Competancy Mapping With Axis Bank

Competency Mapping with

Meaning of Business:

A business can be defined as an organization that provides goods and

services to others who wan or need them. When many people think of business

careers, they often think of jobs in large wealthy corporations. Many business

related careers, however, exist in small businesses, non-profit organizations,

government agencies, and educational settings. Furthermore, you don’t need a

degree in business to obtain many of these positions. In short, every sector of our

economy needs people with strong overall skills that can be applied to business-

type careers. There are a wide variety of career areas that exist in business settings.

Some of these include:

Accounting

Administrative Management

Business Management

Finance

Human Resources

Information Systems

Insurance

Marketing

Operations Management

Public Relations

Purchasing / Merchandising

Retail Management

Sales

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Human resource [HR]

HR is an acronym for Human Resources, that element within a company

which deals with the human aspects / need of workers. Many companies have HR

department, which may provide a broad range of services to its employees.

Human means human being and resources means something

which is useful. Humans are considered as resources because without

them no work can be done . That’s why they are termed as ‘resources’.

Finance And

Account

Finance And

Account

Administration and IT

Administration and IT

Human Resources

Human Resources Customer ServiceCustomer Service

Production / Operations

Production / Operations

Research & Development

Research & Development

Sales &

Marketing

Sales &

Marketing

Functions of Business

Functions of Business

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Introduction

In the modern competitive world, we as business managers are required to

improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our business operations. As there are

several factors that effect efficiency and effectiveness of operations, the

improvement is required to be carried out in every factor. We are required to bring

every factor in synchronization with other factor. TQM, TPM, BPR and other

similar initiatives provide direction to improvement in business operations.

To improve synchronization between different elements of business is an

important approach to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the operations.

The basic elements of business are:

External Elements:

1. Market

2. Public infrastructure, support facilities and services

Internal Strategic Elements:

1. Technology

2. Plant & machinery

Internal Operation Elements:

1. Management system

2. Materials

3. Technical manpower

4. Managerial manpower

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Basic Elements of Business

These elements should be in synch with each other for effective operations.

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Internal Strategic

elementsInternal Strategic

elements

External

ElementsExternal

Elements

Internal

Operational

Elements

Internal

Operational

Elements

Market

Public infrastructure,Support facility &

Service

S

Technology

Plant & Machinery

Management System

Managerial manpower

Technical manpower

Materials

Elements of

Business

Elements of

Business


Mismatch between any of the two elements give rise to wastages of time,

money and efforts, leading to loss of effectiveness and efficiency.

Manpower, technical and managerial, is the most important resource of any

organization. This most important resource is also the most difficult to manage as

no two person are similar. Every person has different qualities, attitude, motives,

personality traits, skills, knowledge etc. which has effect on their performance at

work. Organizations, in order to facilitate excellence in the performance of the

people in the organization, are required to identify the right person for every job.

This matching between jobs and people is an important avenue for organizational

improvement efforts.

HR professionals are entrusted with the responsibility for selection, training

and development, administration, deployment support, performance appraisal and

performance diagnostics of the employees. The most important part of these

responsibilities is assessment of the individuals for their suitability for different

functional tasks, and development of their potential to be effective and excel in the

assigned tasks.

Currently most of the organizations are using personal interview, written

tests and group discussion for the purpose of assessment. However these methods

have been found to have severe limitations.

Over last century many different approaches have been employed for the

purpose of assessment. These tests have improved assessment of candidates but

still the reliability of the test results is not adequate to forecast effectiveness of the

selected candidates for the job.

Research conducted by industrial and organizational psychologists have

found that effectiveness of a person to carry out a job depends not only single or

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isolated factors but on set of many different factors. Such set of factors that help

the possessor to be effective in a particular job is termed as competency for that

particular job.

HR function entrusted with the responsibility to find right person for every

job and development of the employed person to do the assigned job effectively,

have found competency mapping and assessment as a very effective tool. The

following information give a very effective way of mapping competencies required

for any job and methods of assessing the competencies of the people.

Definition:

Researchers’ management consultants and HR professional frequently use

the term competency. There are nearly definitions of competency as there are

competencies themselves. There are many different definitions for the competency,

a simplest one among them is:

Competency for a job can be defined as “a set of human attributes that

enable an employee to meet and exceed expectations of his internal as well as

external customers and stake holders”.

“Intent’’ “Action” “Outcome”

Motives Traits Self-concept Knowledge

Definition of competency67

PersonalCharacteristics

PersonalCharacteristics

BehaviourBehaviour JobPerformance

JobPerformance


Meaning of competency

It is the combinations of knowledge, skills, aptitude and job related attitude

(behaviour). These job related behaviors would bring greater amount of difference

in fulfilling the responsibilities, but job related behavior only cannot bring the

results. Skills and knowledge along with job related behavior makes the difference.

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Competency Competency Set of SKILLS

Related to the ability to

do,

Physical domain

Set of SKILLS

Related to the ability to

do,

Physical domain

KNOWLEDGE

Relates to

information

Cognitive domain

KNOWLEDGE

Relates to

information

Cognitive domain

Outstanding

performance of task

or activities

Outstanding

performance of task

or activities

ATTRIBUTERelate to qualitative

aspectsPersonal characteristics

& traits

ATTRIBUTERelate to qualitative

aspectsPersonal characteristics

& traits


Attitude (job related behavior) plays an important role both in personal &

professional life. Hence in the organization context we need to give first

importance to attitude rather than skills. That’s how competency concept has

evolved and took an important place in decisions related to human resources area.

Origin of Competencies

The word competency is derived from Latin word ‘’competer’’ which

means ‘to be suitable’. The competency concept was originally developed in

psychology denoting individual’s ability to respond to demand placed on them by

their environment.

