INTRODUCTION OF PROJECT

Purpose of Study Object of study Hypotheses Scope

Purpose of Study
In the present Competitive business world, the human capital has become the most important resource. Thus, it is necessary to understand various tools of proper management of Human resources. Competency Mapping, which is yet unexplored in India, is considered as one of the best HR tool, which leads in most adequate recruitment, and selection of an employee. Thus to have the in depth knowledge of Competency Mapping, the study is done. And apart from that, it is also necessary to find its importance and Applications in an organization. Apart from this, the study is done with the object to understand Competency Mapping for an Individual.

Objectives of Study
The primary objectives of the study are: Understanding Competency Mapping To comprehend how Competency Mapping is linked to various HR practices.

The secondary objectives are: To find the Impact of Competency mapping on Individuals Growth To understand the process of implementing Competency Mapping in an organization To understand Assessment Development Centres (ADC) and 360 To determine the importance of Competency Mapping

Hypotheses
The hypotheses of the study are set as follows: Competency Mapping ensures Optimum Utilization of resources. Competency Mapping ensures development of employees skills and productivity. Competency Mapping helps individuals in selecting a job that suits them at most. Competency Mapping helps organizations not only in selecting round pegs for round holes, but also makes small round into larger one.

Scope
To understand Competency mapping and its impact on productivity of organization, the need to understand Competency mapping per se is indispensable. A detailed study of Competency mapping has been made by studying various literatures on competency mapping and by referring various articles on the same. The effort is made to understand various measurements, importance and application precisely. The process of designing a Competency Model and its proper implementation in an Organization is also studied and understood with the help of articles and various literatures. For the assessment of Competencies of an Individual, An assessment Tool is designed and the feedback is collected from 12 persons ranging from friends, teachers, classmates and family members of the Candidate using 360 Feedback system. And in order to understand the HR tools and techniques with practical knowledge, Study has been made on HR practices of a manufacturing firm, Narayan Granites Pvt. Ltd

What is Competency Mapping?

Introduction History Concept of Competency Mapping

INTRODUCTION
In the modern complex world, which is characterized by scarcity of resources, it has become first and foremost object of every businessperson to use the available resources efficiently and in best way. The different resources include Men (manpower viz... labours and employees), Material (raw materials and fuel), Machinery (Plant, machinery and tools) and Money (Capital). To maximize returns and minimize wastage all these resources must be properly synchronized. Man power, both technical and managerial, is the most important resource of organization. No other factor can be utilized efficiently without manpower. Thus, its mismatch with any of the factor will give rise to wastage of time, money and efforts, leading to loss of efficiency. Thus, it is very necessary to use this resource effectively. However, the most important resource is also the most difficult to manage. The reason for this difficulty is that no two persons are similar. Each person is been endowed with different qualities, skills, attitudes, motives, knowledge etc Moreover, these factors have an imperative impact on their performance. Thus, concisely one can conclude and come to a point that selection and recruitment of employees forms one of the crucial functions of an Organization. Human Resource Management performs the function of Recruitment, selection, training, development and remuneration. In addition, among these recruitment and selection functions seems to be the most difficult one as they deal with selection and appointment of employees. It is the efficiency of HRM in performing these two functions, which leads to overall efficiency in an organization. Thus, it is necessary to recruit the individual who is required by the organization. In other words, the individual who is best suited to do the job must be selected. It will be wastage of resources if a person who does not suit the job and cannot do the job efficiently is been selected.

Now, the question may arise that How it is possible to find which person is suitable to do a particular job? To determine the most apposite individual for their suitability for different functional tasks, currently most of the organizations are using different assessment techniques. Some of the popular techniques include personal interviews (personal interaction which forms means to identify skills and assess knowledge), Group discussions (with the purpose to discover leadership skills, communication skills and behavior in-group and with peer) and some written tests (these tests were conducted to assessing knowledge). Nevertheless, these methods have been found to have severe limitations. Different assessment approaches were developed and adopted including personality tests, thematic tests, psychometric tests etc These tests have improved assessment of candidate but still the reliability of the test result is not adequate to forecast effectiveness of the candidate for the job. It was found by the research conducted by Industrial and Organizational Psychologists that effectiveness of a person to carry out a job depends not only on a single or isolated factor but on set of many different factors. Such set of factors that help the possessor to be proficient in a particular job is termed as Competency for the particular job.

HISTORY
The term competency has been defined in the literature from several different points of view. It was originally used in the field of education to describe trainee teacher behaviors. This was implemented and successfully used by Prof. Bowden and Dr. Masters. Then later on this concept became very popular and widely exploited in the management field of management through the work of Boyatzis However, the term competency was not ``owned'' by any particular group. In fact, a variety of stakeholders was involved in using the term, each with their own agendas. According to Sir Burgoyne, Competency mapping was used in the following fields in different ways. Psychologists were concerned with the concept as a measure of ability and whether the observable performance of a person represented his underlying traits or capacity. Management theorists applied a functional analysis to define how organizational goals were to be best achieved through improved individual performance Human resource managers viewed the concept as a technical tool to implement strategic direction through the tactics of recruitment, placement, training, assessment, promotion, reward systems and personnel planning. Educationists attempted to relate the idea of work preparation and professional recognition with that of a broad education. Politicians, including those involved in the political process such as Trade Unions, Employer groups and political parties, particularly in the UK and Australia, have used the concept as a means of improving the efficiency of the labor market.

David McClelland the famous Harvard Psychologist has pioneered the competency movement across the world. His classic books on "Talent and Society", "Achievement Motive", "The Achieving Society", "Motivating Economic Achievement" and "Power the Inner Experience" brought out several new dimensions of the competencies. These competencies exposed by McClelland dealt with the affective domain in Bloom's terminology. The turning point for competency movement was the article published in American Psychologist in 1973 by McClelland. Where in he presented data that traditional achievement, intelligence scores may not be able to predict job success, and what is required is to profile the exact competencies required to perform a given job effectively and measure them using a variety of tests. This article combined with the work done by Douglas Brey and his associates at AT&T in the US where in they presented evidence that competencies can be assessed through assessment centers an on the job success can be predicted to some extent by the same has laid foundation for popularization of the competency movement. Latter McBer a Consulting Firm founded by David McClelland and his associate Berlew have specialized in mapping the competencies of entrepreneurs and managers across the world. They even developed a new and yet simple methodology called the Behavior Event Interviewing (BEI) to map the competencies. With increased recognition of the limitations, performance appraisal in predicting future performance potential appraisal was focused. In addition, Assessment centers became popular in seventies. The setting up an Assessment center was in integral part of the HRD plan given to L&T by the IIM-A professors as early as in 1975. L&T did competency mapping and could not start assessment centers until much latter as it was not perceived as a priority area.

10

CONCEPT OF COMPETENCY MAPPING

Among the innumerous definitions for competency, a simplest one among them is:

ompetency for the job can be defined as a set of human attributes that enable an employee to meet and exceed

expectations of his internal as well as external customers and stake holders. "The competency framework serves as the bedrock for all HR applications. As a result of competency mapping, all the HR processes like talent induction, management development, appraisals and training yield much better results," states wellknown HR consultant Ullhas Pagey
It has been a general observation that hard work, sincerity, knowledge and intelligence alone does not make a person star performer in his profession. But apart from these, there are many other factors that help an individual to excel in his job. Thus the above definition implies that Competencies of a job refer to those factors which a person must posses and which assists an individual to do his job efficiently and to meet and exceed expectations of organization and external factors like customers and shareholders. In other words, these are the factors, which enable an individual to meet organizational goals along with personal goals. This concept of competencies can be better understood with the help of following instance, the top scorer of a class is not always the most intelligent or the most hardworking student of the class, but rather he is good at presenting answers and also good in time management. Similarly, a top scorer in Objective type test is not able to hold the same position in descriptive type of tests. This is because he has the competencies required to excel in objective type test and do not posses competencies required for a descriptive type of

11

test. For better understanding, let us take an example of good runner. A good runner cannot always be a good cricket player or a good football player. He has the ability to run fast but not the abilities like concentration, good batsman ship etc..., which is required to be a good cricket player. Thus, set of human qualities and attributes that make a person star performer for a particular activity defines the Competency for that particular activity.

Thus in an organization managers are generally aware of the skills and qualities that a [person must posses in order to do a job effectively, and they make use of their own knowledge and experience to select and train their subordinates. In an organizational and business context, competency required for a particular job depends on many factors. The factors includes Social culture, nature of business, business environment, organizational cultures, work environment, duties and responsibilities, nature of processes and assigned activities, attitude, motives of colleagues, superiors and subordinates etc.. Some of these factors may change with the time and thus changing competency requirements for the same job position in the organization. As discussed earlier, every different type of task demands a unique set of competencies and as in an organization the number of tasks are innumerable, it is difficult to maintain many sets. For this purpose, the job competency is divided into following elemental competencies. Elemental Competency: - It is also popularly termed as Task Competency. It is an ability to do a particular type of task. A job consists of many different types of tasks, thus requiring different elemental competencies. The elemental competencies can be standardized, precisely differentiated, developed into a model across the organization and are easier to identify, study, understand map assess and develop. Generally, the competencies discussed in HR are Elemental Competencies. The examples for the elemental competencies could be

12

Communication skills, business skills, achievement orientation or drive, decision-making, analytical skills, etc Behavioral Indicators: - The overall competency requirement for a job needs to be understood in terms of elemental competencies, which depend upon education, knowledge, training, experience, technical and non-technical skills, attitude, personal skills, etc... And some of these attributes are difficult to objectively asses and measure. However, persons with high competency for a particular task demonstrate certain logically associated behavior, which can be used to identify the factors that make the person highly competent for the task.

13

OMPETENCY MAPPING: TYPES AND APPLICATION

Types Application

14

TYPES
Competencies, as defined earlier, they are the skills or qualities required for doing the specified work in successful way. The Competencies can be classified into different categories However, in the present competitive business world, the competencies are seen and classified in a different way. Many HR experts believe that the competencies of individuals could be related to their performance in a particular job. This idea was first broached by McClelland, who proposed that a person could be assessed on the basis of their ability to carry out the functions required of them in a specific role. Such an assessment would be of assistance in evaluating a persons performance, and in determining a future career path. It is thus related to classification of competencies based on their effects on an individual employees performance rather than the activities of the company for which the employee works. Thus as per this, the competencies can be categorized asCore Competencies; Job Specific Competencies; General Management Competencies; Corporate Specific Competencies. Each of these four categories can be measured to evaluate not only whether a person has a particular competence, but also at what level, and it is a high score that predicts superior performance in that activity. In order to have precise understanding of different types of Performance based competencies, let us look on their definitions.

