Kessler, R. (2004).

Collaborate with employees to make your competency-based

systems stronger. Employment Relations Today, 31 (3) pp. 27-32. (AR27544)

Collaborate with employees to make your competency-based systems stronger

Robin Kessler
Employment Re/ations Today; Fall2004; 31, 3; ABIIINFORM Global
pg.27

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 the ne.xt few months. The increase in compe
tency use is also evident if you look at online
sites. In the last year, it is clear that more
organiz.ations are including competencies
when they Jist their positions at job-search
Web sites like Monster.
But are these systems working as wel1 as
they should? Al:e there ways that leading
edge organizations can make their compe
tency-based systems even more effective?
WHAT'S MISSING?
Managers and consultants usually make the
decision to use competency-based systems
because they see it as a way to help them
irnprove the overall performance of their
employees. Competency-based systems can
also give senior managers a way to help
change the mission of the organization-for
example, from lowest-cost producer to high
est-quality producer-by focusing on develop-
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ing (or recruiting) the competencies needed
to make the new mission successful.
Even the best competency-based systems
are top-down in their focus. The human
resources or organizational development
managers responsible for designing and main
taining the competency-based systems and
individual competency-based applications
make sure employees know the key compe
tencies for their positions and do a good job
of communicating any changes. Employees
are given access to directories or online
sources that describe what wouJd be required
to reach a higher level in each key compe
tency area. Managers make an effort to
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ensure their employees know which compe
tencies are critica! for their performance
appraisals. Using online resources, employees
can easily access the list of competencies
managers will use in behavioral interviews
for intemal promotion possibilities. In many
cases, employees receive charts and bro
chures describing competencies and individ
ual competency-based applications. In the
most sophisticated organizations, employees
usually know about the competency-based
system and individual competency-based
applications like behavioral interviewing, but
they are rarely, if ever, taught to make the
system work for them.
For the whole system to work more effec
tively, employees need to be taught how to
thrive in a competency-based system. In
addition to the current top-down approach to
competencies, organiz.ations should be collab
orating with their employees to encourage
their commitment to the program. Organiza
tions need to begin working more directly
with employees to support their competency
based systems. When individual employees
focus on the organization's competency goals,
the entire organization will achieve those
goals much faster and more effectively.
Partnering with Emp!oyees
We have identified six important reasons why
employers should consider collaborating with
their employees to make their current compe
tency-based systems work more effectively,
and these are described below:
l. Improve competency 1eve1s (aster. The proba
bil.ity of success in improving the compe
tency levels of an entire department or
workforce is greater if individual employ
ees are working toward the goal of mov-
 ing to higher competency levels. Clearly,
the more efficiently employees work
toward their goals, the faster the goals of
the entire organization wiJl be achieved.
Most managers have not yet recognized
how much they could improve the compe
tencies of their employees simply by hav
ing them develop competency-based
rsmns and trainL"'lg them to thrive in a
competency-based system.
2. Provide employers with better information
about the competencies of their employees. If
employees are asked to provide the orga
nization with in.formation about their
accomplishments in each competency
area, employers are likely to d.iscover
some employee strengths they did not
realize they had internally. This can be
done by developing strong, competency
based internaJ rsu.ms, employee profiles,
or data sheets. If these rsu.ms are devel
oped, managers will have better, more
accurate information before making deci
sions about work assignments and promo
tional opportunities.
3. Enable companies to sell their services more
effectively to competen cy-based customers.
For cornpan.ies providing services to com
pet.ency-based organizations like JPMor
gan Chase, Anheuser Busch, A.uerican
Express, or BP, .it is important to think
about showcasing the competencies of the
proposed project team in the rsums or
data sheet being provided as part of the
bid package. Developing high-quality com
petency-based rsums '"'i.ll help ensure
that the customers understand how the
competencies of the team will work to
help their organization and will give your
organization an edge if you are competing
for a significant contract. For outsourced
providers, it is also important that
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employees are working to develop their
competencies in the areas that are the
most critical to the customers.
4. Empower employees an.d improve mora/e. lf
employees u.nclerstand what they can do
to actively manage their careers in a
competency-based systern, they are much
more likely to buy into the system and
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be connnitted to making it work.
Employees need to work toward improv
ing their own levels in the relevant com
petencies for their individual positions,
departments, and organizations. Employ
ees will be more committed to the suc
cess of the organization's coi:npetency
based system if they:
Understand how to improve their
chances of achieving a positive perfor
mance evaluation based on competen
cies;
Increase the probab!ity of being cho
sen based on targeted accomplish
ment statements shown on the.ir com
petency-based intemal rsu.ms for an
interview for a promotion; and
Prepare more effectively for an inter
na! behavioral interview.
5. Support diversity efforts. By provid.ing train
ing and coaching to help employees
u.nderstand how the system works, an
increasingly diverse wor kforce will be
exposed to what they need to do to suc
ceed. In essence, demystifying what it
takes to get ahead clarifes the rules for
everyone-without regard to race, sex,
national origin, disability status, or age.
By explaining to employees what it takes
 to be successful in a competency-based
system, employees have a more even play
ing field to start from. More employees
have a chance to be successful, and more
types of employees will be successful.
6. Improve quality of succession planning and
employee development. The better the quality
of in.formation managers have about the
competencies of their employees, the more
likely they are to do a good job with succes
sion planning. If employers have access to
information about employee accompHsh-
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ments-listed competency by competency
they are more likely to choose the best
qualified canclidates to be prom.oted.
l\1anagers can identify competency gaps
and areas that need to be strengthened and
develop training, coaching , and work
assignments to help meet these needs.
What Emp!oyees Should Do to Manage Their