Concept of Competency

It has been a general observation that hard work, sincerity, knowledge,

intelligence alone does not make a person star performer in his profession. There

are other factors that help an individual to excel in his job/profession. All of us

have noticed during our school days, that the top scorer of a class is not always the

most intelligent or the most hardworking student of the class. We have also

observed that top scorers from objective type of tests are not able to hold their rank

in descriptive type of tests. Similarly a good runner is not always a good hockey

player, as every game or sport needs different set of physical and mental qualities

to excel. Thus set of human qualities and/or attributes that make a person a star

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performer for a particular activity defines the competency for that particular

activity.

Good managers are generally aware about different qualities a person must

possess to do a job effectively, and they make use of their knowledge to select and

train their subordinates. Organizational psychologists have studied and refined this

understanding and converted it into a structured and formal process thus making it

available for business application.

In organizational and business context, competency required for a particular

job depends on many factors. The factors include social culture, nature of business,

business environment, organizational culture, work environment, organizational

structure, duties and responsibilities, nature of processes and assigned activities,

attitude and motives of colleagues, superiors & subordinates. Some of these factors

many change with time and thus changing competency requirements for the same

job position in the organization.

Competency for any job position at a particular time is a unique set and as

organization has many different job positions, managing many such sets is a

difficult task. Hence for the purpose of HR management, the job competency is

divided into elemental competencies.

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Competence management is becoming increasingly important in today’s

dynamic context since it is becoming the only competitive advantages the

organization actually has which cannot be complicated easily by the competitor.

Competence management will have various aspects under it like competence

profiling and finding what the company is good at, building that is building new

competence to match the market demands, recruitment based on competences etc.

Competency mapping is processes of identify key competencies for an

organization and a job and incorporating those competencies throughout the

various process (evaluation, training, recruitment) of the organization.

Competency mapping play a significant role in recruiting and retaining

people as it gives a more accurate analysis of the job requirements, the candidates

capability of the difference between the two, and the development and training

needs to bridge the gaps.

Competencies enable individuals to identify and articulate what they offer

regardless of the job they happen to have at the time so that the organization can

see value and utilize what capability is actually available.

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Components of Competency

There are 5 types of competency characteristics which are as follows

Knowledge

Skills

Attitude

Traits

Motives

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Components of Competency

Knowledge

It refers to the information a person possesses about specific areas,

knowledge comprises many factors like memory, numerical ability, linguistic

ability, and is, therefore, a complex competency. It can be either:

Scientific Knowledge

Technical Knowledge

Job Knowledge

Self Concept

Traits & Motives

Value

Attitude

Knowledge

Skill

Core CompetenciesMost difficult to develop

Surface Competencies

Most easily developed

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Skill

It represents intelligent application of knowledge, experience, and tools.

This is the procedural "know how" knowledge (what one can do), either covert

(e.g., deductive or inductive reasoning) or observable.

E.g. - "active listening" skill in an interview. They are demonstrated abilities or

proficiencies, which are developed and learned from past work and life experience.

Knowledge and skills tend to be visible and relatively surface, characteristics

of people. But attitude, trait and motive competencies are more hidden “deeper”

and central to personality.

Attitudes

Attitudes are predispositions to other individuals, groups, objects,

situations, events, issues, etc. For example attitude to a particular occupation or

type of machine or a particular technology all influence our behavior. If a person

does not have a positive attitude to computers or IT, he is not likely to use a

computer. If he is not positive about the uses of ERP or SAP, he is not likely to use

the ERP or SAP.

Attitudes determine the kind of things we choose and whether we are likely

to approach a particular situation or not or whether we are open to try out the

technology or meet the customer or sell a particular product with high motivation,

etc.

Attitudes decide our approach or avoidance behavior. They are normally

conceptualized as positive or negative. A positive attitude makes us to treat that

object, technology, method, situation, and person or group more positively and

therefore we appreciate it and promote the same.

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Traits

Traits refer to the physical characteristics and consistent responses to

situations or information. Good eye sight is a necessary trait for surgeons, as is

self-control, the ability to remain calm under stress.

Motives

Motives are emotions, desire, physiological or similar impulses that prompt

action. The things a person consistently thinks about or desires a particular cause

action. Motives “drive, direct, and select” behaviour toward certain actions or

goals and away from others.

E.g.: Achievement – motivated people consistently; set challenging goals for

themselves and use feedback to do better.

Motives and traits may be termed as initiators that predict what people will

do on the job without close supervision.

Iceberg model of components of competency

Surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop. But core motive

and trait competencies are at the base of the personality and are more difficult to

assess and develop. This has been depicted below in the form of an iceberg model.

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Knowledge : Content knowledge/information in field of work, - from education and experience

Skill : Ability to do something well; most easily trained on- e.g. Technical skills to use knowledge

Social Role : How people perceive me; how I present myself- e.g. a loyal employee, a leader

Self-Concept : How people see/view themselves; identity; worth - e.g. An expert, a teacher

Traits : Habitual / enduring characteristics - e.g. Flexibility, self-control, good listener

Motives : Unconscious drives that predict behavior- e.g. Achievement, influence/power, affiliation

The above diagram depicts the Visible and Hidden Traits of Competencies.

Knowledge and Skills tend to be visible and are relatively surface characteristics of

people. But Attitude (Self-concept), Trait and Motive competencies are more

hidden, deeper and central to personality.

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Surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop. But core

motive and trait competencies are at the base of the personality iceberg which is

more difficult to assess and develop. Any process requiring competencies must not

be depended upon or concentrated on the core motive and trait competencies, as

they form part of ones’ inborn or innate traits.

