Using competency‐based assessment centres to select judges – implications for equality and diversity

This article is concerned with two significant areas of HR practice – competency‐based recruitment and selection and equality and diversity. The article provides a critical appraisal of the implications for equality and diversity of using a competency approach to select judges in the UK. The study reveals the socially constructed and ambiguous nature of competencies in practice. It offers partial support to previous claims that competency‐based HR practices have the potential to be used more creatively and inclusively and thus have the potential to further equality and diversity objectives. However, the study also revealed dangers inherent in competency‐based HR practices that arise from the inescapable fact that human, organisational actors (i.e. the assessors) are necessarily required to interpret the competencies and evaluate which candidates meet them and which do not. Thus, whatever the rhetoric, there is the potential for bias, prejudice and discrimination.     

Personnel development for dissolving jobs: towards a competency-based approach?

The traditional HRM system has been job-based and has reflected a bureaucratic model of organizing work. Such job-based personnel management systems have shown a tendency to break down when jobs are dissolving under more flexible work organization. Many writers have called for a competency approach to replace the traditional job-based approach under these new conditions, and we have seen a growing literature on competency modelling. The study reported here suggests that jobs are structured along two independent lines: formal control and complexity of work tasks. Each combination of formalization and complexity (high and low) gives rise to a different approach to align work and competencies. The job-based approach and the competency approach are only two of these, and an occupational and a professional approach are also identified. While formal company-internal training is related to job approach and competency approach, training for skilled tradesmen and professionals is a combination of company-external professional training prior to the work career and informal on-the-job and self-managed training.     

The HR competency requirements for strategic and functional HR practitioners

HR competency research has predominantly focused on identifying generic HR competencies for HR practitioners using a universalist approach. This approach has led to the distinction between strategic and functional HR competencies, and a belief that the former is superior to the latter for successful performance in the HR domain. However, little attention has been paid to the interrelationships between strategic and functional HR competency dimensions, and their perceived relevance to strategic and functional HR roles. Drawing on a situationalist perspective and using a mixed-method approach, seven HR competency concepts are identified and examined for their perceived relative importance to strategic and functional HR roles. The findings indicate that Business Awareness competencies are important differentiators between strategic and functional HR roles, whereas Leadership and Relationship Building and Self-Belief and Social Factors are generic to all HR practitioners. The findings also indicate that there is a wider range of HR attributes required for HR job success than those espoused in the HR literature. Theoretical implications and recommendations on selection and development programmes for HR practitioners are also discussed.     

What makes a good project manager?

There is a growing awareness within project‐based sectors of the relationship between performance and managers' competencies. This article reports on research that investigated the competency profile of ‘superior’ project managers working within the construction industry, one of the most complex and dynamic project‐based industrial sectors. The study combined an assessment of both their behavioural competencies and job‐task competencies. The results reveal that while their job‐task competencies are highly specific to the industry in which they work, the behavioural competencies of superior project managers are mostly generic in nature and apply to a range of other management positions. This research shows how it is practically possible to identify the competency profile of superior managers and utilise this framework for managing the performance of this key management group.     

HR professional development: creating the future creators at the University of Michigan Business School

This article focuses on the development of mid‐ to senior‐level HR professionals through a public program offered at the University of Michigan Business School. We suggest that developing HR professionals requires a theory of competencies about what HR professionals must know and do and a development experience based on those competencies. We highlight how we have created a competency model over the last decade and designed our HR executive programs to deliver against this model. We also show the pedagogical techniques used to deliver these competencies. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Information systems project manager soft competencies: A project‐phase investigation

This article investigates the soft competencies by project phase that information systems (IS) project managers require for project success. The authors conducted 33 qualitative interviews to collect data from a sample of 22 IS project managers and business leaders located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The authors identified the key competencies for each of the IS project phases (initiation, planning, implementation, and closeout). The competencies were sorted into competency categories: personal attributes (e.g., eye for details), communication (e.g., effective questioning), leadership (e.g., create an effective project environment), negotiations (e.g., consensus building), professionalism (e.g., lifelong learning), social skills (e.g., charisma), and project management competencies (e.g., manage expectations). Each of the most important competencies is discussed and interconnections among competencies identified. How this research can be used by the practitioner and academic communities and the broader implications of this research are examined.     

