Competency Management is born from organizational psychology, immersed in motivation theories, seeking to explain successful job performance; now it must be assumed in the necessary interdisciplinarity of Human Resource Management.
And the complexity of its object cannot be avoided: the competencies of people in their interaction with jobs, the work environment and organizational culture, where human psychology and its epistemology or theory of knowledge occupy an important place. Management by Competences arises with the bias of the positivist paradigm and with the imprint of pragmatism, taking a boom in advanced and successful business practice from 1990.
As a complement to this process is the design of the occupational profiles that refer to the personal characteristics that the candidate must have to guarantee the execution as established by the position designed in an adequate complementary relationship. This is the case, for example, of a position whose critical success factor is constant innovation, it will be required to guarantee its execution a person who has skills, creativity and achievement orientation, among other characteristics that are not achieved through training programs. or that they will never allow you to perform as outstanding as those who naturally possess these characteristics.
The current trend is towards multipurpose or multi-skill jobs, it will be necessary to ensure that the professional chart, position profile or competence profile, is maintained accordingly with that trend so that they do not mean a typecasting or legal obstacle, but a rank flexible or referential framework with a broad profile, promoting the enrichment of performance or work, both horizontally and vertically.
Having people with the right characteristics has become the guideline for human resource management. This approach stops perceiving positions as fixed units, destined to fulfill functional responsibilities independently of the people who occupy them and tries to transform them into dynamic units that are part of the important processes aimed at satisfying expectations and needs of both internal and of external clients, where the greatest emphasis is placed on the characteristics of the person occupying the position.
ne of the best ways to find out what it takes to perform successfully in a given job is to study the individuals who perform successfully in it and analyze what to do to achieve it. This means making an assessment not of the job, but of the person doing the work.
Management by competencies seeks from the definition of a profile of competencies and positions within the profile, that the moments of truth between a company and its employees are aware and ultimately aim to increase the contribution of each employee to the generation of company value.
Management is to carry out actions to achieve objectives. Competition is aptitude; quality that makes the person fit for a purpose. Sufficiency or suitability to obtain and exercise a job. Suitable, capable, skilled or purposeful for one thing. Capacity and disposition for good performance.
Management by competencies is the essential strategic tool to face the new challenges imposed by the environment. It is to promote individual skills at the level of excellence, according to operational needs. It guarantees the development and management of people's potential "of what they know how to do" or could do.
Organizational learning must be permanent and continuous, so the cycle proposed here must be considered as a tool that is incorporated into daily management.
• Stages in the implementation of the Skills Management model.
Management by competencies is a model that is installed through a program that contemplates the following steps that take place in this way: (Gramigna, 2005).
1. Awareness
To achieve success, the adherence of the key people who manage the jobs is essential. Awareness can be done through:
1. Meetings for the presentation and discussion of the model, for the acquisition of new skills.
2. Discussion focus that will aim to detect the mistakes of the current model.
3. Participation in talks or seminars on the subject.
2. Study of the jobs.
A job is made up of the task or set of tasks carried out by an employee. To analyze it, it is necessary to collect all the data related to it to be able to study it and make a judgment about its nature.
This work can be delicate, since most of the information is collected from the employee himself through questionnaires and interviews.
Once the commitment of senior management is achieved, the next stage begins. Two actions are essential at this time:
1. Verify if the missions or strategic plans of the particular areas are compatible with the Mission of the company.
2. Make a complete description of each job, listing the activities corresponding to each one.
3. Definition of the profile of required competencies.
The third stage consists of listing the competencies required for each area and delineating the profiles based on it.
4. Systematic evaluation and redefinition of profiles.
The process of evaluation and redefinition of profiles is fundamental for the success of the model, because through it the management will be responsible for the development of its teams, identifying points of excellence and those of insufficiency; as well as the workers who demonstrate a performance according to or above the required profile, will receive new challenges and will be stimulated to develop new skills. Those who present a performance below the required profile will be trained and participate in training and development programs.
• Points to take into account in the Management by Labor Competencies.
- You cannot lose sight of the humanist perspective from Marti's point of view (you have to train for life, not for a job):
• Intellectual
• Humanist
• Utilitarian
• Sociopolitical
Must be trained with a general culture and comprehensive professional technical.
- Human Resource Management today has to have Competency Management as one of the most relevant concepts to understand since it allows an effective evaluation of human performance.
- Value human resources not only as a set of knowledge and skills, but also as human beings.
• The full integration of that worker to that society.
• The socio-economic needs and demands of the country.
• Develop more procedures and attitudes in training and enhance knowledge.
• Greater integration of the school - productive entity.