The competencies develop into the ultimate behaviour of the people within

the organisation. The innate and learned characteristics combine together to form

the competencies which turn out to be the observable behaviour and thus results in

Effective Outcome (Performance on Job).

The innate characteristics are basic and within a person whereas the learned

characteristics are acquired or imbibed from the environment. These traits can be

developed and enhanced to suit the organisational objectives. On the other hand,

the innate traits are mostly inborn and hence are difficult to develop or enhance.

Procedure for acquiring of competency

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People involved in identifying the competencies

Competencies can be identified by one of more of the following category of people

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Who identifies competencies?

ExpertsExpertsIndustrial

Engineers

Industrial

Engineers

PsychologistsPsychologists

Job AnalystsJob Analysts

HR SpecialistHR Specialist


In consultation with: Line Managers, Current & Past Role holders, Supervising

Seniors, Reporting and Reviewing Officers, Internal Customers, Subordinates of

the role holders and other role set members of the role.

Behavior Indicators

A Competency is described in terms of key behaviors that enable

recognition of that competency at the work place.

These behaviors are demonstrated by excellent performers on-the-job much

more consistently than average or poor performers. These characteristics generally

follow the 80-20 rule in that they include the key behaviors that primarily drive

excellent performance.

Following are some key behavior indicators in an employee:

Independently researches for information and solutions to issues

Ability to know what needs to be done or find out (research) and take

steps to get it done

Ask questions when not sure of what the problem is or to gain more

information.

Able to identify the underlying or main problem.

Shows willingness to experiment with new things.

Develops a list of decision making guidelines to help arrive at logical

solutions.

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Classification of Competencies

Competencies can broadly be classified into two categories

A. Basic Competencies

B. Professional Competencies.

A. Basic competencies : are inherent in all individuals. Only their degree of

existence differs. For example, problem solving is a competency that exists

in every individual but in varying degrees.

B. Professional competencies : are over and above the basic competencies, and

are job related. For example, handling a sales call effectively is a

competency that a sales personnel would be required to have.

Hence, it can be simply said that,

+ =

Types of Basic Competencies

The basic competencies encompass the following:

1. Intellectual Competencies: Those which determine the intellectual ability

of a person.

2. Motivational Competencies: Those which determine the level of

motivation in an individual.

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CompetenciesCompetenciesBasic

CompetenciesProfessional

Competencies


Motivational Competencies:

Continuous Learning

Perseverance

Achievement Orientation

Time Management

Intellectual Competencies:

Communication

Creativity

Analytical Ability

Planning and Organizing

Social Competencies:

Team Work

Inter-personal Skills

Responsibility

Customer Satisfaction

Emotional Competencies:

Initiative

Optimism

Self Confidence

Leadership

Managing Stress

Managing Change

Basic Competencies

3. Emotional Competencies: Those which determine an individual's emotional

quotient.

4. Social Competencies: Those that determine the level of social ability in a

person.

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It has been proved by various scholars that all individuals have

competencies. Only the combination and degree of these competencies differ from

individual to individual.

Hence, organizations have to identify the critical basic competencies

required for individual employees to deliver their best in their organization. The

importance of mapping the competencies proves critical for organizational

success.

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Competency MappingDefinition

According to Boyatzis (1982) “A capacity that exists in a person that leads

to behaviour that meets the job demands within parameters of organizational

environment, and that, in turn brings about desired results”

Competency mapping is the process of identification of the competencies

required to perform successfully a given job or role or a set of tasks at a given

point of time. It generally examines two areas: emotional intelligence or emotional

quotient (EQ), and strengths of the individual in areas like team structure,

leadership, and decision-making.

It consists of breaking a given role or job into its constituent tasks or

activities and identifying the competencies (technical, managerial, behavioral,

conceptual knowledge, an attitudes, skills, etc.) needed to perform the same

successfully.

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Competency mapping is a process through which one assesses and

determines one’s strengths as an individual worker and in some cases, as part of an

organization.

It’s a combination of 3 key areas called KSA, K - Knowledge, S - Skills,

A - Attitude. We do Competency Mapping for Organizations and help them

develop the Competency Framework

Meaning:

It is about identifying preferred behaviours and personal skills which

distinguish excellent and outstanding performance from the average. A

Competency is the ingredients (skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviours) that

contribute to excellence.

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This is an HR tool that basically involves rating the employee on a set of

functional and behavioral parameters. It was earlier used for identifying the skill

gaps identified in the parameters and comparing the ideal rating with an actual one.

Now, it is more widely used for identifying training needs, performance

measurement, helping the employee identify his career path and other areas in HR.

Areas of Implementation

The competency mapping can be applied to the areas depicted in the following

diagram:

Areas of Implementation of Competency Mapping

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Recruitment and selection

Competencies can be used to construct a template for use in

recruitment and selection. Information on the level of a competency

required for effective performance would be used to determine the

competency levels that new hires should possess. Depending upon the

accepted definition, competency data may take the form of behaviors,

skills, abilities and other characteristics.

Competency based selection can be a way to gain competitive

advantage. Some of these advantages are listed below:

A firm that knows how to assess competencies can effectively

hire the best at a reasonable price, for example hire under priced

but highly entrepreneurial MBA’s from lesser-known business

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schools.

There is high turnover due to high failure rate among new hires.

The organization needs to identify new hires with the potential to

become future managers or leaders.

A gap between the competencies needed and what the

organization can hire for indicates the training new hires will

need.

A lengthy training period may transpire before new hires become

productive. New hires with the competencies to do a job become

fully productive faster.

Training and Development

It involves identifying gaps and helping employees develop in

the right direction. Knowing the competency profile for a position

allows individuals to compare their own competencies to those

required by the position or the career path. Training or development

plans could focus on those competencies needing improvement.

