Please note this is an article I wrote in 2006. The content of this article doesn't represent anymore my point of view. You can read two upgraded articles on this topic at:

• http://www.orientamento.it/orientamento/8d.htm#quest
• http://www.orientamento.it/english/competencies-guidance.htm

The old article:

Competencies and Careers Guidance

The terms competency and competencies have become widely used in training and careers guidance but there is no common agreement on their meaning. For example, Di Fabio (2002:13-30) lists 9 different definitions. The aim of this article is to discuss the implications for careers guidance of the two most prevalent approaches which originated, respectively, in the United States and Great Britain.

The American approach

In the American approach, a competency can be defined as (definition 1.a.):

each personal characteristic which (usually in combination with others) allows the optimum execution of a particular task in a given organisation.

For example the following can be considered competencies: knowledge, transferable skills, technical ability, character traits, attitudes, aptitudes, beliefs of self-efficacy, self-esteem, etc. Characteristics of a physical nature, for example, reaction time and visual acuteness are also considered competences (Spencer and Spencer 1995:31).

In this acceptation, competencies are the pre-determining factors which make possible good work performance. It is worth highlighting that in this definition competences are not ‘concrete’ factors in the same way as personal characteristics such as ability and aptitude. The term competency is only a generic term (a label) used to indicate the personal characteristics which, from all those possible, are considered important each time. The term allows reference to such factors without having to list them every time.

Competencies generally identified by this approach can be subdivided into three large groups (see also Bresciani 2005:12 and Kierstead 1998:3):

• knowledge: of a technical nature (eg: knowing how to weld) and of a general nature (eg: knowing what a job opening is)
• technical ability (eg: being able to weld) or transferable skills (eg: being able to communicate effectively)
• other personal characteristics (for example, character traits, professional interests and values, aptitudes, visual acuteness, etc.).

This approach actually derives from the work of American psychologist and adviser David McClelland who, in an article in 1973, asserted that scholastic aptitude tests and academic qualifications are not able to predict professional success (McClelland 1993). McClelland, therefore, began a series of studies aimed at identifying what other factors might be involved. In the 1960’s, American psychology devoted little attention to personality traits (Carretta et al. 1992:26) and McClelland’s article serves to point out this new direction in thinking. His approach has had a strong impact on methods of staff management, giving rise to practices such as competency based training and competency based human resources management, and has also become widespread in non Anglo-Saxon countries like France for example.

It is worth noting that McClelland aimed to identify only those characteristics which provide for optimum performance and that the competencies identified are ‘task and organisation specific’, that is to say they are described and exist only with reference to a specific work-related task carried out within a given organisation. For example, in McClelland’s approach, the ability to speak German is a competency only if it constitutes an essential element for the effective carrying out of a given role in a particular organisation. So, for McClelland, a large number of groups of competencies (‘competency models’) exist, each one related to a given task and organisation.

Searching for common elements and a global definition, in 1981, Richard Boyatzis, a colleague of McClelland, examined the competencies identified in the hundreds of, by then, established groups and defined competency as:

‘an underlying characteristic of an individual, which is causally related to effective or superior performance in a job’ which could be ‘a motive, trait, skill, aspect of one's self image or social role, or a body of knowledge which he or she uses’, (cit. in Adams 1997 and in Carretta et al. 1992:28). In addition, in his study, Boyatzis identifies a core of transferable competences which all good managers, whatever their line of work, tend to possess.

Even though, as far as Boyatzis is concerned, competencies remain, however, task and organisation specific, his extremely broad definition, for better or worse, paves the way for the concept of competency as a generic personal characteristic unconnected to a specific work context, yet still connected with ‘effective or superior performance’.

In this acceptation, we can define competency as (definition 1.b.):

• each personal characteristic which (usually combined with others) can lead to good general work performance.

1.a. and 1.b. are the standard definitions used in human resource management and business management. In recent years, in the fields of careers guidance, education and non business related training, a further definition which does not contain the reference to good work performance has become widespread in Europe. In this case, competency means (definition 1.c.):

• each personal characteristic generally utilizable in the workplace, regardless of the nature of the work or level of performance achievable through its use.

