Specifying Job and Role Competencies

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision.

Sections of This Topic Include:

Introduction -- What Are Competencies? (and jobs, tasks, roles, etc.)
Developing Competencies Lists
Various Competencies Lists

Also see the
Library's Human Resources Blog

Introduction -- What Are Competencies? (and jobs, tasks, roles, etc.)

First, let's look at some terms. A job is a collection of tasks and responsibilities that an employee is responsible to conduct. Jobs have titles. A task is a typically defined as a unit of work, that is, a set of activities needed to produce some result, e.g., vacuuming a carpet, writing a memo, sorting the mail, etc. Complex positions in the organization may include a large number of tasks, which are sometimes referred to as functions. Job descriptions are lists of the general tasks, or functions, and responsibilities of a position. Typically, they also include to whom the position reports, specifications such as the qualifications needed by the person in the job, salary range for the position, etc. Job descriptions are usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequences of tasks necessary to perform the job. The analysis looks at the areas of knowledge and skills needed by the job. Note that a role is the set of responsibilities or expected results associated with a job. A job usually includes several roles.

Typically, competencies are general descriptions of the abilities needed to perform a role in the organization. Competencies are described in terms such that they can be measured. It's useful to compare competencies to job descriptions. Job descriptions typically list the tasks or functions and responsibilities for a role, whereas competencies list the abilities needed to conduct those tasks or functions. Consequently, competencies are often used as a basis for training by converting competencies to learning objectives. See examples of competencies below. Compare them to job descriptions. As with job descriptions, there are those who have strong cautions about the use of competencies. See the last article, "Competency-Based Education and Training".

Note that some experts assert that competencies should define the abilities for someone to excel in a certain role, that is, meet high performance standards, whereas other experts assert that competencies should define the abilities to adequately perform the role.

Basics and Developing Competencies Lists

Basic Advice About Planning Your Research
Developing Competencies
Assessing Competencies ("initiative" is detailed here)

Various Competencies Lists

Another Sample Competency
National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI)
Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) Index
U.S. Office of Personnel Management General Schedule Position Classification Standards
Wholistic Competency Profile

For the Category of Human Resources:

Recommended Books

For-Profit

Nonprofit

For-Profit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the business
3. Groups and teams in the business
4. Business organizations
5. As well as all functions within the business organization.

Many of the Library's materials about business, leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.

Nonprofit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision With Nonprofit Staff: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools customized for personnel in nonprofits to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the nonprofit
3. Groups and teams in the nonprofit
4. Nonprofit organizations
5. As well as all functions within the nonprofit organization.

Many of the Library's materials about nonprofit leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.