Competency Mapping with Meaning of Business:

A business can be defined as an organization that provides goods and services to others who wan or need them. When many people think of business careers, they often think of jobs in large wealthy corporations. Many business related careers, however, exist in small businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational settings. Furthermore, you dont need a degree in business to obtain many of these positions. In short, every sector of our economy needs people with strong overall skills that can be applied to businesstype careers. There are a wide variety of career areas that exist in business settings. Some of these include: Accounting Administrative Management Business Management Finance Human Resources Information Systems Insurance Marketing Operations Management Public Relations Purchasing / Merchandising Retail Management Sales
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Finance Finance And And Account Account

Sales Sales && Marketing Marketing

Research & & Research Development Development

Administration and Administration and ITIT

Functions ofof Functions Business Business

Production / / Production Operations Operations

Human Human Resources Resources

Customer Service Customer Service

Human resource [HR]

HR is an acronym for Human Resources, that element within a company which deals with the human aspects / need of workers. Many companies have HR department, which may provide a broad range of services to its employees.

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Human means human being and resources means something which is useful. Humans are considered as resources because without them no work can be done. Thats why they are termed as resources.

Introduction
In the modern competitive world, we as business managers are required to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our business operations. As there are several factors that effect efficiency and effectiveness of operations, the improvement is required to be carried out in every factor. We are required to bring every factor in synchronization with other factor. TQM, TPM, BPR and other similar initiatives provide direction to improvement in business operations. To improve synchronization between different elements of business is an important approach to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the operations. The basic elements of business are: External Elements: 1. 2. Market Public infrastructure, support facilities and services

Internal Strategic Elements: 1. 2. Technology Plant & machinery

Internal Operation Elements: 1. Management system

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2. 3. 4. Materials Technical manpower Managerial manpower

Elements of Business
Internal Operational Elements

External Elements

Internal Strategic elements

Market Public infrastructure, Support facility & Service

S

Technology

Management System

Plant & Machinery

Materials Technical manpower Managerial manpower

Basic Elements of Business

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These elements should be in synch with each other for effective operations. Mismatch between any of the two elements give rise to wastages of time, money and efforts, leading to loss of effectiveness and efficiency. Manpower, technical and managerial, is the most important resource of any organization. This most important resource is also the most difficult to manage as no two person are similar. Every person has different qualities, attitude, motives, personality traits, skills, knowledge etc. which has effect on their performance at work. Organizations, in order to facilitate excellence in the performance of the people in the organization, are required to identify the right person for every job. This matching between jobs and people is an important avenue for organizational improvement efforts. HR professionals are entrusted with the responsibility for selection, training and development, administration, deployment support, performance appraisal and performance diagnostics of the employees. The most important part of these responsibilities is assessment of the individuals for their suitability for different functional tasks, and development of their potential to be effective and excel in the assigned tasks. Currently most of the organizations are using personal interview, written tests and group discussion for the purpose of assessment. However these methods have been found to have severe limitations. Over last century many different approaches have been employed for the purpose of assessment. These tests have improved assessment of candidates but

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still the reliability of the test results is not adequate to forecast effectiveness of the selected candidates for the job. Research conducted by industrial and organizational psychologists have found that effectiveness of a person to carry out a job depends not only single or isolated factors but on set of many different factors. Such set of factors that help the possessor to be effective in a particular job is termed as competency for that particular job. HR function entrusted with the responsibility to find right person for every job and development of the employed person to do the assigned job effectively, have found competency mapping and assessment as a very effective tool. The following information give a very effective way of mapping competencies required for any job and methods of assessing the competencies of the people.

Definition:
Researchers management consultants and HR professional frequently use the term competency. There are nearly definitions of competency as there are competencies themselves. There are many different definitions for the competency, a simplest one among them is: Competency for a job can be defined as a set of human attributes that enable an employee to meet and exceed expectations of his internal as well as external customers and stake holders. Intent Personal Characteristics Action Behaviour
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Outcome Job Performance

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Motives Traits Self-concept Knowledge

Definition of competency

Meaning of competency
It is the combinations of knowledge, skills, aptitude and job related attitude (behaviour). These job related behaviors would bring greater amount of difference
KNOWLEDGE

in fulfilling the responsibilities, but job related behavior only cannot bring the results. Skills and knowledge along with job related behavior makes the difference.

Cognitive domain

information

Relates to

Related to the ability to do, Physical domain

Competency

performance of task

Outstanding

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or activities

ATTRIBUTE Relate to qualitative aspects Personal characteristics & traits

Set of SKILLS

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Attitude (job related behavior) plays an important role both in personal & professional life. Hence in the organization context we need to give first importance to attitude rather than skills. Thats how competency concept has evolved and took an important place in decisions related to human resources area.

Origin of Competencies
The word competency is derived from Latin word competer which means to be suitable. The competency concept was originally developed in psychology denoting individuals ability to respond to demand placed on them by their environment.

