Employee Competencies Strategy; A Human Resource Management Perspective

Employee Competencies Strategy; A Human Resource Management Perspective

Mochamad Rizki Sadikin

Universitas Mercu Buana

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2024.1102001

Received: 28 January 2024; Accepted: 31 January 2024; Published: 27 February 2024

ABSTRACT

When entering the world of work, as a job seeker, we are often expected to have certain competencies for the job position. This is a reference for the company to know his work abilities as prospective employees. This article discussed the benefit of having a competence employee in an organization. The method used SWOT analysis in carried out the result.

Keywords: human resource management, competency, performance

INTRODUCTION

In the world of work, competence is needed to find out what type of job is right for someone. If the competence of an employee is known, the company is also able to help him to develop his personality through certain training. In addition, the competence of an employee can be a guide for the company to find out the extent to which he is able to present himself and provide optimal work results for the company.

The words competence and competency have different meanings, as stated by (Sanghi, 2007), Competences refers to the range of skills which are satisfactorily performed, while competencies refer to the behavior adopted in competent performance. Competent refers to various skills that are carried out satisfactorily, while competence refers to behavior that is applied in competent performance. Etymologically, competence is defined as the behavioral dimension of expertise or excellence of a leader or staff having good skills, knowledge, and behavior. Employees in an organization will produce high performance if they own a synergy between knowledge, skills and good behavior. Meanwhile, (Dessler, 2009) defines competence as a characteristic which can be demonstrated by a person in knowledge, expertise, and behavior that leads to increased performance.

According to (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013) competency is defined as an underlying characteristic of a person that contributes to a successful job and organizational performance. Competence is a characteristic that underlies a person to contribute to the success of work and organizational performance.

(Slocum & Hellriegel, 2009) stated competency is an interrelated cluster of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by an individual to be effective. Competency becomes an interconnected group of knowledge, skills and abilities needed by individuals to be effective. According to (McShane & Glinoy, 2010) Competence is characteristics of a person that results in superior performance. Meanwhile, according to (Aguinis, 2009) Competencies are measurable clusters of knowledge, skills, and abilities, which are critical in determining how results will be achieved.

Competence describes combination of effective and appropriate behavior between knowledge, skills and characteristics needed to demonstrate someone role’s in the organization performance. Several things need to be mentioned, namely: (1) Competence is not a trait. Personality, character, or trait, in fact something that is difficult to change, but behavior and thoughts can be modified according to the needs of the job. (2) Competence is not a capacity or facility. It is an ability to provide a positive correlation to future performance: (3) Competence is not an attitude. Attitude is considered to contribute to a person’s performance. Attitudes, such as integrity is the main prerequisite for someone holding a position. However, attitude does not have a significant effect on the success of one’s performance in the future; (4) Competence is not performance. It is directly related to a person’s performance. That is, an employee cannot show performance that is in line with standard without having appropriate competencies in doing the work.

In an organization, a person who has certain qualifications and abilities is appointed to a certain structural or functional position. This person will have an appropriate work and duties according to his competencies and tasks.

Competence requires quality requirements, which include the knowledge, expertise, and skills. Knowledge, expertise, and work skills are generally obtained through education, training, and work experience. Education and training can improve work abilities and skills, therefore increasing performance of the person who is involved in a specific job. Furthermore, experience can leverage person’s performance higher and better. Based on the (Simanjuntak…) concept, it is known that abilities, skills, motivation, work ethic, and attitudes affect an employee’s competence in doing work.

Competence requires quality in education, training, and work experience. Human resources need to be developed continuously in order to meet all of the above requirements. When a worker is given a job with clearly defined standards and requirements, a way to demonstrate that the position or job is suitable for the worker must be developed through competencies.

Some research have been done in term of competency and performance. (Soetrisno & Gilang, 2018) competency has a positive and significant influence on employee performance. Similar result from (Muslimat, 2020). Further research with similar result from (Rusmiati, 2017) mentioned that competence has positive effect on employee performance.

The research above show there is a positive effect of competence on employee performance. It can be drawn that when there is an increase in competency the effect will be higher indivisual performance.

Who Needs Competency

As an employee, one must have technical competence and as a leader, one must clearly prove his managerial competence to manage organizational units. Technical competence combined with managerial competence and socio-cultural competence becomes an important capital for the successful implementation of daily tasks. All team members can feel the managerial competence of their leaders, communication becomes smoother, coordination becomes easier, openness occurs between members, members feel valued, members’ attachment to the team is getting stronger and support each other.

The competence of an employee plays a close role in showing how effectively he performs his duties. Therefore, of course there are various benefits in hiring someone who has high competence. Professional competence is not only talking about today, but also the future. One must have the ability to develop himself. Everyone wants to grow, right? Professionals also have to know about what to develop. Weaknesses that are owned but can support work should be developed immediately.

The work given to worker must be deeply understood. Starting from the concept to the mindset and solving it. Indeed this is not an easy thing. He will not immediately master the work given. But that doesn’t mean to stop learning. Instead, he has to be willing to keep learning in order to master the job.

Why Do We Need Competency

Competence has a very important role in the world of work. This is because competence is always directly proportional to the development of a company. So, the higher the competence value of the company, the higher the development of the company in order to be able to achieve its main goals.

The reason is that competency goes hand in hand with the development and progress of the company. If the company has employees with high competency, the company will grow and it will be easier to achieve its goals.