Core Competencies
It will not be an exaggeration to say that, In order to understand the concept of Competency Mapping one must have the knowledge and be familiar with the term Core competencies. Core, as the name signifies, refers to the most important and vital part of a thing. Thus, Core Competencies are those capabilities that are critical to

15

a business achieving competitive advantage. In other words, Core competencies refer to the competencies, which are very critical for doing a work of business. The main ideas about Core Competencies where developed by C K Prahalad and G Hamel through a series of articles in the Harvard Business Review followed by a best-selling book - Competing for the Future. Their central idea is that over time companies may develop key areas of expertise, which are distinctive to that company and critical to the company's long-term growth. In the 1990s managers will be judged on their ability to identify, cultivate, and exploit the core competencies that make growth possible - indeed, they'll have to rethink the concept of the corporation it self- C K Prahalad and G Hamel For example, for a manufacturer of electronic equipment, key areas of expertise could be in the design of the electronic components and circuits. For a ceramics manufacturer, they could be the routines and processes at the heart of the production process. For a software company the key skills may be in the overall simplicity and utility of the program for users or alternatively in the high quality of software code writing they have achieved. In addition, for a retail firm, the customer service becomes the Core competency. It must be noted that Core Competencies are not seen as being fixed. Core Competencies should change in response to changes in the company's environment. They are flexible and evolve over time. As a business evolves and adapts to new circumstances and opportunities, so its Core Competencies will have to adapt and change. A competence which is central to the business's operations but which is not exceptional in some way should not be considered as a core competence, as it will not differentiate the business from any other similar businesses. For example, a process, which uses common computer components and is staffed by people with only basic training, cannot be regarded as a core competence. Such a process is highly unlikely to generate a differentiated advantage over rival businesses. However it is possible to develop such a process into a core competence with suitable investment in equipment and training

16

Job Specific Competencies

Job specific competencies (JSCs) are the aspects of activities in a particular role or position, which are associated with effective performance. As the name signifies, they mean the skills and ability to the job adeptly. They are the attributes that are required to carry out a specific job successfully. One example of a job-specific competency is the knowledge needed by a baker to recognize the optimum time to take bread out of an oven so that it will be baked to its best. If he leaves the bakery and takes a different job, as a bricklayer for instance, the JSCs of his previous function are of little use. He could not be as successful in the current task, as he was as a baker. Each job requires certain competencies in order for the incumbent to be successful. The range of JSCs is infinite, as each function in each organization has its own distinct cluster of competencies. Such JSCs are often not transferable and do not therefore indicate favorable performance in other functions. Nevertheless, successful performance in a particular position often caused by having the necessary JSCs is frequently a cause for a persons promotion, according to McClelland and Boyatzis

General Management Competencies

General management competencies (GMCs) are the ways in which a person interacts with other people in an organization, be they peers, superiors, staff or subordinates. These competencies include the behavior of the candidate, with his collogues, subordinates and also with his superiors. These represent the social attitude of the individual. Almost every job requires interaction with people, regardless of the type of organization or the seniority of the position held. Thus, GMCs are normally an essential requirement in any job.

Some of the examples of GMCs could beAction management encompasses deciding on action and standards; Monitoring progress; and the taking of corrective action in relation to results;

17

Change management the willingness to take responsibility and accept change; Co-ordination the ongoing integration of actions and people; Creativity the ability to visualize and effect changes with appropriate insight and originality; Leadership the effective influence on other people in relation to a purpose or goal; Motivation the building of commitment, and the awareness and ability to stimulate and control others successfully; Organization determining resources, and how to organize and apply them in the light of the perception and evaluation of alternatives; Planning analyzing and deciding relevant goals and potentials as well as the sequence of sustained action necessary for those goals to be accomplished efficiently and appropriately.

Corporate Specific Competencies

Corporate specific competencies (CSCs) are the means by which a person adjusts his/her way of working in order to operate within the culture of an organization, irrespective of the particular role, which he or she occupies. While job specific and general management competencies relate directly to a persons performance in their allocated task, CSCs are associated with an individuals level of success in the organization as a whole. Hence, a manager who performs to a high level, in whatever jobs or roles he/she is appointed to, is also likely to exhibit CSCs, which are in tune with his or her companys culture. On the other hand, a manager who performs favorably throughout his or her career in one baking company may not do so well on transferring to a similar position in another bakery because his or her CSCs do not fit with the culture of the new firm.

18

Some of the compositions of CSCs could beBoundary the need to identify, act and respond within the defined boundaries associated with a job. Individuals should focus their attentions on the tasks contained within those limits and should not overstep them. System a knowledge of how to work the system of the corporation, including how to network and facilitate. Without this ability, individuals will not succeed, regardless of their other attributes. Intellect the ability to grasp, put into context, and responds to relevant issues efficiently and quickly. This generally requires an understanding of the business and an ability to filter data. Attitude this refers to the responsive style required by the organization. An employee who is tense and risk-taking by nature is unlikely to succeed in a company, which is cautious and easy going.

19

APPLICATION
Competency mapping is one of the most important developments for HR function. It provides much needed objectivity to HR practices and HR linked activities. Now the assessment role of HR has changed from support function to core function with the help of Competency mapping. With the competency, based HR systems and programmes HR function can directly contribute to organize effectiveness. By mapping the competencies, following functions can be performed effectively and efficiently. Thus, the competency can be used for the following application: Candidate Appraisal for the purpose of Recruitment Potentials appraisal for promotion and Functional shifts Employee Training need Identifications Employee performance diagnostics Employee self-development initiatives Retention strategy

Candidate Appraisal for the purpose of Recruitment

As discussed earlier, Manpower, both technical as well as managerial, is the most important resource of an organization. Every other factor is directly related to and directly influenced by the manpower. Thus, it is necessary and indispensable to select the right candidate i.e... Right employee. A wrong selection leads to wastage of money in terms of recruitment costs, training cost and results in wastage of efforts and time. Thus, Competency mapping solves the problem of correct recruitment of employees. It helps the HR by providing various skills and qualities (competencies) required to be held by a candidate to perform the job efficiently. Based on the competencies recruitment of candidate is done. The Competencies of candidate and competencies required for the job are compared and matched. Thus, form a comparison the HR can easily determine and find out who is more suitable to the job effectively. In this way Competency mapping helps HR in proper recruitment of manpower.

20

It also helps the individual candidate to determine which jobs are more suitable to him. His assessment for the required Competencies will allow him to decide the job in which he is interested and in which he can work efficiently. Thus, Competency mapping helps not only organizations but also individuals by guiding them on which job suits them and it helps organization by guiding them on how to select the candidates.

Potentials appraisal for promotion and Functional shift

No job is congruent to each other. In other words, each and every job demands different skills. A person having competencies to do a particular job may not be able to do other jobs, i.e... A performing outstanding in a particular job may not perform equally efficiently in other job. Similarly, an excellent performer in junior position may not necessarily perform to the expectations when promoted the senior position. In addition, the other way is also a possible case, i.e. An average performer in a junior position may turn into super performer when promoted to senior position. Similarly, a successful person in one department may turn out to be an unsatisfactory in another department and also a not so competent person in one department may give excellent results in other departments. The main reason underlying this is the competencies of the particular job and competencies of the person. A person outstands in a particular job if he possesses the competencies required for doing the job a d the vice-versa. In the course of time, a person may develop competencies other than what he initially possessed, these competencies could be used to do other higher-level jobs, thus he will outperform in the higher jobs. For instance, an assistant doctor, after some period, i.e. after gaining some experience and perfection, he becomes a practitioner. Also a Finance manager after gaining knowledge of all functions of management, he can become General Manager. Thus, Competency mapping can be applied in promoting the candidate form one level to the other based on their competencies. Similarly, they can also be transferred form on department to the (Functional Shift).

21

Employee Training need Identifications

Competency mapping not only deals with recruitment of employee. Its functions are not only confined to matching the competencies of individuals with that of the Job. Besides this, it also provides means to benchmark the candidates competencies with the set targets. In simple words, Candidates weakness with respect to the required competencies discovered in the assessment shows opportunity for development of the candidate. Inorder to find out the weakness, Employee Competency assessment can be carried out periodically, preferably along with performance appraisal, to identify development needs of every employee. Thus, this also has a scope of development of candidate. In a periodic assessment, if a candidate is found to be lacking sues competencies, and then these competencies can be developed by means of training and other development tools. The effectiveness of training can also be found out by re basement of employee competencies and also performance appraisal. Generally, Core competencies are used for training need identification.

Employee performance diagnostics

An employee may not perform well or there could be sudden fall in his performance level due to some problems. The problems could be uncontrollable or not answerable like personal problems, Health or etc However, the performance may even fall due to lack of required competencies. In case of fall in performance due to lack of competencies, a detailed assessment must be made for core as well as support competencies and any observed inadequacy should be carefully studied to understand its effect before taking any remedial measures. Thus in this way Competency mapping technique can be applies for diagnosing the performance of a candidate and also improve that in case of any inadequacy.

22

Employee self development initiatives

The mapping of competencies is not only beneficial to the organization, but it proves useful even to the employees. The competency map and the behavioral indicators help the individual to understand direction for their own development. They can very easily identify the gaps and work on the inadequacies. This allows them to understand their weakness and try to improve that. It acts as feedback for the skills (competencies). Performance appraisal with traditional method can assess the performance with respect to set targets, but these appraisals do not guide for the improving the performance. Using the job descriptions and the performance appraisal process as a foundation, Human Resources can provide coaching for individuals based on their unique developmental needs. For example, if a sales representative is interested in a position as Sales Manager, a Human Resources professional can counsel this person about current strengths and areas for improvement and point out the competency levels required for the higher-level position. Then the employee and the HR person can jointly map out a plan for the employees development (courses, workshops, mentoring, etc.) The competency map indicates the competencies that are required for improved performance and behavioral indicators shows the factors that build up the ompetency. However, for this organization I would like to suggest that for this purpose Organizations should developed to all employs for reference and study.

