Discussion of the Concept of Competency Mapping

competency mapping is a process used in business management. It deals with behaviors exhibited by
employees. The process is easy enough to understand that even very small companies can find it useful.
However, it has such enormous implications for businesses that as many as half of Fortune 500
companies now use it in some form, according to Advesh Consultancy Services.

Definition of 'Competency Mapping'

Definition: Competency mapping identifies an individual's strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to
enable the person to better understand himself or herself and to point out where career development
efforts need to be directed.

OR

Competency Mapping is a process to identify key competencies for an organization and/or a job and
incorporating those competencies throughout the various processes (i.e. job evaluation, training,
recruitment) of the organization. A competency is defined as a behavior (i.e. communication, leadership)
rather than a skill or ability.

Description: Competencies are derived from specific job families within the organization and are often
grouped around categories such as strategy, relationships, innovation, leadership, risk-taking, decision-
making, emotional intelligence, etc.

So far as the way to go about for competency mapping is concerned, the first step is job analysis, where
the company needs to list core competency requirements for the job concerned. The next step should be
development of a competency scale for the job on the parameters previously identified.

The actual mapping of employees can be a self-done exercise or done by others like superiors. It can also
be done by using the 360-degree method where peers, first reports and customers also rate the
employee.
 The steps involved in competency mapping are presented below:

Conduct a job analysis by asking incumbents to complete a position information questionnaire (PIQ).
This can be provided for incumbents to complete, or used as a basis for conducting one-on-one
interviews using the PIQ as a guide. The primary goal is to gather from incumbents what they feel are the
key behaviors necessary to perform their respective jobs.

Using the results of the job analysis, a competency based job description is developed. It is developed
after carefully analyzing the input from the represented group of incumbents and converting it to
standard competencies.

With a competency based job description, mapping the competencies can be done. The competencies
of the respective job description become factors for assessment on the performance evaluation. Using
competencies will help to perform more objective evaluations based on displayed or not displayed
behaviors.

Taking the competency mapping one step further, one can use the results of one’s evaluation to
identify in what competencies individuals need additional development or training. This will help in
focusing on training needs required to achieve the goals of the position and company and help the
employees develop toward the ultimate success of the organization.

Some of the tools widely used in competency mapping are as follows:

a) Competency-based Interview:

Face-to-face interview is the most convenient tool to collect large amount of information. These
competency-based interviews may be of various types such as structured, semi-structured or
unstructured depending on the person conducting the interview.

No matter which type is used, interviews should be carefully designed so as to provide

information about the easily observed information and the general disposition and motivation of
the employee. The questions prepared should target each competency and highlight the tangible
skills and knowledge possessed by the employee, how he or she behaves under certain
conditions, and how they conduct themselves with other people. The questions focus on linking
past job performance with future on the job performance.

A major disadvantage of this tool is that it is subjective and therefore, bias and distortion of flow
should be avoided. (Balaji, 2011). If handled effectively, interviews can prove to be a powerful
technique for getting accurate details and obtaining information which may otherwise be
unavailable.

b) Competency-based questionnaires:

Competency-based questionnaires consist of a list of questions either standardized or developed

solely for the purpose of competency mapping.

These questionnaires would differ based on who responds to it. For instance, there may be a
questionnaire designed for employees, another designed for managers and another for senior-
level executives. This is because both employees, managers and senior-level executives cannot
provide the same information. The competencies required on the job will be known better by the
person who is performing that job, that is the employee, and may differ from the opinion of the
managers and senior-level executives.

A sample of competency-based questionnaire is the Common Metric Questionnaire (CMQ) that

include five domains, namely, background, contact with people, decision making, physical and
mechanical activity and work setting to examine competencies which would assist in improving
work performance.

Another example is Functional Job Analysis (FJA) which is a qualitative analysis for
competencies and breaks the job down to seven parts: things, data, worker instructions,
reasoning, people, mathematics and language. Questionnaires like this can be utilized along with
interviews in order to substantiate the collected information.
c) Assessment centres:

Unlike what the name suggests, assessment centres are not a location or a place but a process that
helps to determine the degree of “fit” or suitability of employees to a specific type of
employment or job role. An essential feature of assessment centres is that different elements of
the job are simulated in the form of validated test series. The candidates are instructed to
complete a number of assessments that are job-role specific in order to determine whether the
key competencies of the candidate are aligned with the competencies required on the job. The
series of tests focus mainly on assessing the individual based on their knowledge, skills, attitudes
and other behaviors (KSAOs). Along with this, personality and aptitude is also determined using
interview and psychometric tests.

d) Critical Incidents Technique:

Developed by Flanagan (1954), this technique involves direct observation of the employee in
specific on-the-job situations. As a prior step, a list of good and bad on the job behavior is
prepared.

These behaviors could be in terms of competencies needed and not needed on the job. The crux
of the procedure involves observational skills which the supervisors and managers should
develop with training. The supervisors and managers are required to note down critical incident
on-the-job when the employee was successful or not successful in meeting the job requirements.
It is imperative that the recording of observations is done as accurately as possible since the
recorded data would be further used to identify and predict competencies that would contribute
to success or failure of individual in a specific situation. At the end of the year, a balance sheet
for each employee is created to find how well the employee has performed and what further
training is needed (Balaji, 2011).

e) Psychometric Assessment:

These are standardized and scientific tools used to assess the mental capacities and behavioral
styles of employees in an organization. In case of Competency Mapping, the most commonly
used psychometric assessments are aptitude, reasoning, achievement, and personality testing.
Aptitude tests help to determine the capacity of the individual to acquire particular type of skill
or knowledge. Reasoning tests helps to determine the critical and analytical thinking of the
individual. Achievement tests help to determine the level of proficiency an individual has
achieved in a given area and personality testing gives a description of the unique traits and
characteristics that drive the employee’s behavior. Apart from these, competency mapping rating
scale may also be used as a part of assessment.

It should be noted that it is not a single tool but a combination of these tools that are used in the
process of competency mapping in organizations. One tools substantiates the other and gives a
more accurate and comprehensive result.