- For a correct performance evaluation it is necessary to develop the Competency Matrices of the positions, since without them, we run the risk of being superficial and not having a true photograph of the man, making incorrect decisions with him.
- We cannot select people to occupy a single position, but rather, look for candidates to occupy several positions, since the current trend is towards multi-skilled or multi-skill jobs.
- The Profile of Competencies are not more than secondary, or complex competences. These describe in more or less detail patterns or behaviors that exemplify a competition. That is why when carried out, they must be integrated into the Human Resources Department as a policy with a legal nature.
- Large global companies have incorporated human resource management based on job competence as a tool to improve productivity and maintain a positive climate in relationships with their employees.
• Some of the reasons that justify changing to a competency management scheme. (Rodríguez, 2003)
• Competency management aligns the management of human resources to the business strategy (increases its response capacity to new market demands).
• Competencies are the units of knowledge that allow the administration of human capital to operate.
• Proper asset management, which competencies entail, ensures the maintenance of the company's competitive advantages.
• Positions, positions, roles or positions are designed based on the competencies required for the processes to achieve maximum performance.
• The contribution of added value via skills can even be quantified in monetary terms.
• Advantages of the Competency Management model.
Few companies invest in their work teams for different reasons, ranging from the non-existence of performance evaluation strategies, to the little knowledge of the importance of the formation of intellectual capital.
Management by competencies provides countless advantages such as: (Cabezas, 2006)
• The possibility of defining professional profiles that will favor productivity.
• The development of teams that possess the necessary skills for their specific area of work.
• Identification of weak points, allowing improvement interventions that guarantee results.
• Performance management based on quantifiable objectives and with the possibility of direct observation.
• Increased productivity and optimization of results.
• The awareness of the work teams so that they assume co-responsibility for their self-development. Taking a win-win process, from the moment when everyone's expectations are met.
• The alignment of the human contribution to the strategic needs of the businesses, the efficient administration of the intellectual assets centered on the individuals.
• The urgent replacement of job descriptions as the axis of human resources management.
• Performance evaluation.
• Fair compensation based on the contribution to added value and the eradication of the old.
• The elimination of the costly and unproductive practice of traditional training.
When management is based on competencies, managers and their collaborators are prevented from wasting time on training and development programs that have nothing to do with the needs of the company or the needs of the jobs.
• Design of jobs
Job design includes content, requirements, and employee compensation, and is the best way to measure employee motivation.
Knowing the degree of freedom, whether or not they are committed to the objectives of the organization, whether their work is satisfactory, are aspects that the Human Resources management will try to find out through the design of the position.
Few companies are aware that the job requires a viable design and profiling for the person who performs it. A wrong job design is the main source of demotivation, dissatisfaction and low productivity of human resources. (Malik, 2000).
Mondy (1997) points out: “job design consists of determining the specific activities to be developed, the methods used to develop them, and how the position is related to other jobs in the organization”.
Chiavenato (1999) in his book Management of Talent adds: “the design of positions is the process of organizing work through the tasks necessary to carry out a specific position. It includes the content of the position, the qualifications of the occupant and the rewards of each position to meet the needs of the employees and the organization ”.
Fernández de Alaiza (2001): "the design of jobs is the methodological procedure that allows us to obtain all the information related to a job".
Fernández López (2004): It is defined as the HT process of determination, through observation and study, of the component elements of a specific position, establishing the responsibilities, capacities, relationships, physical and personological requirements that are required, the HT risks that are behave and the environmental conditions in which the position is developed.
Gómez-Mejía (2006), describes job design as: "work organization process through the tasks necessary to perform a specific position".
It can be said that Job Design is a work organization process that aims to structure the elements, duties and tasks of an organization's positions, attending to the content, requirements, responsibilities, working conditions, qualifications and rewards. of the occupants, to ensure that the performance of the positions occupies a place in the value offer that you want to provide to the client.
• Factors that affect the design of jobs.
According to (UCh RRHH, student portal) The factors that affect the design of the position are the environment (the skills and availability of the employees and the social environment of the company). Social acceptance (an employee will be the more satisfied with her job the more she is socially considerate) and work practice (the traditional way of doing work).
Job design can be carried out according to different approaches: mechanistic, human relations approach, job characteristics approach, behavioral science approach, and socio-technical approach.
1. Mechanistic approach. Identify tasks to get done in the shortest time possible. The training of the employee to perform the tasks is achieved in a minimum time, but it is for the mechanical employee, boring and alienating.
2. Approach to human relations. It focuses on the study of the social environment that surrounds the workplace. It also affects work efficiency, but considering it from the worker's point of view.