Concept of Competency
It has been a general observation that hard work, sincerity, knowledge, intelligence alone does not make a person star performer in his profession. There are other factors that help an individual to excel in his job/profession. All of us have noticed during our school days, that the top scorer of a class is not always the
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most intelligent or the most hardworking student of the class. We have also observed that top scorers from objective type of tests are not able to hold their rank in descriptive type of tests. Similarly a good runner is not always a good hockey player, as every game or sport needs different set of physical and mental qualities to excel. Thus set of human qualities and/or attributes that make a person a star performer for a particular activity defines the competency for that particular activity.

Good managers are generally aware about different qualities a person must possess to do a job effectively, and they make use of their knowledge to select and train their subordinates. Organizational psychologists have studied and refined this understanding and converted it into a structured and formal process thus making it available for business application. In organizational and business context, competency required for a particular job depends on many factors. The factors include social culture, nature of business, business environment, organizational culture, work environment, organizational structure, duties and responsibilities, nature of processes and assigned activities, attitude and motives of colleagues, superiors & subordinates. Some of these factors many change with time and thus changing competency requirements for the same job position in the organization.

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Competency for any job position at a particular time is a unique set and as organization has many different job positions, managing many such sets is a difficult task. Hence for the purpose of HR management, the job competency is divided into elemental competencies. Competence management is becoming increasingly important in todays dynamic context since it is becoming the only competitive advantages the organization actually has which cannot be complicated easily by the competitor. Competence management will have various aspects under it like competence profiling and finding what the company is good at, building that is building new competence to match the market demands, recruitment based on competences etc.

Competency mapping is processes of identify key competencies for an organization and a job and incorporating those competencies throughout the various process (evaluation, training, recruitment) of the organization. Competency mapping play a significant role in recruiting and retaining people as it gives a more accurate analysis of the job requirements, the candidates capability of the difference between the two, and the development and training needs to bridge the gaps. Competencies enable individuals to identify and articulate what they offer regardless of the job they happen to have at the time so that the organization can see value and utilize what capability is actually available.

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Components of Competency
There are 5 types of competency characteristics which are as follows Knowledge Skills Attitude Traits Motives

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Surface Competencies Most easily developed Skill

Self Concept

Value

Traits & Motives

Attitude Knowledge

Components of Competency

Knowledge
It refers to the information a person possesses about specific areas, knowledge comprises many factors like memory, numerical ability, linguistic ability, and is, therefore, a complex competency. It can be either: Scientific Knowledge Technical Knowledge
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Core Competencies Most difficult to develop

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Job Knowledge

Skill
It represents intelligent application of knowledge, experience, and tools. This is the procedural "know how" knowledge (what one can do), either covert (e.g., deductive or inductive reasoning) or observable. E.g. - "active listening" skill in an interview. They are demonstrated abilities or proficiencies, which are developed and learned from past work and life experience. Knowledge and skills tend to be visible and relatively surface, characteristics of people. But attitude, trait and motive competencies are more hidden deeper and central to personality.

Attitudes
Attitudes are predispositions to other individuals, groups, objects, situations, events, issues, etc. For example attitude to a particular occupation or type of machine or a particular technology all influence our behavior. If a person does not have a positive attitude to computers or IT, he is not likely to use a computer. If he is not positive about the uses of ERP or SAP, he is not likely to use the ERP or SAP. Attitudes determine the kind of things we choose and whether we are likely to approach a particular situation or not or whether we are open to try out the technology or meet the customer or sell a particular product with high motivation, etc. Attitudes decide our approach or avoidance behavior. They are normally conceptualized as positive or negative. A positive attitude makes us to treat that
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object, technology, method, situation, and person or group more positively and therefore we appreciate it and promote the same.

Traits
Traits refer to the physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information. Good eye sight is a necessary trait for surgeons, as is selfcontrol, the ability to remain calm under stress.

Motives
Motives are emotions, desire, physiological or similar impulses that prompt action. The things a person consistently thinks about or desires a particular cause action. Motives drive, direct, and select behaviour toward certain actions or goals and away from others. E.g.: Achievement motivated people consistently; set challenging goals for themselves and use feedback to do better. Motives and traits may be termed as initiators that predict what people will do on the job without close supervision.

Iceberg model of components of competency

Surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop. But core motive and trait competencies are at the base of the personality and are more difficult to assess and develop. This has been depicted below in the form of an iceberg model.

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C m e n yI e o p te c c
ne t I t n

-b r Md l eg o e
Cr Pr o a : o e e s n lity Ms d fic lt tod v lo o t if u ee p

S ill k S lf -img e ae V ib is le S ill k K o le g nw de Ta r it, Mt e o iv A it d s Vlu s tt u e , a e H dn id e A itu e , v lu s tt d s a e S lf -img e ae Ta r it Mt e o iv T eI e e gMd l h c br o e S ra e uf c : Ms e s d v lo e o t a ily e e p d K o le g nw de

Knowledge

Content knowledge/information in field of work, - from education and experience Ability to do something well; most easily trained on - e.g. Technical skills to use knowledge How people perceive me; how I present myself - e.g. a loyal employee, a leader How people see/view themselves; identity; worth - e.g. An expert, a teacher Habitual / enduring characteristics - e.g. Flexibility, self-control, good listener Unconscious drives that predict behavior - e.g. Achievement, influence/power, affiliation

Skill

Social Role

Self-Concept :

Traits

Motives

The above diagram depicts the Visible and Hidden Traits of Competencies. Knowledge and Skills tend to be visible and are relatively surface characteristics of