Retention Strategies
Competency mapping not only helps in recruitment of proper employee, training for the needful employee but it also helps in retaining the employees. It can play a significant role in retaining people as it gives a more accurate analysis of the job requirements, the candidate's capability, of the difference between the two, and the development and training needs to bridge the gaps. Once the organization gives an employee the perspective of what is required from him to reach a particular position, it drives him to develop the competencies for the same. "Competencies enable individuals to identify and articulate what they offer-

23

regardless of the job they happen to have at the time-so that their organization can see, value and utilize what capability is actually available," says Martin. It is also possible to retain the employee because of following benefits of the Competency Mapping Helps identify the success criteria (i.e. behavioural standards of performance excellence) required for individuals to be successful in their roles Support specific and objective assessment of their strengths, and specify targeted areas for professional development. Provide development tools and methods for enhancing their skills. Provide the basis for a more objective dialogue with their manager or team about performance, development, and career-related issues. Thus, it can be said that Competency mapping can also be applied for retaining an employee. Thus in can be finally understood that competency mapping can be applied in wide verities of HR activities. Be it a recruitment, selection, training, development retention and even remuneration. Remuneration to a candidate can be paid based on his performance. And In order to appraise and assess ones performance his competencies must be identified. Thus, remuneration can be paid to candidates based on their skills and talents.

24

ompetency Assessment

Assessment Centres (ADC) 360 Feedback

Development

Behavioral Event Interview (BEI)

25

After the competencies of a Job are determined and the jobs are allotted to the candidates based on their competencies, it becomes necessary to evaluate the performance of the candidate. In order to assess the effectiveness of competencybased recruitment and the productivity of an individual it becomes indispensable to assess the competencies of the individual periodically. But the competencies are nothing but the skills and qualities of an individual. Thus cannot be assessed easily due to their subjective nature. However, efforts have been made to assess these qualities using various tools. There are a number of ways to assess competencies. Assessment methods vary in degrees of precision, complexity, and time and effort to administer. One relatively simple assessment method is to infer what the competencies are from the employees job class specifications and position descriptions. This would give a very general idea of the number of employees who are presumed to have certain knowledge and skill sets. The problem with this approach is its lack of precision. For example, because it does not look at the employee, it will not identify available competencies that are not represented in the existing class specification. As such, the organization could miss some good opportunities for selecting and developing from within. Nonetheless, as a first cut or where the organization has limited workforce-planning capability, this may be the approach to take in the beginning. A better, more precise approach is to conduct an actual assessment of employees competency levels. An actual assessment will provide much more useful information for determining the number of those available and capable of fulfilling future functional requirements. It will give good information as to what recruitment, training, and other strategies need to be deployed to address workforce gaps and surpluses. One way of determining actual competencies is to conduct a general assessment of employees using a checklist of the future desired competencies that have been identified through the Demand Forecast. The checklist might also include a rating of

26

competency level, such as advanced, intermediate, beginning or none. This information would be helpful for identifying succession planning or training strategies. It is suggested that each the manager and the employee conduct the assessment, and then collaborate on the results. Competency assessment information can also be obtained through existing tools such as the Employee Development & Performance Plan (EDPP), Management Development & Performance Plan (MDPP), and the META 360-assessment tool for managers. As mentioned previously, conducting an actual assessment can get very complicated depending on what approach is taken. For example, some organizations conduct thorough job analyses and individual employee assessments by multiple sources, including the employee. The degree of precision needed by the organization, its culture, and time and resource availability are some of the key factors influencing which approach to take. Though there are many assessment tools, among them Assessment centre and 360 Feedback system are most popular and widely adopted.

27

ASSESSMENT & DEVELOPMENT CENTERS (ADC)

Introduction
An Assessment centre (AC) is a comprehensive, standardized procedure in which multiple assessment techniques such as situational exercises and job simulation (business games, discussions, reports, and presentations) are used to evaluate the employees for a variety of manpower decisions. An assessment centre consists of a standardized evaluation of behavior based on multiple inputs. Several trained observers and techniques are used. These specially trained observers make judgments about behavior. At the end of the assessment the assessors get together to share their data which is scientifically recorded on a set of evaluation forms. They come to a consensus on the assessments of each candidate. Most frequently, the approach has been applied to individuals being considered for selection, promotion, placement, or special training and development in management. Thus, Assessment centre is the method of evaluating an individual based on his performance in various business simulation exercises (Group discussion, case study, Analytical Thinking, psychometric tests, Business games, etc...) and other personality tests. Through this various inert skills and competencies of an individual like communication skills, emotional quotient(EQ), intelligence quotient(IQ), decision making, planning, leadership, group behavior, time management and academics and many more.

History
Assessment centres methodology is known to have been used or recommended at least 1500 years ago in India as mentioned in Kautilyas Arthashastra. Different methods of assessing a candidate for ministerial positions have been spelt out in the Arthashastra including observation, performance appraisal, assessment (by those who knew him), interviewing, and other forms of testing.

28

Early application of assessment centres can be traced to the German military assessment programme developed for selection of officers for the German Army. Both multiple assessment techniques and multiple assessors to evaluate complex behavior with special focus on leadership were used. Assessment was based on subjective opinions and very little rating was done. The British War Office Selection Boards (WOSB) were set up in 1942 for identifying potential officers for the British army. Boards used a mixture of military officers, psychiatrists, and psychologists to assess the candidates performance. Tests included group discussions, short lectures, leaderless group tasks - all of which are still used in assessment centre methodology. The methods were later adopted by the United States after it entered the war, and the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS) drew upon British, German, and American tests to define nine dimensions it regarded as critical for the selection of agents and operatives. In 1945, the WOSB model was adopted for recruitment to permanent posts in the British Civil services. In 1956, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) initiated its management progress study (MPS) under Douglas Bray. This was the first industrial application of the assessment centre methodology. Both individual characteristics of young managers as well as organizational settings in which they worked were studied and evaluation at the assessment centre was used to predict whether the participant would make it to the middle management in the next ten years or less. The sample included both recent college graduates and non-management personnel who had risen to the managerial positions relatively early in their career. The dimensions assessed included managerial functions like organizing, planning, decision-making, general ability such as intellectual ability, personal impression, sensitivity, and values and attitudes, both work related and social. Assessment tools like interviews covering background, personal objectives, social values, interests, etc., in - basket exercises, business games, leaderless group discussion, and various projective and chapter and pencil tests were used. Assessors included industrial/clinical psychologists, Bell staff, and university faculty or consultants. Later, line managers were also trained (but supervisors of assesses were not used as assessors). Feedback was not given to participants, their supervisors, or

29

other managers to minimize the effect of assessment on the individuals progress in the company. The success of the earlier work of AT&T was followed by Standard Oil which was the second to a start assessment centres. This was followed by IBM, Sears Roebuck, General Electric, and Caterpillar tractors. By 1981 more than 2500 organizations applied the methodology to select potential managers.

In Asia
The first assessment centre in Asia was for selecting project leaders for the entrepreneurship development programme in Gujarat. Subsequently, efforts were made to introduce it in Larsen and Toubro by Sir TVRao and Mr. Uday parekh in the year 1975. LnT did a lot of work on job profiling but never got to the stage of developing an assessment centre for potential appraisal. In 1985, with the efforts of Mr. Varghese, Crompton Greaves attempted to use an assessment centre approach for selecting their general managers from within. This was again a one- time effort. Subsequently an attempt was made in Ballarpur Industries (T) by Anil Dixit with the help of the Behavioural Science Centre. However, this did not stabilize owing to resistance from line managers and change of leadership in HR. It is only in the 1990s that interest in assessment centres was renewed. This was a natural response to the need to ensure competent people staffing strategic positions. A large number of Asian companies have established assessment centres and many others are exploring. The companies that are trying out include : RPG Group, Escorts, TISCO, Aditya Birla Group, Eicher, Cadburys, Castrol (India), Glaxo, Grindwell Norton, ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra, SAIL, Siemens, Wipro, Wockhardt, and J and J. Different organizations initiated assessment centres for recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, career development, performance appraisal, and succession planning and development purposes such as identification of training needs, identification high potential managers, create a pool of managerial talent and multifunctional managers that would be available across the business group,

30

employee recognition and fast growth. Philips, Dr. Reddys Laboratories, and Global Trust Bank are organizations that have been using assessment centres. Some of these organizations are, in the process of developing Indian managerial talent and measure it periodically. Generally, the competencies that are to be measured are determined by each organization by using methods such as job analysis, managerial aptitude profile surveys, identifying competencies in star performers, etc. A variety of assessment techniques are used in Asian organizations like in-baskets, business simulations, questionnaires, group discussions, role plays, interviews, case study, individual presentations, etc. While the need is felt by all organizations to test reliability and validity of the tools used, many of them are not testing them. Both internal and external assessors are used for evaluation. Assessor training is done either through in-house training programmes or with the aid of external institutions like Academy of HRD (Hyderabad), SHL (UK), etc. Some Asian organizations have also sought assistance from organizations abroad that are using assessment centres such as GE, and Motorola. Certain criteria are laid down such as minimum years of experience with the organization, proven record of accomplishment, educational qualifications, etc. to be eligible to go through assessment centres. Post - assessment participants are provided with feedback, counseling, and other developmental inputs in the case of development centres.

Concept
The term assessment centre does not refer to a physical place. It instead describes an approach. Traditionally an assessment centre consisted of a suite of exercises designed to assess a set of personal characteristics, it was seen as a rather formal process where the individuals being assessed had the results fed back to them in the context of a simple yes/no selection decision. However, recently we have seen a definite shift in thinking away from this traditional view of an assessment centre to one, which stresses the developmental aspect of assessment. A consequence of this is that today it is very rare to come across an assessment centre which does not have at least some developmental aspect to it, increasingly assessment centres are stressing a collaborative approach which involves the individual actively participating

31

in the process rather than being a passive recipient of it. In some cases we can even find assessment centres that are so developmental in their approach that most of the assessment work done is carried out by the participants themselves and the major function of the centre is to provide the participants with feedback that is as much developmental as judgmental in nature. In order to understand the concept of assessment centres, it is necessary to study its key features. The salient features of an Assessment Centre are: Assessment/development centres have a number of key features. They are essentially multiple assessment processes, and there are various ways in which that is so: a group of candidates / participants takes part in a variety of exercises, observed by a team of trained assessors/observers, who evaluate each candidate/participant against a number of predetermined, job-related behaviors. Decisions (for assessment or development) are then made by pooling shared data. These aspects are described below.

