Personal Specifications and Competency Frameworks in HRM - Research Paper Example

Managing the HR Function Recruitment and selection procedures play an important role in HRM and successful performance of organizations. Recruitingtoday is taken a lot more seriously and given a lot more thought than it used to be. Personal specifications and competency frameworks are the most popular tools used by HR mangers in selection and recruitment. In spite of benefits and advantages of these methods, they have some limitations and weaknesses for organizations and job seekers. Concerning the narrower sense, as involvement in the development or choice of the selection situation or selection modes, some possibilities for participation could be demonstrated. So it is possible in principle to be included via representative participation (e.g., by union members or by members of the same group assessing acceptability and fairness of selection processes or instruments) (Dale, 2006). The importance of rigorous and detailed job analysis in underpinning human resource development and in sustaining an integrated approach to human resource management cannot be overestimated. Recruitment and selection procedures, training needs analysis, and appraisal procedures etc., are all likely to benefit from job or competency definitions which are produced directly from an analysis of job behaviors. As a result procedures for recruitment and selection, etc. are likely to be more accurate and less susceptible to bias and distortion than some other previously utilized techniques, for example, the traditional interview process relying on instinctive criteria or a 'gut feeling'. "Person Specification" Person specification involves education and training information, qualifications and personal qualities. It is likely that job descriptions would conform to the framework discussed earlier for competencies. That is, they would be composed of elements which appear to be generic to most managerial positions (Dale, 2006). Second, that strong occupational sector-specific criteria are also to the fore, and third, that some considerable individuation occurring either through organization-determined or individual needs would also be present in any actual job description that applies to a particular manager in a particular organization (Wood and Payne, 1998). Information is collected about a job in a structured manner and computer analyzed in order to meet a variety of objectives; including, the specification of job tasks and job context, profiling of human attributes required for effective job performance, and the identification of relevant assessment methods. For example, a job description and person specification can be made through a questionnaire, and can be supplemented with 'validation' interviews conducted by the job analyst where the respondent is questioned about his/her responses Dale, 2006). The advantage and strength of person specifications is that the occupational standards approach advocates the use of 'range statements', describing the range of contexts and applications in which a employees would be expected to achieve the outcome. A specification of the range of contexts in which competence is to be demonstrated is not however a substitute for an assessment of competence which reflects the influence of the organizational climate/environment on an individual's actions/behavior (Wood and Payne, 1998). Where the latter is seen as a necessary and essential part of an individual's competence assessment the occupational standards approach may not, at least in its entirety, be sufficient. In order to perform the job effectively, the breadth of job related knowledge is regarded by managers as substantial across all functions. Leaders of large organizations see the job itself as undergoing basic change. It would seem necessary therefore, first, that anyone who wishes successfully to discharge leadership functions must anticipate coping with ongoing change in the organizational environment, and second, that he or she must recognize that leadership is itself undergoing a substantial transformation (Slowik, 2001). Person specification is a systematic process for acquiring objective and detailed information about jobs. It is not a single methodology but a generic term representing a range of techniques. The data gathered may be in the form of information on job tasks, roles, and job holder attributes relevant to job performance. Material collected can relate to the job currently being performed or directed at a job which is likely to be performed in the near future. Job analysis is carefully structured although the extent of structure will vary according to the different techniques available (Slowik, 2001). Occupational personality questionnaires are widely used in employment sectors to inform recruitment and selection, management development, and personal and career counseling. There are two basic elements to the rationale behind their use: that individuals with particular interest and personality profiles will be better suited to certain types of jobs than others in terms of job satisfaction; and that personality factors are related to the adequacy with which an individual performs the job in terms of job success. Both issues are highly contentious and engender active debate amongst academics and practitioners (Grout and Perrin, 2005). The purpose in undertaking a job analysis is to collect in a sophisticated and structured manner information which will provide an accurate description of key job tasks that the manager undertakes and to construct a clear picture of the context in which the manager performs his or her