COMPETENCY MAPPING
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER III
COMPETENCY MAPPING
XAVIER INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SERVICE
RANCHI
Submitted by:
Submitted to:
Group III
Personnel Management-II
2010-2012
Prof. Sajeet Lakra
COMPETENCY MAPPING
GROUP CONSTITUTION
Members
Vishal Vats……………..………..
Ankita Kevin Natal…..………….
Ruhama………………………….
Abhinav Mishra…….…………..
Hirni Pathak…….…..………….
Ritesh……………………………
Tanvi…………….………………
i
Roll No.
03
12
25
35
49
64
S-4
COMPETENCY MAPPING
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Success of a project depends on the endeavor put behind it.
Encouragement and patronization perfect an endeavor.
We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to our
faculty Prof. Sajeet Lakra, for providing us with the opportunity of
preparing the study material for the third chapter “Competency
Mapping” of the HRD curriculum and give presentation in the class.
The group’s involvement and team work helped us understand the
chapter in a lucid manner. The group’s cohesiveness and team work
helped us to make this task a success. We thank all the team
members and also all our colleagues for their unconditional support.
Thank You
Group III
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
CONTENTS
S.No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
iii
Topics
Competency Mapping - Evolution
Definition, Objectives & Needs
Steps in Competency Mapping
Effect On Other HRD Systems
Competency Mapping At Different Levels
Assessment and Feedback Based on
Competency Mapping
Tools for Developing Competencies
Case Analysis
Bibliography
Pg. No.
1
3
7
9
14
19
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competency Mapping - Evolution
In the beginning of the 20th century, work brought complex skills to
the job. Typical Business process required specific competencies for
the task at hand. These competencies could be acquired only
through years of on-the-job learning and practice.
Then came the era of scientific management where Frederic Taylor’s
and Henry Ford’s use of assembly line shifted competencies from
workers to time and motion study. Complexity was minimized and
efficiency was maximized. Process expertise left little scope for
training.
World War II (mid century) enforced management centric views
where officers gave orders to subordinates who obeyed without
questions. Thus people in command were assumed to have
information, perspective and ability to make decisions. After the war
they still lived under a command and control hierarchy.
In the post war decade the demand was unparalleled and
competition was little. The turnaround came when in the early
1960’s when McClelland wrote a landmark article in the American
Psychologist asserting that IQ and personality tests that were then
in common use were predictors of competency. He felt that
companies should hire people based upon competencies rather test
scores.
In the year 1973 McClelland developed new methods to predict
human performance for US Information Agency. Objective was to
eliminate the potential biases of traditional intelligence and aptitude
testing. This was the beginning of the field of competence
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
measurement. McClelland began by asking the USIA’s personnel
director and some top managers for the name of their most
outstanding employees. He also asked for the names of people
whose jobs were secure but who were in no way outstanding.
McClelland and his associates asked the 2 groups to describe 3
incidents where they felt that they have performed outstandingly
and where they have messed up.
Many skills that the panel of experts had identified as crucial to job
performance turned out to be irrelevant to the everyday duties of
the people interviewed by McClelland
The turning point for competency movement – Article published in
American Psychologist in 1973 by McClelland. Article presented
data supporting that traditional achievement and intelligence score
may not be able to predict job success. Need of the hour was to
profile the exact competencies required to perform the given job
effectively. Equally noteworthy is the pioneering work by Douglas
Brey and his associates at AT&T which gave evidence that the
competencies can be assessed through assessment centers and on
the job success can be predicted to certain extent.
Behaviour Event Interviewing (BEI) was developed by McBer to
map the competencies. Increased recognition of the limitations of
performance appraisal in predicting future performance shifted
focus to potential appraisal and assessment centers in seventies.
Assessment centers were an integral part of the HRD plan given to
L&T in 1975.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Definition, Objectives & Needs
COMPETENCY
Any underlying characteristic required for performing a given task,
activity or role successfully can be considered as competency.
COMPETENCY - DEFINITION
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (2002)
“A competency is a set of skills, related knowledge and attributes
that allow an individual to successfully perform a task or an activity
within a specific function or job.”
RANKIN (2002)
“Competencies are definition of skills and behaviors that
organizations expect their staff to practice in work.”
