There is a very thin line differentiating competencies and skills, however, skills can be developed over a period of time when put into practice doing the same kind of jobs repeatedly.
Competencies are certain set of behavioural traits, which you need to develop for a particular job, whether it is a skilled job or a non-skilled job. Both technically aligned skilled jobs and non-technically aligned skilled jobs require competencies of different degrees and different types. For example, certain important competencies are:
To be patient and develop your team is a competency required of a managerial position.All of us may not have the patience to teach and train people to complete tasks in an expected manner. It requires adaptability and working with people according to their pace of learning. Managers should have this competency to understand their team members and help them deliver their best.
Competencies can be developed consciously if we record the feedback we receive and work on the areas we lack. We can read about some of the best practices of people doing similar jobs, find out what suits our job and select those traits to perform better in our job. Like skillsets, competencies can also be acquired over a period of time.
kalpana@acl-india.in
Kalpana R Chennai
She is the founder of The Academy for Communication and Learning