Aimee,
It depends on whether or not you are talking about the traditional view
of competence (ie, skills and capability) or the more OD centred view of
competency (that is, skills and knowledge to perform a task, skills and
knowledge to manage all of the little things that go to make up that
task, skills and knowledge to manage the contingencies relevant to the
function in which that task is carried out, and skills and knowledge to
perform that task in the context or environment in which the function is
found).
Competence, as traditionally viewed, implies a training/education input
into one's capability whereas competency is based on what the
organisation needs to achieve its goals and objectives. Furthermore,
competency can be gained from anywhere - training, education, volunteer
work, past jobs, observation, reading etc. etc. while competence is
often only thought of as being 'given' through training and education.
Capability, by definition, is something assessed as a future application
of skills and knowledge whereas competency is only ever really assessed
through the actual application - ie, on the job. As a consequence,
competence assumes one can do the particular task (through the gaining
of skills and implied capability) while competency is only recognised
through an actual demonstration of the skills and knowledge in a real
work environment (ie, simulator) or on the job under realistic working
conditions (ie, not a simulated workplace but a real one with real
customers and real workmates).
To this end, competence has an effect on the wider organisational needs
by implication only - the simple possession of skills and capability to
apply these skills (even when rigorously assessed during or as a result
of certain training and education) are not sufficient to achieve
organisational goals through the broader HR avenues (appraisal,
recruitment, succession, ongoing development, workplace agreements,
special projects etc.). On the other hand, skills and knowledge (as
competencies) that are actually applied (and assessed as being applied)
will help the organisation achieve its goals because the competencies
are written against the organisational needs, while competence is
generally only written against training needs.
Did this help or did it muddy the waters more?
PHIL RUTHERFORD
robnphil@ozemail.com.au
aime heene wrote:
>
> Why are so many HRM-people using "competence" instead of the well known concepts such as skills and capabilities ?
> Who posts a coherent vocabulary ?