How to create competency based employee development?

The organisation should be aware of their employees very well.They should be able to recognize their traits/behaviour and help the employees to work on their core competencies. By doing so companies will not only benefit the employees but also benefit themselves by high employee returns.

I once worked at a company whose performance management system incorporated role definitions.  These in turn encompassed job purpose, required education and qualifications, objectives, relationships and behavioural competencies.  It was an excellent system for drawing out the required behaviours as well as the technical know-how the company required in its staff and gave the individual excellent back-up when discussing his/her training and development plan.

Employees cannot be developed unless there exists a corporate culture of creativity. The basic requirement for creativity is an open mind. If a corporate culture promotes openness , transparency , the chances are bright that creativity can flourish.

Competence being a superset of skills ( involving knowledge , skills and attitudes / behaviour ) , an organization which values all of the above , can generate competent people. Knowledge should be valued , skills should be respected , and right behaviour promoted. Competence should be recognised and rewarded.

The reason to achieve competence should come from within the employee , since no one can be forced to become competent. Only a facilitating environment can be given. After that , those employees who can rise to competence , grow , while those who cannot , leave.

The employee and the employer must have well understanding each other. The employer would mold the employee according to their requirement by providing orientation or training. Employee is a human resource and he/she has to be motivated in such a way so that s/he can devote her/himself in wholehearted manner. Simultaneously, his/her comfort has to be taken into consideration by the employer.

Successful organizations today are moving from a "personnel" focus toward a proactive style of HR management in order to add value to the company.

To accomplish this strategic shift, managers, consultants and line personnel need to start focusing on the links between the various functions within the company. In addition, when line personnel are involved with the identification and verification of skill requirements they become partners in the competency development process. Now that we have attempted to state the meaning of competency we take on our next important phrase “employee development” is the pursuit of any activity that leads to continuous learning, personal growth, and which contributes to the achievement of both an individual’s and their employer’s or organization’s objective(s) on the longer term. The first step in the process is for HR personnel to partner with line supervisors so that the actual job requirements can be identified (which frequently differ from the official job descriptions). This first step cannot be rushed because all the following efforts are based on measuring what your workforce is capable of and then designing and implementing activities to close the gap of what they need to do!

Real competence-based training is designed to teach employees the skills they will use to solve day-to-day job requirements. The best way to accomplish this is to use problem-solving and demonstration-performance methods when providing on-the-job training

Management should strictly adhere to job requirements while selecting a candidate for the job. Academic qualification, work experience and personal qualities should exactly conform to his role in the company.  In case freshers are hired as juniors or trainees, then other qualities,  except work experinece,  should be strictly evaluated before making selection.