Literature review

( refer- wpec)

The competency movement in HR has been studied since the beginning of the 1970s. David MaClelland and the McBer & Company have developed the concept of competence. Especially MeClellands paper, Testing for Competence rather than intelligence (MeClelland, 1973) contributed significantly towards popularity and success of the movement. He contributed remarkably to competency based HRD and his research findings proved that behavioral traits and characteristics were much more effective than aptitude tests in determining who was successful in job performance. The definition of what a competency is has still not reached unanimity over the years; there are several useful definitions for competencies. As Spencer and Spencer (1993) defined competencies as the combination of underlying attributes, skills, traits, knowledge and motives of a person which have been causally related to superior performance in a job. Schoonover et al. (2000) remark that competencies provide significant help with key problems such as: clarifying workforce standards and expectations; aligning individuals, teams and managers with the organizations business strategies; creating empowerment, accountability, and alignment of coach, team member, and employer in performance development; and developing equitable, focused appraisal and compensation decisions. Lucia and Lepsinger (1995) defined competencies as a cluster of related knowledge, skill, and attitudes that affect a major part of ones job (a role or responsibility), that correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against well accepted standards and that can be improved via training and development. Sinnott et at. (2002) argues that competencies are different from knowledge, skill, and abilities (KSAs). Competencies encompass not only KSAs but also personal characteristics. Now competencies are commonly conceptualized as a measurable pattern of knowledge, Skills, Knowledge, Aptitude, Behavior Personal Characteristics skills, abilities, behaviors and other characteristics (KSAOs) that differentiate high from average performance (Mirable, 1997; Athey & Orth, 1999; Rodriguez et al. 2002) A competency includes both innate and acquired aspects. It is essentially a pyramid built on the foundation of inherent talents, incorporating the types of skills and knowledge that can be acquired through learning effort and experience. At the top of the pyramid is a specific set of behaviors that are the manifestation of all innate and acquired abilities (Sanghi, 2004). Figure II depicts the competency pyramid model. Competencies are usually designed in some structured framework as depicted in Figure III. Behavioral indicators are examples of effective behaviors that can be observed when a person displays a competency. A collection of related behavioral indicators constitutes a competency. Then the competency is described and provided with a title. A collection of closely related competencies makes up a competency cluster. Finally, a total collection of clusters, competencies, and behavioral indicators is called a competency framework (Whiddett & Hollyforde, 1999)