Competency-Based Training and Development

- Is a system of training (transferring of knowledge, understanding, skills, values, attitudes

to employees) which is geared towards specific outcomes
The distinguishing feature of competency based training is that it is focused training. Focused
training is, by its nature, directed towards satisfying an identified need

The current understanding of the concept of competency and competence is very wide. It implies
concepts such as ability, behavior, activity, or even complex of operations. These components
should then be reflected in the above-average performance of a man in a certain area.
Competencies are used in several areas of human resource management – individual selection,
development, performance management and strategic planning as well.

Competency:
- The concept of competency focuses on what is expected of an employee in the workplace
rather than on the learning process; and embodies the ability to transfer and apply skills
and knowledge to new situations and environments.
- Competency is a broad concept that includes all aspects of work performance and not
only narrow task skills.
Competency encompasses:
 the requirement to perform individual tasks (task skills) e.g. Secretary has the
competency in typing
 the requirement to manage a number of different tasks within the job(task management
skills)
 the requirement to respond to irregularities and breakdowns in routine(contingency
management skills)
 the requirement to deal with the responsibilities and expectations of the work
environment (job/role environment skills), including working with others

Competency in a job is developed. It does not suddenly happen with a flash of insight nor does a
person achieve competency by knowing what to do and being able to talk about it. Ultimately the
gaining of competency requires practice in the work

The development of competency can usually be plotted through a sequence of training which
requires:
1. Demonstration
2. Explanation
3. Practice Review
4. Application.
Competence is the standard that must be owned by an employee in carrying out the work and
function properly e.g. The secretary is able to type for instance 60-90 words per minute

 Competence includes a number of attributes attached to the individual which is a

combination of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that can be used as a means to improve
perform.
 Secretary type 60-90 per minute
{KNOWLEDGE, SKILL + “ BEHAVIORS” PERFORMANCE} = competence

 According to Spencer, competence is defined as a character, attitude, and behavior, or the

ability of workers to be relatively stable when faced with a situation in a place of work,
which is formed from the synergy between self-concept, internal motivation and
capacity of contextual knowledge.

Meanwhile, according to Covey, Roger, and Merrill, that competence includes some of the
following:
a) Technical Competence – which is the knowledge and expertise to achieve the results that
have been agreed upon, the ability to think about problems, and seek new alternatives,

b) Conceptual Competence – which is the ability to see the big picture, to test a variety of
controls and perspective changes,

c) Competence to live that is the ability to effectively interdependence with others, including
the ability to listen, communicate, get the third alternative. Thus, competence is an essential
factor of a person who has more skills, which makes it different from a person who, having the
ability of an average or mediocre.
d) Threshold competencies- Are the main characteristics that must be possessed by a person in
order to carry out the work
e) Differentiating competence- Are the factors that distinguish high-performing individuals and
low.
Origin of Competencies
- Competencies originate from organization’s strategic goals and operational priorities.

Competency Cycle

examples of business drivers are sales people, number of stores, number and price of products sold,
units of production

Identify Key business Identify/define key Define competencies

Drivers/success factors supporting behaviors & and Develop
competencies competency maps

Develop job
profiles

Measure Measure Create & implement Measure

organizational competency individual & individual &
impact improvement Organizational & organizational
development plans skills gaps

The Competency Cycle has no beginning and an end. The version of the Competency Cycle must
change and evolve with you r organization and its business environment and ecosystem. The
entire Competency Cycle is very powerful, and every step will set you up for additional
organizational success. Even partial implementation will still yield results.

Competency-Based Learning (CBL)

Competency-based learning - refers to systems of instruction, assessment, grading, and
academic reporting that are based on students demonstrating that they have learned the
knowledge and skills they are expected to learn as they progress through their education.

The general goal of competency-based learning is to ensure that students are acquiring the
knowledge and skills that are deemed to be essential to success in school, higher education,
careers, and adult life. If students fail to meet expected learning standards, they typically receive
additional instruction, practice time, and academic support to help them achieve competency or
meet the expected standards.

Defining competency-based learning is complicated by the fact that educators not only use a
wide variety of terms for the general approach, but the terms may or may not be used
synonymously from place to place. A few of the more common synonyms include proficiency-
based, mastery-based, outcome-based, performance-based, and standards-based education,
instruction, and learning, among others.