Multiple candidates/participants
One of the key features of an assessment / development centre is that a number of candidates/participants are brought together for the event (physically or via information technology). The plurality of candidates ensures more precise assessment and comprehensive evaluation of candidates. Combination of methods The focal point of most assessment/development centres is the use of simulations. The principle of their design is to replicate, so far as is possible, the key aspects of situations that individuals would encounter in the job for which they are being considered. To gain a full understanding of a persons range of capabilities, it is usually the case that one simulation is insufficient to develop anything like a complete picture. Some of the various types of simulations and other exercises are Case study Report Writing

32

In-Tray exercises Role plays Group exercises Analysis presentations Psychometric tests Business/Management Games Leaderless Group Discussion (LGD)

Team of assessors/observers To break out of the difficulties that are associated with the one-on-one interview, used either as a means of selection or in some aspects of performance measurement, it is important to use a team of assessors/observers. Ideally, each assessor/observer should be able to observe each participant in at least one of the various situations in which they are asked to perform, to aid objectivity. Shared data Data about candidates/participants is shared between the assessors/observers at the end of the process. In the case of selection, no final decision is made until all the evidence is gathered from observations of candidates in all the various situations and combined into a final rating by consensus following a discussion among assessors or by statistical integration of ratings. In the case of a development centre, there may be no final score, as the primary objective of the data sharing is to collect information together to feed back to participants on their comparative strengths and weaknesses. Indeed, in some development centres the data is shared with the participants as the centre progresses. Assessment Center vs. Development Centre Assessment Center as defined earlier is the approach wherein the competencies of an individual are assessed with the help of series of exercises and tests. However, the prima object is to assess i.e. find out the competencies of the individual for the sole purpose of Recruitment. It is not concerned with the aspect of development.

33

On the Other hand Development Centre is also a approach of assessing competencies with the help of similar exercises, but here the object is not only to find out the competencies, but the prima object is to develop the qualities of the candidate. Unlike Assessment centers, whose focus is on individuals present abilities, it focuses on Potentials of the individual. The type of centre can vary between the traditional assessment centre used purely for selection to the more modern development centre which involves selfassessment and whose primary purpose is development. One might ask the question 'Why group assessment and development centres together if they have different purposes?' The answer to that question is threefold. Firstly, they both involve assessment and it is only the end use of the information obtained which is different i.e. one for selection and one for development. Secondly, it is impossible to draw a line between assessment and development centres because all centres, be they for assessment or development naturally lie somewhere on a continuum somewhere between the two extremes. Thirdly, most assessment centres involve at least some development and most development centres involve at least some assessment. This means that it is very rare to find a centre devoted to pure assessment or pure development. The issue is further confused by the political considerations one must take into account when running such a centre, it is common practice for an assessment centre with internal candidates to be referred to as a development centre because of the negative implications associated with assessment. It is easier to think about assessment centres as being equally to do with selection and development because a degree of assessment goes on in both. Development centres grew out a liberalization of thinking about assessment centres and it is a historical quirk that while assessment centres were once used purely for selection and have evolved to have a more developmental flavour the language used to describe them has not. Another problem with using the assessment - development dichotomy is that at the very least it causes us to infer that little or no assessment goes in development centres. While you will hear centres being called assessment or development centres remember that assessment goes on in both and so to some extent at least they are both assessment centres. The end result of this is that it is not possible to talk about assessment or development centres in any but the most

34

general terms. It is more useful to talk about the constituent parts and general processes involved in each. In these terms, we can identify a number of differences between assessment and development centres that one might typically find:

Assessment centres usually Have a pass/fail criteria Are geared towards filing a job vacancy Address an immediate Organisational need Have fewer assessors and more participants Involve line managers as assessors Have less emphasis placed on self-assessment Focus on what the candidate can do now Are geared to meet the needs of the organization Assign the role of judge to assessors Place emphasis on selection with little or no developmental feedback and follow up Give feedback at a later date Involve the organization having control over the information Have very little pre-centre briefing Tend to be used with external candidates obtained

Development centres usually Do not have a pass/fail criteria Are geared towards developing the individual Address a longer term need

35

Have a 1:1 ratio of assessor to participant Do not have line managers as assessors Have a greater emphasis placed on self-assessment Focus on potential Are geared to meet needs of the individual as well as the organization Assign the role of facilitator to assessors Place emphasis on developmental feedback and follow up with little or no selection function Give feedback immediately Involve the individual having control over the information obtained Have a substantial pre-centre briefing Tend to be used with internal candidates

36

360 FEEDBACK SYSTEM

The (360) feedback process involves collecting perceptions about a persons behavior and the impact of that behavior from the persons boss or bosses, direct reports, colleagues, fellow members of project teams, internal and external customers, and suppliers. The 360 Feedback system is also known as Multi-Rater Assessment And Feedback System (MAFS), Multi-Source Feedback System, Full-Circle Appraisal, and Group Performance Review. In other words, 360 system involves evaluation of an individual by everyone above, alongside and below him. Structured questionnaires are used to collect responses about the individual from his bosses, peers and subordinates. Several parameters relating to performance and behavior are used in the questionnaires. The components of 360, in order to make it effective, must include external as well as internal persons. As depicted in the figure, the employee is the core of the system and on the four corners are the different entities that play important role in the employees work namely his superior, subordinate peers both from within the department as well as from other department.

37

Figure 1: Four Integral Components of 360Appraisal

In recent years, 360 appraisal has become very popular. It was felt for long years that one persons assessment by another (as in case of ADC) cannot be free of biases. In addition, with focus on customers (both internal and external) and emphasis on softer dimensions of performance (leadership, innovation, teamwork, initiative, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship, etc.) it has become necessary to get multiple assessments for a more objective assessment. 360 appraisal is multirater appraisal and feedback system. Almost every Fortune 500 company, including General Electric, Reliance Industries, Crompton greaves, Wipro, Infosys etc, is using this in some form or the other. In this system, the candidate is assessed periodically (once in a year and some times even half yearly) by a number of assessors including his boss, immediate subordinates, colleagues, internal customers, and external customers. Assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure behaviors considered as critical for performance. The appraisal is done anonymously by others and the assessment is collected by an external agent (consultant) or specially designated internal agent (for example the HRD

38

Department). The assessment is consolidated; feedback profiles are prepared and given to the participant after a workshop or directly by his boss or the HRD department in a performance review discussion session. Owing to the innumerable variations possible in the 360 feedback and appraisal, and its potency as a competency identification and development tool, it is important to understand the process and its dynamics.

Objectives of 360 / MAFS

The 360 is been adopted in an organization with the primary object to assess the competencies of an individual and get a feedback on his behavior and attitude form the persons related to him. However, apart form this, the other objectives of the system are: Providing insights into strong and weak areas of the candidate in terms of the effective performance of roles, activities, styles, traits, qualities, competencies (knowledge, attitudes and skills), impact on others and the like Identification of developmental needs and preparing development plans more objectively in relation to current or future roles and performance improvements for an individual or a group of individuals Generating data to serve as a more objective basis for rewards and other personnel decisions Reinforcing other change management efforts and organization effectiveness directed interventions. These may include TQM efforts, customer focused or internal customer satisfaction enhancing interventions, flat structures, quality enhancing and cost reducing interventions, decision process changes etc. Basis for performance linked pay or performance rewards

39

Aligning individual and group goals with organizational vision, values, and goals Culture building Leadership Development Potential appraisal and development Career planning and development Succession planning and development Team building Planning internal customer satisfaction improvement measures Role clarity and increased accountability.

It can be inferred that the objectives of MAFS are very comprehensive in nature. These are not restricted to a solo aspect of management.

Advantages of 360 / MAFS

The 360 has become one of the most popular tools of assessment in the present scenario. The 360 appraisal system has certain advantages. Normally MAFS should be viewed as supplement to regular KPA or KRA based appraisal systems rather than as their replacements. Additional advantages offered by MAFS are as follows: It is more objective than a one person assessment of traits and qualities It adds objectivity and supplements the traditional appraisal system It provides normally more acceptable feedback to the employee

40

It can serve the purposes served by traditional appraisal systems like identifying developmental needs, reward management, performance development, etc. It helps focus on internal customer satisfaction It has the potential of pointing out supervisory biases in the traditional appraisal system. It is a good tool for enhancing customer service and quality of inputs and service to internal customers. It provides scope for the employee to get multiple inputs to improve his role, performance, styles and ideas and enhances the acceptability of the employee. It is more participative and enhances the quality of HR decisions. It is suitable for new organizational cultures being promoted by most excellent organizations (participative culture, learning culture, quality culture, competency based performance culture, teamwork, empowering culture, leadership culture, etc.)

41

BEHAVIOURAL EVENT INTERVIEW (BEI)

A Behavioural Event Interview (BEI) is a structured interview that is used to collect information about past behavior. It is an interview technique based on the premise that the best predictor of future behavior is the past behavior thus a BEI attempts to uncover the past performance by asking open-ended questions that require the interviewee to describe in detail past experiences which demonstrate their ability to perform the job. Each question helps the interviewer learn about interviewees past performance in a key competency area that is critical to success in the position. The interview is conducted face-to-face as far as possible. The hypothesis of BEI is that superior performers demonstrate more of the characteristic than do average performers and/or that average performers demonstrate more of the characteristic than do poor performers. The Behavioural Event Interview is the heart of the Job Competency Assessment process. BEI data are the richest source of hypotheses about competencies that predict superior or effective job performance. The basic principle why it is used for competency assessment is that what people think or say about their motives or skills is not credible. Only what they actually do, in the most critical incidents they have faced, is to be believed. The purpose of the BEI method is to get behind what people say they do to find out what they really do. This is accomplished by asking people to describe how they actually behaved in specific incidents.