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people. But Attitude (Self-concept), Trait and Motive competencies are more hidden, deeper and central to personality. Surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop. But core motive and trait competencies are at the base of the personality iceberg which is more difficult to assess and develop. Any process requiring competencies must not be depended upon or concentrated on the core motive and trait competencies, as they form part of ones inborn or innate traits. The competencies develop into the ultimate behaviour of the people within the organisation. The innate and learned characteristics combine together to form the competencies which turn out to be the observable behaviour and thus results in Effective Outcome (Performance on Job). The innate characteristics are basic and within a person whereas the learned characteristics are acquired or imbibed from the environment. These traits can be developed and enhanced to suit the organisational objectives. On the other hand, the innate traits are mostly inborn and hence are difficult to develop or enhance.

Procedure for acquiring of competency

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People involved in identifying the competencies

Competencies can be identified by one of more of the following category of people

Industrial Engineers

Experts

Psychologists

Who identifies competencies?

HR Specialist

Job Analysts

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In consultation with: Line Managers, Current & Past Role holders, Supervising Seniors, Reporting and Reviewing Officers, Internal Customers, Subordinates of the role holders and other role set members of the role.

Behavior Indicators
A Competency is described in terms of key behaviors that enable recognition of that competency at the work place. These behaviors are demonstrated by excellent performers on-the-job much more consistently than average or poor performers. These characteristics generally follow the 80-20 rule in that they include the key behaviors that primarily drive excellent performance. Following are some key behavior indicators in an employee: Independently researches for information and solutions to issues Ability to know what needs to be done or find out (research) and take steps to get it done Ask questions when not sure of what the problem is or to gain more information. Able to identify the underlying or main problem. Shows willingness to experiment with new things. Develops a list of decision making guidelines to help arrive at logical solutions.

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Classification of Competencies
Competencies can broadly be classified into two categories A. Basic Competencies B. Professional Competencies.
A.

Basic competencies: are inherent in all individuals. Only their degree of existence differs. For example, problem solving is a competency that exists in every individual but in varying degrees. Professional competencies: are over and above the basic competencies, and are job related. For example, handling a sales call effectively is a competency that a sales personnel would be required to have.

B.

Hence, it can be simply said that,

Basic Competencies

Professional Competencies

Competencies

Types of Basic Competencies

The basic competencies encompass the following:
1.

Intellectual Competencies: Those which determine the intellectual ability

of a person.

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2.

Motivational Competencies: Those which determine the level of motivation

Motivational Competencies:
Continuous Learning Perseverance Achievement Orientation Time Management

Intellectual Competencies:
Communication Creativity Analytical Ability Planning and Organizing

Social Competencies:
Team Work Inter-personal Skills Responsibility Customer Satisfaction

Emotional Competencies:
Initiative Optimism Self Confidence Leadership Managing Stress Managing Change

in an individual.

Basic Competencies

3. Emotional Competencies: Those which determine an individual's emotional quotient.

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4. Social Competencies: Those that determine the level of social ability in a person.

It has been proved by various scholars that all individuals have competencies. Only the combination and degree of these competencies differ from individual to individual. Hence, organizations have to identify the critical basic competencies required for individual employees to deliver their best in their organization. The importance of mapping the competencies proves critical for organizational success.

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Competency Mapping
Definition
According to Boyatzis (1982) A capacity that exists in a person that leads to behaviour that meets the job demands within parameters of organizational environment, and that, in turn brings about desired results 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. It generally examines two areas: emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ), and strengths of the individual in areas like team structure, leadership, and decision-making.

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It consists of breaking a given role or job into its constituent tasks or activities and identifying the competencies (technical, managerial, behavioral, conceptual knowledge, an attitudes, skills, etc.) needed to perform the same successfully. Competency mapping is a process through which one assesses and determines ones strengths as an individual worker and in some cases, as part of an organization. Its a combination of 3 key areas called KSA, K - Knowledge, S - Skills, A - Attitude. We do Competency Mapping for Organizations and help them develop the Competency Framework

Meaning:
It is about identifying preferred behaviours and personal skills which distinguish excellent and outstanding performance from the average. A Competency is the ingredients (skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviours) that contribute to excellence.

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This is an HR tool that basically involves rating the employee on a set of functional and behavioral parameters. It was earlier used for identifying the skill gaps identified in the parameters and comparing the ideal rating with an actual one. Now, it is more widely used for identifying training needs, performance measurement, helping the employee identify his career path and other areas in HR.

Areas of Implementation
The competency mapping can be applied to the areas depicted in the following diagram:

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A reas of

Implementation of Competency Mapping

Recruitment and selection

Competencies can be used to construct a template for use in recruitment and selection. Information on the level of a competency required for effective performance would be used to determine the competency levels that new hires should possess. Depending upon the accepted definition, competency data may take the form of behaviors, skills, abilities and other characteristics.

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Competency based selection can be a way to gain competitive advantage. Some of these advantages are listed below: A firm that knows how to assess competencies can effectively hire the best at a reasonable price, for example hire under priced but highly entrepreneurial MBAs from lesser-known business schools.

