Effectiveness, Competence and Competency Models

S D W P U B L I C A T I O N SBuilding Results-Focused Organizat ions

EFFECTIVENESS, COMPETENCYAND COMPETENCY MODELS

Strategic Development Worldwide • San Diego, California • sdwnet.com

D o n Z i l l i o u x , P h . D .

Maynotbeduplicatedwithoutpermission.

Effectiveness, Competenceand Competency Models

ByDonZillioux,Ph.D.ChiefScientistandCEO,SDW

DiscussionsabouthumancompetencehavebeenoccurringinacademicandHRcirclessincethe'70s.However,becauseintellectualassetsarenowrecognizedasoneofthefoundationsforcompetitiveness,competenceandcompetencymanagementhavebecomestrategicissues.Theabilitytoimplementstrategyandachieve“bottomline”resultsrequiresthatorganizationstakestockofavailablecompetenciesandmanagetheminawaythatincreasestheeffectivenessofpeople'sperformancethroughoutthevaluechain.

CompetenceandPerformance

Whilemostpeoplebelievetheyknowcompetencewhentheyseeit,theytypicallyhavetroubledeFiningit.Infact,itmaybeeasiertothinkofcompetenceintermsofwhatitisnot.ItisnotaspeciFicsetofbehaviors,althoughthesemaybeevidenceofcompetence.OnewaytodeFinecompetenceisasa“functionoftheratioofvaluableaccomplishmentstocostlybehavior.” Thatis,aperformeriscompetenttotheextent1

heorshecanproduceaccomplishmentsthatareofvaluetotheorganizationwithoutincurringmorecoststhantheaccomplishmentisworth,(hereIdeFineeffectivenessasmeetingtheoutputrequirementsofthesituation).

Forexample,anewperformermaybeabletoproduceadesiredaccomplishmentbutatwhatcost?Howlongdoesittaketodoso?Howmanytimeswasitreworkedbeforeitwasofacceptablequality?Ifanswerstothesekindsofquestionsrevealthattheaccomplishmentwasproducedatgreatcost,theorganizationmaynothaveachievedanyrealvalue.

Whensomeoneiscompetent(situationallyeffective),theyincreasethevalueofaccomplishmentswhilereducingthecostandenergyputintotheeffort.Thetruenatureofcompetenceisderivedfromthevalueofouraccomplishments;asGilbertnoted,competenceisacomparativejudgmentabouttheworthofperformance.

Findingcompetencethatpredictsexceptionalperformanceinanorganizationoritsvalue-producingnetwork,requiresexaminingthetopperformersinspeciFicjobroles.Theyareabletoconsistentlyproduceoutcomesoraccomplishmentsthatarevaluedbyandbringvalueto,theorganization.Notonlydotheyconsistentlyproducethese

Gilbert,T.HumanCompetence:EngineeringHumanPerformance,InternationalSocietyforPerformanceImprovement,2007.1

Effec%veness,CompetenceandCompetencyModels

accomplishments,buttheyalsoareabletodosoinamannerthatincreasesthevalueoftheaccomplishmenttotheorganization.Exemplaryperformancemustconsiderthequalityofthework(forexample,accuracy),thequantityorproductivityofthework(therate,timeliness,volume)andtheassociatedcost(labor,material,management).Topperformersproduceaccomplishmentsthatmeetorsurpassastandardforquality,quantityandcost.

