Competency Mapping as a

tool for performance

enhancement
Submitted By:-
Atal Prasad
Ankur Chandani
Abhishek Misra
Harpreet Singh
Shweta Gautam
Sonal Sewak

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INTRODUCTION
• “Competency Mapping” refers to a process through which
the competencies of the necessary process are identified. It is
done to determine the critical activities of the mandatory
processes of the organization.

• Organizations perform the task of Competency Mapping to

determine the areas which are crucial for its proper working
and success.

• The competencies which are included in the identification are

Managerial, Behavioral, Technical, Skill based, Attitude based
and Conceptual Knowledge based.

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• Once this process is complete , the map becomes an input for
several other HR processes such as job evaluation, recruitment,
training and development.

• For competency mapping to be effective , the organisation has

to be clear about its business goals and the capability.

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• Competency Mapping is made up of two terms – Competency
+ Mapping,
Where, Competency refers to clarify any underlying
characteristic that is required to perform the process or the
activity and Mapping refers to the scheduling of the activities
in a sequential order.

• Competency has following three parameters:

1. Skills
2. Knowledge
3. Personal Attributes
4. Behavior

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SKILL:
capabilities acquired through practice. It can be a financial skill
such as budgeting, or a verbal skill such as making a presentation.

KNOWLEDGE:
understanding acquired through learning.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:
inherent characteristics which are brought to the job, representing
the essential foundation upon which knowledge and skill can be
developed.

BEHAVIOR:
The observable demonstration of some competency, skill,
knowledge and personal attributes.
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COMPETENCY APPROACH IN RECRUITMENT AND
RETENTIONS

• Companies very conveniently use the competency approach in the important

HR function of recruitment and retention.

• Competency mapping plays a significant role in recruitment, selection,

induction, and placement as it gives a more accurate analysis of the job
requirements and the candidate’s capability.

• As far as meeting an individual’s career aspirations are concerned once the

organization gives an employee the perspective of what is required from him
her to reach a particular position ,it drives the employee to develop the
competencies for the same. Employees become self-propelled .

• Competencies enable individuals to identify and articulate what they can

offer while performing a job. The organization or department (current or
future) can see, value, and utilize what capability is actually available.
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ELEMENTS OF RECRUITMENT AND
RETENTION
• Identifying and recruiting good and talented people is difficult.

• Retaining them is truly a much more difficult task.

• · Shaping individual’s behavior through his/her need satisfaction.

• · Recognizing, appreciating , and nurturing subordinates talents

bring rewards.

• · Helping to take drives, and fulfilling desires directed towards

achievements.

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KEY ATTRITION FACTORS
• Inability to use one’s competencies

• Lack of challenge in the work

• Rust out stress syndrome (ROSS), when human potential remain underutilized or
• unutilized.

• Burst out stress syndrome (BOSS), when a performer is over burdened with task
• assignments.

• Lack of learning opportunity

• Lack of excitement and innovation in the job

• Work environment-not conducive or effective

• Lack of scope of growth in terms of salary, status, and other factors

• Lack of sense of belonging

• Unfulfilled occupational values 8

• The competency approach enables an organization to assign
challenging tasks to an employee and use his/her competencies. The
employee in turn derives pleasure for the job content.

• If the role is clear, one performs one’s assignments better and derives
intrinsic satisfaction. The competency approach helps to remove both
ROSS and BOSS.

• Organizations depute their personnel to attend training and

development programmes based on the identified skill gap, giving
them the learning opportunity.

• After attending the training programme, with elevated knowledge and

skill, the employee’s enabling capacity enhances so that he/she can
undertake exciting and innovative jobs. Satisfied employees
contribute positively to the work environment and create an
environment conducive to effective working.
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• Employee motivational needs are satisfied from the job
content, removal of stress syndromes, and getting learning
opportunities.

• Their sense of belonging to the organization increases. They

get from the occupation what they perceived.

• The competency approach and competency mapping can take

care of the key attrition factors, helping the organization to
promote the retention of manpower.

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MAPPING THE COMPETENCIES –
THE PROCESS

• In any organization, one of the major concern areas for the

Human Resource Department is to determine the competencies
of the processes and to evaluate the strength level of the person
working on it.

• Competency Mapping has emerged as a major concern for the

organization in the recent times and has attracted the attention
of the top management.

• To conduct the competency mapping certain steps needs to be

followed, which can be summarized as follows:

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1. At the initial level, H.R. Personnel should select the job(s) from which the
competencies are to be identified.

2. Before starting the competency procedure, a specific profile is to be set for the
jobs which are to be evaluated in the future.

3. A small meeting with the person who is handling the process or the job is done.

4. People (on the job) are asked about the responsibility, duties, pressure,
performance limits and power structure.

5. All the data collected is to be recorded in a systematic sequence.

6. All the activities which are crucial for the proper execution of the activity of the
process are marked separately.

7. Information from the superiors, peers, co-workers and subordinates are also
collected.
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8 . All the people who are not directly attached to the process but indirectly are
attached to it are asked about the major competency issues.

9. The information can be collected from direct interview or through

questionnaires or e-mails (whatever is suitable).

10. All the information is collected, systematically evaluated and processed by

the H.R. personnel and the crucial factors (which are necessary for the
success of the process) are determined.

11. These competencies are noted for the future reference of the job and the job
holder respectively.

12. After assessing the competency requirement for the job, the present level of
the individual working on the process is judged.

13. In case of discrepancy in between the actual requirement of the capability

and the desired level, the individual working with the specific set of process
(s) is provided with the training. 13
14. For determining the present level of the individual (working
on the process), Competency Identification worksheet can be
prepared.

15. The worksheet includes all the issues related to the job and
the data collected form the individuals directly or indirectly in
the organization.

16. All the employees would be properly informed about the

competencies which are crucial for performing their task or
job.

17. The data collected will be reserved with the HR Department

for the future reference (for next competency mapping or job
up-gradation process).
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Reasons for Competency Mapping:
• Proper training can be provided to the individual

• Key performance areas can be improved by reducing the gap

between the actual and desired performance.

• Career planning

• Building trust between employees and managing interpersonal

relationships

• Empowering the workforce

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EXAMPLE L&T INFOTECH
• Introduction: Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited (L&T Infotech), a
100% subsidiary of the US$ 3.5 billion Forbes Global 2000, its
services encompass a broad technology spectrum, catering to
leading international companies across the globe.

• L&T Infotech, a PCMM Level 5 company, has a successful

competency-based HR system. Recruitment, training, job rotation,
succession planning and promotions-all are defined by competency
mapping. Nearly all HR interventions are linked to competency.

• Competencies are enhanced through training and job rotation. All

people who have gone through job rotation undergo a
transformation and get a broader perspective of the company. For
instance, a person lacking in negotiation skills might be put in the
sales or purchase department for a year to hone his skills in the area.
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• When the company started competency mapping the whole
process took eight months for six roles and two variations.
Eventually, 16-18 profiles were worked out.

• Two appraisals are done subsequently… every project-end for

skills, and annual for behavioural competencies. There was
resistance from the line people, but when the numbers started
flowing they sat up. Every quarter, an SBU-based skills
portfolio is published. As far as training and development is
concerned, instead of asking people to attend classes, they
themselves get pulled to the classes.

• Introduction of competency mapping has also involved

introducing skill appraisals in performance appraisals. This has
also led to training people on how to assess subordinates on
competencies. 17
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