If the training programs can be aligned to the development needs

emerging out of the appraisal system and to the market led training

needs they can contribute better to both individual and business

objectives. This can be achieved in the following manner:

Firstly determine the competencies for a particular position

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Secondly identify the competencies of the person holding that

position

By mapping the competencies, identify gaps in terms of the

competencies for that role and the competencies of the person

doing that role to diagnose the training and development needs.

Identify the most appropriate training and development

methodology for each trainable competency

Accordingly, the person can be trained on those competencies

only. Competency based training programs clearly tell what should be

the competency level of the person entering the program. This would

drastically reduce the training cost for the organization.

Career and succession planning

It involves assessing employees’ readiness or potential to take

on new challenges. Determining a person job fit can be based on

matching the competency profile of an individual to the set of

competencies required for excellence within a profession. Individuals

would know the competencies required for a particular position and

therefore would have an opportunity to decide if they have the

potential to pursue that position or not.

Rewards and Recognition

Competency based pay is compensation for individual

characteristics for skills and competencies over and above the pay a

job or organizational role itself commands.

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One way of improving employee performance is by recognizing

and rewarding effort. Competency pay is the best way to do so.

Rewarding employees for their ability to make the best use of

their skills and competencies in accordance with the organization’s

needs was the logic behind this once popular HR tool.

Various elements are considered for arriving at compensation

increase. Enhancement in competencies has to be one of them. There is

a need for competency based compensation system

To attract more competent than average employees

To reward for results and competencies developed

To motivate employees to maintain and enhance their skills and

competencies regularly

By rewarding employees who develop relevant competencies the

organization can benefit by improving its own capability to face the

future

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Performance Management System

Performance has two dimensions

Achieving business results

Developing individual competencies

These days performance appraisal is seen by managers and

employees as a bureaucratic “paperwork” exercises that they do not

take seriously because it has little impact on employee development.

Performance appraisals do not address the employees’ questions about

skill development or career advancement.

Competency based performance management would:

Focus on “HOW” of performance and not on “WHAT” of

performance i.e. not on results but how the results are achieved

Link to development of the individual and not just rewards

Competency based PMS shift the emphasis of appraisal from

organization results to employee behaviors and competencies

demonstrated and hence help identify development gaps.

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Model of Competency Mapping

Definition

A competency mapping model is an organizing framework that

lists the competencies required for effective performance in a specific

job, job family (e.g., group of related jobs), organization, function, or

process. Individual competencies are organized into competency

models to enable people in an organization or profession to

understand, discuss, and apply the competencies to workforce

performance.

The competencies in a model may be organized in a variety of

formats. No one approach is inherently best; organizational needs will

determine the optimal framework. A common approach is to identify

several competencies that are essential for all employees and then

identify several additional categories of competencies that apply only

to specific subgroups. Some competency models are organized

according to the type of competency, such as leadership, personal

effectiveness, or technical capacity. Other models may employ a

framework based on job level, with a basic set of competencies for a

given job family and additional competencies added cumulatively for

each higher job level within the job family.

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Developing the model

The following are the steps involved in designing and developing the

competency mapping model:

Strategize – assess business needs, evaluate contextual drivers,

engage stakeholders and set goals.

Initiate – identify methodologies, develop project plans, review

existing data, benchmark competencies, and collect competency

data.

Model – analyze and synthesize data, identify competencies and

develop models, and validate models.

Pilot – develop implementation and evaluation plans, develop

and initiate competency applications, and continuously

communicate activities.

Link – link to all human resources system components, and

phase in implementation of other competency' based applications.

Evaluate – establish and evaluate measures, and continuously

improve the system.

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Stages in Developing an Organization Wide Competency Model

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Construct Competency Definitions

Assign proficiency levels

Content Validation session

Reinforce proficiency of critical competencies

Refine competency definitions, if necessary

Review list of probable Competencies

Stage 2Data AnalysisStage 2Data Analysis

Stage 3Validation Stage 3Validation

Stage 1Data Gathering & Preparation

Stage 1Data Gathering & Preparation

Study Identified JobsStudy Identified Jobs

Identify major categories of skills

Identify major categories of skills

Identify Probable competencies

Identify Probable competencies


Steps for implementing Competency Mapping

These steps have been segregated in view of implementing the model and

are depicted in the following figure:

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Identify Departments and Organization Hierarchy

Conduct Semi Structured Interview

Obtain Job Description

Preparation of List of Skills

Indicate Proficiency Levels

Generate List of Competencies

Validate competencies & Proficiency levels

Prepare competency matrix


The definition and use of competencies vary from one organization to

another. You will need to adopt a competency approach or framework that works

for you. To achieve the best results, it is important to clearly define and describe

the Model in use for all involved.

Following is a brief description of each of these steps:

Step 1: Identify departments for competency mapping

Decide and select the departments within the organization which we would

like to include into our study. The departments should be chosen based on their

criticality and importance to the organization.

Step 2: Identifying hierarchy within the organization and selection of levels

Study the organization hierarchy across each of the selected departments.

Step 3: Obtain the job descriptions

For all the levels at every department obtain each role’s job description. Job

descriptions are a basic human resources management tool that can help to increase

individual and organizational effectiveness.

For each employee, a good, up-to-date job description helps the incumbent to

understand:

their duties and responsibilities;

the relative importance of the duties; and

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Mapping of Competency


How their position contributes to the mission, goals, and objectives of the

organization.

For the organization, good job descriptions contribute to organizational

effectiveness by:

Ensuring that the work carried out by staff is aligned with the organizations

mission; and,

Helping management clearly identify the most appropriate employee for new

duties and realigning work loads.

