For now we make ourselves available to interested readers, to share our experiences and advances in the design and application - in real organizational settings - of this APC approach.
Bibliographic references
- Norman Longworth (2003), "Learning throughout life". Editorial Paidós, Transiciones.Edilberto Cervantes Galván (2007), “The knowledge society”. Editorial Trillas.Edgar Morin (2007), Introduction to complex thinking. Editorial Gedisa.Robert E. Quinn et al. (1995) “Master in Organizational Management”. Editorial Diaz de Santos. Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad (1998), “Competing for the future”. Editorial Ariel Sociedad Económica. Peter M Senge "The Fifth Discipline" (1992), Editions Juan Granica. Sunday J Delgado M. (2003), article "Models of Management of Competences" Iberoamerican Knowledge Foundation www.gestiondelconocimiento.com.Various researchers of the CISC (2003), “Knowledge for development”. Deusto University.