Leadership competency inventory: A systematic process of developing and validating a leadership competency scale

This article reports psychometric evaluation of the Penn State Leadership Competency Inventory (LCI). The 32‐item LCI was validated on a sample of 323 managers in the health care industry. Preliminary validity and reliability evidence of the LCI was established through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), item‐total correlations, Cronbach's alpha coefficients, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The four‐factor leadership competency scale, comprising supervisory and managerial competencies, organizational leadership, personal mastery, and resource leadership, accounted for 58% of variance. According to CFA results, the model fit of the four latent factors of the LCI was confirmed to be appropriate. Cross‐validation with other populations is needed to confirm the factor structure. Limitations and further research recommendations are discussed.     

Using a competency approach to understand host-country national managers in Asia

This study empirically explored host-country nationals (HCNs) in multinational enterprises (MNEs) using a competency approach. Participants consisted of 500 managers working for a leading Japanese retail MNE, with 100 each from Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. The study highlighted three competency variables for 12 skills of those managers: (1) the level of competency demands, (2) the level of developed competencies and (3) the level of competency improvement needs as assessed by the difference between the levels of developed competencies and the levels of corresponding competency demands. Three conclusions were drawn: First, relationship skills are the most demanded and developed competency of HCN managers in Asia, while their levels tend to vary with Asian countries. Second, goal-setting skills are also very important competency demands but are insufficiently developed by HCN managers. Therefore, HCN managers need to improve their goal-setting skills to a great degree as a top priority. Third, interpersonal and behavioral competency areas of the 12 skills are more important demands for HCN managers than analytical and perceptual competency areas. Based on the empirical evidence obtained from this study, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.     

Key competencies for a transformed human resource organization: Results of a field study

As human resource organizations transform, staff competency requirements alter significantly. The question is: to what? The present study attempts to answer this question using data gathered within a single firm and employing a unique future-oriented, role-focused methodology. The results suggest a competency model with three parts: a relatively small number of core competencies, an even smaller number of leverage competencies applicable to half or more (but not all) of the roles, and a much larger number of competencies that are role-specific. This methodology can be readily replicated in an abbreviated form in virtually any organization. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The impact of project managers' communication competencies: Validation and extension of a research model for virtuality,satisfaction, and productivity on project teams

Current research continues to establish the importance of communication in the management of projects. However, little is known about the behavioral aspects of project managers' communication competency especially as they relate to crucial outcomes in virtual environments. This article reports on a survey‐based research study of 564 respondents from the Chief Project Officer Web site that validates and extends a research model of project managers' competencies in decoding and encoding communication, the satisfaction and productivity of their team members, and the degree of virtuality present in the project. The findings indicate that project managers' competencies in decoding and encoding communication significantly contribute to team member satisfaction and productivity. In addition, geographic dispersion plays an unexpected and significant role in how project managers' competency in decoding and encoding communication impacts team member satisfaction and productivity.     

Competency modeling: A theoretical and empirical examination of the strategy dissemination process

One of the most important functions of a competency model is to translate organizational strategy into employee behavior. Yet, virtually no theoretical attempts to elucidate this process exist, and no empirical evidence has been offered demonstrating that it occurs. Drawing on the strategic management literature, we develop a conceptual framework delineating this process. We theorize that structurally distributed knowledge, attention, and behavior results in coalitions of individuals at different hierarchical levels (top managers vs employees) developing different dominant logics. These differences across levels in habituated modes of processing information and conceptualizing roles impact the initial importance assigned to competencies that are added to the model as an organization's strategy evolves. However, over time, competency models enable top managers to drive their dominant logic downward through the organization. As the importance of certain competencies is reinforced through performance management, schemata of high-performers shift, becoming better aligned with those of top managers'. Using data from focus groups, surveys, and archives collected at two points in time (6 years apart) capturing change in the strategy of an organization of professional jobs in the U.S. government (n = 218), results were supportive. We then use our model to generate an agenda of research questions and topics to enhance competency modeling scholarship.     