Step 4: Preparation of semi structured interview

In structured interviews, carefully planned questions are asked individually

of job incumbents, their managers, or others familiar with the job. Benchmarking

interviews with other organizations are especially useful in achieving a broader

view of the job or determining which competencies are more universally deemed

necessary for a particular job.

However, it is important to be cautious in applying the information collected

from other organizations as there are many variables such as work environment,

culture, and differences in job responsibilities that may limit the relevance of the

information.

Step 5: Scheduling of interviews

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Obtain a list of employees from respective department heads and

accordingly schedule interviews. A minimum of 5 candidates are to be interviewed

at each level in each department.

Step 6: Recording of interview details

The candidate’s answers and opinions have to be recorded in as much detail

as possible for further reference during the project.

Step 7: Preparation of a list of Skills

As per the interview and the details that were generated from the candidate,

generate a list of skills observed for the job. Thereon a list of identified

competencies should be drawn for each interviewed candidate.

Step 8: Repeat for next levels and functions.

The interviews and appropriate recording of answers should be done at all

remaining levels and other departments within the Torrent Research Center.

Step 9: Make the list of the competencies required for the department for each level and each function giving behavioral indicators.

For each position at each department a list of competencies observed from

both the job description and the semi structured interview (list of skills) should be

drawn up.

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Each competency should be given a name and an appropriate definition that

clearly indicates its meaning and essence.

Step 10: Validate identified competencies and proficiency levels with Head of Departments.

Confirm competency definitions with respective Head Of Department’s and

obtain from the required proficiency levels of each competency that is ideal for

each role. Also locate any missing competencies.

Step 11: Preparation of competency matrix

Prepare a matrix defining competencies required and corresponding

proficiency levels for each level across all departments.

Step 12: Mapping of competencies

Map the competencies of selected employees against the competency matrix

as per their employee level and department. Here an employee’s actual proficiency

level of a particular competency would be mapped against the target proficiency

level.

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Process of Competency Mapping

Competency mapping requires a lot of planning and efforts of the HR

department as it’s a lengthy and a time consuming process. It is essential to lay

down the entire plan first, and then take it forward.

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Strategy of competency mapping:

This section consists of a Strategy and Guidelines Chart and narrative. It

includes information on the steps to take in developing and using competency

models.

Strategy & Guideline chart

Preparation of Questionnaire

CollectionOf Responses

Analysis Findings

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I. Identify the positions you are establishing competencies for

1.Identify your objectives, including the positions, titles, title series, occupation, etc. to target.

2. Determine the resources available.

3. Develop a project work plan.

II. Develop the competency model

1. Decide whether to adopt or modify existing material, or develop your own.

2.Evaluate the impact of organization direction and organization-level competencies.

3.Determine whether competencies will be for current and/or future responsibilities.

4. Obtain examples of competency models and KSAOs.

5. Identify the desired outputs and outcomes associated with the competencies.

6.Select competencies for the model via committee, interviews, focus groups, survey, etc.

7. Determine the relative importance of the competencies.

8.Consider whether to define different levels of performance within each competency.

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III. Assess individual competencies and identify gaps

1. Determine employees' competencies.

2. Conduct the gap analysis involving the employee and supervisor.

IV. Develop strategies to address the gaps

1. Identify and prioritize the development needs.

2.Create Individual Development Plans (IDP).

3. Identify resources to address the needs.

4. Keep a centralized record of employee competencies.

V. Reassess competencies & evaluate return on investment (ROI)

1.Reassess competencies on an annual basis, possibly using an ROI assessment.

2. Collect a wide range of data on the results.

Competency mapping in the latest scenario:

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http://www.cs.state.ny.us/successionplanning/workgroups/competencies/competencies5strat.html#IIInar


A lot is going on in recent times on the issue of competency mapping. A lot

of resource is spent and consultants are invited to do competency mapping.

Competency mapping is gaining much more importance and organizations are

aware of having good human resources or putting the right people on right job.

Competency mapping is important and is an essential exercise. Every well

managed firm should have well defined roles and list of competencies required to

perform each role effectively. Such list should be used for recruitment,

performance management, promotions, placements and training needs

identification.

In performing or carrying out work, it is essential that the required job skills

first be articulated. This information not only helps to identify individuals who

have the matching skills for doing the work but also the skills that will enhance the

successful performance of the work. Yet often to perform well, it is not enough just

to have these skills. It is also critical to complement the skills with the necessary

knowledge and attitudes.

For e.g. the necessary knowledge will enable an individual to apply the right skills

for any work situation that will arise while having the right attitude will motivate

him to give his best efforts. These skills, knowledge and attitudes required for the

work are usually collectively referred as competencies.

Advantages of Competency Mapping

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There are several advantages of competency mapping over traditional job

analysis. The following section analyzes each of them in relation to the company,

the managers and the individual employees. The section also gives a comparative

view of the competency based approach and the job analysis approach.

For the company:

The advantages of competency mapping for the companies or organizations are as

follows:

1. Establishes expectations for performance excellence

2. Improved job satisfaction and better employee retention

3. Increase in the effectiveness of training and professional development

programs because of their link to success criteria.

4. Provides a common understanding of scope and requirements of a specific

role.

5. Provides a common, organization wide standard for career levels that enable

employees to move across business boundaries

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6. Help companies “raise the bar” of performance expectations

7. Help teams and individuals align their behaviors with key organizational

strategies

For Managers:

The competency mapping provides following advantages to the managers:

1. Identify performance criteria to improve the accuracy and ease of the

selection process

2. Provide more objective performance standards

3. Easier communication of performance expectations

4. Provide a clear foundation for dialogue to occur between the managers and

employees and performance, development and career-oriented issues

For employees:

The employees in an organization get the following advantages by competency

mapping:

1. Identify the behavioral standards of performance excellence

2. Provide a more specific and objective assessment of their strengths and the

tools required to enhance their skills

3. Enhances clarity on career related issues

4. Helps each understand how to achieve expectations

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Traditional Job Analysis versus Competency Approach

Disadvantages of Competency Mapping

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Outstanding performance.