MANSFIELD (1997)
“Underlying characteristics of a person that results in effective a
superior performance.”
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competency may take the following forms:
 Knowledge
 Attitude
 Skill
Other characteristics of an individual including
 Motives
 Values
 Traits
 Self Concept
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
COMPETENCY MAPPING
It is a process of identification of the competencies required to
perform successfully a given job or role or a set of tasks at a given
point of time. It consists of breaking a given role or job into its
constituent tasks or activities and identifying the competencies
(technical, managerial, behavioral, conceptual knowledge and
attitude and skills, etc) needed to perform the same successfully.
 Competency Map. A competency map is a list of an individual’s
competencies that represent the factors most critical to
success in given jobs, departments, organizations, or industries
that are part of the individual’s current career plan.
 Competency Mapping. Competency mapping is a process an
individual uses to identify and describe competencies that are
the most critical to success in a work situation or work role
 Competency profiling It is the process of identifying the
knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and judgment required
for effective performance in a particular occupation or
profession. Competency profiling is business/company
specific.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
OBJECTIVES OF COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competency mapping serves a number of purposes. It is done for the
following functions:
 Gap Analysis
 Role Clarity
 Succession Planning
 Growth Plans
 Restructuring
 Inventory of competencies for future planning
NEED FOR COMPETENCY MAPPING
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Steps in Competency Mapping
The following steps may be followed in competency Mapping:
1) Decide the roles for which the competencies need to be mapped.
2) Identify the location of the roles in the organizational structure.
This needs the clarity of organizational structure, defining the role
relationships (reporting authority, subordinates, peers etc.).
3) Identify the objectives of the function or the department or the
unit
or
section
where
the
role
is
located.
4) Identify the objectives of the role. Why does the role exist? What
are the main purposes
of the role
etc. details.
5) Collect the Key Performance Areas (or KRAs, Tasks, etc.) of the
role holder for the last two to three years from the performance
appraisal records. Alternately, collect the job descriptions of any of
the role to make a list of all tasks and activities to be performed by
that
role
holder.
6) Interview the role holder to list the Tasks and activities expected
to be performed by the Individual. Group them into a set of tasks.
The tasks list may be as many as 15 to 20 for some roles and as
Competency mapping few as five to six for other roles. There is no
rigid rule about the number of tasks. It depends on how complex the
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
role is. It is useful to start with as many tasks as possible.
7) Interview the role holder to list the actual knowledge, attitude,
skills, and other competencies required for performing the task
effectively. The role holder should be asked questions like: “If you
are to recruit someone to perform this task what qualities or
competencies would you look for in him/her? What competencies
do you think are required to perform this well?
8) Repeat the process with the entire role set members.
9) Consolidate the list of competencies from all the role holders’ by
each task.
10) Edit and finalize. Present it to the supervisors of the role holder
and the role holder for approval and finalization.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Effects Of Competency Mapping On Other
HRD Systems
Competency mapping is the process of identification of the
competencies required to perform successfully a given job or role or
a set of tasks at a given point of time. Competencies include the
collection of success factors necessary for achieving important
results in a specific job or work role in a particular organization.
Success factors are combinations of knowledge, skills, and attributes
that are described in terms of specific behaviors, and are
demonstrated by superior performers in those jobs or work roles.
Attributes include: personal characteristics, traits, motives, values
or ways of thinking that impact an individual's behavior.
Competency must lead to effective performance.
There are certain advantages of incorporating competency mapping
in various HRD systems which are given below:1. Recruitment & Selection: Competency-based recruitment is a
process of recruitment based on the ability of candidates to produce
anecdotes about their professional experience which can be used as
evidence that the candidate has a given competency. Candidates
demonstrate competencies on the application form, and then in the
interview, which in this case is known as a competency-based
interview.
The process is intended to be fairer than other recruitment
processes by clearly laying down the required competencies and
then testing them in such a way that the the recruiter has little
discretion to favour one candidate over another; the process
assumes high recruiter discretion is undesirable. As a result of its
perceived fairness, the process is popular in public services.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competency-based recruitment is highly focused on the candidates'
story-telling abilities as in indication of competency, and disfavors
other indications of a candidate's skills and potential, such as
references.