CompetenciesandOtherFactorsInfluencingPerformance

Topperformersareabletoproducehigh-valueaccomplishmentsprimarilybecausetheyhavetherequiredcompetenciesandtheyknowhowtodothingsmoreproductivelythanothers.CompetenciesareabilitiesandtraitsthatpredictandenableeffectivenessorexemplaryperformanceofajobwithinaspeciFicorganizationalcontext.Tobedeemed“competent”inanarea,aperformermusthaverequisiteskills,theappropriatebodyofknowledgeandtraitsorpersonalcharacteristicsthatcontributetosuccess. 2

Forexample,onemeasureofeffectivenessforthejobofaprojectmanagermightbe“customerrelationshipmanagement.”ThiscouldbedeFinedastheabilitytoarticulateprojectvisionanddeFinition,deFinescopeandsuccesscriteria,identifyassumptionsandcommunicatetoensureclientsatisfaction.SpeciFicknowledgeandskillswouldberequiredtoenableanindividualtodemonstratethiscompetency,suchasknowledgeoftheclient'sbusinessneedandskillslikelisteningandconFlictresolution.SpeciFicpersonalcharacteristicsandtraitsthatwouldcontributetosuccessinclude“interpersonalunderstanding”and“clientfocus.”

SometextsdeFinecompetenciesas“skills,knowledgeandabilitiesortalents”or“skills,knowledgeandattitudes.”Othersusetheterms2

“traitsandpersonalcharacteristics”toencompasstalentsandabilities,whichweprefer.Wecanobserveevidenceoftheexistenceofpersonaltraitsandcharacteristicsandresearchhasshowntheirimpactonperformance.SeeSpencerL.andSpencerS.CompetenceatWork:ModelsforSuperiorPerformance,JohnWiley&Sons,1993.

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Motivation and Incentives

Environment and Culture Job Design Management

Practices

Skills Knowledge TraitsEffective Job Performance

OrganizationalSupportIn0luencesPerformance

Figure1.Ittakesmorethancompetenciestoensureeffectivejobperformance.

Effec%veness,CompetenceandCompetencyModels

Competenciesalonecannotensureeffectivejobperformance,however.AsFigure1illustrates,organizationalsupportcanmaketheoccurrenceofeffectiveorexemplaryperformancemoreorlesslikely.Organizationalsupportincludesthefollowing,eachofwhichisknowntoinFluenceperformance:

• MotivationandIncentives-Whatperformersaremotivatedtodo,basedontheircompensationstructureandincentives.

• EnvironmentandCulture-Thephysicalenvironmentinwhichworkoccursandthemindsetandsharedbeliefsystemoftheorganization(i.e.,“thewaywework”).

• JobDesign-Thewayparticularjobsaredesignedtospreadresponsibilityandaccomplishmentsacrosstheworkforce.

• ManagementPractices-Howmanagementacquires,develops,reinforcesandretainscompetencies.

Consequently,theexistenceofcompetenciesalonedoesnotensureperformanceatthedesiredlevel.Notonlymustrequisitecompetenciesbeavailablebutalsotheorganizationmustdoallitcantoincreasethelikelihoodthatcompetentperformersproducethedesiredoutcomesofvalue. 3

CompetencyModels

Acompetencymodelisamechanismorframeworktoorganizetheskills,knowledgeandtraitsthatresultineffectiveorexemplaryperformanceofaspeciFicjob.Goodcompetencymodelscanbeextremelyusefultoanorganizationasitattemptstoaccomplishthefollowing:

• Explicitlylinkperformancetobusinessresults.• Developasharedmindsetaboutwhatisimportantinajob(itsoutput

requirements),whatwillbemonitored(itstime-boundedobjectives)andwhatwillbemeasured.

• Developbehavioralinterviewingquestionsandamodelagainstwhichtojudgecandidatestoensuretheorganizationacquirestheneededcompetencies.

• IdentifyprioritiesfordevelopmenttoFillthe“gap”betweenthecompetenciesanindividualhasandthoseneededtoperformajobatthedesiredlevelofproFiciency.

• Facilitatemoreeffectiveperformancefeedback,reviewandappraisal.• Helpindividualsplancareergrowth.• Providelinksfromaneededcompetencytoappropriatelearningresourcesor

availableinterventions.

