Making capability development work through competency
Many businesses rely on competency models to identify high performers and develop their people to meet certain performance criteria. Competencies are often interpreted as something that humanresources departments see as important for the job.
Organisations must be careful to make sure any competency model is clearly linked to performance.
It is worth noting that competency can mean that one has the skills and knowledge to do a job, while capability is when staff actually exhibit the behaviour to get the job done as expected.
What businesses need to do is focus on their staffs’ capabilities and build their organisation through capability development.
So we need to be as clear as possible regarding the skills the staff need to meet the performance expectations of their superior and the organisation as a whole.
A clear capability is one linked directly to the performance it is trying to define and measure, for example the capability leaders need to exhibit to coach their subordinates to perform at a certain level.
Another example is a salesman’s capability to meet and greet customers and clearly share what the benefits are of the product or service he’s trying to sell.
When capabilities are clearly defined, it’s easier to identify if a person has what it takes to complete the job.
Look at what specific behaviour is required to complete a task and then measure how effective the person is in demonstrating that behaviour on the job.
For our salesman example, it’s probably not just about product or service knowledge, but the person’s ability to engage and build a relationship with a customer, to influence the customer into purchasing what the salesman is selling.
For the leadership example, the capabilities to coach could include the ability to engage subordinates and build their trust, and then be able to either transfer information to help their coachees learn or perhaps to empower their coachees to do more on their own.
Capability development can be done in various ways, although the most effective ways usually involve two key things – boss involvement and an opportunity for staff to actually apply what they’ve learned back on the job.
The boss should be involved from the very beginning, before any development occurs, so that clear expectations are set for the “what”, “why” and “how” of development.
The boss’s involvement is also critical in that staff need to know what kind of support they’ll get from him while trying to build their capabilities. And this support should include giving time and attention to staff to try to apply what they’ve learned back to their actual job.
So many times staff can complete a development programme only to return to their job and pick up with their old routine and not even try to exhibit new behaviour.
So when trying to get your staff up to a certain level of performance, capability development should be the focus, not competency development.
And in developing those capabilities, ensure that the boss is actively involved in planning and execution, including helping staff figure out ways to try and use what they’ve learned back on the job, for better results.
William Knowlton, a consultant at APMGroup specialising in leadership |and talent development, can be contacted |at [email protected].