3. Focus of the characteristics of the work. When working conditions are combined with those of the employee, the job characteristics approach arises, which analyzes the factors that contribute to the employee's feeling that their work is useful. The sense of usefulness in performance increases by performing a variety of tasks, being responsible, and getting feedback. The position designer cannot forget that behind each position there is a person and that the need to act on the design will arise when they observe a conflict.
4. Behavioral science approach. It is based on the observation of human behavior. Using psychology, sociology and anthropology, an attempt is made to verify and contrast certain behaviors in organizations.
5. Socio-technical approach. It is based on the constitution of work teams, and consists of two or more workers coming together to fulfill an objective, assuming how to carry it out. There must be: a shared purpose, flexibility in reward, continuous learning, decentralization of authority, flexible structures and a common project. It requires great support from the highest levels of the organization.
• Brief historical evolution of the term competition.
The concept of competition is frequently used in companies worldwide to designate a set of factors or elements, associated with the success of people's performance, so it is necessary to take into account some elements exposed by various authors and to be able to understand better the origin of the idea skills.
T. Parsons (1949), elaborates a conceptual scheme that allowed structuring social situations, according to a series of variables. One of these variables was the concept of Acheviement vs. Ascription, which essentially consisted of valuing a person for obtaining concrete results instead of doing so for a series of qualities that are attributed to him in a more or less arbitrary way.
Ten years later (Atkinson, 1958), he was able to statistically demonstrate the usefulness of money as a concrete incentive that improved production provided that it was linked to specific results.
At the beginning of the 60s, the professor of Psychology at Harvard University, David McClelland proposed a new variable to understand the concept of motivation: Performance / Quality, considering the first term as the need for achievement (quantitative results) and the second as the quality of work (qualitative results). Following this approach, McClelland raises the possible links between this type of needs and professional success: if the mechanisms or levels of needs that move the best entrepreneurs can be determined, then people with an adequate level in this need for achievements can be selected., and consequently train people in these attitudes so that they can develop them.These results led to the proliferation of studies of this type in the workplace, everyone wanted to find the solution that would enable companies to save time and money in personnel selection processes. However, for one reason or another, the universal problem around what training the person should have, and how adequate it should be to successfully develop the position, had not yet been satisfactorily resolved.
McClelland (1973), shows that academic records and intelligence tests by themselves were not capable of reliably predicting adequate adaptation to everyday life problems, and consequently professional success.
This led him to look for new variables, which he called competencies, that would allow a better prediction of job performance. During these investigations he found that, in order to predict performance more effectively, it was necessary to directly study people at work, contrasting the characteristics of those who are particularly successful with those who are only average.
Because of this, competencies appear linked to a way of evaluating what "really causes superior performance at work" and not "to evaluating factors that reliably describe all the characteristics of a person, in the hope that some of the they are associated with job performance ”(McClelland, 1973).
In the literature there is talk of job skills or professional skills, often indistinctly. Our criterion in this sense is that the concept of labor competence encompasses the concept of professional competence, because labor implies everything related to the world of work, be it profession or trade.
With the concept of competition, everyone thinks they know that they speak, some in favor, others against and others with indifference, however it is a very controversial concept. This can be seen from the point of view of the company, as a psychological conformation and from the point of view of curricular design, in the professional training process.
• Labor skills.
Over the years, different authors and institutions have inclined their attention to the development of Human Resources and have given criteria about the concept of competence, which have not established a single meaning, which causes that there is a prioritized attention on the subject.
The concept of competencies has been a dilemma for many companies. Wanting to implement such a concept has led business managers and organizational consultants to analyze the theory in detail and design strategies that allow structuring a methodological proposal for the design of a model of labor competencies within each organization.
Below is a selection of some of the concepts:
David McClelland (1973): competencies appear linked to a way of evaluating what "really causes superior performance at work" and not "to the evaluation of factors that reliably describe all the characteristics of a person, in the hope that some of them are associated with job performance. '
Bunk GP (1994): Has professional competence who has the knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to practice a profession, can solve professional problems independently and flexibly, is able to collaborate in their professional environment and in the organization of work.
Gallart, Jacinto (1996): A set of properties in permanent modification that must be subjected to the test of the resolution of concrete problems in work situations that involve certain margins of uncertainty and technical complexity does not come from the application of a curriculum but from an exercise in applying knowledge in critical circumstances.
Levy Leboyer (1997): competencies are behaviors that some people master better than others, and that make them more effective in a given situation.
They are also observable in the reality of work, and also in test situations, and put into practice in an integrated way skills, personality traits and knowledge.
POLFORM (1997): they refer to the social construction of meaningful and useful learning for productive performance in a real work situation, which is obtained not only through instruction, but also -and to a large extent- through learning by experience in concrete work situations.
