Competencies: Education, Experience, Skills and Abilities

[Raffy]

Competency

Hi ISO Guy,
When we say competence, awareness, training for item # 6.2.2 of ISO9001:2000. Does this means that all employees are competent enough to do the job? Can a resume' of previous experience, could be considered as a proof in validating their trainings? How about apprenticeships, how can i develop competency to them?
Thanks in advance,
Raffy
[email protected]

 

[Kevin Mader]

Raffy,

Does this mean that all employees are competent enough to do the job?

Yes. If they aren’t, then you must have plans to develop associates to the required level while instituting interim protocols.

Can a resume of previous experience be considered as validation of competency?

In part. You need two things to achieve successful results: knowledge and experience. Resumes are presentations of peoples “suggested” abilities and knowledge. It is not proof of their competency. You will need to evaluate an associate to determine for yourself whether the candidate has the ability to fulfill job requirements (usually done in the probationary period at the start of employment). At the end of the probationary period, you must assess ability to meet requirements and make a decision to hire, hire and train in deficient areas, or reject employment.

How about apprenticeships? How can I develop competency in them?

Apprenticeships are learning relationships. It is an extensive On the Job learning experience generally governed by the skills that must be learned and mastered as well as time requirements as an apprentice/journeyman.

First, you must understand what ‘competency’ is for each position in your organization. Understanding what it is will lead you to how to achieve it throughout the organization, how to measure it, and how to develop it as part of a Learning System. I would strongly suggest that this is NOT made part of traditional Performance Appraisals.

Regards,

Kevin

 

[SuRiVs]

competencies

Hello Everyone!
I know I read this somewhere in the cove but I can-t seem to find it so someone could probable help me. I am looking for the definitions of the four comeptencies stated in ISO 9001:2000 Education, Experience, Skills and abilities. First two are easily defined, however I have trouble finding what is meant by abilities and skills.

thanks everyone for all the help

Martin

 

[Marc]

Did you see http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=6779

I also merged a 2 post thread with this one.

 

[SuRiVs]

Can't follow

Sorry guys, but i couldn't follow the thread nor find in the link the definition (what is meant by):


Education
Training
Skills
Experience

I am trying to define competencies and finding hard to do it since I can't seem to first know what is meant by each one.

thanks again

Matrin

 

[Marc]

Education: Typically schooling.
Training: Same here. Fork truck driver? Where's the training certificate. OJT? How and where is is documented?
Skills: Oh, maybe a die setter or something someone has done alot.
Experience: A history in whatever the position is.

A lot of this overlaps. One could easily argue that training is education. Education is typically thought of in terms of formal schooling, like high school or college, I guess. But someone who goes through an apprentice in, say, pipefitting would probably argue this is, in fact, education whilst others might think of it more as training with the cavat that it is focused on one skill set. And skills argueably come from experience or training.

What you're trying to do is show that anyone performing a function is qualified. An advertisement might read: High school diploma, experience in assembly operations. There is no requirement that each 'list item' be addressed - one or more is the idea.

Competency is any one or more of the four which provide a foundation that a person is capable of doing a job. Actually, there is more to it. In some cases a person may be colour blind. That person might be competent but not capable if the job requires colour perception.

Be sure to read Kevin's post above carefully.

 

[SuRiVs]

Thanks

Much more clear.... Thanks a lot for the quick response


Martin Lewit

 

[Raffy]

Hi everyone,

Just a follow-up questions with regards to competency requirements.
What are the evidence that we must show if the personnel assigned to the position
were evaluated against the defined competency? (e.g. engineers, supervisors, etc.)
We used Job specification and job summary as defined competency requirements.
Please enlighten me.

Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Raffy

 

[D.Scott]

IMO it sounds like you are doing fine Raffy. Is the competency requirement defined on the Job Description for the position? If so, you need to also be sure any other competency requirements are included - for example if a customer requirement is that a test only be performed by a licensed technician then that requirement should be part of the job description and evaluation made against that. Documentation can be done however you state in your evaluation procedure. Usually a job description, training record and annual evaluation record are all that would be needed as documentation for competency evaluation.

Dave

 

[mshell]

I agree with Dave. We use the job description in conjunction with a competency profile (which directly relates to the tasks in the job description) and an evaluation for personal characteristics (punctuality, absenteeism, teamwork, etc...).