There is high turnover due to high failure rate among new hires. The organization needs to identify new hires with the potential to become future managers or leaders. A gap between the competencies needed and what the

organization can hire for indicates the training new hires will need. A lengthy training period may transpire before new hires become
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productive. New hires with the competencies to do a job become fully productive faster.

Training and Development

It involves identifying gaps and helping employees develop in the right direction. Knowing the competency profile for a position allows individuals to compare their own competencies to those required by the position or the career path. Training or development plans could focus on those competencies needing improvement. If the training programs can be aligned to the development needs emerging out of the appraisal system and to the market led training needs they can contribute better to both individual and business objectives. This can be achieved in the following manner: Firstly determine the competencies for a particular position Secondly identify the competencies of the person holding that position By mapping the competencies, identify gaps in terms of the competencies for that role and the competencies of the person doing that role to diagnose the training and development needs. Identify the most appropriate training and development methodology for each trainable competency Accordingly, the person can be trained on those competencies only. Competency based training programs clearly tell what should be
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the competency level of the person entering the program. This would drastically reduce the training cost for the organization.

Career and succession planning

It involves assessing employees readiness or potential to take on new challenges. Determining a person job fit can be based on matching the competency profile of an individual to the set of competencies required for excellence within a profession. Individuals would know the competencies required for a particular position and therefore would have an opportunity to decide if they have the potential to pursue that position or not.

Rewards and Recognition

Competency based pay is compensation for individual

characteristics for skills and competencies over and above the pay a job or organizational role itself commands. One way of improving employee performance is by recognizing and rewarding effort. Competency pay is the best way to do so.

Rewarding employees for their ability to make the best use of

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their skills and competencies in accordance with the organizations needs was the logic behind this once popular HR tool. Various elements are considered for arriving at compensation increase. Enhancement in competencies has to be one of them. There is a need for competency based compensation system To attract more competent than average employees To reward for results and competencies developed To motivate employees to maintain and enhance their skills and competencies regularly By rewarding employees who develop relevant competencies the organization can benefit by improving its own capability to face the future

Performance Management System

Performance has two dimensions Achieving business results

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Developing individual competencies These days performance appraisal is seen by managers and employees as a bureaucratic paperwork exercises that they do not take seriously because it has little impact on employee development. Performance appraisals do not address the employees questions about skill development or career advancement. Competency based performance management would: Focus on HOW of performance and not on WHAT of performance i.e. not on results but how the results are achieved Link to development of the individual and not just rewards Competency based PMS shift the emphasis of appraisal from organization results to employee behaviors and competencies demonstrated and hence help identify development gaps.

Model of Competency Mapping

Definition

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A competency mapping model is an organizing framework that lists the competencies required for effective performance in a specific job, job family (e.g., group of related jobs), organization, function, or process. Individual competencies are organized into competency models to enable discuss, people and in an organization the or profession to to understand, performance. The competencies in a model may be organized in a variety of formats. No one approach is inherently best; organizational needs will determine the optimal framework. A common approach is to identify several competencies that are essential for all employees and then identify several additional categories of competencies that apply only to specific subgroups. Some competency models are organized according to the type of competency, such as leadership, personal effectiveness, or technical capacity. Other models may employ a framework based on job level, with a basic set of competencies for a given job family and additional competencies added cumulatively for each higher job level within the job family. apply competencies workforce

Developing the model The following are the steps involved in designing and developing the
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competency mapping model: Strategize assess business needs, evaluate contextual drivers, engage stakeholders and set goals.

Initiate identify methodologies, develop project plans, review existing data, benchmark competencies, and collect competency data.

Model analyze and synthesize data, identify competencies and develop models, and validate models.

Pilot develop implementation and evaluation plans, develop and initiate competency applications, and continuously communicate activities.

Link link to all human resources system components, and phase in implementation of other competency' based applications.

Evaluate establish and evaluate measures, and continuously improve the system.

Stage 1 Data Gathering & Preparation

Stage 2 Data Analysis

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Stage 3 Validation

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Study Identified Jobs

Review list of probable Competencies Construct Competency Definitions Assign proficiency levels

Content Validation session Reinforce proficiency of critical competencies Refine competency definitions, if necessary

Identify major categories of skills Identify Probable competencies

Stages in Developing an Organization Wide Competency Model

Steps for implementing Competency Mapping

These steps have been segregated in view of implementing the model and are depicted in the following figure:
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Identify Departments and Organization Hierarchy

Obtain Job Description

Conduct Semi Structured Interview

Preparation of List of Skills

Generate List of Competencies

Indicate Proficiency Levels

Validate competencies & Proficiency levels

Prepare competency matrix

Mapping of Competency

The definition and use of competencies vary from one organization to another. You will need to adopt a competency approach or framework that works

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for you. To achieve the best results, it is important to clearly define and describe the Model in use for all involved. Following is a brief description of each of these steps:

Step 1: Identify departments for competency mapping

Decide and select the departments within the organization which we would like to include into our study. The departments should be chosen based on their criticality and importance to the organization.

Step 2: Identifying hierarchy within the organization and selection of levels

Study the organization hierarchy across each of the selected departments.

