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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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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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
Elements of Business
Internal Operational Elements
External Elements
Technology
Management System
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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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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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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
Competency
performance of task
Outstanding
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or activities
Set of SKILLS
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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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 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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Value
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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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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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.
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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
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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Industrial Engineers
Experts
Psychologists
HR Specialist
Job Analysts
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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.
Basic Competencies
Professional Competencies
Competencies
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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
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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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
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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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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.
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Developing the model The following are the steps involved in designing and developing the
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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 3 Validation
Review list of probable Competencies Construct Competency Definitions Assign proficiency levels
Content Validation session Reinforce proficiency of critical competencies Refine competency definitions, if necessary
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 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;
How their position contributes to the mission, goals, and objectives of the
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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.
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Preparation of Questionnaire
Collection Of Responses
Analysis
Findings
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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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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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
Competency Approach
Long list of tasks and skills / knowledge required to perform each of those tasks.
Data Data generation from subject matter experts; job incumbents. addition
generation to subject
from in matter
Effective performance.
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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.
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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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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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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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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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.
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
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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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.
Hence, in order to show that they are doing a good job, managers are tempted to give high ratings to their employees.
Adequate feedback
Provide data
Competency mapping seeks to provide adequate feedback to each individual on his or her performance.
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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.
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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.
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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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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
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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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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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.
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.
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:
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
Web Sources:
www.tvrls.com www.citehr.com
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www.hinduonnet.com www.indianmba.com
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