In this ‘updated’ definition, the term ‘competencies’ ends up meaning all those personal characteristics generally utilizable in the workplace, regardless of the type of work or level of performance achievable through their use. The reference to good work performance has been left out because many of those on education or training courses or undergoing careers guidance are still a long way from a work environment (and so the quality of their work performance is neither measurable nor predictable), or are not necessarily in a position to provide a good work performance level. So, competencies have simply become personal resources to be used in the workplace regardless of the performance level they succeed in providing (note 1).

Formulating a profile of competencies then becomes simply a matter of working out a ‘set’ list of those characteristics (personal resources) possessed by an individual which the adviser, based on his/her frames of reference, considers useful for work purposes. However, from the initial approach, the idea remains that work performance depends not only on general intelligence and technical knowledge, but also on other factors such as, for example, personal traits and values.

To summarise, the meaning of the term competency has changed over time. Initially, it was defined as a personal characteristic which allows optimum work performance in a specific task carried out within a specific organisation (definition 1.a.), then, as a characteristic which may allow a good general work performance (definition 1.b.), and finally, as a characteristic that is simply utilizable in the workplace (definition 1.c.).

Over the years, the ‘American’ approach to competencies has come to incorporate various theoretical developments originating from the study of personality and thought processes. For example, it has been possible to easily include (among transferable skills or other personal characteristics) metacognition, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence.

The ‘English’ approach

In the ‘English’ approach, the term competence (please note the different spelling, in British English we have competence and competences, while in American English competency and competencies) means (definition n.2):

• a specific work related task which an individual is capable of carrying out according to a predetermined standard.
  

In this acceptation, competences are specific, observable ways of conducting a given task which an individual is capable of carrying out according to a prescribed performance standard. In this case, indicating a person’s competences means listing the main tasks of a particular job he/she is capable of performing. This approach is derived from that developed in the U.K. where a series of performance standards (the ‘National Occupational Standards’) has been put in place for a large number of occupations. It is necessary to satisfy these standards in order to be considered capable of doing a particular job. For example, a careers adviser must be able to master 37 tasks (termed ‘functions’ and described in ‘units’ – Employment NTO 2002:2) such as: Establish communication with clients for advice and guidance; Establish interactions with clients using a range of media; Assist advice and guidance clients to decide on a course of action, etc (for the complete list see the Employment NTO website). Currently, in Italy, (unlike in the U.K.) the various tasks are called ‘competenze’ and so, for example, it is possible to talk about the ‘main competences of the careers adviser’ when referring to the main functions he/she must be able to perform.
It is evident that such an approach readily allows recognition of non formal learning as it emphasises the tasks a person can perform rather than how he/she learnt them. The National Occupational Standards, therefore, allow people to be able to carry out a large number of occupations (for example careers adviser) without formal instruction or training.

An obvious problem, especially with this approach, is how much detail to go into. For example, the 37 tasks identified for careers advisers could be expanded or condensed into a greater or lesser number of competences (for possible ways of subdividing them, see Bresciani 2005:16). A further problem is that, in Italy, a reference list of competences for the various occupational fields does not exist.

What connection is there between the technical skills of the ‘American’ approach and the competences described in the English approach? As a rule, they don’t correspond because the ‘American’ technical skill is generic, small, and refers exclusively to the strictly technical nature of the task, whilst that of the English approach is much broader, specific task related and includes all actions (even those of a non technical nature) necessary for optimum job performance. Taking the role of receptionist as an example, the ‘American’ approach regards ‘knowing how to use a computer’ as a competency, whilst in the ‘English’ approach, the competence is seen as being ‘handling bookings’, and the ability to use a computer is only a part of that process.

To summarise, in definition 1, competencies are the personal characteristics (seen as pre-determining factors) which make work performance possible (in the case of definitions 1.a. and 1.b. - good performance) whereas, in definition 2, competences are the tasks a person is capable of performing.