A competency based approach to recruitment and selection of staff
can help an organization, to make it an effective and successful
investment of time, money and expertise. Such an approach will help
ensure that:
i.
The organization is clear regarding the competencies and skill
sets required by the job;
ii.
Selection processes encourage a good fit between individuals
and their jobs, managers and staff have the required skills and
competencies;
iii.
Individual skills and abilities are matched to the requirements
of the job; and
iv.
Evaluation of work demands and staffing are accurate
2. Performance Management System: Performance management
is about achieving results in a manner that is consistent with
organizational expectations. Integrating competencies within the
performance management process supports the provision of
feedback to employees not only on “what” they have accomplished
(i.e., performance goals), but also “how” the work was performed,
using competencies for providing feedback.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Integrating competency with PMS assist:i.
Employees in understanding performance expectations and
enhancing competencies.
ii.
To integrate capabilities with existing or new processes.
iii.
To provide a mechanism for providing positive feedback about
an employee’s training achievements and on-the-job
performance
iv.
To provide job standards for performance appraisal
v.
To provide clear direction for learning new job skills
3. Training: Competency Based Training focuses on what the
participant is expected to be able to do in the workplace as opposed
to just having theoretical knowledge. An important characteristic of
Competency Based Training is that it is focused not only on the
actual jobs that are required in the workplace, but also the ability to
transfer and apply skills, knowledge and attitudes to new situations
and environments.
• The emphasis in competency based
on “performing” rather than just “knowing”.
training
is
• Competence-based program needs to focus on building the
knowledge and skills needed in a particular job. Competencebased programs are also used to increase employees' current
job performance, prepare them for changing job requirements
or introduce new tools or technology in the work place.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
• By having a well designed competence-based training and
development program the organization will be able to ensure it
has the right people, with the right skills, at the right time, to
accomplish their business objectives.
The advantages of competency based training (CBT) are:i.
Participants will achieve competencies required in the
performance of their jobs.
ii.
Participants build confidence as they succeed in mastering
specific competencies.
iii.
Participants receive a transcript or list of the competencies
they have achieved.
4. Development: For organizations to succeed in today’s
competitive setting, employees at all levels need to develop and
demonstrate a set of behavior showcasing his or her capabilities,
characteristics, knowledge, talent as well as personal qualities for
effective performance at work.
All businesses are based on some key competencies. If any business
neglects employee competency and its development, all growth and
productivity of an employee, company and profits will be affected.
The main reason for an organization to create a competency-based
system that focuses on having the right people with right skills at
the right time is that it helps in accomplishing business targets.
Competencies are the need of the hour and designing appropriate
competency development models is a necessity.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Advantages of competency based development:i.
Improvement in productivity, performance and profitability
ii.
Identify employee’s capabilities for an organization’s future
needs
iii.
Analyzing capability gaps
5. Compensation: Competency-based pay fits this new
environment. It provides an ongoing incentive to employees to
enhance their ability to perform their jobs. Employees are rewarded
with salary increases when they add new knowledge or skills or
when they demonstrate higher level competence on existing
capabilities.
Advantages of competency based compensation:i.
Provides a basis of deciding on the compensation.
ii.
Encourages employees to develop their competencies further.
iii.
Lead to a focus on totality of job rather than just what is
achieved.
iv.
This system fits every job.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competency Mapping at Different Levels
The Lancaster Model of Managerial Competencies is a universal
management competency framework, developed by Burgoyne and
Stuart (1976) and first published in Personnel Review. The 11
qualities separated into three groups, as shown in figure below,
represent three different levels. The first level forms the foundation
level, and comprises of two kinds of basic knowledge and
information a manager may need to use in decision making and
action taking.
The Lancaster (Burgoyne) Model of Managerial Competencies
Source: Burgoyne and Stuart (1976)
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Level One
Competence One: Command of Basic Facts
This competency states that a successful manager should
understand the business and have a sound knowledge of basic facts
surrounding the business such as short- and long-term goals,
product knowledge, and the roles and relationships between various
departments.
Competence Two: Relevant Professional Knowledge
This includes knowledge of a specification such as legislation,
management techniques, sources of finance or knowledge of basic
background management principles including planning, organizing
and controlling. The second category comprises specific skills and
attributes that directly affect behaviour and performance.