BEI when conducted with an objective to identify the competencies required for a position, it is much like Critical Incidents Technique which is used to systematically identifying very detailed behavioural descriptions that contribute to success or failure of individuals in specific situations encountered in performing the job.

In BEI the respondent is asked to describe three incidents in which he or she felt effective in the job and three incidents in which he or she felt ineffective in the job. The format for the interview is similar to a journalistic inquiry. The interviewer attempts to obtain as accurate an account of the incident as possible by asking

42

probing yet nondirective questions and requesting specificity, clarification, and examples whenever possible. The interviewers job is to keep pushing for complete stories that describe the specific behaviors, thoughts, and actions the interviewee has shown in actual situations. Most interviewers have been using traditional approaches in interviewing and when asked to conduct BEI it may be very difficult as interviewing habits can be hard to break.

Behavioural vs. Traditional Interviews:

Traditional Interviews is the most common type of interview. The interview consists of a series of questions that may or may not be standardized. In addition to responding to questions, interviewer would be expected to ask articulate, wellformed questions. Traditional interviewing methods do not work well to identify competencies primarily for two reasons: First, most people do not know what their competencies, strengths and weaknesses, really are. Harvard psychologist Chris Argyris has shown that peoples espoused theories of action (what they say they do) bear no relation to their theories in use (what they actually do).

Second, people may not reveal their real motives and abilities. Most interview questions are leading and most people can give the socially desirable answer: what they think the interviewer wants to hear. As a result, peoples self-reports of background, strengths, and preferences do not provide reliable information about their competencies.

Behavioural interview is quite different in several ways from traditional interviewing techniques and are one of the most effective way to Job competency Assessment: Instead of asking how you would behave in a particular situation, the interviewer will ask you to describe how you did behave and interpret the competencies involved. Interviewer will question and probe (think of peeling the layers from an onion) and will ask you to provide details which will not allow you to theorize or generalize so as to pin point critical competencies.

43

The behavioural interviewer is fact-finding and will focus on your actual past actions, not what you "should" or "would" have done. Some interviewers, however, will follow-up with questions such as, "Looking back on this experience, what would you do differently?" You may not get a chance to deliver any prepared stories. The behavioural interviewer is more interactive with you and will continue probing with follow-up questions or refocusing in order to get the information needed. The behavioural interview may be longer and the interviewer will likely be taking copious notes.

Why BEI is the most preferred method?

BEI has certain limitations even then it is one of the most preferred and widely used competency assessment methods. The method of thematic analysis can overcome most of these limitations mentioned above through searching for and identifying patterns in the persons detailed recollections. These patterns, or themes, may reflect a disposition or an underlying characteristic of which even the respondent is unaware. Major reasons for popularity of BEI can be summarised as:

BEI has been the most effective assessment method in identifying skill level. It does not tend to generate information about specialized knowledge used in job performance situations but to determine other levels of competencies (i.e., motives, traits, self-image, or social roles), the analyst of these interviews would have to infer the competencies from the events described. Further, it is one of the most effective techniques for assessing managerial behavior as provides information on aspects of managerial behavior that would not be directly observable The BEI represents a sampling of a persons behavior in that it results in information about six critical incidents in the persons recent job activity. This allows for documentation of a pattern of demonstrating specific competencies. If such a sampling were not obtained, a single

44

demonstration of an action could be evidence of a unique event rather than of a competency that the person possesses. It can be considered a content valid assessment method as it obtains a sample of the persons actual behavior in the job. It is more cost effective than many other methods.

45

ompetency

Mapping: How To Map?

Designing Implementation Job Description Competency Map Competency Model

46

DESIGNING COMPETENCY MAPPING

Competency mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for a particular position in an organization, and then using it for job-evaluation, recruitment, training and development, performance management, succession planning, etc. The competency framework serves as the bedrock for all HR applications.

Thus Experts agree that the competency mapping process does not fit the one-sizefits all formula. It has to be specific to the user organization. "My suggestion is to develop models that draw from but are not defined by existing research, using behavioural interview methods so that the organization creates a model that reflects its own strategy, its own market, its own customers, and the competencies that bring success in that specific context (including national culture). Start with small, discrete groups or teams, ideally in two directions-a 'horizontal slice' across the business that takes in a multi-functional or multi-site group, more or less at the same organizational level, and a 'vertical slice' taking in one whole department or team from top to bottom. From that, the organization can learn about the process of competency modeling, and how potential alternative formats for the models may or may not fit the needs of the business," explains Stephen Martin, an international authority in the field who is also the president of ITAP Europe.

Martin believes that it is important to focus on one or two key areas of implementation rather than the whole HRD agenda in one scoop. "So if recruitment and selection or performance management is the key strategic needs of the business, and where the pain is being felt, then start there," he advises, adding that competency mapping can be rather good at providing organizational pain relief when applied effectively-and so making the case for extending it. Further, it is advisable to begin with, a 'horizontal' slice of the management or senior-most team as the benefits will percolate down to the whole organization. Martin suggests the following methodology for designing and developing competency frameworks. "In my experience, the most effective route is to employ recognized bestpractice internal research methodology using behavioural event interview (BEI) techniques to

47

selectively sample the target population (supplemented with expert panels and 'Competency Requirement Questionnaires' to engage wider population samples) and so build up the models from the data that emerges. This data should be triangulated against clear topdown input in terms of organizational strategy and business objectives, and also against external research relevant and analogous to the organizations situation-not as a driver, but as a reference point." He adds that once the behavioural data is collected, it should be sorted, categorized and leveled carefully to create models that are concise and comprehensive, simple and sophisticated. Developing BEI skills within the organization has the added benefit that once the model is complete, it can be used more effectively by transferring these skills to selection interviewing, development assessments, and so on. Martin cautions that international organizations must ensure that the methodology does not screen-out those competencies that do not match the culturally influenced pre-conceptions of the head office (wherever it is situated) of what high-performance competencies are. This is a common errorthe Universalist, all-powerful 'global leadership model'. There is so much evidence to support the idea that culture is a business issue, is a management issue, that it seems obvious that mono-cultural lists of 'exemplar behaviors' will work only to exclude those who do not conform to the originating culture. The point is not to get everybody to behave the same, but to get everybody to perform to the same high standards.

48

IMPLEMENTATION

Competencies must necessarily be derived from the vision or objectives of an organization. They are the means by which an organization will achieve its vision. In most cases, a variation of the following process is used. The vision and mission statement of the organization are analyzed along with its strategic objectives. The challenges facing the organization to achieve these are derived and critical success factors to meet these are challenges determined. Competencies are what employees of the organization require in order to achieve the critical success factors. For e.g. A company X would like to be among the top players globally In the airplane manufacturing business (Vision). The challenges for the organization would be, among other things creation of world-class products in terms of quality and thus managing technology, focused customer service etc. The critical success factors derived from these would be design, development and execution capability to manufacture world-class products, and to understand and anticipate customer needs and create products to meet these. The competencies that would help achieve these would be customer focus, innovativeness, passion for excellence etc. There are varied methods that can be used to derive competencies. Interviews with top management, jobholders and their superiors are one method. Workshops and focused group discussions are also an extremely effective method. Behavioral event Interviews are often held for profiling as well as mapping processes. Competencies are what employees of the organization require in order to achieve the critical success factors. The process of mapping an individual against the ideal set is one where a great deal of sensitivity is required by the organization. In most cases there is a high degree of apprehension and resistance when processes like these are initiated in organizations, as people are not sure how the data collected during these processes will be used. Behavioural Event Interviews and Assessment Centres remain the most accurate way of assessing competencies. In case of large organization though, these would be

49

unviable as they are extremely time consuming. A combination of a questionnaire with a short discussion with the incumbent and his immediate superior could, be a workable method in this case.

The competency mapping process does not fit the one-size-fits all formula. It has to be specific to the user organization. It is better to develop models that draw from but are not defined by existing research, using behavioural interview methods so that the organization creates a model that reflects its own strategy, its own market, its own customers, and the competencies that bring success in that specific context (including national culture). Start with small, discrete groups or teams, ideally in two directions-a 'horizontal slice' across the business that takes in a multi-functional or multi-site group, more or less at the same organizational level, and a 'vertical slice' taking in one whole department or team from top to bottom. From that, the organization can learn about the process of competency modeling, and how potential alternative formats for the models may or may not fit the needs of the business.

It is important to focus on one or two key areas of implementation rather than the whole HRD agenda in one scoop. So if recruitment and selection or performance management is the key strategic needs of the business, and where the pain is being felt, then start there. It is advisable to begin with a 'horizontal' slice of the management or senior-most team as the benefits will percolate down to the whole organization.

But The competency mapping process does not fit the one-size-fits all formula. It has to be specific to the user organization. It is better to develop models that draw from but are not defined by existing research, using behavioural interview methods so that the organization creates a model that reflects its own strategy, its own market, its own customers, and the competencies that bring success in that specific context (including national culture). Start with small, discrete groups or teams, ideally in two directions-a 'horizontal slice' across the business that takes in a multi-functional or multi-site group, more or less at the same organizational level, and a 'vertical slice' taking in one whole department or team from top to bottom. From that, the

50

organization can learn about the process of competency modeling, and how potential alternative formats for the models may or may not fit the needs of the business. It is important to focus on one or two key areas of implementation rather than the whole HRD agenda in one scoop. So if recruitment and selection or performance management is the key strategic needs of the business, and where the pain is being felt, then start there. It is advisable to begin with a 'horizontal' slice of the management or senior-most team as the benefits will percolate down to the whole organization.

51

JOB DESCRIPTION
In order to Map competencies for any job position in the organization, the job position needs to be understood in the context of the business operation.

Every business needs to carry on many tasks apart from the main business tasks. The organization need to carry out many other tasks to take care of its resources, culture, employees, social obligations, government requirements, shareholder expectations etc Organization assigns all these tasks to different employees and provides them to support to carry out the tasks. Since the nature of each job differs from other, it is necessary to thoroughly understand job contents of each job. The jobs to be carried in an organization range from social obligations to customer satisfaction, Finnace function to Human resource personal. Hence every job position is a unique set of relationships, responsibilities, objectives and assigned resources. For the purpose of identifying the competencies, unique and common, associated to the job, it is necessary to clearly identify, analyze, study and document the job positions.

