a) Design Decisions
There are important design decisions that must be made at the very start of a competency project in order to eliminate future problems. The first implementation should be done right. This means management has to commit to it, communicate it, support it, and execute it. Management may also have to address the organization’s culture in order to make it work at all.
All the anticipated outcomes must be clear. This includes criteria for quality or excellence, management and individual outcomes, and measures for success.
Logistics have to be determined. Such as:
- selecting the development team;
- planned project length;
- periodic or rolling development and administration;
- job architecture;
- competency model;
- current or future competencies;
- deliverables;
- project leadership and involvement;
- groups to be assessed,
- assessment methodology and
- validation.
Management in conjunction with Human Resources usually makes these decisions.
A consultant can be used to:
- identify issues,
- alternatives
- pros and cons
- resources required and past results.
It is the answers to the design questions that determine the scope and complexity of an application and also its ultimate effectiveness. Addressing these issues up front will eliminate many problems later on in the project.
b) Job Families/Job Architecture
In order to build competency profiles, management needs to clearly identify the job families in the organization and the various roles played within each of these. Once completed, there then exists a blueprint or a job architecture that determines the number of competency profiles required for the organization.
A consultant can be used to assist management and the project team to determine the best approach to use in determining the job families and roles within the organization.
c) Competency Model
Competency models (the documents that describe the particular set of competencies necessary to carry out the work) vary in terms of the types of competency information that are included. Some models focus on technical job-specific knowledge and skills while others emphasize very generic abilities and personal qualities. More recent models attempt to reflect all the types of competencies, including knowledge, skills, abilities and personal attributes, related to ultimate job success.
Management, along with the project team, need to decide the most suitable model for their needs. A consultant can provide information on various models along with the pros and cons of each model.
d) Communication
Adding competency-based processes to HR applications can be a significant change within the organization. Anything that is significant and far-reaching is likely to create a significant amount of activity on the rumour mill, much of it driven by uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. It may be too much to hope that everyone will be enthusiastic about new competency-based HR applications, but employees should clearly see the value and the benefits of committing to this new initiative.
It is absolutely critical that a comprehensive communication strategy and plan be put in place for successful implementation of the project. This is usually a responsibility that falls to the communication group working in conjunction with the project team.