Understanding Competencies and Competency Modeling ― A Literature Survey

In a knowledge-based economy, the success of organizations depends mostly on the quality of their human resource. Organizations rely on their competent employees as a main resource. The performance of organizations depends not only on the workforce competency, but also on their evaluation and development on an ongoing basis to meet the global competition. For obvious economic and business reasons, organizations have always been concerned about the competence of its people. In the modern world, characterized by rapid and dramatic change, the attainment of competence has become an integral component of individual and organizational strategies. The competency mapping process helps the organization in developing a clear strategy for developing competencies of their workforce. It supports successful performance of the employees within the organization. Gone are the days where gigantic plant, superior technology and marketing strategy played central role in organizational success. The organizational strategy must be designed to identify, nourish and utilize the competencies. This paper seeks to delve deeper into the concept of competency, tracing its history and its role in the current scenario.