SPE 109036

Competence-Based Management for Recruitment, Deployment, and Commitment

Douglas McAllister, Facilitators International

Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at Offshore Europe 2007 held in Aberdeen,
Scotland, U.K., 47 September 2007.
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It is the objective of this paper to describe a clear and

concise definition of competency and methods for
measurement. We will describe competency-based
management, how such systems can be implemented
and how by adapting existing recruitment, assurance or
assessment processes in this way can benefit any
business.
How do we define competence?
Competence is quite simply:

Introduction
Competence is a much-used expression in the present
business environment but surprisingly, it is a concept
which is commonly misunderstood. In support of
recruitment, competency based systems have been
around for many years. Many businesses have used
competency assurance systems, often driven by quality
management systems, for some time. Internal staff
assessment processes using competencies as their
measurement system are also quite commonplace
Part of the difficulty many people have with competence
assessment is that it tends to be something done to
them. Individuals rarely see any personal advantage to
having their competency assessed or any advantage to
contributing to the assessment of others. It is often
viewed as a necessary evil that the business needs,
perhaps to sell into certain markets or to keep up with
the competition. It can be seen as a business overhead,
a non-value adding activity and worst of all perhaps, a
paper chase.

Something that one can do, and will do,

repeatably, to a standard
In development of competency based ways of working it
is helpful to describe two different states which are the
converse of competence. These are not yet competent
and incompetent.
Incompetence we will define as:
Having had the training and opportunity to
practice the individual still cannot do the
required task, repeatably or to the required
standard.
Not yet competent we will define as:
The individual has not yet had the training,
opportunity to practice or experience which
equips them to demonstrate competency.

When competence based systems are viewed in this

way, organizations are simply not getting the value that
such an approach can yield. Viewed as a paper chase,
competence assurance is an overhead, a cost and,
other than ticking the box in your quality management
system, does little for the efficiency of you business.

Most of the time in the workplace we will be categorizing

performance as either competent or not yet
competent. It can be very unhelpful and actually not
accurate to think of incompetent as something which is
frequently encountered.

However, implemented as an underlying core business

process, organizations can derive massive benefits from
the use of competency-based systems which extend into
areas of staff engagement and enhanced team
performance.

How can you develop competence?

Starting from the position that everyone starts out not
yet competent in everything how does the individual
develop competency?

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SPE 109036

The starting point is to know how to do the thing you are

trying to do. This can be acquired through what we
would all recognize as self discovery (reading,
questioning, observation) or training (courses, education,
coaching).
The next step is to practice the thing you are trying to do.
This is a step which is often overlooked when one
confuses knowledge with competence. Simple tasks
may not need much practice, but regardless of the
competence, practice will almost always improve
performance.
The next step on the competence journey is the
application of the knowledge and practice in a real
situation which allows the individual to acquire
experience. By continually gathering more experience
(and if necessary further training and practice) one can
acquire ever-higher standards of performance and
hence higher levels of competence.

For example:
Learning to drive today in the UK requires the individual
to sit a theory test and a practical test.
The theory test is about acquiring the knowledge which
informs the individual about what they should be doing
and what they need to know about the rules of the road.
They will then most likely go out and practice, under the
supervision of an instructor, the physical skills involved
in driving (supported by the knowledge they have
obtained in the theory test).
Once their instructor is happy that they have practiced to
an appropriate level they would then sit the practical test.
Passing this test defines the individual as competent to
drive on the roads unsupervised.
It is often said that you only start really learning to drive
after you pass your driving test so continuing to gather
experience and competence is a lifelong activity.

Assessment of non-manual/professional/behavioral skills

is generally viewed as more difficult. However, the same
basic principles apply in the assessment of any
competence.

The following list of assessment methods are generally

recognized as the main mechanisms for assessing
competence. They have been sorted according to their
predictive validity the methods at the top of the list are
generally more predictive of future performance than
those at the bottom of the list
Examples of assessment methods:
In service observation
Watching someone do the task
Simulation
Watching someone do a simulation of the task
Assessment center
A collection of assessment over an extended period
Competency based interview
Interview by questioning around competencies
Ability testing
Various ability & psychometric tests
References
Checking with previous employers
Conventional interview
Unstructured interview
Qualifications
Check of qualifications
Clearly the order above is highly dependant on what the
assessment is aiming to measure and there are clear
exceptions to the above order.

How can competencies help you business?

A competency approach threaded through all aspects of
the staffing of your business can yield considerable
benefit both to the organisation and to the individual.

1) Competency Framework
How do we assess competence?
Assessment of competence can also cause some
difficulties.
We have for centuries acknowledged the competence
associated with craft skills through apprenticeship,
journeyman, and master-craftsman type hierarchies.
Consequently
manual/craft
skills
competency
assessment is quite well understood and usually
implemented by relatively traditional means.