Le Boterf (1998): A construction, from a combination of resources (knowledge, know-how, qualities or aptitudes, and environmental resources (relationships, documents, information and others) that are mobilized to achieve performance.
CONOCER (1998): The competence refers to the productive capacity of an individual that is defined and measured in terms of performance in a given work context, and not only of knowledge, abilities, skills and attitudes. These are necessary, but not in themselves sufficient for effective performance.
In Germany: Whoever has the knowledge, skills and aptitudes necessary to practice a profession has professional competence; she is the one who can solve professional problemsampomously and flexibly; He is the one who is trained to collaborate in his professional environment and in the organization of work.
In Australia: a competence is a complex structure of attributes necessary for the performance of specific situations. It is a complex combination of attributes (knowledge, attitudes, values and skills) and the tasks that have to be performed in certain situations.
ILO Recommendation 195 on Human Resource Development and Training: The term “competencies” encompasses knowledge, professional skills and specialized technical knowledge that are applied and mastered in a specific context.
Labor competence (RES-21-1999 MTSS, Cuba): Set of theoretical knowledge and abilities, skills and aptitudes that are applied by the worker in the performance of his occupation or position in correspondence with the principle of demonstrated suitability and technical requirements, productive and services, as well as quality, which are required for the proper development of their functions.
ILO (2000): competence refers to the effective capacity to successfully carry out a fully identified work activity.
Desaulniers (2001): a competence is the ability to solve a problem in a given situation, which means saying that the measurement of that process is fundamentally based on results.
SENA, Colombia (2002): It defines it as the set of socio-affective capacities and cognitive, psychological and motor skills that allow the person to carry out an activity, a role, a function in an adequate way, using the knowledge, attitudes and values it owns.
Artidiello and Conrado (2005) Expression of human behavior, an inherent quality of man, sometimes we find under the name of competences and treated indiscriminately as such abilities, capacities, attitudes and other forms of human performance.
Fernández González (2006) "intelligent technical knowledge", which involves the exercise of discernment, intelligent action in unstructured situations that require creativity and the search for alternatives when making decisions. Complex combination of attributes (knowledge, attitudes, values, skills) and tasks to perform in certain situations. Take into account the context and culture of the workplace. It allows incorporating ethics and values as elements of competent performance
«The notion of competence, as it is used in relation to the world of work, is situated halfway between knowledge and concrete skills; Competition is inseparable from action, but it demands knowledge at the same time. An old definition in the Larousse dictionary from 1930 said: “in commercial and industrial affairs, competition is the set of knowledge, qualities, capacities, and aptitudes that allow to discuss, consult and decide on what concerns the job.
It assumes reasoned knowledge, since it is considered that there is no complete competence if the theoretical knowledge is not accompanied by the qualities and the capacity that allows executing the decisions that said competence suggests.
It can be affirmed through these concepts that competence is an effective capacity to successfully carry out a fully identified work activity, as well as satisfactory performances in real work situations, which are formed from the development of scientific-technical thinking reflective, of the possibility of building reference frameworks of action applicable to decision-making required by professional contexts, of developing and assuming attitudes, skills and values compatible with the decisions that must be made and with the processes on which one must act responsibly.
Job competence is not a probability of success in performing a job; It is a real and proven ability, not only taking into account the cognitive aspect, but also the emotional one, they can be observed in a daily work situation.
The most outstanding competencies at a global level in organizations are closely related to those that appear in a survey carried out among companies in the United Kingdom in 1995, but which remain in full force today. (Appendix 1).
• How are job skills built?
Currently we speak of basic competencies, citizenship competencies, competences for social integration. These competencies are the basic ones that every individual should acquire by participating in various areas of socialization such as family, community, school, work, sports, games, sharing free time with others, cultural events. In them, people acquire rules of action, modes of relationship and communication, forms of mathematical logical thought, recognition of the expectations of others and ways of being with the other.
Labor competencies presuppose the development of basic competencies. They constitute a form of evolution of the same, they rely on them to be able to develop, deepen and specify themselves as professional modes of action.
For this reason, when societies exclude large segments of their population from the labor market, they block important areas of development and strengthening of basic skills, in addition to technical skills.
To find out how a job competence is specified, we must talk, dialogue with the workers who exercise it as part of their daily profession. It is interesting to observe that people work, they develop in different work roles, but they rarely stop to reflect on what they do, how they do it, how they realize that they are doing well, with quality, in safe working conditions.
• Approaches and models used in the determination of competencies.
The competences approaches that are in the market today in their essence reduce all the possibilities of applying competences, according to Llorente (1999) and regrets that inevitably they are the most widespread, sharing a series of common points.
