1.3.2 Behaviours and competencies
Critics of competency-based approaches mainly target its behaviourist origins. Many view it as reductionist, narrow, inflexible, and empirically and pedagogically a 'one size fits all' approach (Chappell, 1996). It has also been criticised because its behaviourist approach could not provide qualifications and curriculum with an indication of the non-skills based attributes that would underpin competent performance (Bowles & Graham, 1994:12). While research and literature continues to establish the new frontiers for competency-based approach or debunks existing approaches, competencies have become embedded as major national as well as industry and organisational approaches to completing the management of learning, performance and knowledge.
While there are many variations on how to frame and write competencies analysis of the literature shows in most cases these all draw upon the theoretical constructs developed by the early writers. Most influential were the early works by Argyris (1962) and Boyatzis (1982). Boyatzis's seminal work formed the basis for defining and producing a model for competency-based education, training and development. It is in Boyatzis's work that one can also find many of the shortcomings of approaches that distinguish what constitutes a definition of a competency required for a specific work context.
Boyatzis proposed a model of management training, education and development based on competency. He stated competencies would make clear:
. . . what sort of person will be effective in our organisation in specific jobs . . . a template for decisions such as selection, promotion, firing and design of and assignment to management development activities . . . interpret responsibility for success or failure with respect to accomplishment of performance objectives . . . communicate to all managers how they should act and what they should be doing . . . basis for the design of management jobs and the organisational systems, policies, procedures and programs (Boyatzis, 1982:13).
Figure 5 Boyatzis's model for competencies and effective performance
In very simple terms Boyatzis saw effective performance as requiring a consistent attainment of three factors: job demands, organisational environment and individual competence (Boyatzis, 1982:13). Other dimensions were added by later literature to expand upon these three aspects of effective performance.
Job demands were seen as being formed around roles in planning, organising, controlling, motivating and coordinating (Boyatzis, 1982:17).
The organisational environment was almost exclusively seen as being formed around a study of climate and culture with a heavy emphasis on theorists and concepts associated with identifying the role/function and characteristics of management in a given organisational environment. This was consistent with ideas advanced by such theorists as Mintzberg (1973) and Drucker (1973).
Unlike Mintzberg's earlier contingence approach (1973:102-103), which externalised the common variables that shaped the different ways managers performed specific work, Boyatzis's model sought to integrate organisational environment, functions and personal competencies as variables that shaped management jobs into a common set of performance requirements.
Boyatzis sought to integrate Mintzberg's model (see the figure below) into a concept of 'individual competence' defining the characteristics of managers that enabled them to perform successfully in a job (Boyatzis, 1982:20). This definition included the dimensions of skills, individual characteristics and what were termed traits and motives (Boyatzis, 1982:27, 33, 195). Later Boyatzis went on to identify competence as a dynamic interaction between components of job competency and levels of application.
Figure 6 The variables impacting a management job in a given environment
(Mintzberg, 1973:103)
Boyatzis found common or core management clusters could be determined by examining the groupings of specific sets of competencies under different functions. This is an important factor as Boyatzis was focusing on developing functional management competencies. He stated that the list of specific competencies in a discrete or highly specialised function 'is not as important to this analysis as the predictive accuracy of the entire set' (Boyatzis, 1982:203).
To assist differentiation, levels of job application were broadly grouped into entry, middle and executive level jobs (Boyatzis, 1982:217, 219, 222). Boyatzis identified management clusters that included:
- Goal and action;
- Leadership;
- Human resources management;
- Directing subordinates;
- Focus on others; and
- Specialised knowledge.
It was under the sixth topic that most of the variations or specific management competencies were included when they did not fall into the other clusters. For each function, under each of the clusters one could define tasks that a specific manager at a different level of performance would perform in their organisational environment (Boyatzis, 1982:215, 242). Boyatzis's approach to competency-based development did not effectively address some important considerations, including:
- The concept of generic was related to common functions and clusters of competencies within a level of performance not explicitly related to a function across an industry or nation;
- Analysis did not differentiate how skills may relate to either 'functions' or 'roles';
- Except where it was included as a competency cluster called 'specialised knowledge' the definition of competence excluded knowledge and concentrated on the individual's socio-psychological characteristics, traits, motives and skills;
- The model placed heavy emphasis on both conscious and unconscious behaviours inherent in a manager's functioning but did not define them.
Contemporary research and literature still indicate competence-based approaches at an organisational level will vary ( Hodkinson & Issitt, 1995; Barrie & Pace, 1997). S pencer and Spencer suggested competencies have four defining features (1993:15):
- A competency is an underlying characteristic of an individual that is causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job situation.
- Underlying characteristic means the competency is a fairly deep and enduring part of a person's personality and can predict behaviour in a wide variety of situations and job tasks.
- Causally related means that a competency causes or predicts behaviour and performance.
- Criterion-referenced means the competency actually predicts who does something well or poorly, as measured on a specific criterion or standard.
Other authors stress the role of competencies as the core technical skills, knowledge and technologies that enable organisations to maintain unique productive capacity. Such approaches reinforce the need for competencies to be specific to the organisation and unique components of the overall competitive capabilities held by an organisation and its workforce (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990:79; Sanchez & Heene, 1997:5-6; Allee, 1997:21). These types of models may be able to accommodate national approaches to competency frameworks but ultimately these approaches recognise competitiveness cannot be generated from the same skill and knowledge available to anyone in the marketplace.
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