Observation of competencies and competences

It is helpful to distinguish between observation, identification and assessment of competencies and competences. ‘Observation of competencies/competences’ (from now onward we use the term competencies/competences when we want to refer to both approaches) can mean ‘any activity aimed at gathering information concerning competencies/competences’. ‘Identification of competencies/competences’ can mean ‘an activity aimed simply at identifying the competencies/competences an individual possesses. Whereas ‘assessment’ of competencies/competences’ can be defined as ‘an activity which allows the identification and assessment of an individual’s competencies/competences’.

The observation of competencies/competences is characterised as being an identification or assessment process depending on the aim of the method used. For example, in staff selection, observation is an assessment process as the aim is to obtain an ‘objective’ profile of each candidate which can then be compared with the job description in question and with the profiles of the other candidates. The same applies in training where knowledge levels and individual technical abilities are compared to those expected on training programmes. Methods of observing competencies/competences depend on the approach adopted.

The simplest method of identifying most of a person’s knowledge and technical ability is to look at his/her vocational training whereas, in the case of transferable skills, the client’s account of his/her work or life experiences is used. In the process of identification, competencies/competences are a discrete variable, either they exist or they don’t. It is not concerned with measuring them but only with establishing their presence.

In the process of assessment, on the other hand, competencies/competences are a continuous variable. They are meant to be measured in the most objective way possible and, with this aim in mind, various techniques are generally combined. Not only are techniques of an ‘objective’ nature used (for example, personality tests or the checking of knowledge), but ‘subjective’ techniques may also be employed (such as interviewing the person concerned and his/her colleagues, or observing the person carrying out their work).

Competences (defined as being tasks which a person is capable of carrying out to a pre-established standard, definition 2) can be observed by a series of methods (often used in combination) such as, for example:
1. direct observation of the person whilst carrying out his/her work
2. simulation of tasks and work situations,
3. discussion of case studies,
4. testimonies from colleagues and supervisors,
5. examination of documentation produced by the person whilst carrying out his/her work,
6. examination of portfolio based evidence etc.(note 2),
7. examination of previous vocational training.

Competencies (defined as being personal characteristics, definition 1) are observed instead by various methods depending on what the characteristics are. Technical abilities can be observed by the methods shown above. Technical knowledge can be determined through interviews, written tests and by the examination of portfolio based evidence. Transferable skills and other personal characteristics such as, for example, character traits and levels of self-esteem can be observed through tests, self-evaluation files, and interviews.

It is obvious that assessment is, in general, much more costly than simple identification as it may call for the use of more methods, different kinds of equipment and/or qualified staff. For example, in the case of competencies of a technical nature, specific machinery may be required and, in some instances, psychologists may be needed to carry out tests or, in the case of foreign languages, language laboratories and teachers may be required.

Once assessed, competencies/competences can be recognised or certificated. In Italy, ‘recognition of competencies/competences’ is when a person is awarded a training credit or gains a qualification from a given training establishment or employer and as it relates specifically to that particular establishment or employer it will not be recognised by other organisations. ‘Certification’ is when an awarding body issues a certificate listing identified competences which may also be used nationwide in other organisations, for example, to obtain training credits or qualifications. In Italy, various regulations allow recognition of competencies/competences, especially in the fields of education and training. However, unlike other European countries, there is still no national system of certification.

Competencies/competences and Careers Guidance

As is well known, the purpose of Careers Guidance is to help people construct fully satisfying career paths (Evangelista 2006). In careers guidance in Italy, there is a clear distinction between providing information and giving advice. The latter involves carrying out an in depth examination of the client’s background and qualities. Some clients who turn to careers guidance services do not have a professional goal. According to Parsons (1909:5), professional goals must be identified taking into consideration three large groups of factors: (1) a clear understanding of yourself, your aptitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations, and their causes; (2) a knowledge of the requirements and conditions of success, advantages and disadvantages, compensation, opportunities, and prospects in different lines of work; (3) true reasoning on the relations of these two groups of facts.’

There is debate on the meaning of ‘true reasoning’. The idea is that there is a correlation (though not a strict one) between specific personal traits and success in particular roles and vocational fields, and that professional goals should also be chosen on the basis of such characteristics.