And for the purpose of analyzing the job position, first we need to identify the job factors, which can be used to study, analyze and understand the nature of the duties and responsibilities for any job position.

Apart from analysis of job, the job factors can be used for different applications including job designs, recruitment, training need identification, remuneration scheme design, organization restructuring, and competency mapping too.

Job Factors are distinctive characteristics of any job position. These are the unique characteristics of a particular job. These factors can be used to understand nature of work activities and job responsibilities for the job position. Some of the vital factors are: Envisioning Direction

52

Organizing and Planning Resource Mobilization Coordination Execution Human Interaction Technology Creativity Costs Value addition

The brief idea of the above-mentioned Job factors is explained below: 1. ENVISIONING: Whether developing vision is part of the job under study? What is the extent of envisioning required? The vision may be related to the market service, technology development, facility planning, operating arrangement etc It is requirement of leadership and managerial roles.

2.

DIRECTION: Whether directing business operation or policy formulation is the responsibility of the job under study? What is the extent and coverage of direction requirement? Formulating policy direction is requirement of Leadership and managerial roles.

1.

ORGANIZING AND PLANNING: Whether the job involves identification of human and/or material resources and assigning these resources? Whether the job involves planning and scheduling usage of resources, controlling and monitoring usage of these resources? What is the extent and coverage of organizing and planning? This is requirement of leadership and managerial Roles.

2.

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION: Whether the job involves preparation of the resources for the use? What is the extent and coverage of resource mobilization responsibility for the job?

53

This involves proper instructions to be issued to all concerned, ensuring serviceability of the resources and ensuring required consumables and inputs are available.

1.

COORDINATION: Whether the job involves interaction with the other executive to ensure synchronization of the activities for effective and efficient utilization of available resources? What is the extent of coordination requirement of the job?

2.

EXECUTION: What are the execution activities of the job? What type of execution activities are to be carried on? What kind of skills is required to execute the activities?

1.

HUMAN INTERACTION: What s the nature of human interaction and to what extent is it, in the job within the organization? What s the nature of human interaction and to what extent is it, in the job outside the organization?

2.

TECHNOLOGY: What is the nature of technological responsibilities for the job? What kind of technical decisions need to be made in discharge of the Job responsibilities?

3.

CREATIVITY: Does the job require generation of implementable options as part of responsibility? What is the scope to novelty and innovation the job provides?

4.

COSTS: What is the cost of the job? How much the organization cost the job controls and influences?

5.

VALUE ADDITION: How much value does each job add to the final product?

54

Sample Job Description

Table 1 Sample Job Design

55

56

Table 2 Job Description and Analysis Report

57

Table 3 Job Description and Analysis Report (With ratings)

58

Competency Map

Competency map, as the name signifies, Is the list of competencies required to be possessed to do a particular job. It also defines the levels of each competency to be possessed to excel in a particular job. In other words it is comprehensive list of competencies which a star performer posses, along with their level of possession. It also displays, whether a competency is critical or supporting competency for a person to do the job at particular post.

Critical Competencies are the competencies that are very vital in a person. They are very critically important, and in their absence, the person could not perform the job successfully. For example, For a Baker, the knowledge of Operating Oven and also knowledge of Ingredients is Critical. And on the other hand, supporting Competencies are the competencies which act as value added, i.e... They play a complimentary role in the performer. For instance, the retailer if has knowledge of manufacturing process of the product, it acts as supporting competency, as it helps him to sell the products more efficiently.

For preparing a Competency map, one must first define Job descriptions and also what are the Competencies to be mapped along with their definitions. On must also define the Roles covered along with their definition.

In order to have perfect understanding of the concept, Competency map and also to understand the process of preparing competency mapping with more clarity, lets prepare a competency map. Roles Covered and definition:

In any job of any nature of different responsibilities, there are three basic roles in the organization. The three roles are namely, Leader: He is the person who is responsible for maintaining internal as well as external policies. He is the person responsible for internal as well as external requirements, threat and also opportunities.

59

Manager:

He is the person who undertakes functions of planning,

Organizing Controlling, Directing, and co-coordinating. He is also responsible for the implementation of decisions of the Leader. Executive: He performs at the executor level. He is responsible for the execution of all the policies as planned by Manager. Following are the elementary competencies taken into consideration while mapping.

Technical and Functional Competencies:

Business awareness: Ability to take business decision to achieve business objectives Business Skills: Ability to perform Functional business Processes. Technical Skills: Ability to perform technical responsibilities of a job.

Managerial Competencies:
Customer orientation: Ability to understand and satisfy customer needs. Organizing skills: Ability to establish, nurture and troubleshoot organizational processes Planning Skills: Ability to understand interrelationship and requirements of different activities to be performed to achieve the desired objectives. Decision-making: Ability to decide course of action in any situation. Leadership: Ability to take responsibilities for the accomplishing the desired objectives Apart from these many other competencies are mapped like Delegation, Execution skills, Analytical Skills and developing and supporting subordinates.

Human attributes:
Communication: Ability to communicate ideas, thoughts and feelings clearly Team working: ability to impact team working to achieve team goals Influencing ability: Ability to Impact the outcome of an Interaction. Apart from this Networking ability, Achievement orientation, are also mapped.

60

Conceptual ability:
Creativity Thinking Strategic thinking: Ability to visualize near and distant future conditions and develop appropriate organizational response

After the competencies are identified the next step is to map the competencies required to do a job. In other words, the Level of proficiency required in each competency must be mapped as required for the Job.

61

Table 4 Competency map for Staff of R&D Dept.

62

Table 5 Competency map for Staff of Sales dept.

63

Table 6 Competency map for Staff of Production Dept.

The above are the competency maps of staff of RnD, Sales and Production department each. These are mapped in general for every level. The mapping can be done for each department at different levels.

In the above maps, The production dept. demands the competencies like technical skills, Executive skills and lest demands competencies like Business awareness, decision-making, creative thinking. And similarly the Sales dept demands Business awareness, Business skills,

64

Influencing ability, Customer orientation and moderately demands skills like Leadership, Planning and execution skills etc And RnD dept. demands Technical skills, Business awareness, Analytical skills, Creative thinking and strategic thinking and demands skills like leadership, delegation, Planning skills comparatively less. Thus, it is necessary to map competencies for each and every job position, as each and every job position is different from others and demands some unique skills.

After mapping the competencies of a particular job or particular position, the next immediate step is to assess the competencies of the individuals. As discussed earlier, the competencies of an individual can be assessed using different assessment techniques including ADC and 360 feedback systems. In order to have more clear understanding of the process of assessment of Competencies, let us look on the Competency Assessment Instrument, which is used to assess the Competencies in a person through means of Personal interview.

A Competency assessment instrument is filled by either the boss, or a professional assessor. The assessment may be done with the object of new appointment, Training, Developing, Promotion, and Diagnosis.

65

Competency Assessment Instrument

Table 7 Competency Assessment Instrument

66

Table 8 Competency Assessmetn Instrument

67

Business Awareness

Table 9 Observation Chart Business Awareness

Business Skills

Table 10 Observation Chart Business Skills

68

Technical Skills

Table 11 Observation Chart Techniacal skills

Analytical Skills

Table 12 Observation Chart Analytical skills

69

Decision Making

Table 13 Observation Chart Decision Making Communication

Table 14 Observation Chart Communication

70

Creative Thinking

Table 15 Observation Chart Creative thinking

Strategic Thinking

Table 16 Observation Chart Strategic Thinking

71

After assessing the competencies in a person, it is necessary to grade each individual based on the results of Competency assessment Instruments. Every Organization might like that every employee to have maximum level of each of the required competencies, but it is practically impossible. Thus it is necessary to define the levels of competencies, this process is known as Competency Grading.

Following is the sample of Competency grading, defining the level of competency and its Interpretation. Level 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Interpretation Below Average ( without potential for Improvement) Below Average ( with potential for Improvement) Average(Generally delivers satisfactory results) Proficient ( always delivers Satisfactory results) Highly proficient(Delivers more than satisfactory results) Expert (Delivers reliably good results) Master( Can deliver precise results) % Range 0 to 36 37 to 50 51 to 63 64 to 74 75 to 84 85 to 92 93 to 100

Table 17 Competency Grading

Thus based on the grades (level) obtained from the above table, the ability of an individual to do a particular job is identified. The Levels of Competencies required to do a particular Job are matched with the actual levels of Competencies found in the individual. Depending upon the Competency map of a Job and Competency levels found in the Individual, a person is recruited, trained or promoted. Thus it can be understood that, in order to implement Competency Mapping following steps must be followed. 1. One must have perfect knowledge of Visions and goals of the organization. Because each and every activity of the firm must be oriented towards achievement of those goals.

72

2.

The next step is carrying on Job Description, i.e... detailed analysis of a job to identify what are the unique and what are the general skills required to do a particular job.

3.

After Describing the Job, it is necessary to prepare Competency Map of each job and for each position. This is to understand the levels of each competency required to do the task efficiently at a particular post.

4.

The next step is to assess the Competencies in an Individual through various techniques like, Assessment Development centres (ADC), 360 Feedback system, Behavioral event Interview, etc...

5.

After the Competencies are assessed, it becomes necessary to match them with the Competency Map of the Job. Thus, this process of matching ones Competencies with the job is termed as Competency Mapping.

73

Vxxv `t|zM
A New Era
How can an Individual Map his competencies? Competency assessment of An Individual L&T- Live Example Competency Mapping: Critics View

74

How can and why should Individual Map his Competencies?

Over the past 10 years, human resource and organizational development professionals have generated a lot of interest in the notion of competencies as a key element and measure of human performance. Competencies are becoming a frequently-used and written-about vehicle for organizational applications such as: Defining the factors for success in jobs and work roles within the organization Assessing the current performance and future development needs of persons holding Jobs And roles Mapping succession possibilities for employees within the organization Assigning compensation grades and levels to particular jobs and roles Selecting applicants for open positions, using competency-based interviewing techniques What has not been written about or explored as much over the past decade are the answers to the following two questions:

1. How do competency-based human resource management methods of defining and measuring human performance impact individual workers? 2. How can career management professionals help prepare their individual clients to identify and present their competency strengths in various work or job search situations?

