Competence

What is Competence?

Competence is more than a skill. It is the ability to make and keep promises. I believe we can teach a skill, but need to coach people to be competent. In our work with individual clients and organizations we stress the importance of having action match commitments and not becoming trapped in conventional wisdom which can block our capacity to create possibilities and produce results.

Competence is the quality of being competent. We can say a person is competent when we have proof of them working over a period of time to a required standard. The proof, or evidence, must show that they can bring the many parts of a job together. When the parts merge they take on a new form. Thus, competence is an abstract thing: it's more than a set of 'competencies' stacked on top of one another.

Signs of competence

Competence only has meaning in the context of the workplace. A person is competent not just because of what they can do but because of how they apply that ability in the workplace. Competence emerges when a person exhibits a blend of technical skills and other less easily defined traits. We can think of the technical components as being 'hard' (because they can be defined clearly) and the other components as being 'soft' (because they are more fuzzy to define). In spite of the difficulty in defining the soft components, they are still essential. They are typically the qualities that can be observed only in the real-world conditions of the workplace.When competent behaviour occurs we can generally observe several typical indicators. These are listed below. See how the list begins with the 'hard' components but the remaining indicators are all 'soft'.

The driver is skilful: he or she can perform the physical and mental skills consistently to the standard, with little conscious effort.

The driver can transfer learning: he or she can adapt quickly to new vehicles, driving conditions and work environments.

The driver can deal with problems: he or she solves common problems, relying on a 'storehouse' of solutions. He or she has the resourcefulness to work out answers to more complex problems. Competent drivers are not perfect drivers: they recognise when they make mistakes and do things to improve.

The driver does it in the 'real world': he or she can deal with the pressures and challenges of the work environment while maintaining performance consistent with the standard. Competent drivers have the 'people skills' to work effectively with peers and the public, conveying a professional image for the service; and they do this without supervision