Assessing job crafting competencies to predict tradeoffs between competing outcomes

We introduce the job crafting competency construct and apply it to predict tradeoffs between competing outcomes that are inherent in job crafting, like performance and well-being or engagement and withdrawal. Job crafting competencies are the clusters of individual knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to achieve personal objectives through effective job crafting problem-solving. We create a framework of job crafting competencies consisting of comprehensive/simplistic heuristic information use and approach/avoidance problem-solving skills. In Study 1, we operationalize competencies as profiles demonstrated through an aptitude-oriented assessment that predicts differences in outcomes. Five distinct profiles emerged in a sample of 174 workers. The high-volume analytic problem-solving profile was associated with higher performance and strain, while the ambivalent acquiescence profile was associated with lower performance and strain. The practical problem-solving profile minimized tradeoffs between performance and strain. Rapid problem-solving and low-volume analytic problem-solving profiles were variants in between these other patterns. Study 2 used a survey of 323 workers to support the uniqueness of the five competencies, and their relationships with approach/avoidance job crafting, engagement, and withdrawal. The research identifies a new job crafting individual difference (job crafting competencies) to delineate outcomes and tradeoffs according to unique competency profiles.     

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: Current and future requirements

Purchasing & Supply Management (PSM) competencies are the individual-level foundations of organisational PSM performance. In light of recent developments in the workplace and the external environment, the question of what PSM competencies are needed now, as well as in the future, becomes one of increasing importance. Analysing qualitative data from 46 interviews from 16 companies, this paper identifies what current and future competencies are required by PSM professionals, categorizes PSM competencies according to the framework established by Tassabehji and Moorhouse (2008) and establishes how these competency requirements have changed over the last ten years. The most important current competencies required by PSM professionals are negotiation, communication and relationship management (e.g. ‘Interpersonal communication’), strategy and analytics (e.g. ‘Strategic thinking’), as well as professional knowledge requirements (e.g. ‘Basic knowledge on PSM role & processes’). When looking at future requirements, competencies in the areas of sustainability and digitisation were identified as becoming increasingly important. Overall, 17 competencies in addition to those shown in Tassabehji and Moorhouse (2008) were identified. The most prominent new competency areas are related to digitisation (e.g. ‘eProcurement Technology’, ‘Automation’), innovation (e.g. ‘Innovative sourcing’) and sustainability. The interviewees also identified 11 new competencies within the interpersonal skills cluster, most of them at the intersection between competencies and traits (e.g. ‘Deal with Ambiguity’, ‘Curiosity’, ‘Passion’).     

In search of demanded competencies: designing superior compensation systems

Employees' competencies are decisive components in a firm's competitiveness. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to assess whether differences in strategy influence employees' competencies and how the design of compensation systems may best take into account the competencies required by a firm. An analysis was conducted on a sample of manufacturing firms using structural equation models. The findings support the existence of generic competencies, such as results and customer orientation, which are found in both prospector and defender strategic contexts, while other competencies – such as innovation, technical expertise and adaptability – are specific to the prospector strategy. In relation to compensation, the results show that skill-based pay is more strongly associated with competencies such as innovation, technical expertise and adaptability, whereas performance-based compensation systems encourage result-based competency. Therefore, the design of a compensation system should be guided by the competencies required as part of a firm's strategy.     