Step 3: Obtain the job descriptions

For all the levels at every department obtain each roles job description. Job descriptions are a basic human resources management tool that can help to increase individual and organizational effectiveness. For each employee, a good, up-to-date job description helps the incumbent to understand: their duties and responsibilities;

the relative importance of the duties; and organization.

How their position contributes to the mission, goals, and objectives of the

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For the organization, good job descriptions contribute to organizational effectiveness by: Ensuring that the work carried out by staff is aligned with the organizations mission; and, Helping management clearly identify the most appropriate employee for new duties and realigning work loads.

Step 4: Preparation of semi structured interview

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. However, it is important to be cautious in applying the information collected from other organizations as there are many variables such as work environment, culture, and differences in job responsibilities that may limit the relevance of the information.

Step 5: Scheduling of interviews

Obtain a list of employees from respective department heads and accordingly schedule interviews. A minimum of 5 candidates are to be interviewed at each level in each department.
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Step 6: Recording of interview details

The candidates answers and opinions have to be recorded in as much detail as possible for further reference during the project.

Step 7: Preparation of a list of Skills

As per the interview and the details that were generated from the candidate, generate a list of skills observed for the job. Thereon a list of identified competencies should be drawn for each interviewed candidate.

Step 8: Repeat for next levels and functions.

The interviews and appropriate recording of answers should be done at all remaining levels and other departments within the Torrent Research Center.

Step 9: Make the list of the competencies required for the department for each level and each function giving behavioral indicators.
For each position at each department a list of competencies observed from both the job description and the semi structured interview (list of skills) should be drawn up. Each competency should be given a name and an appropriate definition that clearly indicates its meaning and essence.
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Step 10: Validate identified competencies and proficiency levels with Head of Departments.
Confirm competency definitions with respective Head Of Departments and obtain from the required proficiency levels of each competency that is ideal for each role. Also locate any missing competencies.

Step 11: Preparation of competency matrix

Prepare a matrix defining competencies required and corresponding proficiency levels for each level across all departments.

Step 12: Mapping of competencies

Map the competencies of selected employees against the competency matrix as per their employee level and department. Here an employees actual proficiency level of a particular competency would be mapped against the target proficiency level.

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Process of Competency Mapping

Competency mapping requires a lot of planning and efforts of the HR department as its a lengthy and a time consuming process. It is essential to lay down the entire plan first, and then take it forward.

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Preparation of Questionnaire

Collection Of Responses

Analysis

Findings

Strategy of competency mapping:

This section consists of a Strategy and Guidelines Chart and narrative. It includes information on the steps to take in developing and using competency models.
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I. Identify the positions you are establishing competencies for
1.
Identify your objectives, including the positions, titles, title series, occupation, etc. to target.

2. Determine the resources available. 3. Develop a project work plan.

II. Develop the competency model

1. Decide whether to adopt or modify existing material, or develop your own. 2.
Evaluate the impact of organization direction and organization-level competencies. Determine whether competencies will be for current and/or future responsibilities.

3.

4. Obtain examples of competency models and KSAOs. 5. Identify the desired outputs and outcomes associated with the competencies. 6.
Select competencies for the model via committee, interviews, focus groups, survey, etc.

7. Determine the relative importance of the competencies. 8. Consider whether to define different levels of performance within each competency.

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III. Assess individual competencies and identify gaps

1. Determine employees' competencies. 2. Conduct the gap analysis involving the employee and supervisor.

IV. Develop strategies to address the gaps

1. Identify and prioritize the development needs. 2. Create Individual Development Plans (IDP). 3. Identify resources to address the needs. 4. Keep a centralized record of employee competencies.

V. Reassess competencies & evaluate return on investment (ROI)

1. Reassess competencies on an annual basis, possibly using an ROI assessment.

2. Collect a wide range of data on the results.

Competency mapping in the latest scenario:

A lot is going on in recent times on the issue of competency mapping. A lot of resource is spent and consultants are invited to do competency mapping.
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Competency mapping is gaining much more importance and organizations are aware of having good human resources or putting the right people on right job. Competency mapping is important and is an essential exercise. Every well managed firm should have well defined roles and list of competencies required to perform each role effectively. Such list should be used for recruitment, performance identification. In performing or carrying out work, it is essential that the required job skills first be articulated. This information not only helps to identify individuals who have the matching skills for doing the work but also the skills that will enhance the successful performance of the work. Yet often to perform well, it is not enough just to have these skills. It is also critical to complement the skills with the necessary knowledge and attitudes. For e.g. the necessary knowledge will enable an individual to apply the right skills for any work situation that will arise while having the right attitude will motivate him to give his best efforts. These skills, knowledge and attitudes required for the work are usually collectively referred as competencies. management, promotions, placements and training needs

Advantages of Competency Mapping

There are several advantages of competency mapping over traditional job analysis. The following section analyzes each of them in relation to the company,

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the managers and the individual employees. The section also gives a comparative view of the competency based approach and the job analysis approach.

For the company:

The advantages of competency mapping for the companies or organizations are as follows: 1. Establishes expectations for performance excellence 2. Improved job satisfaction and better employee retention 3. Increase in the effectiveness of training and professional development programs because of their link to success criteria.
4.

Provides a common understanding of scope and requirements of a specific role.