• Each competence has a name and a precise verbal definition. Denominations such as: identification with the company, self-confidence, information search, customer orientation, conceptual thinking, flexibility, leadership, appeared in the first studies of McBer, (Hay Group / McBer).
• Each competency has a certain number of levels that reflect observable behaviors, not value judgments.
• All competencies can be developed (going from a lower level to a higher one) although not immediately like receiving a training course.
• All positions are associated with a competency profile that is nothing more than an inventory of them, together with the required levels of each of them. With the evaluated level of each competence, imbalances will be obtained that will have to be analyzed.
A competency profile or model is a description of the requirements necessary to perform a position at the highest level of performance (performance).
What are area competencies?
Competencies by areas describe the competencies that people working in that area should have. In some cases it is preferable to establish competencies by functional areas of the institution. For example, people who work in the IT department require different skills than people who work in the accounting department.
What is Corporate Competitiveness?
It is the set of group and individual competences that characterize the organization.
According to Quesada Martínez (2006), there are different Models, among the most used are:
The behaviorist model: Oriented to the selection of the "fittest", and bearer of difficulties for the identification of technical standards and requirements. It is based on the personal aspects of job performance that are measurable. Although it contains elements of collective work, the worker is encouraged to improve individually. In this model, "competence" basically describes what a worker "can" do and not "what he does." It focuses on identifying the capabilities of the person that lead to superior performance in the organization. It generally applies to management levels and subscribes to capabilities that make you stand out in non-predefined circumstances.
The functionalist model: Based essentially on the measurement of results. It starts from the main objective and continues with the disaggregation of levels until identifying the units of competencies and their elements. The fundamental characteristic of this analysis is that it describes products, not processes. With this method the worker obtains recognition of his competences in relation to obtaining and achieving the main objective. The functional approach refers to specific and predefined performances that the person must demonstrate, derived from an analysis of the functions that make up the production process. This model is generally used at the operational level, and is limited to technical aspects.
The constructivist model: It is the method with the greatest holistic load, with parameters of social inclusion and comprehensive training, the human dimension of the activity and the social context of work. It is assumed that the full participation of individuals in the discussion and understanding of problems is crucial for the identification of "dysfunctions" in the company. It is from this general discussion and exchange that the norm or standard begins to be generated. For example, in a company the entire staff becomes aware that there are no defined preventive maintenance routines, or predictive maintenance techniques. As these routines and techniques are designed, the competencies of the staff involved emerge.
• Types of competition
Competences can be classified into generic and specific. The former refer to a set or group of activities and the latter to specific functions or tasks. Another classification is that carried out by Cardona and Chinchilla (1999), who refer to two types of competences: technical or job and directive or generic.
The former refer to those distinctive attributes or traits that an exceptional worker requires in a given position. These include specific knowledge, skills, or attitudes necessary to perform a specific task.
The second are those observable and habitual behaviors that enable the success of a person in his managerial role. Although these are considered generic, according to the authors, and although a company may emphasize more on one than another, they can be studied jointly from the analysis of the management function.
The managerial or generic competences are classified in turn into strategic and intra-strategic competences. This other classification is made by the authors, based on the anthropological business model proposed by Pérez López (1998), according to which: The managerial function consists of designing strategies that produce economic value, developing the capabilities of its employees and joining them with the mission of the company.
Strategic management competencies are those necessary to obtain good economic results and among these the authors cite: vision, problem solving, resource management, customer orientation and the network of effective relationships.
Intra-strategic management competencies are those necessary to develop employees and increase their commitment and trust with the company, which according to the aforementioned model, is essentially about executive capacity and leadership capacity, among which are mentioned, communication, empathy, delegation, "coaching" and teamwork.
To the two previous types of skills, Cardona and Chinchilla add managerial skills, of a business nature, which are called personal effectiveness. These, presented below, include those habits that facilitate an effective relationship between the person and her environment.
1 Pro-activity: initiative, personal autonomy.
2 Self-government: personal management of time, stress, risk, discipline, concentration and self-control.
3 Personal development: self-criticism, self-knowledge, personal change.
These competencies measure the capacity for self-direction, which is essential to direct others, thus enhancing strategic and intra-strategic competences.
As a consequence of these classifications, we find that the different authors propose and present lists of «required competences», be these of one type or another, such as the one established by Thornton and Byham (1982) where an attempt is made to gather a group of generic competences or supra-competencies for so-called high-level managers, or the one proposed by Dulewicz (1989) referring to middle managers, or others, which, as Levy-Leboyer (1997) points out, are made by the Human Resources specialists of a company themselves. determined company, based on creating its own competency system.