Clarify work standards and expectations to be achieved by the company. Work standard is a guideline or reference for carrying out work tasks in accordance with the functions and performance appraisal. Work standard is a tool of the organization based on technical, administrative and procedural indicators.

The skills of the workforce will maximize the productivity of the company. Skill is something that can be measured and assessed through skill tests. Some professions require certain skills that can increase the productivity and outcomes of the work or tasks for the profession.

Competence can help companies to be able to adapt to changes that occur. Training these new employees and assisting their adaptation and transition process with organization. Employee and every new employee needs time to understand the workings, culture, values, and procedure in the organization, which may be different from their previous company.

METHODS

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is an analysis based on logic that maximize strengths and opportunities, but at the same time can minimize weaknesses and threats. Freddy (2013)

According to Galavan (2014), SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) is an analysis to get a useful strategy or effectively applied according to the market and public conditions at specific of time, opportunities and threats are used to determine the  external or external environment then strengths and weaknesses obtained through analysis within the company or internally.

At the organizational level, SWOT analysis can be used to analyze the company’s growth along with the benchmarks for its success. SWOT analysis can be used to ascertain how well a project is performing based on initial projections.

SWOT analysis consists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats which is a planning process that helps organization overcome challenges and determine what to aim for as a whole.

The main purpose of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making business decisions.

By analyzing the factors in a SWOT analysis, someone can design a strategy that can maximize the results.

The first component in a SWOT analysis is strengths. One can see how far the factors are the strength in the issue we are working on. The second component in the SWOT analysis is a weakness. Weakness is showing factors related to the weakness of the issue. The third component in the SWOT analysis is opportunities. Opportunity shows what are the opportunities available related to the issie. Components in the fourth SWOT analysis are threats. One can describe the threats or future threats regarding the issue.

Further analysis is comparing each of the components in SWOT. Focus on strengths-opportunities (S-O) to obtain offensive alternatives by using internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities. Focus on Weaknesses-Threats (W-T) to obtain defensive alternatives by exploiting internal weaknesses to reduce external threats. Focus on Threat-Strength (S-T) by using internal strengths to reduce external threats. Focus on Weaknesses-Opportunities (W-O) by shoring up internal weaknesses to take advantage of external opportunities.

Strength

Employees who have appropriate knowledge are individual with special level of education and skills and can use them for the benefit and progress of the origination’s .skill.

Armed with the experience possessed, an employee also has the skills and knows the right way to complete the task.

Training can be concluded as a series of activities that prioritize the knowledge, skills and attitude improvement of an employee/member of the organization in carrying out their duties to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently.

Weakness

Human resource training is usually quite expensive. Specializing employee skills towards specific job may lead to a higher organization’s expenses

Sometimes one has an ideal competency; however he is lack of experiences. This may cause an extra time for him to adjust to the new environment.

Opportunity

Appropriate skill would be achieved through competency. Skill is an ability that must be mastered by every employee as a provision in scoring various achievements in their work

Someone who improves skills and abilities will be highly appreciated and become one of the requirements for many companies.

Every organization has different objectives. Employee competency would harmonize the different between employee need and organization objective.

Threats

Technology improvement would require different competency. Employee must be able to overcome every improvement in technology.

Finding the right man in the right place might encounter a problem for organization. Employee packed with skills which are not suited with organization need.

DISCUSSION

Matching strength to opportunities can be obtained through better skill and knowledge. Mastering skills and knowledge would resolve limitations occurred in organization. Further employee training can foster the skills and knowledge. Training has a broad impact on employee because better human resource management will be more beneficial for both employees and the organization. Knowledge obtained from the training can be used as a process of intellectual growth so that anxiety about facing changes in the future can be reduced. Training can improve job performance according to Niati (2021) and Budiningsih (2017).

Matching weakness to threats might be fully used of advance technologies. Technology is becoming advance in an exponential sequence. There will be a need for employee to master further development in technology. Employees who already have work experience are considered to have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are qualified to complete the work according to the established rules. There will be a positive impact on job performance    (Baskaran 2020; Sapta 2021; Tampi 2022)

Strength and Threats could be resolved by creating a happy working person. Working in a field that matches with interests and personality type are generally more successful in human career. Conformity is what makes people more loving and happy in carrying out their work, the impact is that he will work harder and his sense of responsibility is even higher. Happiness has an impact on employee performance Awada (2019)

Opportunity and threat can be achieved by building a solid team work. Creating a team work environment is also crucial. Company should spare an extra budget for conducting an employee gathering in order to develop a solid team work between employees. The event might take place outdoor or indoor in the office. This team building would lead to better team work in doing jobs. The result will be better performance for company. Research on teamwork has been done and results are; there was a significant positive impact of teamwork on organizational performance (Boakye 2015; Aprilia 2020)

SUMMARY

By conducting training, employees can have the knowledge, abilities, and skills in accordance with the work they do. Companies always need competent personnel in their fields to increase profits and company development.

Mastering new technology is an essential part of the competency so that employee will be able to cope with technological changes.

The benefits of work experience are very influential on performance. A company will tend to choose experienced workers over inexperienced ones. This is because those with experience are more qualified in carrying out the work as well as the responsibilities given by the company. Therefore, work experience has benefits for companies and employees.

The activities carried out must be carried out continuously, so as to be able to maintain the competence of employees in them, evaluate if there is performance that is still lacking, or develop the quality of employee performance so that it becomes better.

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