Touro Worldwide University
Reorganization and Creation of a Competency Framework
Cynthia K Depeiza
Touro Worldwide University
Introduction
New York City government is filled with opportunities for talented individuals looking to improve their communities and make an important difference in the lives of their fellow New Yorkers. Every day HRA/DSS employees serve residents and visitors alike, and in return, earn competitive salaries and benefits, have diverse career opportunities, experience career satisfaction, and have equal employment opportunities.
Working for the City of New York is a competency-based culture that will properly align employees within the organization with the certain skill set and training. We are a competency-based organization that creates specific skills that is capable to apply or use a set of related knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform “critical work functions: or tasks in a defined work setting. The Competency-based practices utilize a competency framework to align the strategic objectives of the organizations with its key HRM business processes.
Scenario:
You have been hired as the Director of Human Resources / HR Business Partner by a company that has posted large financial losses over the last three years and that is struggling to stay competitive. Employee morale is at an all-time low. The CEO of the company believes there are problems that exist in all areas of the company in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, and
wants you to identify deficient areas and begin to develop an action plan to help turn the
company around and improve organizational performance
Written Standards:
The Human Resources Administration is committed to maintaining a professional work environment free from intentional and unintentional disrespectful conduct and behavior. The purpose of this document is to define such behaviors and to make it clear that such conduct and any other form of unethical behavior, discrimination, harassment, or abuse will not be tolerated in any workplace interaction. Compliance with the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct is mandatory and if defied can be followed up with disciplinary action against any employee. Newly implemented Employee Assistance Program (EAP) will be voluntary to all employees to assist with free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services to employees who have personal and/or work-related problems. Some examples may include retirement planning and crisis management. Additional examples include alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence, and stress management. The basic purpose of an EAP and Wellness programs are to promote the well-being of the individual in a confidential and professional manner.
As the newly hired Director of Human Resources, I had to review some of the company’s policies and procedures, code of ethics, and mission statement. The first important thing to do is to understand the business, the culture, build relationships, know employees and how the company works, relationship with the outside world, and mainly how it functions daily. I will be evaluating several areas within the company on the negated efficiency and effectiveness from hiring, onboarding, training, and timely evaluations.
Evaluations of the levels of competency
The first order of business would be to conduct meetings with all the department heads to obtain an understanding of the issues within their teams and any day-to-day operational issues. This will give me a chance to observe the leadership skills within each department and to revisit the core competencies in place. The team manager over customer service would the first person I would want to meet with because I heard the quality of service has gone down due to low morale and the lack of empathy towards the clients we serve. Leadership is about developing people and helping others reach their full potential. It’s about equipping others with the right tools and strategies not only to maximize the success of an organization but also the lives of individuals. A good leader must possess the emotional intelligence, good communication skills, knowing how to delegate effectively amongst staff members. All while motivating our staff to complete all task efficiently and effective. I want to train my team leaders to be strategic thinkers and to have flexibility while maintaining a stress-free work environment. After all the meeting have been held clear expectations will be set, and employees’ guidance will be given on how to reinforce behaviors in line with the organization’s mission, culture, and goals.
Review of climate in the organization
After completing my much-needed evaluations with managers, supervisors, and staff members I do believe the CEO has some concerns that must be addressed. I took my investigation a step further and had one on one meetings with a few employees and they stated since the pandemic morale has become low. To get a better idea of why morale has declined so much over the last two years my HRM staff and I decided to create an employee survey. This would also allow the Director of HR to better understand what factors are breeding the areas of concerns within the organization. The major concern was the department leads and the lack of knowledge on the organizations mission and vision statement. Often departments leads are promoted or hired for a role, but they lack the applicable skills to manage a team efficiently and effectively.
My team will be implementing a yearly eTraining for all team leaders on a leadership skill consisting of:
Understand Your Leadership Style. Being a strong leader involves understanding your unique leadership style.
Practice Listening and Communicating Clearly
Act as a Mentor.
Encourage and Reward Creativity.
Enable Your Team to Go Above and Beyond.
Embrace Failure.
The feedback from the employee surveys was constructive, and it gave us an idea of how to gage the direction and changes needed within the organization. Some employees felt their skill set wasn’t being utilized to their full potential or were not allowed to share ideas on how to improve assignments that were not working or needed improvement. Most employees felt training will enable the opportunity and growth within the organization. Employees also requested a tuition reimbursement incentive in the suggestion box.
While we have reviewed all the staff surveys submitted, we also will sit down with the CEO and inquire on the previous practices and how were the employees’ concerns handled before coming on board. The plan to create and initiate a new competency model will be drafted and presented to the CEO and all managing team leaders within the organization.
Creating an initial plan for Competency Framework
While initiating my idea of a new competency framework I will incorporate my team and the department heads, and we will start with the Outlining the principles for the new competency framework. Step one: will be to select and recruit staff more efficiently based on their skills and knowledge. Also, we will be selecting candidates for opening and promotions internally before recruiting outside. Step two: introducing monthly training tailored to professional development and recognizing any skill gaps and/or re-training. Step three: complete regular performance assessments accurately and timely. Besides, as the competency framework allows to perform professional assessments more carefully, it helps make more informed talent management decisions. To make this happen, role-based competencies must be specific, clear, and easy to understand and implement by both HRs and employees. One more thing, making a competency framework an effective instrument. It encourages employees to collaborate on building and improving their skill profiles, helps to build trust, increases employee engagement and organizational efficiency.
To effectively rollout the reconstruction plan, the Director of HR and the department heads will meet to discuss and determine which team members will need to be realigned and trained in roles that showcase their skills. Once the alignments of positions have been completed, the departments will be trained cohesively in team-building sessions on which there will be specific and clear expectations regarding performance. Continuous training will be crucial in the implementation of the competency framework. Over time we will introduce a performance evaluation system that will be rewardable for all staff members. Acknowledgments can boost morale within the organization; everyone likes to be competitive and rewarded while doing a good job. Due to the financial loss, I will be introducing a reward incentive that every department head reward monthly an employee of the month. As the company continues to grow financially, I will implement monetary rewards.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the investment of time and money in creating an organization competency framework will be beneficial in the long term and will be expected growth of the organization. For any organization to remain in business and be profitable, the company must stay ahead of the competition and future trends in their specific industry to stay relevant. Looking at the technological advances that have developed over the past ten years, it remains clear being relevant, innovative, and willing to take risks are factors that any organization will need to include in its competency framework.
References
Amirova, G., Kurmanov, N., Uteubayeva, E., Mashirova, T., Satkanova, R., & Kokenova, A. (2020). Development of an innovation mangers competency profile. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 23(2), 1-11.
Bonder, A., Bouchard, C., & Bellemare, G., PhD. (2011). Competency-based management-an integrated approach to human resource management in the Canadian public sector. Public Personnel Management, 40(1), 1-10
https://hrforecast.com/how-to-develop-a-competency-framework/Ravesteyn, P., Bosman, A., & Mens, J. (2015, November). A competence-mapping model and method for organizations. In European Conference on Management, Leadership & Governance (p. 369). Academic Conferences International Limited.
Sedra, M., & Bennani, S. (2020). Competency based approach: Modeling and implementation
