Importance of Competency Framework in an Organization
A competency framework is a comprehensive structure that is an elaborate foundation for knowledge, skills, and attributes. These are very important within an organization. The competency framework also maps the expected behaviors at various levels throughout the organization. Many successful organizations view competencies as a cornerstone for talent management. They consider the competency framework as an essential step in organizational success.
Several dynamic organizations use competency frameworks to:
- Facilitate the recruitment and selection process of employees with a strong fit for the role, as well as the organization.
- Set performance expectations and evaluate employee contributions objectively.
- Expedite employees to enhance their performance and increase their level of work satisfaction.
- Map an employee’s professional development and further career planning.
- Assess ‘competency gaps’ in individuals and teams and provide effective inputs for creating modules for increased development and training resources.
Developing a competency framework can take a lot of effort in order to make it relevant to the organization that will be using it.
There are Two Critical Principles at Work when Designing a Competency Framework:
- Involve the people doing the work -These frameworks should not be entirely developed by the HR department, as they don’t always know what a particular job entails. Hence, to understand the nitty-gritty of the role fully, one needs to go to the source directly and involve the people already doing the job, as well as get an array of inputs from the managers and team leaders about what makes someone successful in that particular job provides a vast overview of the job role.
- Use relevant competencies -It is essential to ensure that the competencies included applying to all roles covered by the framework. This is critical because if irrelevant competencies are included, individuals may face difficulties in relating to the framework in general. For example, if a framework is created keeping the entire organization in mind, several departments within the organization would not be included unless every individual has to demonstrate a particular skill. Instead, a framework developed separately for each department within the organization would yield a more promising outcome.
The Underlying Objectives of the Competency Framework include:
- To decipher relevant competencies and prepare a ‘Competency Dictionary’.
- Identify individuals with high potential and optimize their efficacy and growth opportunities to increase their productivity.
- Recommend relevant developmental steps as well as training needs for the employees.
- Formulate organizational interventions on the basis of the distinct psychometric assessment results to regulate the growth process.
Psychometric testing plays a crucial role in the development of a competency framework.
The Purpose of Psychometric Testing for Competency Framework is:
- Determine a list of competencies for each level/ department/ division within the organization.
- Assess competence on the basis of performance and performance criteria established under each element of competency.
- Propose developmental strategies and training modules for bridging the gaps between acquired and the desired levels of competencies of each individual employee.
A Competency Framework enables Achieving an Organization’s Strategic Goals:
An effective framework consists of competencies that are in tangent with the objectives of the organization. It is essential to define and build the competency dictionary for an organization that consists of a list, definition, and indicators of all core, functional, and leadership competencies required by all the employees to perform according to their specific job description. When an organization constructs a well-planned competency framework in recruitment, selection, appraisal, and rewarding employees, the employees’ competency set remains aligned with the description of the job role and thus, with the organization. This further, facilitates a direction towards common goals.
A Competency Framework Improves Recruitment & Selection, Training, and Performance Management:
Once an organization develops a good competency framework, it becomes easier to select employees who possess the competency set. The competency framework becomes the guiding criterion for the entire recruitment process. This also saves the organization from investing essential resources in recruiting individuals who lack the right skills for the job. A competency framework also assesses an employee’s performance through a performance measurement process which gives more consistent and reliable results of the employee’s performance. This would also help in identifying the gaps in the competency of the employee. Thus, as a result, the training and development needs could be distinguished more effectively based on the competency gaps identified.
A Competency Framework helps Improve Productivity
As the framework aims to improve training and development in a strategically aligned construct, organizational productivity also improves as the developmental strategy accurately aligns with the employees’ competencies.
Contact us if you are interested in competency mapping training program that is tailored to the needs of your organization or team.