5. Provides a common, organization wide standard for career levels that enable employees to move across business boundaries 6. Help companies raise the bar of performance expectations

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7. Help teams and individuals align their behaviors with key organizational strategies

For Managers:
The competency mapping provides following advantages to the managers: 1. Identify performance criteria to improve the accuracy and ease of the selection process 2. Provide more objective performance standards 3. Easier communication of performance expectations 4. Provide a clear foundation for dialogue to occur between the managers and employees and performance, development and career-oriented issues

For employees:
The employees in an organization get the following advantages by competency mapping: 1. Identify the behavioral standards of performance excellence 2. Provide a more specific and objective assessment of their strengths and the tools required to enhance their skills 3. Enhances clarity on career related issues 4. Helps each understand how to achieve expectations

Traditional Job Analysis versus Competency Approach

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Traditional Job Analysis

Competency Approach

Long list of tasks and skills / knowledge required to perform each of those tasks.

A distilled set of underlying characteristics.

Data Data generation from subject matter experts; job incumbents. addition

generation to subject

from in matter

Outstanding performers outstanding performance.

experts and other job incumbents.

Effective performance.

Disadvantages of Competency Mapping

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In spite of the several advantages offered by competency mapping, there are few drawbacks to the approach. Some of these are discussed below: 1. A problem with competency mapping, especially when conducted by an

organization is that there may be no room for an individual to work in a field that would best make use of his or her competencies. 2. If the company does not respond to competency mapping by reorganizing its

employees, then it can be of little short-term benefit and may actually result in greater unhappiness on the part of individual employees.

3.

If too much emphasis is placed on 'inputs' at the expense of 'outputs', there is

a risk that it will favor employees who are good in theory but not in practice and will fail to achieve the results that make a business successful. 4. They can become out of date very quickly due to the fast pace of change in

organizations and it can therefore be expensive and time consuming to keep them up-to-date.

Findings
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With the help of the Opportunity Algorithm and the ratings provided by the employees, the Competency Model and the Competency Scorecard for each employee can be established.

Conclusion
Competency Mapping therefore, is a process of identifying key competencies for an organization and/or a job and incorporating those competencies throughout the various processes (i.e. job evaluation, training, recruitment) of the organization.

A lot is going on in recent times on the issue of competency mapping. A lot of resources are spent and consultants are being invited to do competency mapping. Increased manpower costs, need for ensuring that competent people man critical positions, and the need to be competitive and recognition of the strategic advantages of having good human resources have compelled firms to be more competency driven.

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In the report we have discussed how competent employees have become need of the hour in every organization and it is now essential that they undertake competency mapping, identify models, gaps and imbibe this as an every day practice in an organization.

Often competency mapping runs the risk of being just another new-fangled process that happens to be the flavor of the season. Such a powerful organizational tool is often resorted just because rival organizations have implemented it and not because there is genuine appreciation of its benefits. Competency mapping should not be seen as just another means to apportion and dispense rewards.

All the stakeholders must see in the exercise an opportunity for long-term growth. The key is to look at competency mapping as going beyond mere processes. And to see in it an exercise that has a significant and lasting value to project managers as well as to the organization.

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Recommendation & Suggestion

Competency-based HR is considered the best HR. In India however competency development and mapping still remains an unexplored process in most IT organizations despite the growing level of awareness. The underlying principle of competency mapping is not just about finding the right people for the right job. The issue is much more complex than it appears, and most HR departments have been struggling to formulate the right framework for their organization.

Unless managements and HR heads have holistic expectations from their HR departments, the competency movement is unlikely to succeed as it requires lot of time, dedication and money. Before an organization embarks on this journey it has to be very clear about the business goals, capability-building imperatives and core competencies of the organization. The competency mapping process needs to be strongly integrated with these aspects.

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Experts agree that the competency mapping process does not fit the one-sizefits all formula. It has to be specific to the user organization. "My suggestion is to develop models that draw from but are not defined by existing research, using behavioral interview methods so that the organization creates a model that reflects its own strategy, its own market, its own customers, and the competencies that bring success in that specific context (including national culture). Start with small, discrete groups or teams, ideally in two directions-a 'horizontal slice' across the business that takes in a multi-functional or multi-site group, more or less at the same organizational level, and a 'vertical slice' taking in one whole department or team from top to bottom. From that, the organization can learn about the process of competency modeling, and how potential alternative formats for the models may or may not fit the needs of the business It is important to focus on one or two key areas of implementation rather than the whole HRD agenda in one scoop. Competency mapping can be rather good at providing organizational pain relief when applied effectively-and so making the case for extending it. Further, it is advisable to begin with a horizontal slice of the management or senior-most team as the benefits will percolate down to the whole organization.

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Competency Mapping at AXIS BANK

Introduction of AXIS BANK
Axis Bank Ltd. is the third largest lender among private banks in India. Over the last decade, the Bank has gradually improved its assets quality, built a strong IT platform, controlled costs, and expanded its network. The Bank has posted over 30% y-o-y growth in Net Profit in 35 of the last 37 quarters and over 60% Net Profit growth in each of the last 7 quarters by focusing on corporate and improving its distribution and liabilities franchisee.

