HRM textbook

130 PART 2 RECRUITMENT, PLACEMENT, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT
In practice, competency-based analysis usually comes down to identifying the basic
skills an employee needs to do the job. Thus, O*NET lists various skills within six skill
groups (accessible at http://online.onetcenter.org/skills). A sampling includes:
Mathematics using mathematics to solve problems
Speaking talking to others to convey information effectively
Complex problem-solving identifying complex problems and reviewing
related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions
Negotiation bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences
IBM EXAMPLE IBM recently identified all of the possible roles (leader, analyst,
engineer, and so on) that its workers, managers, and executives might fulfill. IBM
analysts then studied what people do in each role and what skills effectively
performing each role requires.
For doing what turned out to be 490 roles, IBM concluded there are 4,000 possible
sets of skills. IBM now assesses and rates its employees skills on a continuum from
Zero You have not demonstrated a significant mastery of the skill set, to Three
You have achieved a mastery level demonstrated by the fact that you re not only
proficient, but that you re developing others around it. This enables IBM to tell each
employee where we see your skill sets, which skills you have that will become obsolete
and what jobs we anticipate will become available down the road. . . . We ll direct you
to training programs that will prepare you for the future. 48
How to Write Competencies-Based Job Descriptions
Defining the jobs competencies and writing them up is similar in most respects to traditional
job analysis. In other words, you might interview job incumbents and their supervisors,
ask open-ended questions regarding job responsibilities and activities, and perhaps
identify critical incidents that pinpoint success on the job. However, instead of compiling
lists of job duties, you will ask, In order to perform this job competently, the employee should
be able to. . . ? Use your knowledge of the job to answer this, or use information from a
source such as O*NET. There are also off-the-shelf competencies databanks. One is that of
the Department of Labor s Office of Personnel Management (see www.opm.gov).
BP EXAMPLE Several years ago, British Petroleum s (BP s) exploration division
executives decided their unit needed a more efficient, faster-acting organization. 49 To
help accomplish this, they felt they had to shift employees from a job duties oriented
that s-not-my-job attitude to one that motivated them to obtain the skills required
to accomplish their broader responsibilities.
Their solution was a skills matrix like that in Figure 4-11. BP created skills
matrices (such as in Figure 4-11) each job or job family (such as drilling managers).
FIGURE 4-11 The Skills Matrix
for One Job at BP
Note: The light blue boxes indicate
the minimum level of skill required
for the job.
H H H
H H H H
G G G
G G G G
F F F
F F F F
E E E
E E E E
D D D
D D D D
C C C
C C C C
B B B
B B B B
A
A
A A A A A
Technical
expertise
Business
awareness
Communication
and
interpersonal
Decisionmaking
and
initiative
Leadership and
guidance
Planning and
organizational
ability
Problemsolving