Level Two
Competence One: Continuing Sensitivity to Events
This means the manager is aware of what is going on and is
perceptive and open to information: hard information such as
figures and facts and soft information such as feelings of other
people. As a result, a successful manager is able to respond in a
suitable manner to situations as they arise.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competence Two: Analytical, Problem-solving and Decision-making
Skills
A manager must make many decisions—sometimes these can be
made using logical, optimizing techniques. At other times it means
using the ability to weigh the pros and cons in what is a very
uncertain or ambiguous situation, calling for a high level of
judgement or even intuition. Consequently, the manager must
develop judgement-making skills.
Competence Three: Social Skills and Abilities
Burgoyne and Stuart (1976) describe interpersonal skills as ‘one of
the key features of the manager’s job’. A successful manager needs
to develop a range of skills such as communicating, delegating,
negotiating, resolving conflict, persuading, using and responding to
authority and power, all of which are essential to interpersonal
activities.
Competence Four: Emotional Resilience
This is the ability to deal with the emotional stress and strain that
arises as a consequence of working in situations of authority,
leadership, power, targets and deadlines. Burgoyne and Stuart
(1976) talk about being resilient in coping with this stress. They
explain:
‘Resilient means, that when feeling stressed, we don’t get thick
skinned
and insensitive but manage to cope by maintaining self-control and
by “giving” to some extent.’
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competence Five: Proactivity or Inclination to Respond Purposefully to
Events
At times managers must respond to the needs of the instant
situation, but whilst making such a response, the successful
manager considers the longer-term aims and goals and the impact of
the
immediate decision. This competence also includes abilities such as
dedication and commitment, having a sense of mission and taking
responsibility. The third category consists of qualities that allow a
manager to develop and deploy the skills and resources outlined in
the second category. The authors have called this third category
‘meta-qualities’ because ‘they allow the manager to develop the
situation-specific skills needed in particular circumstances’
(Burgoyne and Stuart 1976).
Level Three
Competence One: Creativity
This is the ability to come up with unique ideas or solutions, and to
have the insight to take up useful ideas—either your own ideas or
ideas from another source.
Competence Two: Mental Agility
This competence is concerned with being able to grasp problems
quickly, to think about several things at once, to understand the
whole situation quickly and to ‘think on one’s feet’. ‘Given the hectic
nature of managerial work these are particularly necessary qualities
for success,’ explain Burgoyne and Stuart (1976).
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Competence Three: Balanced Learning Habits and Skills
Successful managers according to Burgoyne et al. exhibit
independence as learners rather than depending on an authority
figure capable of abstract thinking. Such managers have the ability
to use a range of learning processes including use of inputs like
teaching, discovery from one’s personal experiences and reflection,
a process of analysing and reorganizing pre-existing experiences.
Competence Five: Self-knowledge
The final competence concerns the extent to which managers are
aware of their own beliefs, goals, values, feelings, behaviour and the
part they play in influencing their actions. ‘The successfulmanager
therefore needs skills of introspection,’ explain Burgoyne and Stuart
(1976).
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Assessment & Feedback
Based On Competency Mapping
A competency model can address many of the issues related to
performance appraisal. This ensures agreement on performance
criteria, what is accomplished and what is not accomplished,
collecting relevant and sufficient data. It also ensures opportunity to
supervisors to observe behaviour, specificity and concreteness in
discussions about performance deficiencies and handling of large
amounts of data in a structured manner.
 Provides a shared understanding of what will be monitored and
measured—A competency model integrated with performance
appraisal ensures a balance between what gets done and how it
gets done. The concern is not only with results but with the
behaviour and manner with which those results are attained. It
provides a shared picture of what is considered relevant and
important to effective performance. Models aligned with the
business objectives specifically outline the performance criteria
that will be used to measure effectiveness and success in that
position.