Currently, organizations tend to determine, taking into account their environment and their business strategy, which are the competencies that really produce superior performance, using different techniques that will be referred to later.
• Skills Profiles.
The competency profiles defined by organizations for their positions or positions are essentially sets of secondary competencies (fully holistic), and they go with more or less detailed descriptions of behavior patterns (dimensions) that exemplify the development of a competency.
The job competency profiles outperform traditional job profiles or profesiograms that include functions described on a purely cognitive level. Here, the classic job content of the position expressed in functions or tasks, is surpassed by competencies.
The configuration of the competency profile, derived from the key HRM activity called Analysis, design and description of jobs, starts from the rigorous determination of the competencies of the content of the position or position, essentially responding to what is done? how is it done? and why does she do it? (Also including the set of knowing and wanting to do when the skills profile of the candidates for the position is to be configured). In that profession or profile of competencies of the position or position, the aforementioned competencies to be determined will be closely related to the physical and personality requirements, as well as the responsibilities to be assumed by the occupant of the position.
• Design of skills profiles.
The competency profiles are of primary importance, because the consideration of "working conditions", under which the essential ergonomic and occupational safety and hygiene elements are understood. Their absence from most of the existing job profiles has taken the tasks or functions out of context from the work systems, more unacceptable when it comes to competencies to which the consideration of the organizational culture is added. Poor working conditions are uneconomic.
It is useless to improve the layout of a workshop or the working methods of an operator with highly technical procedures, saving a few minutes in certain operations, if whole hours are lost due to poor working conditions throughout the company that, in addition, damage To their workers.
Once technically conceived, guaranteeing participation in decision-making by experts, the competency profile of a certain job or position is expressed in a document. Its components, integrated through a certain format, must be well established, it must be emphasized, it must be consistent with the strategic direction formulated, with the derived HRM policies and the work system conceived
• The Labor Competence Matrix.
The Competence Matrix shows us the behaviors that make up the competencies included in the required profiles (due to their work or the personal situations they face), for this the presence and combination of the following elements is necessary.
• Know: Knowledge related to behaviors involved in competition.
They can be technical in nature (task oriented) and social in nature (interpersonal relationship oriented).
Experience plays an essential role as «knowledge acquired from our own perceptions and experiences, generally repeated». Cognitive Psychology currently offers important developments aimed at improving learning strategies; as "learning to learn" or "learning to think."
• Know how to do: Skills that allow you to put into practice the knowledge you have. You can talk about technical skills (to perform various tasks - for example, operate on a patient or perform a database system-), social skills (to interact with others in heterogeneous situations -work in a team, exercise leadership, speak in public,… -), cognitive abilities (to process the information that comes to us and that we must use to analyze situations, make decisions…).
These different abilities interact with each other; For example, giving a talk in public may involve not only the act itself of addressing an audience and talking about a topic (social skill), but also analyzing their reactions, anticipating questions or criticisms, mentally structuring the content, (skills cognitive), reduce the anxiety that the situation creates (through strategies that involve motor and cognitive skills) and use audiovisual aids to support the talk (technical skills).
• Knowing how to be: Attitudes in accordance with the main characteristics of the organizational or social environment (culture, norms). It is about taking into account our values, beliefs and attitudes as elements that favor or hinder certain behaviors in a given context.
Attitudes are a classic theme in Social Psychology that has a wide development and application, both on a broader level (for example, in the media), and on a small level (for example, in interpersonal relationships), and in which matters such as the origin, evaluation and change of attitudes (with a prominent place for persuasion) are of great interest.
• Wanting to do: Motivational aspects responsible for whether or not the person wants to carry out the behaviors of the competition. Factors of an internal nature (motivation to be competent, identification with the task.) Or external ("extra" money, days off, social benefits) to the person, which determine whether or not the person makes an effort to show competence.
• Power to Do: Set of factors related to:
From the individual point of view: personal capacity. The aptitudes and personal traits are considered here as potentialities of the person, as variables that can provide information regarding the ease with which someone will show a certain behavior, or about their learning potential. Unlike traditional conceptions, more recent developments (for example, the concept of "multiple intelligences") provide a more flexible and operational view of these elements.
From a situational point of view: the degree of "favorability" of the environment. Different situations can mark different degrees of difficulty to show a given behavior; for example, the presence of a group that "puts pressure on" us, interaction with an authoritarian boss, or occupying a hierarchical level or a specific role. Social Psychology, Group Psychology and Organizational Psychology offer a broad body of knowledge regarding the influence of situations on our behaviors.