Following sentences can help in getting the answers to the above questions. Research is ongoing about the nature of competencies that are important for success across many organizations. There are a number of sources that describe some very common personal functioning competencies found to be important for employees at all levels across organizations. One good quote in this area is from Michael Zwell, the author of Creating A Culture of Competence when he says, From the body of competency research to date, a basic set of 6 competencies would differentiate the top quartile of performers from the rest in most positions in an organization:

75

Initiative, Influence, Results Orientation, Teamwork, Service Orientation, and, Concern for Quality. In addition, research on the importance of emotional intelligence to organization success is starting to identify a number of emotional intelligence competencies. In particular, Daniel Golemans work describes four categories of emotional intelligence: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management

How Do Competencies Relate to Individual Career Development?

Primarily, individuals must demonstrate competencies. Perhaps the most common place where they are demonstrated is within the scope of a particular job or project involvement. However, apart from the job, competencies are also developed and demonstrated by individuals in volunteer roles in the community, professional associations, school projects, sports participation settings, and even within ones own home life.

One of the first encounters with competencies for most individuals is in securing employment with a new organization. Organizations that are purposefully using cutting-edge methods to choose talent for positions or project roles are engaging in what is called competency-based interviewing and selection. These interviewing and selection methods are being used not only for hiring external applicants, but also for staffing internal roles, as described later in this article. Many organizations that use competency-based interviewing and selection are also later using the same competencies to assess performance, to encourage future development plans from individuals, and to plan for succession in the organization. Therefore, the individual employees in such an organization will have an ongoing need to use and map their competencies.

76

The main need for identifying and mapping competencies is not only restricted for individuals who may be pursuing full-time employment with an organization. But the need for mapping of competencies also extends to independent contractors seeking project work with those organizations that broker their services.

Why Should Individual Employees Map Their Competencies?

There are loads of benefits that can be derived by mapping ones competencies. A list of compelling reasons includes, at a minimum, the following. An individual: Gains a clearer sense of true marketability in todays job market; once the individual knows how his/her competencies compare to those that are asked for by the job market in key positions of interest. Projects an appearance as a cutting-edge and well-prepared candidate, who has taken the time to learn about competencies, investigate those in demand, and map his own competencies prior to interviewing. Demonstrates self-confidence that comes from knowing ones competitive advantages more convincingly, and from being able to articulate those advantages in specific language Secures essential input to resume development - a set of important terms to use in describing expertise derived from prior career experience Gains advanced preparation for interviews, many of which may be delivered using a competency-based approach called structured behavioral

interviewing or behavioral event interviewing. Develops the capability to compare ones actual competencies to an organization or positions required/preferred competencies, in order to create an Individual Development Plan Many organizations today are using the process of 360 feedback to compare an individuals self assessment of his/her own performance against key position and organization competencies to the assessment of key stakeholders that the individual interacts regularly with. The 360 feedback received is then used as input to the Individual Development plan.

77

Claudette

Nowell-Philipp,

organizational

career

consultant,

offers

strong

philosophical argument for the importance of an individual knowing and mapping his/her competencies as part of ongoing career planning inside an organization. Nowell-Philipp says that in todays organizations, especially those going through fundamental change, it is essential to be able to articulate your value-add and who you are, as a person and as a professional, in language that is common and accepted in the organization. That prerogative implies the importance of competency-based self-presentation: in ones resume, in interviews, and in public functions where introductions and credibility are important.

But what about individuals who work in organizations (or have their own businesses) that do not hire, appraise or develop employees using competencies? There are several reasons for these individuals to map their competencies, as well: 1. If the individual ever has a desire to leave the current organization, it is very possible that competencies may be a part of the HR practices used by the next employer. 2. The true factors for success do not really vary that much in most organizations. This is another way of saying that competencies tend to be valid across a wide range of jobs, work roles, organizations, industries, and professions. Therefore, even if competencies are not officially being used, they do indeed have a lot to do with success in most organizations. 3. If the individual is self-employed, then self-presentation of strategically targeted competencies will be an essential every-day practice in order to develop new business.

Based upon the above description of the benefits of competency mapping, and the likely organizational and self-employed applications of ones competency map, it is probably clear by now that an individual needs to become very familiar with his/her own competencies and examples of when they have been demonstrated in the past. Therefore, individuals need to build some time into their career management efforts to do the following:

78

Research (likely through informational interviews with key contacts) which competencies are in demand in their target organizations as a whole, and in particular positions of interest Map their current competencies, giving emphasis to those, which appear to be in the most, demand. Integrate key current competencies into their resume, along with behavioral examples and key outcomes or results obtained. Practice describing their competencies, complete with behavioral examples of past use. Map their future development needs for additional competencies, based on their future career goals and the results of the informational interviewing noted above. Sometimes the implication may be for the individual to find a position that better matches his/her current strengths.

How is Competency Mapping Carried Out by Individuals?

Individuals can complete their own competency mapping process by completing a series of logical steps, including.

1.

Find and locate relevant Competency resources.

2. Identify the current competencies of the individual and determine the future competencies. 3. Define the top competencies with a list of behaviors the individual has

demonstrated in the past 4. 5. For each key behavior, identify past performance examples. Prepare verbal explanations of the examples, using the CAR Model.

(Completing this step of the process has considerable value for the individual. In addition to being used during interviews, situation examples will also be of great value when participating in a performance appraisal, in a proactive career-networking situation, or in identifying future positions of interest either internal or external to the organization.) 6. Use the top competencies and key behavioral examples to write or revise the individuals resume.

79

What Challenges Do Individuals Who Want to Map Their Competencies Face?

Yes, there are some challenges that an individual will have to surmount in order to truly integrate competency mapping into his or her career management efforts. It is important to highlight some of those challenges here, and to make some suggestions for overcoming them. The first challenge has to do with the fact that effective competency mapping calls for some insight into the requisite competencies for success in the individuals career field and in key positions of interest. It is often difficult to find competency-based position descriptions, or organizational lists of key competencies with effectively worded behavioral definitions. And many of the key contacts the individual might seek out for informational interviews will not be used to describing success in an organization or position in competency terminology. Therefore, the individuals questions to their contacts about essential competencies for success in a position or organization may not be answered well or accurately. These factors will require the individual to do some guessing as to the most desired or required competencies.

This raises the second challenge. It will be a bit difficult for many individuals to create their own competency maps, given limited experience with competencies and their behavioral definitions, as well as some blind spots about their own prior accomplishments. The apparent solution is for the individual to find and hire an experienced career coach, as mentioned earlier. If this option is taken, the individual should use due diligence in selecting their coach by conducting thorough investigations of candidate coaches credentials and experience in working with the design, development and application of competencies in organizational settings. Many career coaches are experienced in working with their clients to identify knowledge and skills, but they may not be experienced in the more substantial practice of identifying competencies as they are used in organizations today. The major reason for this is that competencies include, in addition to knowledge and skills, other attributes such as traits, thought patterns, self-esteem, mindsets, and other

80

characteristics that extend beyond ones knowledge and skills alone. (This would be a good time for the reader to pause and review my earlier definition of a competency.) A third challenge has been mentioned earlier. A common occurrence for many career consultants is encountering individuals who are less than comfortable putting the extra effort into (a) writing their CAR examples, and (b) focusing so much on accomplishments, since this activity often feels to them like self-congratulatory backpatting. The value of working with an experienced career coach to overcome these two barriers cannot be overestimated.

Fourth and finally, there is an issue also mentioned earlier that, based on the Gallup Organizations research, many competencies may not be trainable or, cannot be developed by an individual, no matter their level of personal effort. Suffice it to say here that a good career coach will do a great service to individual career clients by seriously focusing on the idea of position or career field fit in light of their current competencies, while advising them to be cautious about attempting to develop competencies that might not be developable.

Thus If an Individual willing to market his abilities in this competitive market he must know his Competencies and also must develop them as demanded by the market. Thus He must Map his competencies.

81

Competency Assessment Model- Self development

The Model illustrates the Competency assessment of me. The competency mapping is undertaken with the object of self-development. The following table is the

competency Assessment table, which is designed to collect feedback from different people. It contains Various Competencies along with their respective Bahavioural Indicators. The Right Most column is provided for Rating. The Rating is to be done out of seven, so that the competency level can be matched with those of Competencies of various positions (as earlier in competency maps of various jobs, the rating limit was up to seven).

82

COMPETENCY ASSESMENT TOOL

Competency Assessment of Madhusudan Partani, BCom Honours Third year, using 360 Feedback System. This is done with the object of self-development. Name of the Assessor: Relation with Assessee: Behavioral Indicators Communication Able to express ideas Is fluent in speaking Communicates information Checks whether audience has understood Is effective listener Confirms Information to prevent misunderstanding Uses simple words in speech Professionalism Acts with Honesty Demonstrates Initiative Develops Innovative Ideas Adapts to change Treats other in professional manner Talks about Important issues Confidently Decision making Identifies Problem Develops Advice Gives qualitative advice Conceptual Generates ideas Colleagues always seek opinion Technical Skills Aware of recent Industrial Trends Aware of recent economic Trends Has banking and Financial Knowledge Aware of current issues Ability to plan, Organize and Direct things. Planning Ability Always thinks about alternatives Can list work activities at hand Peer behavior Respect Others Shows concern to others Enquires about the problem Always try to help and guide peers Aware of limitations of classmates Leadership Rating (of seven)

83

Ability to lead team Initiative in classroom activities Has strong moral values Gives credit to team members Accepts responsibility for failure Tries to find solutions for difficulties of teammates Achievement orientation Has clear idea of his goals and objectives Uses different methods of persuasion Accepts challenges Shows total focus on the assignment at hand Networking ability Has large friend circle Maintains personal touch with large number of people Has ready contact in the time of need Always full of energy and enthusiasm Spends lot of time with friends Miscellaneous Reliability Trustworthy Practicality Hardworking Emotional Strength Please let me know any other competency (skill or habit) you find in the assessee, this will help in assessment that is more comprehensive. i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x.