In any case, Parsons position is an extremely modern one. When he listed, in 1909, the factors on which good work performance depends, he identified those elements of personal characteristics whose subsequent ‘discovery’ (in 1967) was to make McClelland’s name. So, since 1909, careers advisers have been following Parsons approach when working with those without a professional goal and have asked that they study in depth and get to know their own personal characteristics (including their work related skills, however acquired). In light of Parsons exposition, the use of the concept of competency in careers guidance would not seem such a big step forward if not for the possibility of using terminology in common with the world of work and training.

Which of the two approaches to competencies/competences (the ‘American’ or the ‘English’) is the most useful in careers guidance? Perhaps the first, for three reasons:

• because the ‘English’ approach is not suitable for use with those who have never worked (as they have not developed competences in the sense of ability to carry out specific tasks in specific occupations)
• because, despite having developed competences in the ‘English’ sense of the term, a large number of unemployed adults are seeking different employment, either because they have to or because they want to. In these cases, the ‘American’ approach allows tasks to be broken down into their components, and allows the possibility of evaluating their use in different fields, thereby increasing the number of professional goals that might be pursued.
• because the ‘American’ approach allows adults with no qualifications to be given an opportunity (even by organisations which adopt competency based human resources management), as it attaches equal importance to technical skills acquired by non formal methods and to personal characteristics such as character traits and professional attributes and values.

What are the competencies usually identified in careers guidance activities with those who lack a professional goal? If we examine some articles which refer to material to help decide on a professional goal (note 3) we can say that the competencies they identify are those of the ‘American’ approach and the most ‘popular’ are technical knowledge, transferable skills, technical ability, professional aptitudes and values.

A point to highlight is that in careers guidance the identified elements are broader than the ‘competencies’ as defined by McClelland (1.a.) and Boyatzis and Spencer and Spencer (1.b.). In identifying a professional goal and an action plan for achieving it, individual circumstances and ‘fixed’ physical characteristics (which are not included among the competencies in definitions 1a and 1b) are taken into consideration.

Observation of competencies/competences in Careers Guidance

In a preceding section we have seen how observation of competencies/competences may be taken to mean an identification or an assessment process, and how this determines the observation methods.

In selection and training, observation of competencies/competences has an, ‘outward’ significance, so to speak, because it is carried out in order to be able to distinguish one person’s characteristics from those of others or compare them with specific standards, and provide external parties with useful facts on which to base a decision (for example, whether to employ him/her, whether to award him/her a training credit or qualification). So, for this reason and also because of the possibility that the person being interviewed may try to deceive the selectors, observation of competencies/competences must be extremely detailed and, therefore, takes on the character of an assessment.

Whereas, in careers guidance, observation of competencies/competences has a particularly ‘inward’ significance because it is carried out in order to allow the person, with the help of the adviser, to improve awareness of their characteristics and, based on this, identify a professional goal. As there is no necessity to precisely evaluate levels of competencies/competences, and the relationship between client and adviser is one of complete trust, the observation will assume the character of an identification process and will often involve the use of methods such as looking at the person’s education and training background and self-evaluation files.

In Italy, systems for assessment and certification of competencies/competences are lacking and there is a need to put these in place. However, there are various reasons why assessment and certification of competencies/competences ought not be carried out by those providing careers guidance services:

• not everyone who needs careers guidance also requires an assessment of their competencies/competences and vice versa. For this reason, systematic assessment of competencies/competences for all those who do not have a professional goal would offer a redundant service in terms of both cost and client effort. The provision of careers guidance and the certification of competences are two different services and, therefore, have to be carried out by separate parties.
• assessment of competencies/competences is inclined to place the client in a passive role as it creates a situation where an expert carries out an analysis and forms a diagnosis. Today, however, careers guidance should be structured so as to encourage the client to be more pro-active in the process.
• assessment of the full spectrum of competencies/competences requires special facilities and skilled professionals, both of which careers guidance offices lack
• the value to organisations of an assessment carried out by a careers guidance office or job centre whose mission is not that of assessment and certification is probably very low.

During careers guidance activities with those who lack a professional goal, it may, however, be opportune to help them to keep track of their identified competences by recording them in suitable files and building up a portfolio. The practice of recording competencies/competences and portfolio building meets the aim of making clients aware of the need to continuously maintain their employability (making the most of non formal lifelong learning opportunities), to improve their self esteem, and to make it easier to gain recognition or certification of their competencies/competences.

