What are competencies and how are they divided up?

Competence is a combination of three elements:

1) Knowledge in a given area – i.e. “I know what”

2) Skills (called procedural knowledge) – i.e. “I know how, I can, I know how”

3) Attitudes – i.e. “I want to, I am ready to use my knowledge and skills”.

Competences – a breakdown

Hard (baseline) – These are concrete, measurable qualities that are necessary to do the job. They can be confirmed by diplomas, certificates, and certificates. This group of competencies mainly includes the knowledge and skills one possesses. These qualities are subject to opportunities for development through study, participation in training and courses, as well as work on the job.
Examples: Knowledge of foreign languages, Specialist knowledge, Ability to use software/computer/MS Office package, Possession of a driving license.

Soft (interpersonal) – These relate to social qualities and skills. They focus on a person’s behavior, attitudes, and way of being. They mainly concern self-management, motivation, and interpersonal skills. Employers regard soft competencies as qualities that indicate the level of personal culture – the ability to behave appropriately to circumstances.

Examples: They are most often associated with broadly defined communication skills: negotiation, listening skills and the ability to formulate thoughts clearly, the ability to express one’s own opinions, time management, the ability to share tasks and organize the work of a team, creativity and innovation, the ability to achieve goals, resistance to stress and the ability to manage emotions.

Competencies – basic principles for building a competence model for the workplace

The building of a competence model can be presented in a simplified way through several steps. First, the most important competencies (several to a dozen) are selected from the perspective of the whole organization and individual jobs. This is followed by a description of the behaviors (behavioral description) that exemplify the use of the competency in question and match with a quantitative or qualitative model (determination of competence levels or qualities). In a further step, the required level of competence for each job is established. Finally, the model is validated and implemented in the human resource management strategy.