Competencies can Align Recruitment and Retention
How Competency Based Development Facilitates Talent Management
Jun 8, 2009
However, too many organizations assume an unfocused, and at times hit-or-miss, approach to the process, relying on scholastic achievement, standardized tests and an assortment of other traditional measurement criteria. Despite the merits of this approach, it fails to consider the fact that academic over-achievers are not always the most successful members of their profession.
Unlike traditional models that are backward looking, a competency-based employee-development program is a forward-looking approach to managerial/supervisory employee selection, development and retention. It provides the foundation for recruiting and promotion decisions. It also structures individual employee professional development and identifies an organization’s most talented employees.
How Competency Based Development Facilitates Talent Management
A competency-based employee-development program brings a sharper focus to recruitment, development and retention efforts. An organization usually has a laundry list of ideal qualities that they are looking for in a job candidate. However, it is rare to find a candidate that excels in every desired characteristic, which leads to a “least/worst” selection decision. What often follows is that the new employee enters the work environment with a sink-or-swim approach.
With a competency-based approach, the organization develops a much smaller list of critical competencies (six or fewer), with well-defined skills and abilities that are necessary to achieve desired outcomes.
The result is a selection decision that is founded on the achievement of valued competencies and less on a job candidate’s ability to meet a traditional list of qualities. Professional development is a never-ending process so when a candidate is hired, his/her level of development can be used to further develop an accurate description of desired competencies.
The Five Critical Questions for the Organization
- What skills and abilities are needed most by the organization?
- Who is most qualified to fill critical positions and staff project teams?
- Where is the need for critical skills going unmet and where is available internal talent located?
- Is there a plan to acquire candidates who possess these skills?
- Are the company’s recruitment, development and retention efforts properly aligned?
Using Competencies to Align Recruitment, Development, and Retention
The process begins with defining the three types of competencies needed for a specific position.
- General (management, leadership and business acumen)
- Functional (marketing, finance, human resources, public relations, employee communications and community relations, among others)
- Organizational (technical skills specific to the organization such as proficiency in interpreting psychological profiles or platform skills for trainers)
Organizational competencies distinguish an organization from competitors because they are the competencies that are most visible to clients/customers, and have the cumulative effect of identifying and developing employees.
A successful program also requires accurate descriptions of desired competencies. These descriptions provide sufficient job-related information to employees, thereby enabling them to prepare themselves to develop themselves and succeed. They also provide a tool that the company can use to identify available talent for promotion.
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