Competencies in training and competencies in human talent management.
Convergences and challenges

 

3. HUMAN TALENT MANAGEMENT (HTM) BY COMPETENCIES

The application of competencies in HTM has become a good formula for taking better advantage of people's capacities. Incorporating competencies implies inquiring not only into the results which are expected but also into the way in which the different functions that work with the people in the company can help to achieve these results.

In fact, competency models have not only concentrated on the most evident competencies, those that have to do with skills and knowledge, but have also included consideration of "softer" competencies associated with behavior and conduct. To develop a style of HTM which identifies the competencies necessary for attaining the companies' objectives and facilitates the development of its people towards these competencies, is to apply HTM by competencies.

Successful experiences in human talent management by competencies are usually due to the skill with which the organization establishes a framework of competencies which reflects its philosophy, values and strategic objectives. This framework becomes the reference point for the various activities in the HTM work cycle.

There is no single HTM model, there are different approximations and models which are derived from companies' particular expectations, objectives and motivation. Besides, not all companies use HTM models in the same way.

Human talent management by competencies stems from the development of a referential framework or competency model

In this instance, competencies are understood as the opportunity to establish a common language for describing the effectiveness of the organization. This common language guarantees that any person, irrespective of his area or level, has a clear and shared perception and understanding of what is expected of him.

In companies in Latin America and North America, many of the most developed HTM models started from the McClelland school(1), which has developed a lot with the "competency dictionaries" of some consultants that are used to organize "competency models" in companies(2).

But to really work by competencies, the company needs a frame of reference which is explicit and is supported at all levels of the organization.

The steps which are generally taken in establishing the model are:

• Consider the strategic objectives of the company
• Analyze the capacity of the organization and of its resources
• Study the financial economic viability of the model
• Understand and adopt HTM principles and structure
• Prepare the competency model
• Apply the competency profiles in the different stages of HTM

A sensitive point in the establishment of the competency model is precisely in the identification and definition of competencies. Companies have a wide range of possibilities available for this, from methodologies which facilitate the participation of the workers in the identification of competencies to those which offer veritable catalogues for company management to choose from. Some even defend the idea that management alone should control the definition of competencies for HTM.

Usually the competency "model" even includes the definition of levels and expected conduct

In these cases, a reference framework, also called a "profile" or "model", is prepared, which is developed from a nucleus of competencies that are usually fewer than 10 in number. This group of competencies is broken down into a more detailed or more specific group. These sub-competencies are usually expressed on different levels, and there is a corresponding conduct indicator for each one. The diagram below illustrates this structure:

Structure of a competency framework at company level

 

 

Usually a competency is defined, for example "Work with information", and a number of behavior indicators are associated with it, such as:

• Appropriate identification and use of information sources
• Precise identification of the type and form of information required
• Obtain relevant information and maintain it in appropriate formats

The levels aim at describing the degree of development of the competency in terms of the extent of its performance and the possibility to undertake activities such as planning, decisions by resources, or the work of others.

For example, for the indicator "Obtain relevant information and maintain it in appropriate formats", a number of levels can be considered:

Level 1: Handle information which is general and freely accessible, file it totally in computerized applications.
Level 2: Handle information of some specialization and occasionally restricted, file it according to its priority, and keep it in different computerized applications.
Level 3: Handle information of results and confidentiality, decide the kind of files to use, and occasionally prepare reports on what has been done.
Level 4: Handle confidential information, add it to restricted access files, and take charge of destroying the paper copies.

Many organizations have incorporated into their competency models the values which they wish to strengthen in work performance, and which are in some way the distinctive trademark of that organization. For example: "Clients and suppliers shall be treated as partners".

It is in these cases that competencies are often used as headings:

• Work in a team
• Analyze and share information
• Take decisions
• Personal development
• Generation and construction of ideas
• Planning and organization of work
• Meeting deadlines

Example of a framework of competencies:

General competency (in this case defined for a position in the company): Effectively supervise production.

In this example, each one of the competencies which make up the supervision profile is broken down into types of effective conduct, and these in turn are broken down into behavior indicators.

Another interesting reference is given by Perrenaud (2000) with his "10 new competencies for teaching", an interesting text in which, after in-depth research, the following profile of competencies for teachers is established:

• Organize and direct learning situations
• Administrate learning progress
• Conceive and evolve differentiation tools
• Involve the pupils in their learning and in their work
• Work in a team
• Participate in the administration of the school
• Inform and involve peers
• Use new technologies
• Face up to the duties and ethical dilemmas of the profession
• Administrate one's own continuous training

Analyzing one of these competencies, in what the author calls breaking down into more specific competencies, we have:

General competency: Administrate learning progress

- Conceive and administrate problem situations adjusted to the level and to the possibilities of the pupils
- Acquire a longitudinal vision of the objectives of teaching
- Establish links with the theories underlying learning activities
- Observe and evaluate the pupils in learning situations, in line with a training approach
- Make periodic evaluations of competencies and take decisions about progress

Against this framework, the HTM processes are developed in the way shown in the diagram below.

A typical model of human talent management

Human resources management models were traditionally defined on the basis of the life cycle of the people in the company, that is to say going through the phases of recruitment, selection, training and development, remuneration and release.

Current human talent management models include an anticipative or predictive function, a flow function and a release function

The anticipation of people's needs is now usually called "competencies". What is essential is that, in this step, organizations seek to identify the needs which, in line with the expected development of the company, will be reflected in demands for new competencies.

This activity allows the careful planning of training so that it can meet two objectives. First, to create the nexus between the competencies required and the competencies available at the present time. Second, to anticipate training activity which would cover the competencies required in the future, and also the recruitment and/or release of staff which would allow organizations to deploy these competencies.

The intermediate step in the model concentrates on the management process itself that is oriented to guaranteeing the internal flow of resources in line with needs, and to setting up activity for the training/development of competencies. In the third step, the model predicts the development activities themselves, those which secure the advancement of people and of teams through the company's structure of posts and the conformation of the best work teams to ensure that collective competency is taken advantage of. All this is rounded off, in the lower part of the diagram, with a suggestions mechanism which allows for the participation of all those who think they have something to say, something to suggest or something to improve.

It is common to find literature which concentrates human talent management on activity oriented to providing the company with the individual competencies required to function effectively. In this case, the activities of contracting and training are translated as the acquisition and development of competencies. These concepts challenge current work practices in the extreme, as can be intuited from the provocative dictum addressed to the workers of the knowledge society, "Do not seek employment, seek clients".

 

 

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(1) David McClelland, whose research in the 60s and 70s sheds a lot of light on the influence of comopetencies on people's
(2) Some consultants have dictionaries which expound hundreds of models and conduct indicators

 

 

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