The Banks Net Profit for FY2009 grew more than 69% compared to FY 2008. Net NPAs as a proportion of net customer assets stood at a mere 0.35% at the end of March 2009. The Banks Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) are among the lowest in the industry.

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Also, the alternative banking channels of the Bank, which comprise the ATM network, internet banking, mobile banking and phone banking, have been growing. In March 2008, Axis Bank launched Platinum Credit Card, India's first EMV chip based card. In November 2008, CARE assigned AAA rating to Axis Banks Subordinated Tier II Bonds. The Bank was ranked No.1 Debt Arranger by Prime Database for the 9 months ended December08. Also, it was ranked No. 1, in the Bloomberg league table for India Domestic Bonds for the quarter ended March09.

The Bank has strengths in both retail and corporate banking and is committed to adopting the best industry practices internationally in order to achieve excellence.

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Basis of competency mapping at AXIS Bank

AXIS employees are evaluated on the AXIS capability framework. The framework defines the skills, attitudes and behaviours expected of their employees around the group. It provides a common language to describe what represents success in AXIS, both now and in the future. The capability framework is structured around six capability clusters. Given here the six factors and what they mean: 1

Driving Business Vision & Brand

Is innovative & forward looking. Establishes team and personal objectives that are aligned with AXIS business goals. Supports the differentiation Understand & interprets business information and of AXIS & its brand from competitors.

makes high quality & timely decisions within a commercial context. 2

Commercial judgment

Understands & interprets business information & makes high quality & timely decisions within a commercial context. Leads, inspires & develops others to deliver business performance. Role model AXISs value & instills trust in others. Committed to the delivery of outstanding customer service. Wins new & lasting customer relationship Works collaboratively & communicates persuasively, emphasizing teamwork, Diversity, learning & knowledge sharing. Demonstrates a high degree of commitment to AXIS and drives self to achieve business & personal goals, Overcoming obstacles as they 67 arise

Leading Performance

Customer Drive Working with others Drives, commitment & Personal development

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Factors influence Competency Mapping in AXIS Bank

The different factors that impede a proper competency mapping, they are as follows

1. Lack of time:
Managers often have many responsibilities and numerous

subordinates. Hence they often lack the time to gather sufficient information and conduct a proper competency mapping.

Lack of time Lack of reward Mapping Politics Factors Influencing Lack of training Competency Mapping Avoid negative reactions Poor reflection manager on the

2. Lack of reward:

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All though organizations emphasize the importance of competency mapping, there are no rewards to the employees for doing a job well. E.g. : extra incentives. Hence, there is no motivation for the employees to take their work seriously.

3. Mapping Politics:
In bank where all raters (who map/grade the employees) are inflating the ratings of their subordinates, a god rater has to play a politics in order to protect and enhance the career prospects of their employees

4. Lack of training:
Managers often lack the required training and experience to conduct a proper and fair mapping. Due to lack of training they often conduct the mapping in an unscientific manner and commits different types of errors.

5. Avoid negative reactions:

Poor grade result in defensive and hostile reactions from the subordinates that create a stressful situation for the manager to grade. In order to avoid such problem, managers tend to give uniformly high ratings to all the employees.

6. Poor reflection on the manager:

The grades of the employees are often considered as a reflection of the managers ability to develop his junior. Thus while high grade make the managers look good and in other way poor rating of the employees show the manager in poor light.
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Hence, in order to show that they are doing a good job, managers are tempted to give high ratings to their employees.

Functions of Competency mapping

Adequate feedback

Improving or changing behaviour

Provide data

Competency mapping has three basic functions:

1.

Competency mapping seeks to provide adequate feedback to each individual on his or her performance.

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2.

It serves as a basis for improving or changing behaviour towards more effective working habits.

3.

Competency mapping aims to provide data to managers with which they may judge future job assignments and compensation.

Pros and Cons of competency mapping

Pros of competency mapping

There are several advantages of competency mapping in AXIS Bank which is describe as follows

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1.

Personal Training:

Competency mapping provides information about the employees strength and weaknesses. Once the weaknesses in knowledge, skills and abilities are identified and it can be corrected through additional training.

However, mapping should be only on job-related characteristics and training should focus on that area of poor performance that is attributed to the individual and not due to other factors in the work environment.

Thus, Competency mapping serves as a diagnostics kit for identifying employees strength and weaknesses.

2. Wage and salary Administration:

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Competency mapping are frequently used to determine the salary raise to be given to the employees. Increases in pay are often linked to the employees job performance.

It is suggested that personal development and Salary Administration should not be in the same way as employees becomes defensive.

3. Placement:
Information obtained through competency mapping is useful in making placement decisions.

Trainee employees are appraised by exposing them to various tasks and on the basis of their performance the trainee are placed in the field that they performed the best.

Thus, competency mapping is useful in making optimal use of employee abilities and talents.
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4.

Promotions:
Competency mapping helps in identifying the better-performing employees.

It helps us to compare the performance of the employees. Thus Competency mapping is useful in making promotional decisions.

5. Discharge :
Competency mapping provides evidence of inadequate job performance by the employees. This can be used to terminate or dismiss employees. The organization should be able to demonstrate that the decision to terminate the employees was a fair and used as the last report

6. Job Satisfaction:
A fair competency mapping maintains the employees initiative and morale leading to greater job satisfaction.

