Competencies

[shinny]

Can someone give a definition for 'competency'? I've seen it refer to the actual level to which an individual is meant to meet with respect to a particular skill in an organisation, but also referring to the actual level to which an individual currently has with respect to a particular skill. The second definition seems to fit more in line with the 'English' meaning of the word however...

[jsimmo]

I'd say it could be both but I would agree slightly more with the second definition.

Competency: 'A skill or capacity that a manager or employee has in a given area as a result of natural ability, training and practice.'

So, management and employees need to be competent in the tasks that they undertake within the organisation.

Other useful terms relating to competency:

Competency-based assessment: Where employees are assessed on competencies (measureable skills) against industry benchmarks.
Competency-based training: Training as a result of a competency gap analysis that identifies the differencies between the competencies of the employee and the competencies required to do the job effectively.