Traditional Job

Analysis

Traditional Job

Analysis

Competency

Approach

Competency

Approach

A distilled set of underlying

characteristics.

Data generation from

outstanding performers in

addition to subject matter

experts and other job incumbents.

Long list of tasks and skills /

knowledge required to perform

each of those tasks.

Effective performance.

Data generation from subject matter experts; job incumbents.


In spite of the several advantages offered by competency mapping, there are few

drawbacks to the approach. Some of these are discussed below:

1. A problem with competency mapping, especially when conducted by an

organization is that there may be no room for an individual to work in a field that

would best make use of his or her competencies.

2. If the company does not respond to competency mapping by reorganizing its

employees, then it can be of little short-term benefit and may actually result in

greater unhappiness on the part of individual employees.

3. If too much emphasis is placed on 'inputs' at the expense of 'outputs', there is

a risk that it will favor employees who are good in theory but not in practice and

will fail to achieve the results that make a business successful.

4. They can become out of date very quickly due to the fast pace of change in

organizations and it can therefore be expensive and time consuming to keep them

up-to-date.

Findings

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With the help of the Opportunity Algorithm and the ratings provided by the

employees, the Competency Model and the Competency Scorecard for each

employee can be established.

Conclusion

Competency Mapping therefore, is a process of identifying key

competencies for an organization and/or a job and incorporating those

competencies throughout the various processes (i.e. job evaluation, training,

recruitment) of the organization.

A lot is going on in recent times on the issue of competency mapping. A lot

of resources are spent and consultants are being invited to do competency

mapping. Increased manpower costs, need for ensuring that competent people man

critical positions, and the need to be competitive and recognition of the strategic

advantages of having good human resources have compelled firms to be more

competency driven.

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In the report we have discussed how competent employees have become

need of the hour in every organization and it is now essential that they undertake

competency mapping, identify models, gaps and imbibe this as an every day

practice in an organization.

Often competency mapping runs the risk of being just another new-fangled

process that happens to be the flavor of the season. Such a powerful organizational

tool is often resorted just because rival organizations have implemented it and not

because there is genuine appreciation of its benefits. Competency mapping should

not be seen as just another means to apportion and dispense rewards.

All the stakeholders must see in the exercise an opportunity for long-term

growth. The key is to look at competency mapping as going beyond mere

processes. And to see in it an exercise that has a significant and lasting value to

project managers as well as to the organization.

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Recommendation & Suggestion

Competency-based HR is considered the best HR. In India however

competency development and mapping still remains an unexplored process in most

IT organizations despite the growing level of awareness. The underlying principle

of competency mapping is not just about finding the right people for the right job.

The issue is much more complex than it appears, and most HR departments have

been struggling to formulate the right framework for their organization.

Unless managements and HR heads have holistic expectations from their HR

departments, the competency movement is unlikely to succeed as it requires lot of

time, dedication and money. Before an organization embarks on this journey it has

to be very clear about the business goals, capability-building imperatives and core

competencies of the organization. The competency mapping process needs to be

strongly integrated with these aspects.

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Experts agree that the competency mapping process does not fit the one-

size-fits all formula. It has to be specific to the user organization. "My suggestion

is to develop models that draw from but are not defined by existing research, using

behavioral interview methods so that the organization creates a model that reflects

its own strategy, its own market, its own customers, and the competencies that

bring success in that specific context (including national culture). Start with small,

discrete groups or teams, ideally in two directions-a 'horizontal slice' across the

business that takes in a multi-functional or multi-site group, more or less at the

same organizational level, and a 'vertical slice' taking in one whole department or

team from top to bottom.

From that, the organization can learn about the process of competency

modeling, and how potential alternative formats for the models may or may not fit

the needs of the business

It is important to focus on one or two key areas of implementation rather

than the whole HRD agenda in one scoop. Competency mapping can be rather

good at providing organizational pain relief when applied effectively-and so

making the case for extending it. Further, it is advisable to begin with a

‘horizontal’ slice of the management or senior-most team as the benefits will

percolate down to the whole organization.

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Competency Mapping at AXIS BANK

Introduction of AXIS BANK

Axis Bank Ltd. is the third largest lender among private banks in India.

Over the last decade, the Bank has gradually improved its assets quality, built a

strong IT platform, controlled costs, and expanded its network. The Bank has

posted over 30% y-o-y growth in Net Profit in 35 of the last 37 quarters and over

60% Net Profit growth in each of the last 7 quarters by focusing on corporate and

improving its distribution and liabilities franchisee.

The Bank’s Net Profit for FY2009 grew more than 69% compared to

FY 2008. Net NPAs as a proportion of net customer assets stood at a mere 0.35%

at the end of March 2009. The Bank’s Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) are among

the lowest in the industry.

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Also, the alternative banking channels of the Bank, which comprise the

ATM network, internet banking, mobile banking and phone banking, have been

growing. In March 2008, Axis Bank launched Platinum Credit Card, India's first

EMV chip based card. In November 2008, CARE assigned AAA rating to Axis

Bank’s Subordinated Tier II Bonds. The Bank was ranked No.1 Debt Arranger by

Prime Database for the 9 months ended December’08. Also, it was ranked No. 1,

in the Bloomberg league table for ‘India Domestic Bonds’ for the quarter ended

March’09.

The Bank has strengths in both retail and corporate banking and is

committed to adopting the best industry practices internationally in order to

achieve excellence.