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7. Feedback:

Competency mapping provides information of an employees weaknesses or deficiencies in knowledge, skills and abilities that once identified can be corrected through additional training.

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It can also be used to determine the usefulness of a trainee program by determining whether an employees job performance improved after the training period.

Cons of Competency mapping

Mappings are done by Human beings for other human beings. Therefore mistakes and distortions in judgments are not unusual. However, if we understand the nature of distortions, we can possibly control and reduce them.

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Followings are the different types of errors or we can say the difficulties that may affect the effective competency mapping.
1.

Leniency Error:

Leniency means the tendency on the part of the rater to give a higher rating than a really deserved by the employee. This type of error is called as positive error.

However sometimes the rater is unduly strict in evaluating the employees. This results in the concentration of rating at the lower ends. This type of error is called as negative leniency error

Thus, both positive and negative leniency is the drawback.

2.

Central tendency:

Some raters avoid assigning extreme scores in either direction. Thats, they tend to play safe and they avoid giving either very high or low ratings. The tendency is to

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give average ratings to all the employees which will leads to let down the employees performance.

The ratings tend to be clustered along the middle of the scale, separated by no more than 1 or 2 points. The rating are so closed that it is difficult to distinguish between poor and good workers. Such ratings do not provide any useful information either to the organization.

3. Halo Effect:
The halo effect involves the tendency to judge all aspects of a persons behaviour or character on the basis of a single attribute. If we find a person to be physically attractive, we may tend to think of that person as friendly, likable and easy to get along with, generalizing from one attribute to other personality characteristics and other abilities. There is also a negative halo effect for example, if we find a person to be stubborn, we may also assume that he or she in unpleasant and incapable of getting along well with other people.

4. Similar-to-me:
There is a tendency for raters to give more positive ratings to individuals who are more like themselves.

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For example, males rate males higher, a south Indian rate another south Indian higher and so on.

5. Logical Error:
It is observed the manager perceives two traits or behaviour to be logically related to each other. Thus, if the manager thinks that if the employee is good on one trait then he will be good on the other trait too or he thinks that if the employees are bad on the other trait then he will be bad on the other trait too.

6. Constant Error:
It is observed that some raters give employees consistently higher than other raters. This is because of differences in standards of ratings. Some raters are more demanding and other raters are less demanding. The constant rating means that the top rating given by one manager may not be equivalent to the top rating given by another manager.

7. Raters stereotypes or bias:

A factor that can adversely affect personnel rating is raters stereotypes. The raters bias toward persons of various groups, race, and religion could influence competency mapping. Bias could be also on the basis of sex, age etc
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Conclusion:
At every stage of economic and business development, different skills are abilities are necessary to survive and thrive. At one time, we had to be focused and determined to do our job well. We had to make sure that everybody around us thought and behaved the same way. These quality are still essential, but in addition, there is another skill must have i.e., Competency mapping.

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Today, the most important skill we can develop is the ability to map the competency of the employees in best possible manner. Our abilities to do this have a greater impact on companys success. It has been said that all of life is the study of attention. Where our attention goes, our life goes as well. Then we begin to pay greater attention to competency mapping, in return we will get better and better at it. We will become more skillful in our ability to interview. We will become more competent in our ability to manage and motivate and also become more valuable to our self and our organization. As we become better and better at finding great people and turning them into top teams, we will realize our full potential as a manager. There will be no limit to how far we can go or how high we can rise. We will one of the outstanding executives of the twenty-first century.

Recommendation & suggestion

The HR department of company must be best at their work and company should train them in best possible way. They may give the employees extra incentives which will leads to work hard. Also plan for training & development programme.
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Different manager has different parameter of voting. Company spent a lot of resources and money on competency mapping but the result of which may not true and fair. So, manager should give their best while mapping the employees skills, performance etc.

Managers should minimize their error while mapping. If manager can not take competency mapping in proper manner then it is effect the both i.e., the company and the employees rating. Manager should map the employees in best possible way. They should similar to all the employees and rating should be based on the skill, knowledge, performance and not on their beauty or religion, race etc. While mapping the competency, manager should thorough with the process of competency and must know the employees after mapping them as they benefit to the company. If any employees is then company improve them in a better way and give them proper training and if the employees are very good in particular field then manager or company train the them in such manner that employees may become expert in that field. Bibliography:

The Handbook of Competency Mapping by seema sanghi

Competency Mapping, Assessment & Development. 360 Degree Feedback, Competency Mapping And Assessment Centres Management a competency-based approach [Edition-9 Hellrigel/ Jackson/ slourm]
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Personnel & Human Resource Management A.H. Sharma [5th revised edition 2005] Himalaya publishing house Strategic HR technologies [keys to managing people] Ashok chanda

Articles

Article -The Art and Science of Competency Mapping- by T.V. Rao, Sudipta, Competency based HR, Express Computer, 10 Jan 2005

Competency Mapping: A pre- requisite for HR Excellence by Dr. Lovy Sarikal

Web Sources:

www.tvrls.com www.citehr.com
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www.hinduonnet.com www.indianmba.com

http://www.citehr.com http://google.com http://www.exampleessays.com

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