A good starting point is to define a competency

framework for the whole organisation. This would start
by defining what skills require to be competently
executed for your business to be successful. This
analysis will result in a list of competencies which will be
a mix of technical, business and personal/behavioural
competencies.
It is also advisable to define the competency levels
which will be recognised by the competency framework
usually five or six levels are sufficient ranging from
basic understanding with no practice or experience
through to worldwide company expert.

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SPE 109036

For example:

For example:

Typical competency levels

Certain behavioural competencies are very difficult to

examine in an interview situation eg working in teams.
For these you may choose a different method such as
participative exercises specifically designed to flush out
the behaviours which can be observed (albeit in a
simulated environment). This has the benefit of moving
the measurement into a more predictive environment.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Not yet competent

Basic Awareness
Developing experience
Fully competent
Training and supervisor capability
Company expert

Crucial in making this framework work effectively is

clarity around the indicators which lead to positioning
individuals on this matrix these can be expressed in a
number of ways including knowledge, practice,
experience, influence (recognition by others).

By collecting evidence of how the candidate measures

up to the various competencies, feedback to candidates
can be much easier. When internal candidates are
involved in a recruitment process this can be crucial in
retaining their commitment especially if they are
unsuccessful.
Good feedback
to unsuccessful
candidates can also leave them with a positive image of
your organisation an image that may later be of value.

For example:
Competency

Negotiating skills

3) Career development and staff assessments

Level

Basic understanding

Indicators

Knowledge been on a
negotiating skills training course

Experience - has assisted in a

major negotiation in a supporting
role

If every position in your organisation is defined using the

competency
framework,
career
development
conversations can have much more focus and structure.
Progress through competencies is a much sharper
measure than progress through grades or salary
structure. Progression to the next grade or promotion
can be more clearly specified and the openness that this
engenders can be a very positive and motivating factor.
It will also help link any training needs analysis very
clearly to the areas where the individual is not yet
sufficiently competent.

Influence - none

For example:

Practice work shadowed a

senior negotiator for x days

2) Recruitment
Having defined the competency framework within which
your organisation will operate, each position for which
you are recruiting can be defined according to those
competencies clearly from time to time there may need
to be changes to or addition to the framework to
recognise changes in the business. For each
competence, the level of attainment necessary for the
position is also essential.
Using the assessment methods identified above these
competencies can then be assessed in an objective and
measured way in each candidate making the selection
process potentially much more predictive.

A member of staff is keen to move to a supervisory

position. By comparing their current profile to the
required profile for the new position, a plan can be
readily developed to identify the training, practice,
experience they would need to obtain to make the move.
In the title of this paper we refer to competency based
systems contributing to commitment to the organisation.
It is oft quoted that staff dont leave their job, they leave
their boss (or the unjust way they feel they have been
treated by them). Clarity and transparency around
development, progression, and promotion goes a long
way to resolving some of these feelings.
Routine staff assessment can only be made easier if
every position has an associated competency based job
description and aligned roles, responsibilities and
objectives.

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SPE 109036

4) Organisational capability/Succession Planning

6) Commitment

One further benefit of this approach is to allow

organisations to look objectively at their overall capability
this methodology takes the conversation beyond staff
numbers and gets down to the level of genuine skills
gaps and training needs.

One final benefit of running competence assessment

through the business as a key process, rather than a
necessary evil, is that by making it something that
benefits the individual, the desire to do it and support the
doing of it becomes stronger. When an individual sees
personal benefit and advantage the process becomes
much easier to administer and much less of a burden
and more positive.

For example:
If your business plan shows a number of major projects
over the next three years do you know how many
skilled project managers are available to cover these
projects? You will know if you have competency profiles
for all your staff furthermore you will know what it
would take to develop any individuals that you might
want to grow into the role.

5) Re-deployment & re-organisation

An organisation which has a competency based job
description for every position has a clear advantage
when considering re-deployment and re-organisation.
You know where you competencies lie and how you can
better deploy staff to take advantage of these abilities or
how you can re-organise without risking any gaps
developing.

Summary
In an environment where we are increasingly under
pressure from all directions to assure that our
businesses have competent personnel, making
competency a key business thread which runs through
from recruitment, development, re-deployment to reorganisation and is a benefit rather than a chore, simply
makes sense. Giving the individual confidence that
competency assessment isnt a threat or something to
suspect but rather something to benefit them and from
which they can gain, can engender real support and
commitment within your organization. At a time when
skill shortages, demographic holes and a busy business
climate are all real concerns, anything that can help
towards staff commitment and developing the scarce
resources that are out there represents a competitive
advantage for your business.

For example:
You are re-organising a department and one of the key
staff will be moving to a new role outside the
organization do you have the skills within the existing
pool of staff to cover? You can search competence
profiles to find the answer.

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