SeeSDWarticle,Zillioux,D.,Ph.D.AnyManager’sClearResponsibility,SDWPublishing,1999.3

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Effec%veness,CompetenceandCompetencyModels

ApproachtoCompetencyModeling

Thetwoprimaryapproachestothedevelopmentofacompetencymodelcanbeenvisionedasacontinuum.Atoneendofthecontinuumisahighlygenericcompetencymodelandattheotherendisahighlycustomizedmodel.Genericcompetencymodelshavebeendevelopedandvalidatedacrossanumberoforganizations.Theycanbepurchased,typicallyasadatabaseofcompetencies.Thepurposeofthesemodelsistopresentcorecompetenciesofajobacrossorganizations.Whilethiscanbeausefulplacetostart,thesemodelsoftendonotprovidethelevelofdetailrequiredforexemplaryperformancewithinaparticularbusinesscontext.

Genericcompetencymodelstypicallycoverapproximately50-60percentofwhatonemustdotoproduceanaccomplishmentthatwouldbeconsideredexemplarywithinaspeciFicorganization. Theyaremostappropriateforuppermanagementpositions,4

wherewell-understoodleadershipcharacteristicsandtraitsaresocrucialtoperformance orforpositionsthatarerelativelythesamefromorganizationto5

organization.

Attheotherendofthecontinuumistheorganization-speciFiccompetencymodel.Thisapproachrequiresthatafullcompetencyassessmentandanalysisbeconductedforeachposition.Onevariationofthisapproachprescribesworkingwithtopperformersonly;anotherprescribesworkingwithbothtopandmediocreperformerstoidentifydifferentiatingcompetencies.Thisapproachmostoftenrequiresanalyzingthefullspectrumofajob.

AcompetencymodelisdevelopedtoreFlectperformancewithinthespeciFicorganizationandisvalidatedbyperformersandtheirmanagement.Thisvalidationtypicallyincludesfocusgroupsandtrialratingsofexistingemployeesusingblindsortingtodetermineifthemodeldiscriminatesbetweenexemplaryandmediocreperformers.Thisapproachcostsmoreandtakesmoretimetocompletebutcanhaveahigherpayoffintermsofenablingtheorganizationtohiretherightpeopleandincreasethepercentageofexemplaryperformers.

Inthemiddleofthespectrumisacombinationapproach.TheorganizationpurchasesexistingcompetencymodelsandreFinesthemsotheybetterrepresenttheirdesiredoutcomesandcompetencies.Forexample,theorganizationmightperformacompetencyassessmentontopperformersforcriticaljobsandanalyzetheinformationelicitedtoreFinesomeofthegenericmodels.

Boulter,N.,Dalziel,M.,Ph.D.,&Hill,J.(Eds.)AchievingthePerfectFit,GulfPublishingCo.,1998.4

Lucia,A.andLepsinger,R.TheArtandScienceofCompetencyModels,Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer,1999.5

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Effec%veness,CompetenceandCompetencyModels

TypicalProblemswithCompetencyAssessmentsandModeling

Peopleoftenencounterasimilarsetofproblemswhenworkingthroughacompetencyassessmentandmodelingactivity.Oneofthemostcommonproblemsisthattheyrarelyunderstandthetruesizeoftheendeavorandtheamountoflaborrequiredtodoitwell.Becausetheytendtounderestimateit,theyoftenfailtoproducetheresultspromisedwithinthetimeframerequiredandmaylosetheirfocus,fundingorboth.

Anothertypicalproblemisthatmanagementmayconsidertheprojecttoo"academic"orimpracticalifanyofthefollowingconditionsexist:

• Theresultinglistofcompetenciesforajobistoolongtobepracticalormanageable.Forexample,onemodelwereviewedhad54competenciesforonejob,someofwhichwereobviouslytrivialandnotlikelytoproduceanaccomplishmentofgreatvalue.

• Themethodologyistooarduous,takestoolongoristoocostly.Somebusinesseswillnottolerateamethodologythatcan'tshowresultsquicklyoronethattakesmonthstoanalyzemoundsofstatistics.Theprojectdiesaslowdeath.