Careers Guidance and bilan de competences

In France the bilan de competences was introduced by law to promote the use of competency based human resources management in all organisations. However, it fundamentally failed in its objective (the bilan de competences has had a frail development and its ‘institutional continuation’ is uncertain, Lemoine 2002:28) (note 4); at present, companies use it mainly for negotiating terms for resignations or redundancies (Lemoine 2002:28). However, in France’s careers guidance sector, the bilan de competences has seen a large expansion. This is probably because, at the time of its introduction, adult careers guidance services had still not been developed. (Two thirds of bilan de competences are carried out with young people over the age of 23 who have never had a job, and with adults seeking employment, Lemoine 2002:38).

In Italy the bilancio di competenze has developed along similar lines and, today, the term is used to indicate activities which have in common the observation of personal competencies/competences, but which are very different both as regards the philosophy behind them and the practical methods used to carry them out. For example, the term is used to indicate methods for candidate assessment during staff selection, to assess the potential of those already in employment, to identify professional goals and draw up action plans during careers guidance activities, for job matching and for the recognition of training credits.

The bilancio di competenze carried out in the guidance sector differs from that carried out in other sectors because a) clients request it of their own volition, b) it allows a lot of scope for identifying professional goals and drawing up action plans, c) in the guidance sector, competencies are identified and not evaluated. In other sectors, for example, selection, a) participation can be obligatory, b) the professional goal has already been identified (or is irrelevant as, for example, in systems for the recognition of training credits), c) action plans are not drawn up, d) competencies are assessed. For these reasons, it is useful to differentiate between the bilancio di competenze carried out in careers guidance and those carried out in other spheres, and it should not be regarded as a separate service (as at present in Italy) but simply as one of the possible methods of carrying out in depth guidance interviews.

Notes

(1). It is worth noting in greater detail the evolution of references to individual physical characteristics. In the definition by Boyatzis (1981) there are no references to physical characteristics. In that of Spencer e Spencer in1993, there is reference only to ‘dynamic’ physical characteristics such as visual acuteness and reaction time. In the definition of competency as a generic personal resource utilizable in the workplace, competencies can also be considered as ‘static’ physical characteristics like, for example, height and appearance.

(2). In the education and training sector, the term portfolio means a collection of everything that can demonstrate specific personal competencies/competences. In general, the evidence gathered is kept together in a file or ring binder. It is possible to distinguish between: a) evidence of practical work (for example: drawings, schoolwork and examination certificates, tests of literacy and numeracy, CD’s containing recordings of music, etc.) and b) references and testimonials from third parties attesting to knowledge and technical ability. The portfolio is usually put together by the client him/herself under the guidance of a teacher or adviser. In the training and education sector, depending on circumstances, it can have the following aims: to allow a more concrete and less abstract evaluation than that carried out by traditional methods, motivate people towards learning and, where special provisions exist, allow the recognition of training credits or the attainment of professional qualifications. The practice of portfolio building is spreading due to the growing interest in non-formal and lifelong learning. Source: Evangelista 2006.

(3). See, for example: Antoni G., Giaconi N. (2001), Trovare il lavoro che piace, Maggioli Editore Barrett J.,Williams G. (trad. it. 1992), Scoprite le vostre attitudini, Franco Angeli, Bolles R.N. (2005), What Color Is Your Parachute?, Ten Speed Press, Fiordelli A., Nugnes G. (1995, 2’ ed.2004), Trovare lavoro non è solo questione di fortuna, Franco Angeli, Selvatici A, M.G. D'Angelo (edited by) (1999), Il bilancio di competenze, Franco Angeli, University of Waterloo, Career Development eManual in http://www.cdm.uwaterloo.ca/

(4). The reasons for the failure of the bilan di competence should be sought, in our opinion, in the fact that, according to the regulations relating to it, the results of the process belong to the person who has undergone it, and can be modified at his/her request before being passed on to an organisation, or even not passed on at all. In this way, the organisation has no guarantee of obtaining a complete ‘objective’ profile of the person and, therefore, the bilan di competence is of little use to human resource management.

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