Competency Assessment and Development
What are Competencies?
- An individual competency is a written description of measurable work habits and personal skills used to achieve a work objective. It describes knowledge, skill and/or abilities in a written description of at least 20 words.
- A competency model is a written description of the competencies required for fully successful or exemplary performance in a job category, work team, department, division or organization.
- Core competencies are the unique bundle of technical know-how that is central to the organization’s purpose. These core competencies span divisions of the organization and different products and services, result in perceived value by customers, and are difficult to imitate.
How does the Library Identify and Develop Competencies?
- Individual competency is assessed through the developmental review process of PEMS and self-assessment by individuals when faced with new or growing performance requirements.
- Competency models specific to positions are developed by team leaders as open positions are advertised for recruitment and hiring. Expert panels develop competency descriptions for addition to the Library Competency Model as our strategy dictates we move into new and undeveloped task areas.
Guidelines and Best Practices:
- Competency Analysis Tool Kit (Draft 090606)
- The Library Competency Development Model (041708)
The Model is a comprehensive resource which includes all dimensions, definitions and behavioral descriptions, as well as suggested future team competencies for each category of positions in the Libraries.
- The Competency Development Tutorial: Creating a Competency Description that Guides Hiring and Professional Development (122007)
The 2006 Library Competency Project determined that competency-based position descriptions should be built into selection processes. Selection committees can work to develop competency-based position descriptions using the competency tutorial and models above. Then, using the competency-based position description, selection committees can build competency-based supplemental questions, criteria matrices and interview questions.
4. Position-Based Competency Models
A. Library Information Associate (091707)
B. Library Information Associate, Sr. (072007)
C. Library Information Analyst (110707)
D. Library Operations Supervisor (091307)
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Please contact Michael Ray in HROE to help you with these processes.