Basis of competency mapping at AXIS Bank

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AXIS employees are evaluated on the AXIS capability framework. The framework defines the skills, attitudes and behaviours expected of their employees around the group. It provides a common language to describe what represents success in AXIS, both now and in the future. The capability framework is structured around six capability clusters.

Given here the six factors and what they mean:

Factors influence Competency Mapping in AXIS Bank

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1

2

3

4

5

6

Understand & interprets business information and makes high quality & timely decisions within a commercial context.

Is innovative & forward looking. Establishes team and personal objectives that are aligned with AXIS’ business goals. Supports the differentiation of AXIS & its brand from competitors.

Is innovative & forward looking. Establishes team and personal objectives that are aligned with AXIS’ business goals. Supports the differentiation of AXIS & its brand from competitors.

Understands & interprets business information & makes high quality & timely decisions within a commercial context.

Understands & interprets business information & makes high quality & timely decisions within a commercial context.

Leads, inspires & develops others to deliver business performance. Role model AXIS’s value & instills trust in others.

Leads, inspires & develops others to deliver business performance. Role model AXIS’s value & instills trust in others.

Committed to the delivery of outstanding customer service. Wins new & lasting customer relationship

Committed to the delivery of outstanding customer service. Wins new & lasting customer relationship

Works collaboratively & communicates persuasively, emphasizing teamwork,Diversity, learning & knowledge sharing.

Works collaboratively & communicates persuasively, emphasizing teamwork,Diversity, learning & knowledge sharing.

Demonstrates a high degree of commitment to AXIS and drives self to achieve business & personal goals, Overcoming obstacles as they arise

Demonstrates a high degree of commitment to AXIS and drives self to achieve business & personal goals, Overcoming obstacles as they arise

Driving BusinessVision & Brand

Driving BusinessVision & Brand

Commercial judgment

Commercial judgment

Leading Performance

Leading Performance

Customer DriveCustomer Drive

Working with others

Working with others

Drives, commitment &

Personal development

Drives, commitment &

Personal development


The different factors that impede a proper competency mapping, they are as

follows

1. Lack of time:

Managers often have many responsibilities and numerous

subordinates. Hence they often lack the time to gather sufficient information

and conduct a proper competency mapping.

2. Lack of reward:

All though organizations emphasize the importance of competency

mapping, there are no rewards to the employees for doing a job well.

E.g. : extra incentives. Hence, there is no motivation for the employees to

take their work seriously.

3. Mapping Politics:

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FactorsInfluencingCompetencyMapping

FactorsInfluencingCompetencyMapping

Lack of timeLack of time

Lack of rewardLack of reward

Mapping PoliticsMapping Politics

Lack of trainingLack of training

Poor reflection on the managerPoor reflection on the manager

Avoid negative reactionsAvoid negative reactions


In bank where all raters (who map/grade the employees) are inflating

the ratings of their subordinates, a god rater has to play a politics in order to

protect and enhance the career prospects of their employees

4. Lack of training:

Managers often lack the required training and experience to conduct a

proper and fair mapping. Due to lack of training they often conduct the

mapping in an unscientific manner and commits different types of errors.

5. Avoid negative reactions:

Poor grade result in defensive and hostile reactions from

the subordinates that create a stressful situation for the manager to grade. In

order to avoid such problem, managers tend to give uniformly high ratings to

all the employees.

6. Poor reflection on the manager:

The grades of the employees are often considered as a reflection of the

managers’ ability to develop his junior. Thus while high grade make the

managers look good and in other way poor rating of the employees show the

manager in poor light.

Hence, in order to show that they are doing a good job, managers are

tempted to give high ratings to their employees.

Functions of Competency mapping67


Competency mapping has three basic functions:

1. Competency mapping seeks to provide adequate feedback to each

individual on his or her performance.

2. It serves as a basis for improving or changing behaviour towards more

effective working habits.

3. Competency mapping aims to provide data to managers with which they

may judge future job assignments and compensation.

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Adequate feedback

Adequate feedback

Provide data

Provide data

Improving or changing behaviour

Improving or changing behaviour


Pros and Cons of competency mapping

Pros of competency mapping

There are several advantages of competency mapping in AXIS Bank which is

describe as follows

1. Personal Training:

Competency mapping provides information about the employee’s

strength and weaknesses. Once the weaknesses in knowledge, skills

and abilities are identified and it can be corrected through additional

training.

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However, mapping should be only on job-related characteristics and

training should focus on that area of poor performance that is

attributed to the individual and not due to other factors in the work

environment.

Thus, Competency mapping serves as a diagnostics kit for identifying

employee’s strength and weaknesses.

2. Wage and salary Administration:

Competency mapping are frequently used to determine the salary raise

to be given to the employees. Increases in pay are often linked to the

employee’s job performance.

It is suggested that “personal development” and “Salary

Administration” should not be in the same way as employees

becomes defensive.

3. Placement:

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Information obtained through competency mapping is useful in making

placement decisions.

Trainee employees are appraised by exposing them to various tasks

and on the basis of their performance the trainee are placed in the field

that they performed the best.

Thus, competency mapping is useful in making optimal use of

employee abilities and talents.

4. Promotions:

Competency mapping helps in identifying the better-performing

employees.

It helps us to compare the performance of the employees.

Thus Competency mapping is useful in making promotional

decisions.

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5. Discharge :

Competency mapping provides evidence of inadequate job

performance by the employees. This can be used to terminate or

dismiss employees.

The organization should be able to demonstrate that the decision to

terminate the employees was a fair and used as the last report

6. Job Satisfaction:

A fair competency mapping maintains the employee’s initiative and

morale leading to greater job satisfaction.