An assessment of managerial competency needs: empirical evidence from a Sri Lankan telecommunication service provider

From the management development viewpoint, it is important to know whether managers possess the required competencies to achieve successful job performance. This could be identified by exploring the competency needs. The aim of the paper is to present and discuss results of an empirical investigation on managerial competency needs using quantitative methodology. The study is confined to a fully integrated telecommunication service provider; 198 managerial employees participated in the survey. The findings led to identification of: perceived levels of current competency expertise; current and future competency gaps; and competencies that managers wish to improve. Managerial implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Competency rallying for technical innovation—The case of the Virtuelle Fabrik

Technology improves at an ever-increasing rate, but the speed at which firms can adapt their strategies and competencies to develop technological innovations and exploit market opportunities remains limited. While networks provide an option to increase agility through collaborative access to relevant external competencies, we know little about systematically managing such networks. This paper identifies a collaborative network process that we label competency rallying. We describe the set of inter-organizational routines involved in competency rallying in a case study of the interactions among the partners of the Virtuelle Fabrik, a case of an organized regional network in the manufacturing industry in Switzerland. We describe competency rallying as the (1) identification and development of competencies, (2) identification and facing of market opportunities, (3) marshalling of competencies, and (4) short-term cooperative effort for technological innovation and commercialization. The paper contributes a model that furthers the understanding of the organizational character of networks based on specific, learned network capabilities and which allows prediction of the likelihood of success of practical collaboration projects in networked organizations.     

A Qualitative Analysis to Determine the Domains and Skills Necessary to Lead in Public Health

Leadership programs in public health have been declining in numbers since 2012. The decline in training programs could be due to the lack of outcome‐based results and the lack of a manageable set of standardized skills needed for public health leadership. A comprehensive study was completed in two phases to determine if the current model of public health leadership institutes is effective at generating outcome‐based results. The following paper will focus on the first phase of the study. The first phase included a qualitative analysis to determine the domains, definitions, and skills needed to lead. An analysis of the skills, domains, definitions, and traits included in five established and commonly used leadership models/theories in public health leadership development (Transformational, Servant, Appreciative, Collaborative, and Emotional Intelligence leadership) plus the National Public Health Leadership Development Network (NLN) Leadership for Community Health, Safety & Resilience Competency Framework was completed. Of the 161 different skills, definitions, traits, and/or competencies from the five leadership models and the NLN competency framework, 123 were determined to be related to one of six domains needed for leadership and were defined into 21 skills. The findings could lead to more uniformity in public health leadership development and evaluation.     

企业人力资源主管人员胜任力模型实证研究

基于某企业人力资源主管人员岗位,首先运用行为事件访谈法,根据访谈结果,进行编码,确定胜任特征,建立胜任力过渡模型;然后通过抽样调查,进行科学分析,完成人力资源主管人员胜任力模型。并将其与通用模型做比较,发现二者的差异。研究结果表明:企业人力资源主管人员胜任力模型由知识、技能和素养三个维度八个胜任特征组成,与通用模型有不同的侧重。     

An analysis of the relationship between HR professionals' competencies and firms' performance in Malaysia

This study examines the competencies of human resource professionals in the manufacturing companies of Malaysia. The competencies that are examined in this study are business knowledge, strategic contribution, HR delivery, personal credibility, HR technology and internal consultation. All these competencies will be tested whether or not they are significantly related to a firms' performance. The sample employed here consists of HR professionals from Malaysian manufacturing companies in the southernmost state of Malaysia, Johor.A total of 89 firms responded to the survey exercise. This study uses quantitative methods such as spearmen ρ correlation and multiple regression analysis to test the variables. The finding shows that the top nine ranking HR competency factors are from the domain of personal credibility and HR delivery. The respondents' self-rated competency shows that personal communication, legal compliance, effective relationship and performance management rank above all other factors. Competencies such as strategic contribution, business knowledge, HR technology and internal consultation have significant correlation with firms' performance. Furthermore, it is found that out of all HR competencies, the highest contributions to a firm's performance are strategic contribution and internal consultation.