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Competency Mapping

The New Wave in Competency Mapping -
Process-Based Knowledge Mapping

The reason why most people miss the opportunity when it comes knocking is because it usually comes dressed in overalls, disguised as hard work.
-Thomas Edison

Abstract

Throughout the years competency-based management approaches have proved to be a critical tool in human resource management, vocational training and performance management. As a result competency-based approaches are often adopted as the key paradigm in both formal and informal educational and training programs.
HR management practitioners are expected to be experts on leveraging human talent within their organizations for the purpose of achieving competitive advantage. They must demonstrate new sensitivity to the full range of human capabilities (including emotional intelligence), align HR efforts with strategic objectives, and integrate various HR activities so that people are consistently encouraged to achieve desired results.
To this end, there exist a number of open issues such as: how can we model competencies; how can we assess competencies; how can we develop training resources and training activities that target specific competencies. The scope of this paper is to contribute to this field by addressing the issue of Process-Based Knowledge Mapping.

The Imperative for Change
Human resource (HR) management is undergoing a major transformation in today's organizations. Once upon a time—and not all that long ago—HR management practitioners were expected to be the traffic cops of their organizations. It was their responsibility to note legal noncompliance or departures from organizational policies and then punish transgressors, just as traffic cops watch for and issue tickets to drivers who exceed speed limits. As a direct consequence of this compliance orientation, some HR management practitioners became risk averse—and some remain so to this day. They oppose innovative actions taken to leverage the...