Competency Based Staff Recruitment

  

Competency Based Staff Recruitment 

What is Competency based recruitment?

Competency based recruitment is a process of recruitment based on the ability of candidates to produce anecdotes about their professional experience which can be used as evidence that the candidates has a given competency. Candidates demonstrate competencies on the application form, and then in the interview.

The process is intended to be fairer than other recruitment processes by clearly laying down the required competencies and then testing them in such a way that the recruiter has little discretion to favour one candidate over another; the process assumes high recruiter discretion is undesirable. As a result of its perceived fairness, the process is popular in public services. Competency-based recruitment is highly focused on the candidates' story-telling abilities as an indication of competency, and disfavours other indications of a candidate's skills and potential.

Practice 

Having established the competency profiles for groups and roles, organizations can use the competencies as the standards for assessing candidates throughout the screening and selection process as well as advertising and communicating the organization’s requirements to potential applicants

Competencies support recruitment and selection by,

• Contributing to the design of a well-articulated, efficient and effective recruitment and selection processes
• Improving the transparency of the selection process by clearly communicating the behaviors employees must display for success in the job.
• Providing, validated, fair and unbiased standards against which to assess applicant competencies to perform in the targeted job.
• Creating efficiency by providing re-usable selection tools and processes 
• Providing explicit, clear and transparent criteria on which to give candidates feedback on their performance in the selection process.
• Providing standards for evaluating the success of the selection process – e.g., correlating the results of the selection process with competency-based on-the-job performance.

Some of the common benchmark competency-based practices in Recruitment and Selection include,

• Interview and Reference Checking Guides – 

Template interview and reference checking guides are developed for varied types of jobs, including instructions and rating guides. These are made available to hiring managers and HR Advisors.

• Notices of job requirements – 

A template is developed to define how competencies will be reflected in .notices regarding the requirements of jobs to be filled. As the competency profiles are completed, sample notices are developed for the varied types of jobs.

• Template Interview and Reference Checking Guides – 

Template interview and reference checking guides are developed for roles/career streams and levels within Occupational Groups including instructions and rating guides. These are made available to hiring managers and HR Advisors.

• Competency-based Track Record / Portfolio Reviews –

 Track record / portfolio reviews allow employees / applicants to document their past experiences and accomplishments that relate to the competency requirements for positions within the organization. Once completed, trained evaluators score the extent to which the required competencies are demonstrated in the written examples using standardized scoring criteria. Typically, the candidate / employee also provides references who can attest to the validity of the examples provided. Results can be used as part of the staffing process and / or for other purposes.

• Competency-based Track Record / Portfolio Reviews – 

Track record / portfolio reviews allow employees / applicants to document their past experiences and accomplishments that relate to the competency requirements for positions within the organization. Once completed, trained evaluators score the extent to which the required competencies are demonstrated in the written examples using standardized scoring criteria. Typically, the candidate / employee also provides references who can attest to the validity of the examples provided. Results can be used as part of the staffing process and / or for other purposes.

• Other Competency-based Assessment Methodologies –

A variety of other competency-based assessment methodologies can be incorporated into the selection process, including In-basket assessments, role plays or simulations of workplace situations that the employee will encounter, multi-source input (as appropriate), etc. When designing and implementing any methodology, it is important that it be defensible.

·         Training on Competency-based Selection –

 Managers must have the knowledge and skills to be able to apply the various competency-based

assessment methodologies noted above to arrive at valid selection decisions. Likewise, employees

must be able to participate effectively to provide an accurate picture of the competencies they

possess. Finally, both managers and HR professionals must be able to establish selection processes

that are both efficient and effective (i.e., reliable, fair, valid and unbiased). All of this requires

targeted training / orientation programs to ensure that all stakeholders have the necessary skills.

Implementation stages

Stage 1:

·    Define the policies and decision-rules for using competencies in the recruitment and selection processes

·    Identify considerations / guidelines for including information on competencies in notices of job requirements

·    Develop sample notices of job requirements as the competency profiles become available for use.

·    Customize or build an interview / reference checking question bank organized by competencies included in the competency profiles.

·    Customize or build other competency-based tools or processes that can be used across a number of occupational groups.

Stage 2:

·    As the competency profiles are completed for the job groups, develop and implement recruitment, and selection processes consistent with policy and tools defined in Stage 1. Review and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of these processes and adjust policies, procedures, templates, etc., as required.

·    Plan for and train managers and HR personnel on appropriate competency-based interviewing approaches. This training should be just-in-time – i.e., as competency profiles become available for the different job groups.

·    Plan for, design and implement an orientation / training program for employees on how to participate in a competency-based recruitment and selection as new processes are being implemented.

·    Collect data on the effectiveness of the new recruitment and selection process and make adjustments to the process, as required

References 

·       Dubois, D., & Rothwell, W. (2004). Competency-Based Human Resource Management. Davies-Black Publishing

·    Dubois, D., & Rothwell, W. (2000). The Competency Toolkit (Volumes 1 & 2). HRD Press

·    Lucia, A., & Lepsinger, R. (1999). The Art and Science of Competency Models: Pinpointing Critical Success Factors in Organizations. Pfeiffer

·    Shandler, D. (2000). Competency and the Learning Organization. Crisp Learning.

·    Spencer, L M. in Cherniss, C. and D. Goleman, eds. (2001) “The economic value of emotional intelligence competencies and EIC-based HR programs”, in The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace: How to Select for, Measure, and Improve Emotional Intelligence in Individuals, Groups and Organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Wiley

·    Spencer, L., & Spencer, S. (1993). Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance. Wiley.