- Victor Ochieng’ explains why employees and job-seekers must sharpen workplace skills and competencies.
- He highlights organisational, technical, personal, behavioural and management competencies required for effective performance.
- The writer argues that employability increasingly depends on applying knowledge, abilities and attitudes effectively.
Splendid indeed, for proper positioning for world of work, job-seekers and employees should upskill: Sharpen skills and core-competencies. Straight into it, a skill refers to an ability to do something. Whereas a competency is the ability to apply or deploy skills, knowledge and abilities: to perform professional duties successfully in defined work settings. So, competencies are colourful combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, behaviours and personal qualities: that enable people to perform jobs effectively, and achieve the expected results.
Broadly, competencies surely show what people can do, how they do it, and qualities they demonstrate while tackling tasks. To teams that hire and fire people, raft of core-competencies guide the rigorous recruitment and selection process. Through thorough knowledge of core-competencies needed in the workplace, the human resource (HR) management office, points out top training and developmental needs. They also develop apt career development and progression programmes.
Then, they design their on-boarding and in-servicing programmes to be relevant and accurate to demands of climes and climes. On side of employees, sharpening of core-competencies assists them to focus on effusive efficiency, improve performance, spur productivity, and embrace effective communication and collaboration.
While scouting for placement or employment, the potential job-seeker should wield skills that make people valuable and employable, which include: Hard or technical skills, soft or behaviourial or generic skills, transferrable skills, cognitive skills, industry-based skills, work skills, 21st century skills, people skills, life skills, networking skills, good grooming skills, et cetera.
Withal, wielding requisite raft of stupendous skills is not the be-all and end-all. Instead, the job-seeker ought to be competent, adroit, deft and adept at it. Not daft, inept and incompetent. Therefore, it is worth building the following core-competencies: Organisational competencies, job competencies, technical competencies, personal competencies, behaviourial competencies and management competencies.
- Organisational Competencies
Firstly, organisational competencies are needed for an organisation to evince excellence in several spheres, and to maintain its to position in the market place. Therefore, the job-seeker wishing to become valuable and employable should be organised. Likewise, s/he should be able to deploy deft organisational competencies for the company, organisation, or institution to grow and glow.
Therefore, organisational competencies focus on how employees operate within the organisation as a whole. They enable employees to understand and contribute to goals, core-values (culture-principles), policies systems and operations of organisations.
Through correct comprehension of organisational competencies, employees attain teamwork and collaboration, communicate effectively, understand excellent customer service, adapt to vacillating nature of organisational changes, plan and organise work, respect organisational hierarchy and chain of command, work towards a common target, and make wise use of company resources.
- Job Competencies
Secondly, job competencies are abilities that when skillfully displayed, lead to efficient work or top task performance. For instance, competencies for a sales job role may require people who are relevant to the sales function. Such as meeting weekly targets. Convincing clients or customers to buy certain products or services. Customising offers and items to suit requirements of clients. Job competencies are closely related to real responsibilities and duties of specific positions at the workplace.
For example, for a teacher, job competencies may include: Excellent knowledge of the subject, lesson planning, learner-support skills, great classroom management, appropriate assessment approaches, effective communication skills, apt teaching pedagogies and methodologies, and good guidance to learners. For an accountant, job competencies can capture: Knowledge of accounting standards, prompt preparation of financial statements, best book-keeping practices, best-budgeting approaches, in-depth financial analysis, and wise use of accounting software.
- Technical Competencies
Thirdly, technical competencies are behaviours that have a direct relationship to the type of instruction received. As well as the level of technical expertise required in exercising effective operational control. An excellent example of such a competency is data-analysis: Enabling a person to collect, collate, process and interpret data for purposes of data-driven decision-making.
Actually, technical competencies are acquired through education, training, practice and experience. Examples of competencies are computer programming, machine operations, electrical installation, accounting, book-keeping, data analysis, welding, teaching, treating patients, graphic design, repairing mechanical equipment, et cetera.
- Personal Competencies
Consequently, personal competencies refer to someone’s ability to carry out tasks as required by job function. Though technology through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) seems to be picking up some roles in the workplace, personal abilities and hands-on tasks remain to be a top priority for most of the organisations.
Therefore, the workplace is in serious search of people who are open-minded, flexible, adaptable, creative and innovative. The potential employer is scouting for an employee who is can think critically after considering different perspectives. Meaning, the employer who is valuable and employable is able to take up multiple roles, adapt behaviour to the team requirements, manage uncertainties, and remain motivated even in a sea of storms.
In the whole scheme of things, personal competencies enable people to manage themselves effectively, and work well wherever they are deployed. They focus mainly to self-management and personal effectively. So, personal competencies manifest best through self-confidence, self-discipline, self-drive, proper stewardship of time, personal initiative, creativity, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, emotional intelligence, good grooming, self-care, coping with life stressors, willingness and readiness to learn, et cetera.
- Behaviourial Competencies
Moreover, behaviourial competencies touch on knowledge, abilities, aptitudes, attitudes and behaviours that aid people to complete tasks effectively, independently, or in collaboration in a TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More). These are observable ways in which a person behaves, interacts, and responds to situations while working.
Majorly, they focus on how people perform tasks, by implementing what they know. This comes out through teamwork, respecting others, empathy, accountability, responsibility, courtesy, integrity, customer-orientation, excellent customer service, professionalism, et cetera.
- Management Competencies
Finally, management competencies refer to abilities, routines and professional goals, styles and approaches, which are required in great management of people. When you cultivate management competencies, you sharpen leadership skills, which in turn leads to nonpareil performance in the corporate sector.
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Therefore, management competencies focus on knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours, which are required in planning, organising, co-ordinating, leading and controlling people and resources in any organisation. This revolves around leadership, decision-making, strategic-thinking, deft delegation, proper planning, performance-management, resource-management, financial-management, change-management, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, team building and bonding.
By Victor Ochieng’
Victor Ochieng’ rolls out Upskilling (Sharpening Skills) Programmes in Colleges and Universities. He speaks to finalists and continuing comrades in colleges and universities on How to Be Valuable and Employable. He also trains Student Leaders in Colleges and Universities. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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