Table 18 Competency assessment tool - Sample

84

The feedback collected from 12 persons. This includes Friends, classmates, Teachers, Guide and also family members. This type of assessment is termed as 360 Feedback system or Multi-Rater Assessment and Feedback System (MAFS), Multi-Source Feedback System, or Full-Circle Appraisal. As I am not a part of any organization the other tools of assessment like BIE approach, or Assessment and Development Centres are not possible to implement.

From the feedbacks collected (attached in annexure) following things were observed. The number represented in Ratings is Average mean of all the ratings. Behavioral Indicators Communication Able to express ideas Is fluent in speaking Communicates information Checks whether audience has understood Is effective listener Confirms Information to prevent misunderstanding Uses simple words in speech Professionalism Acts with Honesty Demonstrates Initiative Develops Innovative Ideas Adapts to change Treats other in professional manner Talks about Important issues Confidently Decision making Identifies Problem Develops Advice Gives qualitative advice Conceptual Generates ideas Colleagues always seek opinion Technical Skills Aware of recent Industrial Trends Aware of recent economic Trends Has banking and Financial Knowledge Aware of current issues Ability to plan, Organize and Direct things Planning Ability Always thinks about alternatives Can list work activities at hand Rating (of seven) 5.33 5.33 4.88 5 5.5 6 5.8 6.2 5.28 5.8 5.6 5 5 5.2 5.1 5.20 5 4.8 5.8 5.20 4.8 5.4 5.42 5.1 4.8 5 5.4 6.8 5.20 5.1 5.4

85

Peer behavior Respect Others Shows concern to others Enquires about the problem Always try to help and guide peers Aware of limitations of classmates Leadership Ability to lead team Initiative in classroom activities Has strong moral values Gives credit to team members Accepts responsibility for failure Tries to find solutions for difficulties of teammates Achievement orientation Has clear idea of his goals and objectives Uses different methods of persuasion Accepts challenges Shows total focus on the assignment at hand Networking ability Has large friend circle Maintains personal touch with large number of people Has ready contact in the time of need Always full of energy and enthusiasm Spends lot of time with friends Miscellaneous Reliability Trustworthy Practicality Hardworking Emotional Strength

5.65 6.22 6 5.8 5.6 4.6 5.64 5.21 6 5.6 6 5 6 6.14 6.3 6.2 5.8 6.2 5.64 6 5.8 5.1 6.1 5.2 6.02 6.1 6.1 5.78 7 5.1

Table 19 Competency assessment Feedbacks Summary

Apart from the above ratings, following other skills were listed: i. Pursuer ii. Committed iii. Knowledge seeker iv. Focused v. Target Oriented vi. Helpful vii. Creative

Thus from the above summary it can be understood that I am good at all the Competencies as the ratings in all is moderate i.e... Nearly 5 of 7. However, if I want to develop my skills I need to focus on aspects like team leading aspects, General awareness, awareness of economic trends and industrial trends as well. In addition,

86

there is room to improve fluency in speaking. In addition, the strengths as per the persons related to me are my hardworking ability, and planning skills.

Thus the competency assessment helps me in finding my limitations as well as strengths and also guides me in improving the weak points in me. The advantage of 360 Feedback system is it involves responses from each and every class of people related to me, ranging from Faculty to friends, family to colleagues, which helps in getting the comprehensive assessment.

87

L&T- A live Example

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is a technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing company. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector. It operates under following divisions

Engineering & Construction Projects (E&C) Heavy Engineering (HED)

Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC)

Electrical & Electronics (EBG)

Machinery & Industrial Products (MIPD) Information Technology & Engineering Services

L&T was founded in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1938 by two Danish engineers, Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro. Both of them were strongly committed to developing India's engineering capabilities to meet the demands of industry. Beginning with the import of machinery from Europe, L&T rapidly took on engineering and construction assignments of increasing sophistication. Today, the company sets global engineering benchmarks in terms of scale and complexity. In December 1950, L&T became a Public Company with a paid-up capital of Rs.2 million. The sales turnover in that year was Rs.10.9 million. Today, L&T is one of India's biggest and best-known industrial organizations with a reputation for technological excellence, high quality of products and services, and strong customer orientation. It is also taking steps to grow its international presence. Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited (L&T Infotech), a 100% subsidiary of the US$ 3.5 billion Forbes Global 2000 and Business Week Asia Top 50 technology-driven engineering and construction major, Larsen & Toubro Limited, offers comprehensive,

88

end-to-end software solutions and services. Leveraging the heritage and domain expertise of the parent company, its services encompass a broad technology spectrum, catering to leading international companies across the globe.

L&T Infotech, a PCMM Level 5 company, has a successful competency-based HR system. Recruitment, training, job rotation, succession planning and promotions-all are defined by competency mapping. Says Dr Devendra Nath, executive vicepresident of the company, who had initiated the PCMM process in the parent company (L&T) in 1997, "Nearly all our HR interventions are linked to competency. Competencies are enhanced through training and job rotation." He adds that all people who have gone through job rotation undergo a transformation and get a broader perspective of the company. For instance, a person lacking in negotiation skills might be put in the sales or purchase department for a year to hone his skills in the area. When the company started competency mapping the whole process took eight months for six roles and two variations. Eventually, 16-18 profiles were worked out. The company uses PeopleSoft for competency mapping. Behavioural competencies do not change every month. Two appraisals are done subsequently every projectend for skills, and annual for behavioural competencies. There was resistance from the line people, but when the numbers started flowing they sat up. Every quarter, an SBU-based skills portfolio is published. As far as training and development is concerned, instead of asking people to attend classes, they themselves get pulled to the classes. Introduction of competency mapping has also involved introducing skill appraisals in performance appraisals. This has also led to training people on how to assess subordinates on competencies.

89

Competency Mapping: A Critics view

Competency Mapping based Recruitment has become very much popular in most of the companies. It has been applied in lots of Hr practices, specifically in recruiting, Training, Compensation and even Promotion. But the Ray of Fear has sparkled on them. Many of the Applications have driven to Failure of Competency Mapping.

That is right; almost every major competency project we have witnessed has ended in failure, usually right around the three-year mark. For some large organizations the decision to abandon their approach came after investing millions of dollars in new tools, training, job assessment, and technology to power the new model. For one Fortune 500 organization, the 31-month price tag totaled more than $18.6 million.

So why, you may ask, do so many implementations fail? The answer to that is long and complicated, but the short of it is that most implementations are nothing more than extremely expensive processes that ensure maintenance of the status quo.

Four Primary Drivers of Failure Prior to deciding to write this article, Master Burnett and I discussed what we have observed as well as what others in our position have observed. What became clear during the course of this discussion is that most implementations have the following three characteristics that drive failure. Each of these is discussed briefly in the following paragraphs: A process that does not re-evaluate how work is broken down into specific jobs to ensure that the bundling of activities is consistent with the available workforce A job analysis process that is reliant upon observing incumbents to determine past success characteristics A guiding perspective that considers time sensitive team dynamics such as leadership personality, economic conditions, new technologies, and

geography irrelevant

90

Just Because Work Has Always Been Broken Down a Certain Way, That Doesn't Mean It's the Right Way! One of the most irritating elements that we witness during the development and implementation of competencies is that no one ever asks if the way work is broken down into specific jobs is relevant, according to current labor market conditions. New technologies, as well as variations in the supply of labor that impact labor costs, should impact how work is delegated.

In the past, it may have made sense to hire a labor generalist that had enough depth in a variety of technical skills to carry out a bundle of activities, but that doesn't mean that approach will always be the right one. For example, let's look at financial auditors. Historically, auditors were charged with identifying and procuring information needed, analyzing that information for breaks in patterns, documenting errors, and writing reports. The typical educational profile for an auditor emphasizes the financial analysis skills required, yet one of the job activities requires both personal and written communication skills. A competency profile developed against this traditional job would dictate that strong written communication skills are essential to success irrespective of the current labor market. Financial analysis is an activity that can be accomplished much more quickly using specialists, which are in far greater supply if you remove the language component. Splitting this job could allow the actual analysis to be outsourced offshore and the use of English-language specialists to document and write all reports a combination, which would increase quality, decrease cost, and increase volume. While redistributing work may not always be required, the question should at the very least get asked!

91

Conclusion
One should never say that will never work, and that is not what we are saying here. Failure is a phenomenal educator, so if we learn from past mistakes, maybe we can construct a better solution in the future. Many organizations have tried competencies; many organizations have failed.

From the above study it can be concluded that Competency Mapping is definetly a new era In the field of HR. It promises economical use of the most important resource, Human Capital by ensuring the best suitable job to the person. It also ensures Individuals growth and development. A individual can map his or her competencies and find the job which suits him the most. In a nutshell it can be concluded that Competency Mapping helps organizations not only in Selecting Round pegs for round holes but also makes smaller round into larger one. In simple words it not only ensures the best person is recruited and placed in the best job suitable to the person, but also through training and appraisal It makes the less competent person into more proficient.

92

BIBILOGRAPHY
Following Website links, Articles and Books were referred in the course of data collection. http://www.careertrainer.com/Request.jsp?lView=ViewArticle&Article=OID% 3A112409&Page=OID%3A112412 http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC346/fc346.html http://www.e-hresources.com/Samples/sample1.html http://www.thehindujobs.com/thehindu/jobs/0511/2005113000730500.htm http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050131/technologylife01.shtml http://www.tvrls.com/research_and_publication2.php?article_id=18 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-competency-mapping.htm http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/hons/projects/2002/Robyn.Mcnamara/benefits .html Articles by: Art and Science of Competency Mapping -T V Rao sir, Competency Mapping -Sudipta De Importance of Competency Mapping and ADC-Umesh Chaudhary Competency Mapping: How It Can be Done By Individuals-Steve Garrett Competency Mapping-Robyn McNamara Competency: A Prospect or Retrospect-Sharika Gupta Assessment and Development centres- The British Psychological Society Books by: Model and Method for Competency Mapping and Assessment- Milind Kotwal The Handbook On Competency mapping- Seema Sanghi Human Resource Management- K Aswathappa Human resource Management- V S P Rao

93