These elements lead, together, to competence, to "doing", which is observable for others and which allows establishing different levels of performance (fair, good, excellent) of people in their personal or professional field.
• How is the Labor Competency Matrix prepared?
The Matrix is prepared in a double entry table, the levels of competence are represented in rows and the qualities of the person (competences) that influence the success of the activities, classified in respective spheres (cognitive, affective, physical and social) in the columns.
The crossing between levels of competence and personal qualities (competences) defines sub-competencies; Professional qualifications made up of sets of basic, generic and specific competences can be located.
The information organized in this way creates a matrix formed by different quadrants, and then the necessary requirements are matched with the objectives and expected results, where requirements from different spheres converge for each result; at the same time that a result can be complex as it is composed of the expected results in different spheres of the performance of the work activity. At the intersection of demands and results in a given quadrant, a competition is structured. Other competencies of a lower hierarchical order can be integrated from a competence with respect to the specific activity.
From the preparation and ordering of the competences and the elements that comprise it, the methods, techniques and instruments with which the information will be collected are defined. In the definition of the methods, techniques and instruments for the collection of information about the subject, the veracity of knowledge is sought with a multi-method, multi-technical idea.
• Most used techniques for the determination of Labor Competencies.
In determining job skills, a group of techniques are used, which define the skills required for each job, among which we can find: Interviews Focused or not, Expert Method, Knowledge Exam, among others.
• Interview method
Through the method, a dialogue is carried out between the specialist and the worker, it offers more information about the position, which is why it is one of the most used techniques, it requires a lot of time and effort to apply, being at the same time very expensive.
It is a technique where the information is obtained in a wide and open way. It is necessary for the interviewer to have in advance, what are the objectives of the survey and what are the problems or aspects on which she is interested in obtaining information, conducting it dynamically.
For the interview you should take into account:
1 Ask according to the pre-established questions, using simple and understandable words.
2 Gradually approach the interviewee with cordiality, creating a favorable climate for collaboration.
3 Act with spontaneity and openness avoiding dominant attitudes.
4 Use an attitude of active listening, showing interest in their response, maintaining eye contact and making affirmative gestures with the head.
5 The interviewee should be helped when necessary, but without influencing their answers, they should not be refuted or hurried, let them conclude their story without premature interpretations.
6 Record the responses as accurately as possible, for further analysis and drawing of conclusions.
Among the types of Interviews are:
There are three criteria to classify the interviews:
1. - According to the relationship established between the interviewee and the interviewer.
1 Telephone
2 Face to Face
3 Email.
2. According to the form the interview takes.
1. Standardized (or interview-questionnaire, also called structured)
It is one in which the questions and their sequence are uniform. In other words, the questions are asked in the same words and in the same order to each of the interviewees.
2. Non-standardized (also known as unstructured)
It is one in which, unlike the previous one, the interviewee is given a topic or set of topics to develop.
3. Semi-standardized.
It is a combination of the previous forms.
3. According to the objectives of the investigation
• Exploratory: Interview that, due to the level of basic ignorance that the researcher has, intends to achieve a solution to this difficulty by obtaining certain information that allows to elaborate, process or modify the problem and the hypothesis.
• Interview for hypothesis testing: It is the one that is executed when the research problem and the hypothesis are completely elaborated and in accordance with the purposes of the research. It is aimed at obtaining information through it that allows us to verify or not the research hypotheses.
• Expert Method.
The Expert Method consists of a unification of criteria of a group of specialists with knowledge of the object of study, so that each question occupies a place according to the order of importance that each member understands in their own discretion (they must work at least with 7 experts). It constitutes a group work technique, which can be developed in various variants:
1. Brain Storming.
2. Brain Writing.
3. Delphi method (Kendall's coefficient).
The most used methods are the Delphi and the Kendall coefficient, because for their use it is not necessary for the experts to be relatively close.
The Delphi Method consists of a group work technique where the members of the group do not interact directly, that is, it is based on applying a questionnaire or form to each member of the group. Kendall's method consists in the collection or collection of weighted information from the experts, the criteria of several specialists with knowledge of the subject are unified, so that each member of the panel has weighted according to the order of importance, that each one understands Own criterion.
For the selection of the expert, experience, the level of information they can provide and the technical level they have will be taken into account. This method has a mathematical and statistical procedure that enables the reliability of the experts' criteria to be validated using the kendall coefficient (W).
This is the most versatile technique as it can be applied to determine and evaluate characteristics that cannot be measured by means of measurement. It is also used to perform the first major expansion on the Cause-Effect diagram and to estimate the loss factor.
The mathematical form is shown below, which is based on the sum of the scores for each characteristic.
