Valerie Ridgway Cathy Grant

1. The COMPETENCY CULTURE Valerie Ridgway Cathy Grant

2. Background • Good news about competencies: • most of us are already using competencies – human terms • require skills library staff have: observers of behaviour; evaluate behaviour all the time • simple to establish (but not easy!)

3. Background • Flourished in 1990s based on key article by Hamel & Prahalad in HBR • Partly a reaction to expansionist 80’s • “Core competencies” and “competencies” used interchangeably

4. Some examples • Fedex • Service: Delivery • Core competency:Logistics • Eastman Kodak • Service:Photography products • Core competency:Chemical imaging

5. Organizational competencies • Core competencies originally applied to organizations as a whole: • Confer competitive advantage • Valuable • Rare • Difficult to imitate • Pervasive in the organization

6. Individual competencies • Applied to individuals in an organization: • Relate to performance of major part of job • Underlying, deep & enduring • Identify and predict successful job performance • Behaviourally-expressed and evaluated • Can be improved by further training • (Sometimes refer to technical skills)

7. Behaviours determine competencies • Example: “Flexible” vs.: • Accepts new roles and responsibilities • Anticipates and adjusts for changing circumstances in achievement of objectives • Demonstrates a positive attitude during times of change • Handles multiple tasks and responsibilities successfully

8. Competencies in a System Model Strategic Foundation Mission, Vision, Core Values excellence; personal; communicate; enhance • Core Competencies • confer competitive advantage • value for user • qualities rare/unique • hard to imitate • pervasive • people/clients; services; Organization • Competencies • leadership • innovation • continuous improvement • problem-solving • etc. Individual Job

9. 3 approaches to competencies • Homogenized – same set for all • Individualized – unique set for each • Stratified – sets vary by class of job

10. Who has adopted competencies? • Other libraries of all types • Professional organizations • Private sector • See thousands of lists on the internet

11. Advantages of competencies • Behaviour easier to talk about than labels • Reduces bias • Distinguishes top-tier staff from average • Gives staff a common language which permeates & aligns the organization • Provides focus for training • Provides consistency

12. Disadvantages of competencies • Some behaviours “personal” • Extensive documentation and control needed • Not all behaviours can be captured • Competencies can overlap/become vague or repetitive • Change in format generates its own problems

13. Implementation I • Aim for fewer than 12 competencies • Decide on approach – individual, specialized or homogenized • Focus on how, not what work is done (tasks change) • Learn from others • Include a definition for each competency as well as a handful of behaviours • Prepare a 1st draft for staff and management input and expect many revisions

14. Implementation II • After competencies have been defined: • Create job specifications • Recruit using job specs • Interview using behaviourally-based competency questions • Orient new employees to competency expectations • Introduce competencies to existing employees and offer training • Coach staff performance based on competencies • Evaluate all employees using competency-based evaluation forms

15. Building a competency culture at PPL • Why was this needed at PPL? • No clear understanding of what was expected from employees in an environment of change • PPL needed a comprehensive system to define, communicate and manage employee performance.

16. Defining the desired competencies I • January 2004 • Developed a consensus on concepts and their relevance • Reviewed the competencies of other organizations – other libraries, professional lists, etc • Took what was appropriate for our organization • Core competency was difficult to define so we left it

17. Defining the desired competencies II • Preferred the stratified structure and defined a hierarchy of competencies • Also, a common group of competencies were found in all positions. • Behaviours were the last to be defined

18. Communicating with staff • Spring 2004 • Staff were introduced to the concept of competencies at staff meetings and through various memos and discussions. • Summer 2004 • Staff were introduced to the new competency-based evaluation forms during the annual evaluation process

19. Competency-based performance evaluation I

20. Competency-based performance evaluation II • 360 degree feedback forms, based on competencies were added to managers reviews’ in 2005 and to staff reviews in 2006 • Managers invited feedback from a random selection of colleagues

21. Competency-based training I • Training is a major part of implementing a competency-based HR system • Some training was system-wide • Customer service training was first • Coaching Skills for Supervisors • Communications Training

22. Competency-based training II • Some training was individual and based on the training plan associated with evaluations • Individualized training was accomplished through in-house methods as well as external sources.

23. Competency-based recruitment • Fall 2004 • New postings included competencies • Interviews included competency-based questions • Continuous Learning • Think back to when you received a new position or • responsibility within the workplace. What have you done • to learn the new skills that were required?

24. Hurdles • Time-intensive for managers • Ratings for behavioural frequency are misperceived in many ways • Performance can be a very emotional issue for some staff • Using competency measures for 360 feedback is difficult for staff • Competency-based recruitment may be difficult if there are not enough suitable recruits

25. Successes • Managers and staff now have a language for handling performance issues • Managers find it easier to deal with performance problems and have had much success with underperforming staff • The recruitment process has been clarified • The training process is more focused, less ad hoc

26. Continuous improvements • Streamlining and simplifying performance reviews forms and process • Managers are making more time for performance management. • PPL is committed to this practice and will continue to make improvements over time.

27. Our core competency (nearly)! • Friendly and convenient service to fit every client’s needs.

28. Thank you • Valerie Ridgway, • valerier@picnet.org • Cathy Grant • cathyg@picnet.org