7. Feedback:

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Competency mapping provides information of an employee’s

weaknesses or deficiencies in knowledge, skills and abilities that once

identified can be corrected through additional training.

It can also be used to determine the usefulness of a trainee program by

determining whether an employee’s job performance improved after

the training period.

Cons of Competency mapping

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Mappings are done by Human beings for other human beings. Therefore

mistakes and distortions in judgments are not unusual. However, if we understand

the nature of distortions, we can possibly control and reduce them.

Followings are the different types of errors or we can say the difficulties that

may affect the effective competency mapping.

1. Leniency Error:

Leniency means the tendency on the part of the rater to give a higher

rating than a really deserved by the employee. This type of error is

called as positive error.

However sometimes the rater is unduly strict in evaluating the

employees. This results in the concentration of rating at the lower

ends. This type of error is called as negative leniency error

Thus, both positive and negative leniency is the drawback.

2. Central tendency:

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Some raters avoid assigning extreme scores in either direction. That’s,

they tend to play safe and they avoid giving either very high or low

ratings. The tendency is to give average ratings to all the employees

which will leads to let down the employees performance.

The ratings tend to be clustered along the middle of the scale,

separated by no more than 1 or 2 points. The rating are so closed that

it is difficult to distinguish between poor and good workers. Such

ratings do not provide any useful information either to the

organization.

3. Halo Effect:

The halo effect involves the tendency to judge all aspects of a

person’s behaviour or character on the basis of a single attribute. If we

find a person to be physically attractive, we may tend to think of that

person as friendly, likable and easy to get along with, generalizing

from one attribute to other personality characteristics and other

abilities.

There is also a negative halo effect for example, if we find a person to

be stubborn, we may also assume that he or she in unpleasant and

incapable of getting along well with other people.

4. Similar-to-me:

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There is a tendency for raters to give more positive ratings to

individuals who are more like themselves.

For example, males rate males higher, a south Indian rate another

south Indian higher and so on.

5. Logical Error:

It is observed the manager perceives two traits or behaviour to be

logically related to each other.

Thus, if the manager thinks that if the employee is good on one trait

then he will be good on the other trait too or he thinks that if the

employees are bad on the other trait then he will be bad on the other

trait too.

6. Constant Error:

It is observed that some raters give employees consistently higher than

other raters.

This is because of differences in standards of ratings. Some raters are

more demanding and other raters are less demanding.

The constant rating means that the top rating given by one manager

may not be equivalent to the top rating given by another manager.

7. Rater’s stereotypes or bias:

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A factor that can adversely affect personnel rating is rater’s

stereotypes.

The rater’s bias toward persons of various groups, race, and religion

could influence competency mapping. Bias could be also on the basis

of sex, age etc

Conclusion:

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At every stage of economic and business development, different skills are

abilities are necessary to survive and thrive. At one time, we had to be focused and

determined to do our job well. We had to make sure that everybody around us

thought and behaved the same way. These quality are still essential, but in

addition, there is another skill must have i.e., Competency mapping.

Today, the most important skill we can develop is the ability to map the

competency of the employees in best possible manner. Our abilities to do this have

a greater impact on company’s success.

It has been said that all of life is the study of attention. Where our

attention goes, our life goes as well. Then we begin to pay greater attention to

competency mapping, in return we will get better and better at it. We will become

more skillful in our ability to interview. We will become more competent in our

ability to manage and motivate and also become more valuable to our self and our

organization.

As we become better and better at finding great people and turning

them into top teams, we will realize our full potential as a manager. There will be

no limit to how far we can go or how high we can rise. We will one of the

outstanding executives of the twenty-first century.

Recommendation & suggestion

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The HR department of company must be best at their work and company

should train them in best possible way. They may give the employees extra

incentives which will leads to work hard. Also plan for training & development

programme.

Different manager has different parameter of voting. Company spent a lot

of resources and money on competency mapping but the result of which may not

true and fair. So, manager should give their best while mapping the employee’s

skills, performance etc.

Managers should minimize their error while mapping. If manager can not

take competency mapping in proper manner then it is effect the both i.e., the

company and the employees rating. Manager should map the employees in best

possible way. They should similar to all the employees and rating should be based

on the skill, knowledge, performance and not on their beauty or religion, race etc.

While mapping the competency, manager should thorough with the

process of competency and must know the employees after mapping them as they

benefit to the company. If any employees is then company improve them in a

better way and give them proper training and if the employees are very good in

particular field then manager or company train the them in such manner that

employees may become expert in that field.

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Bibliography:

The Handbook of Competency Mapping by seema sanghi

Competency Mapping, Assessment & Development.

360 Degree Feedback, Competency Mapping And Assessment Centres

Management a competency-based approach [Edition-9 Hellrigel/ Jackson/ slourm]

Personnel & Human Resource Management – A.H. Sharma [5 th revised edition

2005] Himalaya publishing house

Strategic HR technologies [keys to managing people] Ashok chanda

Articles

Article -“The Art and Science of Competency Mapping”- by T.V. Rao,

Sudipta, “Competency based HR”, Express Computer, 10 Jan 2005

“Competency Mapping: A pre- requisite for HR Excellence” by Dr. Lovy

Sarikal

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Web Sources:

www.tvrls.com

www.citehr.com

www.hinduonnet.com

www.indianmba.com

http://www.citehr.com

http://google.com

http://www.exampleessays.com

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http://www.exampleessays.com/

http://google.com/

http://www.citehr.com/

http://www.indianmba.com/

http://www.hinduonnet.com/

http://www.citehr.com/

http://www.tvrls.com/

Competancy Mapping With Axis Bank

Documents

market public

traditional

competency

competency

internal strategic

job related

proper competency

good human