Human Resource Management System

Question : What do you see as a major problem in constructing a competency framework? Do you find these frameworks used regularly in your industry or culture? Answer : Evaluation of the major problem in constructing a competency framework The competency within the HRM system in a company helps in determining the best qualities of a companys human resource management. For instance the competency of the HR in Tesco ensures continued sustainability of the business strategy of the retail company. The workforce of Tesco including the sales team and the supply chain team works in line with the company standards due to the competency of the HR. However Torrington (2011) opined that there are several issues in implementing the competency framework within the organizational culture. The major barrier arises in creation of a distinction between competence and competency. As per the Working Group on Vocational Qualifications 1986 competence is the ability to do a particular activity by a prescribed standard. On the contrary competence can be described as the ability of the people to perform the task beyond a set standard. Hence Truss et al. (2012) opined that both cannot be combined and this hinders the creation of a competency framework. Werner et al. (2012) further added that competency framework combines both the method and the conceptual framework. Hence for an organization it is not possible to measure the competency of the HR in present or in future circumstances. Hence a long term framework is not possible to be developed. The public sector companies opined that in creating a competency framework they faced difficulty in making the staffs understand about the framework, lack of commitment by the line managers and lack of ownership and support by the senior level managers. Dessler (2013) also added that the public sector companies had problems in identifying the core competencies within the employees and they had to suffer resistance from the trade unions and managers in implementation of the process. Analysis of the use of these frameworks in industry or culture The use of this framework can be seen within the organizational culture of retail companies like Tesco, Sainsbury and ASDA in the period of the employment. These companies interviews applicants based on their identified competence and assign them jobs accordingly. The use of the 360degree performance appraisal system helps these companies to measure the competency levels of the employed professionals (Alagaraja, 2013). The peer reviews conducted by Tesco ensures that the peer staffs rate the other staffs on their job performance. Although this competence framework may not be a long term assessment framework however the skills of the staffs can be enhanced and the companies benefit fro the same. Oakleigh Consulting Ltd had implemented the competency framework and had experienced an attractive organizational culture. They have further experienced an ease in the recruitment and retention process and overall increase in the company performance (Dessler, 2013). In an organizational culture where more importance is given to the process of performance rather than the experience of the employees, the competency framework may be noted. In Google Inc the corporate culture encourages the employees to try in performing the jobs. The performance appraisal in Google is based on competencies rather than experience (Price and Price, 2011). The rewards, incentives and the performance appraisals provoke the new recruited to show high level of competency. References Books Dessler, G. (2013). Human resource management. Boston, Mass.: Pearson Education. Price, A., Price, A. (2011). Human resource management. Andover: Cengage Learning. Torrington, D. (2011). Human resource management. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Truss, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. (2012). Strategic human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Werner, S., Schuler, R., Jackson, S. (2012). Human resource management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. Journals Alagaraja, M. (2013). Mobilizing organizational alignment through strategic human resource development. Human Resource Development International, 16(1), 74-93. doi:10.1080/13678868.2012.740794.