perspectives
Most Wanted
Competencies
IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOT CONFUSE SKILLS WITH
COMPETENCIES WHEN SEEKING TOP TALENT
In the business and labour market
context, there is the term competency
which indicates a set of characteristics
of an individual that helps them
perform their job duties. It is an element
of differentiation and companies
usually seek to hire talent with already
developed professional skills. However,
many companies invest in training
their employees, so that new skills are
acquired, which contributes to the
success of the company. What are competencies
and skills?
Confusing these two terms is quite
common among professionals of all
kinds, especially when looking for a job
and these two words are used in virtually
every job posting. It is normal for
these words to be used synonymously
even by human resources professionals
and recruiters. However, even if the differences
are subtle, understanding what
differentiates one expression from the
other is important to really understand who the professional is
that the organization is looking to hire when posting a job vacancy.
In his book Recruitment and Selection in Canada, Victor M.
Catano stated, “Competencies have also been defined as groups of
related behaviours, rather than the KSAOs, that are needed for
successful job performance in an organization.” It is important to
understand that Catano makes a correlation between competencies
and the KSAO acronym (knowledge, skills, abilities and other
characteristics). Nowadays the most in-demand professional competencies
are resilience, focus on results, entrepreneurial spirit,
agility in decision making, empathy, self-knowledge, negotiation
and conflict resolution.
Resilience. One thing is a fact: everyone makes mistakes. This
is not a defect, but a part of human nature. However, the way mistakes
are faced makes all the difference within the professional
scope. If an individual spends too much time thinking about how
and why a mistake was made and who is to blame, stop there. The
job market looks for someone who focuses on the solutions and
learns from their failures, not someone who cares about justifying
mistakes. That is being resilient.
Focus on results. Rather than performing tasks impeccably, it is
essential to produce results. Whether they are short-, medium- or
long-term projects, being able to focus on results is one of the most
valued competencies at the organizational level.
Entrepreneurial spirit. This competency means that the professional
must take care of the company as if it was their own.
For that reason, it is relevant to present ideas that improve daily
activities and facilitate processes and procedures. Usually, the
entrepreneur is characterized as an individual with a high level
of positive thinking (they believe in their efforts and the possible
results), confidence and courage (they’re able to find motivation
in order to face any type of fear) and organization (an entrepreneur
has a defined plan or vision, and works in a smart manner to
accomplish that vision).
By Tallys Moreth
Understanding the difference between skills and competencies will help determine
the professional required to fill a job vacancy
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