 Focuses and facilitates the performance appraisal discussion—
Organizations face the challenge of discussing a person’s
behaviour in a manner that is focused and useful and does not
put the individual on the defensive. The skills, knowledge and
characteristics that are important to success are clearly
described. It provides a roadmap of where to begin the
discussion and what areas to focus on.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
 Provides focus for gaining information about behaviour—An
appraisal process includes a simple, accurate method for a boss
to assess job performance. But what happens when the boss is
new or he/she controls a number of different locations? By
identifying the specific behaviours crucial for effective
performance, competency models offer bosses a starting point.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
360-Degree Feedback Process
The 360-degree Feedback Process is being increasingly used in
organizations for development, appraisal and compensation
purposes. It involves a collection of perceptions about an
individual’s behaviour and its impact on bosses, colleagues,
subordinates as well as internal and external customers.
Competency Mapping help to ensure that such feedback relates
specifically to the competencies crucial to individual or
organizational success.
The 360-degree feedback aligned with the competency model is an
important component for promotion. This includes the competency
description of behaviours and the ability required for the current
job, along with the ratings indicating the current level of ability.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
Tools For Developing Competencies
 Literature Review. A preliminary approach for defining job
content and identifying required competencies is to conduct a
review of the literature to learn about previous studies of the
job or similar jobs.
 Focus Groups. In focus groups, a facilitator works with a small
group of job incumbents, their managers, supervisees, clients,
or others to define the job content or to identify the
competencies they believe are essential for performance.
 Structured Interviews. In structured interviews, carefully
planned questions are asked individually of job incumbents,
their managers, or others familiar with the job. Benchmarking
interviews with other organizations are especially useful in
achieving a broader view of the job or determining which
competencies are more universally deemed necessary for a
particular job.
 Behavioral Event Interviews. In behavioral event interviews
(BEI), top performers are interviewed individually about what
they did, thought, said, and felt in challenging or difficult
situations. The competencies that were instrumental in their
success are extrapolated from their stories. Often, average and
low performers are also interviewed to provide a comparison.

Surveys. In surveys, job incumbents, their supervisors, and
perhaps senior managers complete a questionnaire
administered either in print or electronically. The survey
content is based on previous data collection.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
 Observations. In this data collection method, the research team
visits high-performing incumbents and observes them at work.
The more complex the job and the greater the variety in job
tasks, the more time is required for an observation.
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Case Analysis
Once a buyer has decided what to look for in a car, he or she must
decide how to assess specific cars to identify the one best suited to
his or her needs. There is a number of assessments the car buyer
can make to help with the selection decision:
 Look at its general appearance
 Use a checklist of essential characteristics
 Ask how good the owner thinks the car is
 Question previous owners on the history of the car
 Look at the handbook and service history
 Ask for specific examples of the car’s performance
 Take it for a test-drive
 Make predictions based on technical characteristics of the car.
The car buyer may undertake more than one of the above
assessments before making a decision on whether to purchase the
car or not. Some assessments will not provide the best measure of a
car’s suitability. For example, buying a car because it looks OK and
the owner says it is a great car to drive is at best going to leave the
car buyer unprepared for what is wrong with the car, and at worst
leave him or her having made a very expensive mistake.
Short of taking a car away for a few months to try it out, a test-drive
is probably the most accurate means of assessing of its suitability. It
enables the car to be driven in realistic situations while undertaking
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
tasks that represent the everyday operations the car will be
required to perform. For example, if the car is to be used for long
motorway journeys with a full load as well as for trips around town,
then these conditions should be part of the test-drive.
There are some assessments that a buyer may wish to make before
he or she undertakes a test-drive. These assessments will prevent
the buyer from viewing a car which does not meet certain basic
requirements. For example, he or she may wish to check that the car
has a certain number of seats because, however suitable the car is in
other ways, without the right minimum number of seats there
would be no point in viewing it.
There are also some assessments the car buyer may wish to make
after taking it for a test-drive. For example, the car buyer may wish
to check the car’s history by looking at the service book.
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COMPETENCY MAPPING
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 The Handbook of Competency Mapping, Understanding,
Designing & Implementing competency models in
Organization, Seema Sanghi, 2004,pg.20-28, Response Books.
 http://www.iqpc.com/uploadedFiles/Training/Asia_Training/
The_Gateway/competency.pdf
[Accessed on 25th February, 2012]
 www.citehr.com
 The Competencies Handbook, 2005, Steve Whiddett & Sarah
Hollyforde, Jaico Publishing House
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