What is labour competency?

Definitions of competency in the institutions involved in human resources training and development

The progress of the concept of competency has facilitated its application from the institutional perspective associated with vocational training. Some definitions coming from two institutional levels related to vocational training are provided below. The first one belongs to the executive bodies of national systems that work in the field of competencies standardisation and/or certification. The second one belongs to the vocational training institutions of the region:

Australian National Training Authority:(14) Competency is the ability to perform tasks and duties according to the job’s expected standards.

Ministry of Labour of Chile:(15) Labour competencies are the ability of an individual to perform a productive function in a variety of contexts, according to the quality requirements expected by the productive sector. As opposed to practical knowledge and aptitudes, which may be validated through diplomas and degrees issued by the technical and vocational education system, competencies require a special system of assessment and certification.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) of England:(16) it defines labour competency within the framework of national vocational qualifications.(17) NVQs are competency-based qualifications. They reflect the necessary knowledge and skills to perform in a job effectively and they show that the candidate is competent in the field of work that the NVQ represents.

NVQs are based on occupational standards to describe the competencies that a certain worker should be able to show. Such standards cover the main aspects of an occupation, the ability to adapt to future changes and the necessary knowledge and comprehension to achieve a competent performance.

In the English system, rather than focusing on a definition of labour competency, the concept underlies the very same structure of the standardised system. Labour competency is identified in standards through the definition of the elements of competency (achievements that workers can have at work), the performance criteria (definitions concerning the quality of the performance), field of application (physical area, materials, people and tools with which the worker interacts) and the knowledge required.

In this respect, five levels of competency have been defined. They allow to distinguish the degree of autonomy, the variability, the responsibility for resources, the application of basic knowledge, the range and scope of skills, the supervision over the work done by others and the transferability from one working environment to another.

Skill Standards and Certification Council (CONOCER) of Mexico:(18) The productive ability of an individual that is defined and measured in terms of performance in a certain labour context, and not only regarding knowledge, capacities, skills and attitudes; these are necessary but not enough to achieve effective performance.

Ministry of Education of Brazil:(19) Ability to articulate, mobilise and put in practice the necessary values, knowledge and skills to have an efficient performance in the activities required by the nature of the job. The Law of basic guidelines in education establishes that a person is competent when he “builds, articulates and mobilises values, knowledge and skills to solve problems –not only routine problems but also unexpected ones– in his field of action”.

National Qualifications and Vocational Training System of Spain:(20) Vocational competency is the knowledge and skills that allow exercising professional activities in conformity with the demands of employment and production.

The Spanish model includes the concept of vocational qualification, which is defined as the group of vocational competencies that are relevant to employment and that may be acquired by means of modular training or other types of training and through working experience.

National Institute of Employment (INEM) of Spain:(21) Vocational competencies define the efficient exercise of the abilities that allow an individual to perform in an occupation, in conformity with the levels required by the job. “It goes beyond the technical knowledge that refers to knowing and knowing how”. The concept of competency not only includes the abilities required to exercise a professional activity, but also the group of behaviours, ability to analyse, make decisions, transmit information, etc. that are regarded as necessary to perform in an occupation.

ILO, Recommendation 195 concerning human resources development and training: The term “competencies” covers the knowledge, skills and knowhow that are applied and mastered in a specific context.

Province of Quebec: Competencies encompass the socio-affective behaviour and the cognitive, psychological, sensorial and motor skills that allow an individual to perform adequately in a certain role, function or task.

Federal Council of Culture and Education of Argentina:(22) “An identifiable and assessable group of interrelated knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that allow an individual to perform satisfactorily in real working situations, in conformity with the standards followed in that occupational area”.

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14 Australian National Training Authority. www.anta.gov.au
15 Newspaper article concerning the proceedings of the Law of the National System of Competency Certification in 2004. www.mintrab.gob.cl
16 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). www.qca.org.uk
17 National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ).
18 CONOCER, La normalización y certificación de competencia laboral: Medio para incrementar la productividad de las empresas, Power Point presentation, March 1997.
19 Brazil, Law 9.394 of 1996. It establishes the basic guidelines of national education. The guiding principle of the curricular organisation of vocational education is competency-based training.
20 Law 5 of June 19, 2002. On qualifications and vocational training. www.mec.es
21 National Employment Institute (INEM), Metodología para la ordenación de la formación profesional ocupacional. Subdirección general de gestión de formación ocupacional, Madrid, 1995.
22 Res. Nº55/96, Consejo Federal de Cultura y Educación, Argentina, Cinterfor Bulletin/ILO Nº 141, December 1997.