COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Recent developments. Some experiences. January 2003

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Labour competency in human resources management

Besides the analysis done taking initiatives from different business sectors, it would be well to note that the concept of "competency" is being applied progressively in organizations, where it is focused on human resources management. In the framework of the new economic reality and changing environmental conditions, companies have begun to inquire into the key competencies which they must stimulate, and into the ways in which these competencies can be developed and shared with all their personnel.

The key competencies in an organization define a certain corporate identity, they are the values and the business skills with which a competitive advantage is generated for the company. An improvement in competitive conduct is being brought about through the definition of a generalized framework of competencies for the organization.

More and more companies are basing the structure of their human resources management model on labour competency. This almost always implies the definition of a group of key competencies in the organization, and these become the references points for the different phases of the management process (selection, training, development, remuneration).

This is the case in Volkswagen of Mexico, which openly acknowledges a philosophy based on the explicit recognition that the organization achieves its objectives through its personnel. Personnel performance is made up of three components: vision of the ultimate goal; capacity, which has to do with knowledge, skills, processes and resources; and willingness, which includes commitment, relevance, attitudes and emotions. In addition to this, the company has raised the educational requirements for entry, and it promotes a culture of quality certification. The selection and training procedures in the company are channeled in line with this corporate philosophy10.

The Mavesa, a company in Venezuela that employs 3,000 workers, has set out to capture the market in the Andean countries. Part of the organizational culture is a model of human resources management by competencies, which contains premises like: · make our personnel our main competitive advantage · the quality of people as the origin of all quality · high priority to internal development and promotion · the line manager as human resources manager · centralization of strategy, decentralization of decision-making The concept of competency: personal characteristics which when applied or demonstrated in different situations translate into superior performance, which contributes to attaining the key objectives of the business.

In the chemical industry sector, Dow Chemical Argentina maintains an information system linked up to the company world wide. This network makes it easy for any of the 40,000 workers to know which competencies are required to occupy any position in the organization. The company makes explicit a group of key competencies like initiative, innovation, interpersonal efficacy, leadership, learning, focus on the market, teamwork and the creation of value, in addition to the functional competencies. This definition is mixed with new strategies of competency evaluation such as all-round evaluation, by which the employee can make a self-diagnosis of his performance in each of the competencies11.

The common denominator in almost all the experiences analyzed is the exposure of the company to a highly competitive environment on a world wide scale. Besides, the unilateral definition of competency is fixed as a requirement, and around it is woven institutional support for the connections and the development of human resources. We will return to this particular characteristic below.

The known experiences are based on applications of the conduct focus of labour competency, according to which the competencies which the best workers exhibit are identified and then set up as the reference points for improved performance. Some characteristics of this focus are presented below:

The emphasis in the company: One of the main characteristics of these experiences is the focus on the problem at company level. The principles of competitiveness and the values of the firm prevail, and these are usually promulgated and unified world-wide. The premise which facilitates this methodological stance is derived from considering that the competencies for the same occupation in two different organizations can differ. The philosophy of organization, production and service to the client vary from company to company, and in this case each one must find its own key competencies so that its personnel can attain the desired objectives 12.

Reference to the best: The conduct-type models of management by competencies identify the best workers, those who are getting the best results, and use them to establish competency profiles. The supposition is that if the best performance becomes a standard the organization as a whole will increase productivity.

Competencies designed rather than consulted: Some of the competencies which are required in an organization are not obtained through consultation with the workers. That would not be sufficient. It is necessary for management to define the kinds of competencies it expects from its personnel in order to reach its goals, and include them in the standards so they can be known and taught. According to this idea, the workers are not the end of the story when it comes to defining competencies; consultation with them is necessary but not sufficient.

 

 

 

 

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10. Presentation by the human resources management of Wolskwagen Mexico at the seminar "Training and skilling in the face of the challenges which economic opening and the re-structuring of companies present", Mexico City, 15 and 16 July 1999.
11. Taken from "New Management Model", La Nación, 25 July 1999, Buenos Aires.
12. Cubeiro, Juan Carlos. Cómo sacarle fruto a la gestión por competencias. Training and Development Digest, May 1998.

 

 

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