• Analysisparalysissetsin.Becausetheteamdoesnotapproachthetasklookingforaccomplishmentsthatmatter,theydon'tknowwheretofocus.Theytrytocoverthewholejobandeachminusculetaskinsteadoffocusingonthecompetenciesthatproducetheaccomplishmentsofvalue.Orinanefforttobediplomatic,theyattempttotalktopeopleperformingthejobfromallover,withoutregardtowhoisdoingitwell.Theyendupwithtoomuchdatathatistoohardtomanage,compileoranalyze.Theprojectstalls.

• ThecompetencymodelisdevelopedusingaFlawedmethodology.Forexample,theprocessproducesmodelsthatwould"clone"currentemployeesinapositionwithoutregardtothechangingbusinessstrategiesandnewcapabilitiesneeded.OrtheteampurchasedandFieldedgenericcompetencieswithoutregardtotheirabilitytoaddressspeciFicneedsofthebusiness.PerhapstheprocessdidtapworkerswithinthespeciFicorganizationduringthecompetencyassessmentprocessbutfailedtofocusontopperformers.Theresultingcompetencymodelmightsucceedindevelopingaverageperformersbutwillnotincreasethepercentageofexemplaryperformers.

TheSDWSolu?ontoCompetencyModeling

SDWbelievesthatitmaybepragmaticforacompanytopurchasegenericcompetencymodelsanddatabasesortodeveloporganization-speciFicmodels.However,westronglysuggestthatgroupschoosinggenericmodelsforkeytechnicalandprofessionalpositionsconsiderreFiningthesemodelstoreFlecttheaccomplishmentsandperformancethattheircompanyanditsclientsvalue.Weapplaudattemptsto

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developorganizationorenterprisespeciFicmodelsbutcautionthosewhoundertakeittocarefullyconsiderthemethodologytheyuseandtheproblemsthatcanoccur.

SDWdesignedamethodologytohelpclientsinterestedinpioneeringtheirownpositionspeciFiccompetencymodelsorinreFininggenericmodelstheymayhavepurchased.TheSDWEffectivenessAreaAssessment(EAA)methodologyisbasedontheprinciplesandguidelinesthatfollow:

1. Startwiththecompany'smissionandstrategyandanunderstandingofthebusinesscontextinwhichitcompetes.

2. Spendvaluableresourceswisely.Startwithkeyjobpositions-thosethatarestrategicinnatureandcriticalintermsofbeingabletoaccomplishstrategyandbusinessgoals.

3. Identifyanddocumenttheprimaryaccomplishmentsandoutcomesofvalue;linkaccomplishmentstobusinessstrategyandgoals.

4. Documenttheprimaryeventsandactivitiesthatareperformedtoproducethedesiredoutcomesofvalue;donotattempttocaptureeverypossibletaskinvolvedinajob.Thesearereferredtoastheposition’sEffectivenessAreas,thegrandobjectivesoftheposition.

5. Analyzeprimaryeventsandactivitiesandworkwithtopperformerstounderstandtherequiredskills,knowledgeandpersonalcharacteristicsortraitsthatpredictorenableeffectiveperformance.

TheoutputoftheEAAmethodologyisapreliminarymodelthatcanbevalidatedbothinternally(withstaffandmanagers)andexternally(throughbenchmarking).Theresultisavalid,job-speciFiceffectivenessmodelthataddressesaccomplishmentsofvaluethatareimportanttotheorganization.

BeneFitsoftheEAAincludeavoidanceofsomeofthetypicalproblemsassociatedwithcompetencymodeling.Forexample,the"analysisparalysis"phenomenoncanbeavoidedandthemodelcanbeconstructedinatimelyfashion.Additionally,theEAAmethodologyresultsinthedeFinitionofoutcomesforwhichoutputmetricscanbedeFinedtomeasurejobperformance.Furthermore,theEAAfocusesontopperformerstoidentifytheaccomplishmentsandoutcomesthatarevaluedbytheorganization.Consequently,iteliminatestheneedtointerviewandanalyzemediocreperformerstodeterminediscriminatingcompetencies.