Own Careers
Most employees have no idea that with the
change to a competency-based system they
need to start thinki.ng about managing their
own careers clifferently. Because competency
based systems even the playing field, the old
ways of getting ahead may not be as effective
under the new ways of operating in the
workplace.
So what can employees do to manage their
own careers clifferently? Here are severa] sug
gesti.ons:
O Set up and use a system to track competencies
and accomplishments. A tracking system can
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be developed by individual employees ( or
by the organization) using word-processing,
database, or spreadsheet sofn.,are or by the
organizati.on. Employees need to be trained
t.o identify accomplishments related to rele
vant competencies and how to write good
accomplishment statements.
O Develop competency-based rsums and
keep them updated to be ready lar new
opportunities within the organization. Com
petency-based rsums simply make
sense for all who want to app1y to work
for a competency-based organiz.ation or
to be considered for better opportunities
within their current organization.
Because managers will be screening and
i...'lter viewing candidates based on the rel
evant competencies, employees stand a
better chanpe to get selected for inter
.
views and the position .if thei.r rsums
hghlight ther accomplishments in the
critica] competency areas. This is a new,
fresh approach to writing rsums. Com
petency-based rsums will give man
agers better information about the
strengths of their employees in the areas
that are the most important to predict
their future success.
O Dewlop critica) competencies to a higher
leve!. When employees know whch com
pete.ncies are critica! to their success in
their current positions, they can Iook for
opportunities to build these competencies
through assign.ments, training, coaching,
or mentoring within the organization.
They can also develop their competenci.es
outside the organization through volunteer
work, teachli1g, or taking classes at a col
lege, university, or trade school program.
O Identify and overcome competency gaps. It is
important for employees to also he think
ing about the competencies t.hey need for
 their current positions but have not devel
oped to the level required to be success
ful. When an employee is transferred
from engineering to sales, it is reasonable
for the sales manager to e.-pect compe
tency gaps in certain of the competencies
required to be successful in sales. When
employees recognize their own compe
tency gaps, they can collaborate with their
managers to develop a plan to overcome
the gaps through targeted work assign
ment.s, coaching, mentoring, training, or
attending a class sponsored by an outside
organization.
O Add new competencies that might be crilical
in future positions. The sav-viest employees
in a competency-based organization are
going to be the ones w ho dentfy the
positions they are interested in moving
into in the future, and work to deve1op
the competencies required to be success
ful in the new position. Many hardwork
ing employees focus on dolng their cur
rent jobs to the best of their abilities and
have assumed that their managers will
take care of them when there is an oppor
tunity to be promoted. This approach may
not work as weJJ for thern under a more
sophisticated competency-based system.
In a competency-based system, the
employees need to recognize early that
developing the competencies required for
promotional opportunities is at Jeast partly
their responsibility-they need to advocate
for themselves to make sure they get the
assigm:nents and training to enable them
to have significant accomplishments in the
right competency areas.
O Promote their careers by maldng sure key
managers know ther competencies. Most
upwardly mobile employees have figured
out that they need to make sure their
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managers know when they have done par
ticularly good work and what they want
to do in the future. No matter how good
employees are, if they are not wiJJ.ing to
advocate for themselves or enlist a man
ager to advocate for them, they will be
passed over. So what's changed? In a com
petency-based system, employees need to
be more st:rategic about making sure that
the accomplishments they emphaslze with
their direct manager and other key deci
sion rnakers relate to the critica! compe
tencies for their current positions-or the
positions they want to be considered for
in the near future.
O Submit an updated list of their latest accom
plishments, listed by competency area, to
managers before each perfonnance apprmal.
About a month before the performance
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appraisa1, employees should provide their
managers with a Jist of their accomplsh
ments for the last year by competency
area. Ideally, they should run a report
from their competency tracking system
listing these accomplishments. They
shotlld read the report, ed5t .it, and add
relevant inforrnation. A standardized
report from the database could be devel
oped and run by the employee or manager
before the appralsal is written. This
should be done in addition to any
employee questionnalres currently
required by the organization. This could
work to help employees receive better
eva1uations because it would ensure the
manager has the critica] information
about the competency-based accompllsh-
 ments written from the perspective of the
empioyees. Knowin.g how much progress
the employees feel they have made over
the J.ast year on relevant competencies
would give managers additional informa
tion to con.sider and help them be more
effective in writing the final evaluations.
What Employers Can Do
Collaborating wth emp!oyees to make your
competency-based systems stronger and more
effective simply makes sense. Human
resources and organization development man
agers need to encomage employees to active! y
try to develop their competencies to support
the organization's goals. Line and staff man
agers should understand the benefits to their
ovm departments and make eve1Y effort to
support the idea of more activeiy collaborating
wU1 employees to improve the competency
levels of their depa:rtments.
Consider offering the employees training on
how to thrive in a competency-based organiza
non. Make sure employees know that they are
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being asked to collaborate or partner with
their managers to make the entire organization
stronger and more competitive for the future.
Provide training or individual coaching on
how to write a competency-based rsurn or
data sheet. It is importan! to remember that
many good employees are not good writers
and will probably need some help developing
the hlgh-quality, competency-based accom
plishment statements and rsums that will be
the most helpful to managers. Once the
employees have developed the first interna!
rsu1ns, consider dentfying a resource
withln the company to monitor the quality of
the writing and provide assistance.
Collaborating with your employees will
make your competency-based system even
more successful. Structure your con_petency
based system the new way and encourage
your employees to actively work to develop
key competencies. As the employees become
more competent, the organization will become
more competitive. You will have helped your
organization develop the right competencies to
be ready for future opportun.ities.