1. Take the result of the vote of each expert to the table.
2. Sum of all values per row.
3. Calculation of the coefficient (T).
kajTkjmiΣΣ === 11
4. The characteristics whose value is less than the coefficient (T) is controlled.
5. Calculation of Δ, it is done per row and one by one.
Tami− = ΔΣ = 1
6. Calculation of Δ2, the sum is found at the end of the column.
7. Subsequently, the Kendall coefficient (W) is found
() 5.0123221≥− = ΔΣ = kkmWkj → If it is fulfilled, there is agreement and the study is valid.
K → Number of characteristics.
m → Number of experts.
If W <0.5 the study is repeated, if there is a number of experts greater than 7, those that introduce the most variation in the study should be eliminated, always respecting m ≥ 7.
• Proposal of Methodology for the elaboration of the Matrices of Labor Competencies with a process approach.
1. Analysis of strategic planning and key results areas.
If the strategic planning has not been carried out in the company under study, you must:
- Train members of the Extended Board of Directors on Change Management.
- Define the strategic diagnosis of the organization through the application of the SWOT Matrix to obtain the: opportunities, threats, weaknesses and strengths.
- Define the mission, vision, shared values, key results areas and strategic objectives.
- Carry out the strategic planning exercise of the company under study and implement it.
2. Determination of the Macrocomptencies or business competencies.
- Selection of personnel for the determination of Macrocompetencies. (Committee of Experts and Extended Board of Directors).
- Train the personnel involved on Competency Management. (Committee of Experts, Extended Board of Directors).
- Group work among all the members of the Committee of Experts and the Extended Board of Directors to define the competencies that best suit the organization.
- Conceptualize the Macrocompetencies selected for the company.
3. Selection of the key process or processes to study and associated jobs.
- Determine the key processes of the company under study.
- Select the key process to study.
- Select the jobs to study in each process.
4. Determination of the competencies of the selected process or processes.
- Determine or select the Committee of Experts if necessary.
- Preparation and review of the existing necessary documentation (quality manuals and instructions, surveys, quality of service).
- Group work to select the skills that best suit the process according to Annex 1 and its reduction.
- Conceptualize the labor competencies for the selected key process.
5. Determine and conceptualize competencies by job positions.
- Selection of the Expert Committee if necessary.
- Preparation of the Committee of Experts and review of documentation
- Group work in the Committee of Experts to define the competencies that best fit the competencies of Annex 1 and their reduction.
- Definition and conceptualization of the competencies for each job position.
6. Preparation of the Competency Matrices of the jobs.
-Group work from the conceptualization of the competences of the previous step, taking into account the 5 levels defined above
- Elaboration of the Matrix for each position.
Bibliographic references
1. Alés, H. (2004): "Diploma Work, Proposal of a System of Tools for Business Management of the IT Services Company GET Varadero."
2. Artidiello I. and Conrado R. (2005): “Competences: a new challenge” (Part I, II and III) HTUwww.gestiopolis.comUTH, (consulted: December 2006)
3. Atkinson, JW, (1958): A scoring manual for the achievement motive. In JW Atkinson (Ed.), Motives in Fantasy, Action, and Society (pp. 179-204). New York, digital edition.
4. Bunk, GP (1994): “The transmission of competences in the professional training and improvement of the FRG”. European Journal of Vocational Training, 1, (8-14).
5. Cabezas, E. (2006): “Different Training Systems in Management due to labor competence”, HTUhttp: //www.linfati.cl/gde/2006/06/13/distintos-sistemas-formativos-en-la- management-for-labor-competence / UTH, (consulted: December 2006)
6. Cardona, P. and Chinchilla, M. (1998): "Evaluation and development of Management Competences." Harvard Deusto Magazine. No. 89, p. 10.
7. Chiavenato I. (1999): “Human Resources Administration”. Ed. Mc. Grau Hill. Mexico, digital edition.
8. Know (1998): "Occupational and functional analysis of work", Ed. IBERFOP. OEI., Madrid. 1998. [email protected]
9. Dulewicz, V. (1989): “Performance appraisal and counseling”, in Herriot, P., Assessment and selection in organizations: methods and practices for recruitment and appraisal, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp645-649, ed. digital.
10. Durán, E. (2006): "Elaboration of the Labor Competence Matrices of the Citrus Company Héroes de Girón". Thesis work.
11. Fernández de, A. (2005): "Management by competencies: A strategic model for human resources management". First edition, Madrid, digital edition.
12. Fernández, AM (2006): “Let's think about Competences”, available at:
HTUhttp: //www.gestiopolis.com/canales7/rrhh/competencias-competentes-y-competitividad.htmUTH, (consulted: January 2007).