ThematrixinFigure2illustrateshowtheSDWapproachcomparestoatypicalgenericmodelingapproachandthepureorganization-speciFic,assessmentdrivenmodelingapproach.TheEAAsupportsthedevelopmentofcompetencymodelsthatareappropriatetotheclient’svalue-producingnetwork.ThesemodelshavehighFidelityrepresenthowspeciFicjobsareperformedwithinaspeciFicorganization.They

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reFlectgoodcoverageofthecompetenciesrequiredwithinthiscontext.Asaresult,theEAAmethodologycanbeaverycosteffectiveapproachtothedevelopmentoforganization-speciFicmodels.

SDWservicesareavailabletoassistclientsinusingtheEAAmethodologytodeveloporreFinetheirpositionspeciFiccompetencymodels.Ourpreferredengagementmodelistobeginbyworkingwithseniormanagementonstrategy,visionandchallengesthatimpactbusinesssuccess.Usingthisinformationwewillworkwiththeclientteamtoselectjobpositionsthatarecriticaltotherealizationofstrategy.

Next,weprovideteamtrainingonthebackgroundanduseoftheEAAmethodology.Afterinitialtraining,wecoachandsupporttheteamasitsmembersuseittoassessandanalyzeoneoftheselectedjobpositions.ThisenablesustomodelandmonitortheuseofspeciFictechniquesfor:

• ElicitingcriticalinformationandperformingtheanalysisthatresultsinapreliminarymodelorreFinementstoanexistingmodel.

• Compilingtheinformationintoausableformat.• Validatingtheinformationusingindividualandgrouptechniques.

Afterthecompetencymodelhasbeencompletedandvalidatedfortheselectedjobposition,SDWisavailableforfollow-onreviewandcoaching,ifnecessaryastheteamcontinuestobuildmodelsforotherkeypositionswithintheirorganizationorvalue-producingnetwork.

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Cos

t and

Tim

e

Coverage, Fidelity and Potential Impact

x Organization-specific

model with full assessment

x

SDW Effectiveness

modelx

Generic model

Figure 2. Matrix of competency modeling approaches.

Any Manager’s Clear ResponsibilityBrief on Organizational DevelopmentBuilding the Self-Sustaining FirmChange as a Strategic WeaponEffective Situational DiagnosisEnhancing Managerial EffectivenessEstablishing the Organization’s DirectionHitting the Wall

How to Defeat Organizational SclerosisIs Your Company Frozen? Managing by Business Evidence New Execution AdvantageNotes on the Effective Organization Turnaround StrategiesYou and Your Situational SensitivityYou and Your Style Flexibility

Don Zillioux,Chief Scientist and CEO, SDW

For more than 20 years Don has advised a diverse variety of businesses, large and small, throughout North and Central America, Europe and Russia. He is a recognized thought leader and senior advisor in effective change management and the senior leader and chief scientist to SDW’s Worldwide Organization Effectiveness practice.

Don has worked with various Native American government and business organizations including the Seneca Tribe of New York, Gila River Community, Fort Sill Apache Tribe, Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington and the Comanche Gaming Enterprises in Oklahoma.

Along with an extensive business within the Native American communities, SDW clients have also included SKF-West Germany, University of Rochester Medical School, National Training Institute for the Deaf, Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, PURE Canadian Gaming along with many others.

Don is the author of The Results-Focused Organization, the soon to be published series of Field Guides to Organizational Effectiveness and Instrument Based Training: A Guide to Increased Effectiveness in Training. Don’s writings and consulting/advisory work focus on planned change, organizational development, managerial effectiveness, sustainable performance, effective leadership and managing change with measurable results. He has been visiting professor and lecturer at the University of Rochester, National University, USIU in San Diego and is regularly featured at the National Indian Gaming Conferences. Don has authored over 30 assessment and training instruments and over 40 specific competency focused trainings.

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