work. Then, from the analysis of job task and job context information and behavioral information, identify the personal skills that are of critical importance for the successful performance of the job (Grout and Perrin, 2005). The data also provides a means for the generation and validation of management competencies. While an indicative job description is presented below, this can be admittedly no more than a guide to key issues in determining the job description and allied person specification which may arise and be necessary in any particular company. Following Grout and Perrin (2005) person specification can be viewed not only as a process capable of producing a number of practical outcomes of benefit to practitioners, trainers and the like, but also as an applied form of research. The job analyst gathers pertinent data in a systematic and reliable manner in the identification, resolution, or redefinition of a problem or in addressing a specific need (Grout and Perrin, 2005). The main weakness of person specification is that it does not reflect the nature of job. For instance, managers can use personality 'profile' is in a 'profile matching' exercise where an individual's profile is compared to the 'mean' profile for managers and his or her suitability for the job assessed. "In identifying information targets to consider, employers sometimes fail to include the activities and behaviors that actually predict hiring failures" (Slowik 2001, p. 77). Thus, this process is subjective and cannot be applied to many professions: doctors and nursing staff, engineers and educators, etc. It is speculated that the mean or average personality profile of the people in an occupation is a guide to the ideal pattern of behavior, since the individuals who have moved into the occupation and remained there are those that are well suited to the occupation (Dale, 2006). Several personality theories support the notion that individuals distort performance information to maintain favorable attitudes about one's self. For example, self-esteem theories propose that individuals have the need to enhance their self-evaluation and to increase, maintain, or confirm feelings of personal satisfaction, worth, and effectiveness (Grout and Perrin, 2005) Self-enhancement theory assumes that people have the basic desire to think favorably of themselves, and that the longer the drive is unsatisfied, the more it increases in strength. Further, self-concept theories predict that when skills, qualifications, or abilities can be or are negatively evaluated, the self-concept is threatened. Under these conditions, protection of self-concept would be a probable reaction. In sum, performance appraisal information probably arouses desires to enhance self-esteem, think favorably of one's self, or protect self-concept (Grout and Perrin, 2005). "Competency Frameworks" A competency framework is in the form of two major approaches. The first uses methods emanating from a 'personal qualities' approach to competence deriving from research conducted in the early 1980s by Richard Boyatzis and McBer. Competency Frameworks adopt an occupational standards approach as promoted by the present government to detail the standards required for all work roles. "Their definition of core competencies as the "collective learning" of the organization has been much cited, and contributes to the current interest in "competencies" (Shipmann et al., 2000 cited Markus et al l2000, p. 117) The strength of a competency framework is that it provides a comprehensive and accurate picture of a manager's job, and contributes to a better understanding of those factors associated with effective leadership. Such a structured description may even go some way towards theory building in management, and provide a nationally recognized framework for appraising a manager's current performance (Markus et al 2005). The latter could lead to standardized procedures which are both systematic in approach and consistent across use by different individuals for recruitment and selection; for promotion; for training; and for assessment leading to personal and/or career development. Competencies are a valuable source for reflection upon one's own performance. Evidence suggests that job holders find competencies useful for identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. The process of reflection and self-evaluation seems as valuable as the outcome to the assessment (Dale, 2006). An individual's 'competence' can be thought of as the degree to which he or she has been found to exhibit the 'competencies' which have been derived through job analysis as being important for effective job performance. These competencies may be conceptualized as either a part of the person performing the job, as represented by traits, motives, and personal qualities, or as part of the job being performed, as depicted by skills-based outputs and occupational standards. Both fit into an overarching framework of competence, the difference arising as a variation in the 'description' of competence offered' (Dale, 2006). This description may be at the level of the person carrying out the job, and the attributes necessary for effective performance, or at the level of the job being performed, and the job areas/ functions which must be effectively performed (Grout and Perrin, 2005). Competence frameworks have a number of drawbacks. There is no indication of the effectiveness of the 'mean profile'; it merely informs us that individuals of such profile have adjusted to the demands of the job because they choose to remain in the job (Slowik, 2001). The mean profile may also be discriminatory; for example, if