Core competencies are those capabilities that are critical to a business achieving competitive advantage. The main ideas about core competencies where developed by Prahalad and Hamel (1990) in which they advised that over time companies may develop key areas of expertise which are distinctive to that company and critical to the company’s long term goals. These areas of expertise may be in any area but are most likely to develop in the critical, central areas of the company where the most value is added to it’s products.
“Core competencies are the collective learning in the organisation, especially how to coordinate diverse production skills and integrate multiple streams of technologies’ Prahalad and Hamel 1990.
Originally seen as a way to measure performance and help with the training and development of existing staff, the use of Competencies are now widely used in the selection and recruitment process with many benefits including improved accuracy of selection, removal of bias from the interview process and better matching of candidates to actual duties.
Competency in Rec & Sel
A competency based approach to recruitment and selection of staff can help an organisation make it an effective and successful investment of time, money and expertise. Such an approach will help ensure that:
• the organisation is clear regarding the competencies and skill sets required by the job; • selection processes encourage a good fit between individuals and their jobs, managers and staff have the required skills and competencies; • individual skills and abilities are matched to the requirements of the job; and • evaluation of work demands and staffing are accurate.
Competency based recruitment and selection focuses on identifying those candidates that can evidence those behaviourally defined characteristics which underpin successful/superior performance in the role you are seeking to fill.
In recruiting and selecting