In practice, competency-based learning can take a wide variety of forms. At the collegiate level,
for example, competency-based learning may entail prospective adult students receiving
academic credit for knowledge and skills they acquired in their former careers—an approach that
can reduce tuition costs and accelerate their progress toward earning a degree. It should also be
noted that many online schools and educational programs, at the both the K–12 and higher-
education levels, have also become the object of criticism and debate. Many for-profit virtual
schools and online degree programs, for example, have been accused of offering low-quality
educational experiences to students, exploiting students or public programs, and using the
popularity of concepts such as “competency-based education” to promote programs of dubious
educational value. When investigating or reporting on competency-based education, it is
important to determine precisely how the terms are being used in a specific context.

Competency-based learning is generally seen as an alternative to more traditional educational

approaches in which students may or may not acquire proficiency in a given course or academic
subject before they earn course credit, get promoted to the next grade level, or graduate. For
example, high school students typically earn academic credit by passing a course, but a passing
grade may be an A or it may be a D, suggesting that the awarded credit is based on a spectrum of
learning expectations—with some students learning more and others learning less—rather than
on the same consistent standards being applied to all students equally. And since grades may be
calculated differently from school to school or teacher to teacher, and they may be based on
divergent learning expectations (i.e., some courses might be “harder” and others “easier”), it may
be possible for students to pass their courses, earn the required number of credits, and receive a
diploma without acquiring important knowledge and skills. In extreme cases, for example,
students may be awarded a high school diploma but still be unable to read, write, or do math at a
basic level.

A “competency-based diploma” would be a diploma awarded to students only after they have
met expected learning standards.
While the goal of competency-based learning is to ensure that more students learn what they are
expected to learn, the approach can also provide educators with more detailed or fine-grained
information about student learning progress, which can help them more precisely identify
academic strengths and weakness, as well as the specific concepts and skills students have not
yet mastered. Since academic progress is often tracked and reported by learning standard in
competency-based courses and schools, educators and parents often know more precisely what
specific knowledge and skills students have acquired or may be struggling with. For example,
instead of receiving a letter grade on an assignment or test, each of which may address a variety
of standards, students are graded on specific learning standards, each of which describes the
knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire.

When schools transition to a competency-based system, it can entail significant changes in how a
school operates and how it teaches students, affecting everything from the school’s educational
philosophy and culture to its methods of instruction, testing, grading, reporting, promotion, and
graduation. For example, report cards may be entirely redesigned, and schools may use different
grading scales and systems, such as replacing letter grades with brief descriptive statements—
e.g., phrases such as does not meet, partially meets, meets the standard, and exceeds the
standard are commonly used in competency-based schools (although systems vary widely in
design, purpose, and terminology). Schools may also use different methods of instruction and
assessment to determine whether students have achieved competency, including strategies such
as demonstration of learning, learning pathways or personal learning plans.

While there is a widespread agreement that students should be held to high academic
expectations, and that Public Universities and lecturers should make sure that students acquire
the most important knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in adult life, there is often
disagreement and debate about the best way to achieve these goals. For this reason, debates
about competency-based learning tend to be focused on the methods used by schools, rather than
the overall objective of the strategy (i.e., all students meeting high standards and achieving
proficiency—a goal that few dispute).

Proponents of competency-based learning may argue that the approach greatly improves the
chances that students will learn the most critically important knowledge, concepts, and skills
they will need throughout their lives and that competency-based learning can help to eliminate
persistent learning gaps, achievement gaps and opportunity gaps. For these reasons, advocates of
competency-based learning argue that the practice is a more equitable approach to public
education, since it holds all students to the same high standards regardless of their race, ethnicity,
gender, or socioeconomic status, or whether they attend schools in poor or affluent communities
(uneven standards being applied to minority and non-minority students, or the uneven quality of
teaching and facilities from school to school, are believed to be major contributing causes of
issues such as achievement gaps). Proponents may also point to the weaknesses or failures of
existing systems—which allow students to get promoted from one grade to the next and earn a
diploma without acquiring important knowledge and skills.

Criticisms of the Competency-Based Learning

1. It is not valid to equate competency with performance. Other factors are important
(Competency is just potential and not performer, has only ability and motivation)
2. the transition will require already overburdened trainers to spend large amounts of time—
and possibly uncompensated time—on extra planning, preparation, and training,
3. Competency-based learning can be prohibitively difficult to implement, particularly at a
global or national level.

Critics may also take issue with the learning standards that competency-based systems utilize, or
with the specific features of a system used in a particular school. For example, parents often
express concern that the abandonment of traditional letter grades, report cards, transcripts, and
other familiar academic-reporting strategies will disadvantage students who are applying to
colleges and universities (because the reporting strategies will be unfamiliar to college-
admissions professionals, or because competency-based systems may eliminate many of the
competitive dimensions of academic achievement, such as GPAs or class rank, that tend to favor
high-achieving students). Others may question whether there is sufficient evidence that
competency-based learning will actually work as intended