it is based on a male dominated sample of job holders. The worth of such personality profiles however lies in their contribution to the debate as to which personality characteristics are important in underpinning job performance, and their subsequent use in informing recruitment, management development and training (Slowik, 2001). The process of competency framework is analytical, and breaks down the job into its component parts, rather than describing the job as a whole. Person specification is designed to achieve a specific goals, and is typically in the form of the 'what'-tasks and activities which are associated with the job; the 'how'-the skills and abilities required to perform these tasks; and the 'context'-the environment or culture in which tasks are executed. For example the person specification identifies the major job tasks of managers-planning, motivating, implementing/coordinating, etc.; derives the skills and abilities critical to successful job performance such as confidence, the need to be sympathetic and tolerant, to be consultative, etc.; and constructs a picture of the context in which the manager undertakes his/her work, including his/her freedom to structure the job, the number of staff in organizations, working hours and so forth (Grout and Perrin, 2005). Most opponents to competency frameworks propose a return to a more 'whole-person' orientated approach to assessing and developing individuals, by the interrelation of task and skill components, behaviors, knowledge constituents, trait and motive elements, attitudes and social context factors, to arrive at a more holistic understanding of an individual's job performance. There is much merit in this approach. It would be wrong to conclude from this proposition however that competencies do not also have a part to play. While there is more to being a good manager than a set of competencies, the latter form a large part of the recipe. In accepting the leader's job as complex and multifarious in nature and consisting of more than a list of disjunctive competencies, it does not necessarily follow from this that competencies have no useful purpose (Grout and Perrin, 2005). A practically useful description of the job must have the capability to underpin selection and recruitment, management development, training and appraisal processes for managers. It is also vital that these processes address ensuing issues of standardization, objectivity, and equity. Such factors would seem to raise problems for a holistic approach; for example, at the practical level of providing systematic and standardized diagnosis and development. It represents another decisive argument for the application of competence approaches to organizations. Any selection and recruitment procedure which alleviates bias and subjectivity and consequently raises the objectivity of assessment, and which is also seen to be fair, valid and cost effective ought to be welcomed by the field of management (Markus et al 2005). The job as represented by these responses seems to be about: managing tasks, managing people, working with information in order to make decisions about tasks and people and communicating these decisions. There is not one key focus to the job. It is complex, entails considerable skill and professional expertise in sector-specific task areas, requires a high order of interpersonal skills and awareness and, because of the rapid rate of change, requires a continuous personal orientation to the leader's own growth and development. "I/O psychologists, with their understanding of the complexities of variables affecting individual, group and organizational performance, must take a more prominent role in promoting a research-based approach to the HR use of competency models" (Markus et al 2005, p. 117). Finally, individuals often actively seek feedback from others about their own performance. This feedback-seeking behavior is thought to be tied to motivations for achieving competence as well as protecting and enhancing self-esteem. According to theory, individuals differ in their history and propensity for feedback-seeking behavior just as they differ in motivations related to competence and self-esteem (Dale 2006). In sum, competencies can provide the basic structure upon which to build 'whole-person' views of an individual. A concentration on the whole-person can only proceed when the basic skills, as represented by competencies, have been mastered. Basic competencies may be generic in nature, applicable across a range of jobs, and will be supplemented by competencies which are more specific to the occupation, the organization, and the individual. True managerial effectiveness will emerge from an integration of all of these elements. Competencies also have an important advantage over holistic approaches. HR managers should take into account weaknesses and strengths of each approach in order to avoid failures in hiring people. Bibliography 1. Dale, M. 2006, The Essential Guide to Recruitment: How to Conduct Great Interviews and Select the Best Employees. Kogan Page Ltd. 2. Grout, J., Perrin, S. 2005, Recruiting Excellence. McGraw-Hill Professional. 3. Markus, L.H., Cooper-Thomas, H.D., Allpress, K.N. 2005, Confounded by Competencies' an Evaluation of the Evolution and Use of Competency Models. New Zealand Journal of Psychology vol. 34, iss. 2, pp.117-119. 4. Wood, R., Payne, T. 1998, Competency-Based Recruitment and Selection: A Practical Guide. John Wiley & Sons. 5. Slowik, S.M. 2001, Objective Pre-Employment Interviewing: Balancing Recruitment, Selection and Retention Goals. Public Personnel Management vol. 30, iss. 1, pp. 77-78. Read More